Self-Knowledge and a Refutation of the Immateriality of Human Nature

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-199
Author(s):  
Pirooz Fatoorchi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Self Knowledge ◽  
Epistemic Asymmetry

The paper deals with an argument reported by Razi (d. 1210) that was used to attempt to refute the immateriality of human nature. This argument is based on an epistemic asymmetry between our self-knowledge and our knowledge of immaterial things. After some preliminary remarks, the paper analyzes the structure of the argument in four steps. From a methodological point of view, the argument is similar to a family of epistemological arguments (notably, the Cartesian argument from doubt) and is vulnerable to the same objection that can be raised against that form of reasoning. The last section points out that the argument can be used indirectly to highlight the weakness in some arguments for the claim that there is something immaterial in human beings.

scholarly journals The Soul’s Need to Connect with God through the Language of Art: Analysis from an Islamic Perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
Recep Dogan
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Islamic Perspective ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Works Of Art ◽  
Important Means ◽  
Art Analysis ◽  
The Way

Human beings express their emotions through the language of art; it is therefore both the spirit of progress and one of the most important means of developing emotions. Consequently, those who cannot make use of this means are incomplete in their maturation. Ideas and other products of the imagination can be given tangible form with the magical key of art. By means of art, humanity can exceed the limits of the earth and reach feelings beyond time and space. Beauty in the realm of existence can be recognized through art. Moreover, the great abilities inherent in human nature can be understood and witnessed in works of art. However, from an Islamic point of view, there are some restrictions on certain fields such as sculpture and painting. It is therefore imperative to analyse the notion of art in Islam and its philosophy and then reflect upon the need of the spirit to connect to God through the language of art while meeting some religious obstacles on the way.

scholarly journals Homo Economicus

MELINTAS ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-129
Author(s):  
B. Herry Priyono
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Homo Economicus ◽  
Classical Sense ◽  
The Core ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
History Of ◽  
Trading Activities

Human being is driven by many factors, but in trading activities, an individual is driven primarily by self-interest rather than other encouragement. This is the point which then develops into the core of the image of an economic being. However, the whole of human self is never driven only by self-interest. Through the history of the idea of homo economicus, what was originally a particular point of view about humans turned into a claim about the whole of human nature. The actions and behaviours of homo economicus were still driven by self-interest, but what was meant by self-interest was no longer in its classical sense. Its meaning has been much more extensive. This article shows the ambiguity of the idea of homo economicus: what was originally a certain point of view about human being, was applied to human nature and then became an agenda of how human beings and society should be. Humans must be homo economicus, but the latter is definitely not the whole picture of human nature. The image of an economic being is not the real description of the nature of human self, for it has its own territory. It is not the economic beings that gave birth to economics, but the economics that created economic beings.

scholarly journals Reexamining the Organization Theory: the Validity of the Bureaucratic and the Human Relations Models

1996 ◽  
Vol 11 (0) ◽  
pp. 89-103
Author(s):  
Gi-Heon Kwon
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Organization Theory ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Human Relations ◽  
Administrative Behavior ◽  
Technical Point ◽  
Administrative Organization ◽  
Organizational Theories ◽  
Formal Organizations

Various organizational theories are based on divergent assumptions about human nature. Based on certain assumptions, the theorists justified administrative behavior in formal organizations. At one extreme the Bureaucratic theorists assert that their theory, based on the assumption that man is inherently selfish by nature, has validity and university in an ideal sense. According to Weber, for example: Experience tends universally to show that the purely bureaucratic type administrative organization … is from the purely technical point of view, of attaining the highest degree of efficiency and is in this sense formally the most rational known means of carrying out imperative control over human beings. It is superior to any other form in precision, in stability, in the stringency of its discipline, and in its reliability (Weber, 1947, p. 337)

scholarly journals Corporate Crime and Plea Bargains

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-133
Author(s):  
Uriel Procaccia ◽  
Eyal Winter
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Criminal Behavior ◽  
Corporate Crime ◽  
Criminal Liability ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Legal Capacity ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Legal Subjectivity ◽  
Capacity To Act ◽  
Corporate Criminal Liability

Abstract Corporate entities enjoy legal subjectivity in a variety of forms, but they are not human beings. Hence, their legal capacity to bear rights and obligations of their own is not universal. This article lays out a stylized model that explores, from a normative point of view, one of the limits that ought to be set on corporate capacity to act “as if” they had a human nature − the capacity to commit crime. Accepted wisdom states that corporate criminal liability is justified as a measure to deter criminal behavior. Our analysis supports this intuition in one subset of cases, but also reveals that deterrence might in fact be undermined in another subset of cases, especially in an environment saturated with plea bargains involving serious violations of the law.

The Importance of Being Human

1991 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 63-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
David McNaughton
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Moral Concern ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Moral Agents ◽  
Conduct Of Life ◽  
Moral Point ◽  
Moral Point Of View ◽  
Bodily Sensations

I wish from my Heart, I could avoid concluding, that since Morality, according to your Opinion as well as mine, is determin'd merely by Sentiment, it regards only human Nature & human Life. … If Morality were determin'd by Reason, that is the same to all rational Beings: But nothing but Experience can assure us, that the Sentiments are the same. What Experience have we with regard to superior Beings? How can we ascribe to them any Sentiments at all? They have implanted those Sentiments in us for the Conduct of Life like our bodily Sensations, which they possess not themselves. (Letter from Hume to Hutcheson: March 16, 1740)When we ask whether morality ‘regards only human nature and human life’ we might be concerned with one of two kinds of question. We may be asking what kinds of being could share our moral point of view. What is the potential scope of the community of moral agents and assessors? Is the moral point of view essentially a human point of view? Could we, or should we, adopt a wider standpoint (say that of rational agency as such) which would leave room for a significant moral dialogue with non-human moral agents, if there are any? Alternatively, we could be asking whether only human beings should be the objects of moral concern or whether we should widen the circle of concern to include other kinds of being. We may make the same point using a helpful device of Cora Diamond's. We may be concerned with what should replace x or with what should replace y in the formula: We xs assess together conduct and character in so far as it affects ourselves and our fellow ys.

Persons Together

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan L. Mittleman
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Jewish Tradition ◽  
The Political ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
Political Dimensions ◽  
Market Relations ◽  
The Image Of God

This chapter moves into the political and economic aspects of human nature. Given scarcity and interdependence, what sense has Judaism made of the material well-being necessary for human flourishing? What are Jewish attitudes toward prosperity, market relations, labor, and leisure? What has Judaism had to say about the political dimensions of human nature? If all humans are made in the image of God, what does that original equality imply for political order, authority, and justice? In what kinds of systems can human beings best flourish? It argues that Jewish tradition shows that we act in conformity with our nature when we elevate, improve, and sanctify it. As co-creators of the world with God, we are not just the sport of our biochemistry. We are persons who can select and choose among the traits that comprise our very own natures, cultivating some and weeding out others.

Importance of Promoting Metacognitive Awareness at University

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-18
Author(s):  
Masoodi Marjan
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Positive Feedback ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Metacognitive Strategies ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Metacognitive Awareness ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Self Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Of Learners ◽  
Theoretical Overview

Abstract The aim of this study is to furnish a reliable theoretical overview on metacognitive awareness. This research is carried out to (1) familiarize the researchers with the definition, components and sub-components of metacognitive awareness (2) discuss a brief outline of metacognitive awareness along with its origin and essence from the point of view of its historical development (3) link metacognitive awareness to a number of other constructs, including motivation (4) illustrate the features of self-regulated students and their recruited metacognitive strategies and (5) briefly examine the major challenges in the implementation of metacognitive awareness. In conclusion, this research reveals that the analysis of metacognitive awareness and its components gives rise to a new notion of auto-noetic (self) knowledge of learners through planning, monitoring and reflectively evaluating task performance, and creates higher levels of self-efficacy which provides students with different educational contexts in which they are able to have more self-confidence, get more positive feedback both from an instructor and classmates and cultivate in learners more self-regulatory characteristics that enable them to learn autonomously, be completely equipped with motivation and be welcoming to challenges. The study provides benefits to both learners and educators. Learners can receive guidance on how to foster metacognitive awareness for being more competent learners. Furthermore, it provides meaningful insights for curriculum developers to provide metacognitive awareness-based curricula.

Wer täuscht wen?

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-100
Author(s):  
Daniel Strassberg
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
The Self ◽  
Narrative Approach ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Narrative Context ◽  
Everyday Knowledge

The insight that human beings are prone to deceive themselves is part of our everyday knowledge of human nature. Even so, if deceiving someone means to deliberately misrepresent something to him, it is difficult to understand how it is possible to deceive yourself. This paper tries to address this difficulty by means of a narrative approach. Self-deception is conceived as a change of the narrative context by means of which the same fact appears in a different light. On these grounds, depending on whether the self-deceiver adopts an ironic attitude to his self-deception or not, it is also possible to distinguish between a morally inexcusable self-deception and a morally indifferent one.

An Islamic Framework for Employer-Employee Relationships

1992 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ramzan Akhtar
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Wage Structure ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Employee Relationships ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Islamic Institutions

IntroductionIslamic teachings envisage a balanced society achieved through thefunctioning of Islamic institutions. This paper visualizes three main institutions:ukhiwah, ‘adl, and ihsan. Ukhuwah (brotherhood) promotes the bonds ofbrotherhood, and ‘adl (justice) enforces a system of individual and socialobligations. Islam stresses the importance of meeting one’s obligations, becauseeach obligation has its corresponding right. Thus, an individual’s effort to meethidher obligations leads to the fulfillment of everyone’s rights. This does notmean that Islam forbids one from demanding hidher rights, even though thisdemand does pose a problem related to human nature: an individual wants his/herrights and also some part of another person’s rights. Therefore, one group’sdemand for its rights tends to encroach upon the rights of another group, whichcauses social friction and disorder. The institution of ihsan (benevolence) goesone step further: it exhorts individuals to forego their rights for the sake of others,which is considered an act of piety.This paper will study employer-employee relationships in the light of thethree institutions mentioned above. A framework for conducting employer-employeerelationships is formulated and is then used to determine, from theIslamic point of view, the proper wages. The findings of this paper show thatan economically efficient and equitable wage structure can evolve within thisframework and that such a wage structure would promote the parties’ mutualrelationships which, in turn, would lead to industrial peace.The body of the paper is organized as follows: a review of the existingliterature on the subject, the development of an Islamic framework for employer-employeerelationships, a discussion of the Islamic approach to wagecompensation, and some concluding remarks ...

On the Power of the Object

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liubov Vetoshkina ◽  
Yrjö Engeström ◽  
Annalisa Sannino
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
The Political ◽  
Material Objects ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Work Activities ◽  
Skilled Performance ◽  
Rich Domain ◽  
Boat Building ◽  
Building Activity ◽  
History Of

By skillfully shaping and producing objects human beings externalize and make real their future-oriented imaginaries and visions. Material objects created by skilled performance make human lifeworlds durable. From the point of view of history making, wooden boat building is a particularly rich domain of skilled performance. This chapter is based on two research sites, one in Finland and the other in Russia. The analysis is divided into four layers or threads of history making, namely personal history, the history of the wooden boat community, the political history of the nations and their relations, and the history of the boats themselves as objects of boat-building activity. The chapter ends by discussing our findings and their implications for the understanding of skilled performance and history making in work activities and organizations.

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