scholarly journals Education in Safe and Unsafe Spaces

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eamonn Callan
Keyword(s):  
Stereotype Threat ◽  
Free Speech ◽  
Safe Space ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Institutional Ethos ◽  
Intellectual Safety ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Student Demands ◽  
Intellectual Environment ◽  
Shed Light

Recent student demands within the academy for "safe space" have aroused concern about the constraints they might impose on free speech and academic freedom. There are as many kinds of safety as there are threats to the things that human beings might care about. That is why we need to be very clear about the specific threats of which the intended beneficiaries of safe space are supposed to be relieved. Much of the controversy can be dissolved by distinguishing between "dignity safety," to which everyone has a right, and "intellectual safety" of a kind that is repugnant to the education worth having. Psychological literature on stereotype threat and the interventions that alleviate its adverse effects shed light on how students’ equal dignity can be made safe in institutions without compromising liberty. But "intellectual safety" in education can only be conferred at the cost of indulging close-mindedness and allied vices. Tension between securing dignity safety and creating a fittingly unsafe intellectual environment can be eased when teaching and institutional ethos promote the virtue of civility. Race is used throughout the article as the example of a social category that can spur legitimate demands for "dignity safe space."

PERSECUTION AND THE ART OF FREEDOM: ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF FREE PRESS AND FREE SPEECH IN DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-208
Author(s):  
Khalil M. Habib
Keyword(s):  
Free Speech ◽  
Freedom Of Speech ◽  
Freedom Of The Press ◽  
Alexis De Tocqueville ◽  
Free Society ◽  
Free Press ◽  
Constituent Element ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Right ◽  
Shed Light

AbstractAccording to Tocqueville, the freedom of the press, which he treats as an extension of the freedom of speech, is a primary constituent element of liberty. Tocqueville treats the freedom of the press in relation to and as an extension of the right to assemble and govern one’s own affairs, both of which he argues are essential to preserving liberty in a free society. Although scholars acknowledge the importance of civil associations to liberty in Tocqueville’s political thought, they routinely ignore the importance he places on the freedom of the press and speech. His reflections on the importance of the free press and speech may help to shed light on the dangers of recent attempts to censor the press and speech.

scholarly journals Collective intentionality and autism: Against the exclusion of the “social misfits”

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-148
Author(s):  
Kristina Lekic
Keyword(s):  
Diagnostic Criteria ◽  
Autistic Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Collective Intentionality ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Autistic Spectrum ◽  
Psychological States ◽  
The Social ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Shed Light

The paper aims to shed light on Searle?s notion of collective intentionality (CI) as a primitive phenomenon shared by all humans. The latter could be problematic given that there are individuals who are unable to grasp collective intentionality and fully collaborate within the framework of ?we-intentionality?. Such is the case of individuals with autism, given that the lack of motivation and skills for sharing psychological states with others is one of the diagnostic criteria for Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The paper will argue that exclusion of individuals with autism is not a threat for Searle?s notion of collective intentionality, as the notion can be read as merely a biological disposition that all human beings share. Furthermore, the paper proposes the extension of Searle?s concept of CI so it can include behaviors of individuals who have the disposition towards CI, but which was not evolved through ontogenesis; namely, for individuals with autism.

The Flexibility of Torah

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Hayes
Keyword(s):  
Human Beings ◽  
Natural Evolution ◽  
The Law ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Divine Law

This chapter examines sources that shed light on a variety of issues bearing on the question of the flexibility of the divine law of Israel according to the talmudic rabbis. In many of these sources, the Law is seen to be susceptible to change through rational adjustments by humans. The rhetoric surrounding human adjustment of the Law varies. In some passages these adjustments are represented as a kind of natural evolution justified by values and commitments internal to the system. In some passages, however, they are represented as interventions based on values and commitments external to the system, raising important questions about the agency and authority of human beings in a system of divine law. On what grounds do humans modify the Law? How is it that rational modification of the Law and the implied fallibility of the divine lawgiver do not impinge upon the Law's divinity in the eyes of the rabbis?

The Nursery of Life

2030 ◽  
2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rutger van Santen ◽  
Djan Khoe ◽  
Bram Vermeer
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Slowing Down ◽  
Cost Of Health Care ◽  
Precise Diagnosis ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Prompt Diagnosis

Human beings are much more complex than any technology we could devise today. How many machines are good for 80 or 90 years of service? Our immune system—set up at birth—is able to repel diseases that don’t even exist yet. Most viruses that proliferate 50 years after we were born can be defeated just as easily as maladies that have been dogging humans for generations. Effective health care means that—in most regions of the planet—we are living longer and longer. All the same, human beings are not perfect: We get sick and we wear out over time. In the wealthier regions, we spend a great deal of money trying to get as close as possible to a 100-year span. Our greatest task is to bring a long and healthy life within the reach of as many people as possible. New technology is required to hold down the cost of health care, to nip outbreaks of disease in the bud, and to ease discomfort in our old age. Scientists believe that substantial benefits can be gained by identifying abnormalities earlier. A cancerous growth measuring just a few millimeters is still relatively harmless, and an infection caught in its early stages won’t leave any scars. Although techniques for accurately diagnosing incipient abnormalities can often be very expensive, prompt diagnosis generally means that treatment will be easier, cheaper, and more likely to succeed. Thus, we can end up saving money despite the need for expensive equipment. To adequately fight the outbreak of diseases in the future, our technology must be able to respond more rapidly. This could pose a particular challenge because there is also a trend at present toward superspecialization, which is fragmenting medical knowledge and slowing down responses. Take the science of ophthalmology in which the various specializations focus on extremely specific parts of the eye. This is fine once a precise diagnosis has been made, but it could be a significant problem if the patient consults the wrong doctor at the outset. The way we currently approach diagnosis needs to change.

The Literature of Divine Guidance

2020 ◽  
pp. 46-63
Author(s):  
John A. Jillions
Keyword(s):  
Popular Literature ◽  
First Century ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Pax Romana ◽  
Paul's Letters ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Divine Guidance

The popular literature of the era helps shed light on attitudes toward divine guidance. Unfortunately, aside from Paul’s letters there are no documents from first-century Corinth. However, as residents of a cosmopolitan Roman city, attentive to learning and rhetoric, the great writers would have been well known, especially Homer, Virgil, and Horace. Homer (Iliad and Odyssey) was the most influential writer; he reflected deeply on the questions posed by divine interaction with human beings. Virgil’s Aeneid, with a Roman perspective, likewise pondered the snares of divine guidance, concluding that the gods enlist heroes like Aeneas to fulfill divine purposes for Rome, not to vindicate the heroes or make them happy. In Horace religion is a much less pervasive theme and life is more independent of the gods, but he lifts up the Pax Romana and Augustus as the fulfillment of the divine plan.

Night and Organization Studies

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (10) ◽  
pp. 1513-1527
Author(s):  
Monika Müller
Keyword(s):  
New Materialism ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Time Space ◽  
And Control ◽  
Shed Light

In this essay, I want to shed light on the phenomena of night and nightwork as important topics which have been so far overlooked in organization studies. Inspired by insights of new materialism (Barad), I propose and investigate night as ‘time-space’, and present intertwined dimensions (temporal, spatial, social, material, etc.) of intra-actions between human beings and night. To better understand our intra-actions and entanglements with night, I provide a short historical overview which highlights past attempts to turn nightwork, once a forbidden and ungodly occupation, into a common and laudable one. I then discuss current efforts to manage and control certain dimensions of night (temporal/material and spatial/social) as well as aspects of night and nightwork that are not entirely manageable. The essay advocates going beyond traditional ontological dualisms by stressing our entanglements and intra-actions with night, thus advancing our understanding of nightwork, related bodily limitations and resistance at night. These topics call for further studies of organizations and work at night.

Note: The Value and Cost of the Customer’s Waiting Time

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel R. Chen ◽  
Subodha Kumar ◽  
Jaya Singhal ◽  
Kalyan Singhal
Keyword(s):  
Waiting Time ◽  
Queue Length ◽  
Relative Cost ◽  
Queuing Models ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
Two Measures ◽  
Expected Waiting Time ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Key Parameter

The (relative) cost of the customer’s waiting time has long been used as a key parameter in queuing models, but it can be difficult to estimate. A recent study introduced a new queue characteristic, the value of the customer’s waiting time, which measures how an increase in the total customer waiting time reduces the servers’ idle time. This paper connects and contrasts these two fundamental concepts in the queuing literature. In particular, we show that the value can be equal to the cost of waiting when the queue is operated at optimal. In this case, we can use the observed queue length to compute the value of waiting, which helps infer the cost of waiting. Nevertheless, these two measures have very different economic interpretations, and in general, they are not equal. For nonoptimal queues, comparing the value with the cost helps shed light on the underlying causes of the customer’s waiting. Although it is tempting to conclude that customers in a queue with a lower value of waiting expect to wait longer, we find that the value of waiting in general does not have a monotonic relationship with the expected waiting time, nor with the expected queue length.

scholarly journals Respecting Human Rights: Does Treaty Ratification Lead to Compliance?

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-179
Author(s):  
Daniel St. Pierre
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
State Compliance ◽  
The Cost

Since the nonbinding Universal Declaration of Human Rights, states have created treaties and conventions to outline what is or is not acceptable regarding the treatment of human beings, with the understanding that if a state signs and ratifies these documents then that state will comply with the principles outlined within it.  Time and again however, compliance, or the lack thereof, has presented as a concern amongst many states, as well as non-state actors.  The issue of compliance is a serious one because it speaks to credibility.  If states do not anticipate compliance from one another it undermines the entire international system and any structure that has been created to address the anarchic nature of international relations will dissolve.  In order to make analysis of this massive issue area manageable, I focus on state compliance with human rights law and more specifically, compliance with the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention 1989, or C169.  Both Brazil and Argentina have signed and ratified C169 and both are democratic with indigenous populations.  Comparing these two states it allows us to better ascertain the circumstances under which states may comply with or defect from international human rights law.  I provide an overview on what rationalist theories suggest about compliance, followed by constructivist views.  I then outline my position before examining the results of the case study and assessing its’ impact as related to both theory and my arguments.  Ultimately, I find that notwithstanding ratification and well-developed democratic institutions that allow for a strong civil society to participate in politics, there are still circumstances wherein a state will defect from a human rights treaty because the gain of doing so outweighs the cost of non-compliance.

scholarly journals Reopening the Trade after SARS: China’s Wildlife Industry and the Fateful Policy Reversal

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-267
Author(s):  
Peter Li
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Wildlife Trade ◽  
Top Down ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Development Objectives ◽  
Party State ◽  
Shed Light

China’s policy-making remains a top-down process. Yet, non-State actors, particularly businesses that have aligned their commercial interest with the national interest and political objectives of the Party-State, are uniquely positioned to impact policy-making. This article uses China’s reopening of the wildlife trade following the end of SARS in 2003 to shed light on the interplay of the Party’s policy guidelines, the policy-making authority of the administrative agencies, and the influence of the country’s wildlife business interest. This article argues that the reversal of the wildlife trade ban was predestined since expanding wildlife business also contributed to the government’s development objectives and served the bureaucratic interest of the administrative authorities. In 2003, the wildlife businesses had unique lobbying power. It was a production of scale that purportedly served the country’s conservation, public health and poverty-reduction purposes. The failure of the Chinese scientists to reach a consensus on the risk of pandemic outbreaks from wildlife operations helped the Chinese authorities to end the wildlife trade, a fateful decision. The outbreak of COVID-19 has led to an enhanced understanding of the connections between wildlife exploitation and pandemic outbreaks. China has come to a crossroads to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of its wildlife industry.

scholarly journals A Two-Echelon Agricultural Product Supply Chain with Freshness and Greenness Concerns: A Cost-Sharing Contract Perspective

Complexity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Manyi Tan ◽  
Manli Tu ◽  
Bin Wang ◽  
Tianyue Zou ◽  
Hong Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Cost Sharing ◽  
Agricultural Products ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
Agricultural Product ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Optimal Decisions ◽  
Game Theoretic ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

Agricultural products are basic needs of human beings, and whether they are cultivated in a green (or organic) manner has direct impact on environment and public health. This research incorporates product freshness and greenness into a two-echelon agricultural product supply chain (APSC). Game theoretic analyses are carried out to examine pricing, freshness, and greenness decisions of the supply chain members with and without cost-sharing for greenness investment. Subsequently, we conduct comparative and sensitivity analyses for these optimal decisions and profits of the APSC members under different cases. Numerical experiment is employed to investigate the impact of key parameters on equilibrium decisions and profitability. Analytical and experimental results show that the cost-sharing contract of greenness investment for agricultural products helps to strengthen the supply chain members’ effort in improving the greenness and freshness levels of the agricultural product, thereby enhancing both individual and channel profitability of the APSC under certain conditions. This research also reveals a widened profit gap between the producer and the retailer under the cost-sharing contract.

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