"This comprehensive volume - containing 27 chapters and contributions from six continents - presents and discusses key principles, perspectives, and practices of social learning in the context of sustainability. Social learning is explored from a range of fields challenged by sustainability including: organizational learning, environmental management and corporate social responsibility; multi-stakeholder governance; education, learning and educational psychology; multiple land-use and integrated rural development; and consumerism and critical consumer education. An entire section of the book is devoted to a number of (...) reflective case studies of people, organizations and communities using forms of social learning in moving towards sustainability. 'This book brings together a range of ideas, stories, and discussions about purposeful learning in communities aimed at creating a world that is more sustainable than the one currently in prospect....The book is designed to expand the network of conversations through which our society can confront various perspectives, discover emerging patterns, and apply learning to a variety of emotional and social contexts.' From the Foreword by Fritjof Capra, co-founder of the Center of Ecoliteracy. 'Joining what is so clear and refreshing in this book with the larger movements toward a critically democratic and activist education that is worthy of its name, is but one step in the struggle for sustainability. But it is an essential step if we are to use the insights that are included in this book.' From the Afterword by Michael Apple, author of 'Educating the ""Right"" Way: Markets, Standards, God, and Inequality'.". (shrink)

We live in turbulent times, our world is changing at accelerating speed. Information is everywhere, but wisdom appears in short supply when trying to address key inter-related challenges of our time such as; runaway climate change, the loss of biodiversity, the depletion of natural resources, the on-going homogenization of culture, and rising inequity. Living in such times has implications for education and learning. This book explores the possibilities of designing and facilitating learning-based change and transitions towards sustainability. In 31 chapters (...) contributors from across the world discuss (re)emerging forms of learning that not only assist in breaking down unsustainable routines, forms of governance, production and consumption, but also can help create ones that are more sustainable. The book has been divided into three parts: re-orienting science and society, re-connecting people and planet and re-imagining education and learning. This is essential reading for educators, educational designers, change agents, researchers, students, policymakers and entrepreneurs alike, who are concerned about the well-being of the planet and convinced of our ability to do better. The content and related issues can be discussed on the blog by editor Arjen Wals: Transformative learning. 'We are living in times of incertitude, complexity, and contestation, but also of connectivity, responsibility, and new opportunities. This book analyses the consequences of these times for learning in formal, non-formal, and informal education. It explores the possibilities offered by the concept of sustainability as a central category of a holistic paradigm which harmonizes human beings with Earth. To change people and to change the world are interdependent processes - this book contributes to both.' Moacir Gadotti, Director of Paulo Freire Institute, São Paulo, Brazil 'I hope you share my excitement about the innovations for sustainability that this book catalogues and analyses. While the ecological news is grim, the human news is not. Even in a time of accelerating change, people are showing their enormous capacities to learn, adapt, restore and protect.' From the Foreword by Juliet Schor, author of ‘True Wealth: how and why millions of Americans are creating a time-rich, ecologically-light, small-scale high-satisfaction economy’ 'This book implies a ‘culture of critical commitment’ in educational thinking and practice - engaged enough to make a real difference to social-ecological resilience and sustainability but reflexively critical enough to learn constantly from experience and to keep options open in working for a sustainability transformation.' From the Afterword by Stephen Sterling, Professor of Sustainability Education, Centre for Sustainable Futures, Plymouth University, United Kingdom. (shrink)

OBJECTIVES: To identify the factors that influence the assessment of reported cases of physician-assisted death by members of the public prosecution. DESIGN/SETTING: At the beginning of 1996, during verbal interviews, 12 short case-descriptions were presented to a representative group of 47 members of the public prosecution in the Netherlands. RESULTS: Assessment varied considerably between respondents. Some respondents made more "lenient" assessments than others. Characteristics of the respondents, such as function, personal-life philosophy and age, were not related to the assessment. Case (...) characteristics, i.e. the presence of an explicit request, life expectancy and the type of suffering, strongly influenced the assessment. Of these characteristics, the presence or absence of an explicit request was the most important determinant of the decision whether or not to hold an inquest. CONCLUSIONS: Although the presence of an explicit request, life expectancy and the type of suffering each influenced the assessment, each individual assessment was dependent on the assessor. The resulting danger of legal inequality and legal uncertainty, particularly in complicated cases, should be kept to a minimum by the introduction of some form of protocol and consultation in doubtful or boundary cases. The notification procedure already promotes a certain degree of uniformity in the prosecution policy. (shrink)

Tejera, strongly influenced by Dewey, operates on the working hypothesis that art is both a kind of experience and a kind of making, and addresses himself to the "inextricably related" problems of the ends and the creation of art. Creativity becomes the key; man is viewed as "the creative animal," and artistic creation is seen as a sort of natural human activity, to be understood in relation to all other human activities. Most traditional problems of aesthetics are taken up at (...) some point, but it is not quite clear how all the parts fit together. The book contains forty-five prints and, considered in terms of its physical format, is something of a work of art in its own right.—A. E. J. (shrink)

Contrary to Favrholdt's opinion, a book that "contains many mistakes" may nevertheless be a good book; it may even be a masterpiece. Thus, although Favrholdt's Interpretation contains many mistakes, it is nevertheless a good book. Unlike most commentaries on the Tractatus, Favrholdt makes a concerted effort to come to grips with the work as a whole. He tries to show that the thesis of extensionality is fundamental, and that the rest of the Tractatus is a working out of the consequences (...) of that thesis. Several of his interpretations are highly questionable, and he has a tendency to give up too easily on some crucial points. But he does give us an original and highly provocative treatment.—A. E. J. (shrink)

Essays on various aspects of contemporary American philosophy by nine contemporary American philosophers. The essays vary in type, ranging from quick surveys of current positions through surveys used as foils for personal opinions and defenses of particular meta-philosophical positions to contributions to particular fields which say nothing about current trends. Presumably aimed at a continental audience, the book should prove helpful to anyone who knows nothing about contemporary American philosophy.—A. E. J.

In the 1963 Philosophical Lecture, Henriette Hertz Trust, of the British Academy, Hare defends the distinction between descriptive and evaluative meaning. He attacks descriptivists on the grounds that they confuse a logical connection between the word "good" and other words with a logical connection between the word "good" and certain things. The paper presupposes an acquaintance with the debate over descriptivism, and it is never clear precisely what view Hare is attacking.—A. E. J.

This addition to the plethora of elementary logic texts has little to recommend it. Part I, "Language and Logic," and Part III, "Deductive Logic and Science," suffer from an overly dogmatic treatment of controversial issues. Part II, "Logic in Argument," tries to do too much in too little space, and this effort at compression leads to a lack of clarity, imprecision, and, occasionally, downright falsehood. Singular statements are not symbolized by existential quantification, nor does " " ever mean "Every metal (...) is liquid". An "algebraic" method of proof is introduced, but is not adequately explained and its advantages over the other proof methods introduced, if any, are not brought out.—A. E. J. (shrink)

A very well-written introduction to formal logic. Among the more unusual features: Polish notation is used for the logic of statements, Principia notation for the logic of predicates; traditional logic is axiomatized, with conversion by limitation of A propositions, conversion of I propositions, and the Barbara syllogism serving as axioms; a strong emphasis on evaluation of arguments, with "genuineness," not merely formal validity, being the desideratum. The virtue of the book is its rigor, both logical and stylistic, but this rigor (...) may make some sections overly mystifying to the beginning student.—A. E. J. (shrink)

Building on Aristotle and Dewey, Mesthene argues that language plays the role of agent in the process of coming to know. He suggests a metaphysical hypothesis to account for the intelligibility of the world and elucidate the role of language in the knowing process. Mesthene's hypothesis is both interesting and important but stands in need, as the author admits, of a good bit of further investigation. J. H. Randall contributes a foreword to this volume.—A. E. J.

A study of four contemporary philosophers Naess believes "will take their place side by side in future histories of philosophy": Carnap, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, and Sartre. Although Naess's own philosophy is more in the tradition of Carnap than of the others, this does not affect the quality of his exposition. He attempts to understand each philosopher in his own terms, and his treatment of them is notable for its insight and accuracy. There is no attempt at a systematic comparison of the (...) four, but similarities and differences are noted in the appropriate places. A good example of tolerance in philosophy.—A. E. J. (shrink)

A French "textbook" edition of the Pensées including, in addition to a fair selection of the Pensées themselves, a variety of editorial aids to the understanding and interpretation of Pascal: biography, bibliography, textual history, commentaries on some major themes, and "thèmes de réflexion."—A. E. J.

A group of thirteen essays, most of them being either meta-philosophical or metaphysical. The latter group can be seen as applying the theme Wisdom plays so often in the former group and in his previous works: the comparison of one type of statement with another, leading to discoveries which resolve philosophical paradoxes but which can, if misused, engender new ones. Of special interest: "Religious Belief" and "The Metamorphosis of Metaphysics." The price of this volume is unfortunate, as is the printing (...) job.—A. E. J. (shrink)

This book is both an introduction to the philosophy of religion and a defence of the reasonableness, though not a proof of the truth, of Christianity. The topics of miracles, freedom, God's existence, religious experience, and evil are taken up in that order, with Hume, Kant, Aquinas, Otto, and Tennant serving as points of departure for the various discussions. Smart's approach to philosophy of religion runs counter to contemporary mainstreams. He sees the traditional problems, as traditionally formulated, as genuine problems. (...) Religions make claims to truth, and the defenders of religion must show that it is reasonable to believe that such claims are true. Smart's arguments are clear and lucid, but he does not seem to fully appreciate the force of objections to traditional Christian theism.—A. E. J. (shrink)

This volume makes available to the English-speaking world a comprehensive selection of the works of one of the central figures in contemporary Swedish philosophy, theology, and law. One of the selections has been previously published by C. D. Broad. In the first selection, "A Summary of My Philosophy," Hägerström contends that in every judgment the reality of that which is judged about is presupposed. Since the real is determinate, there can be no judgments about absolute reality unless it is identified (...) with some determinate real thing. If this were done, all other things would suffer a relative lack of reality, and no judgments about them would be possible. Thus absolute reality is a self-contradictory idea and hence arises Hägerström's motto: "I propose that metaphysics must be destroyed." The remaining selections spell out the implications of this proposal for ethics and religion. The volume also includes a memoir by Broad.—A. E. J. (shrink)

A well-chosen selection of readings from ancient and medieval philosophy, including such seldom-anthologized figures as Origen, Tertullian, Walter Burley, and Pomponazzi, and such seldom anthologized works as Augustine's De Magistro. One outstanding feature of the book is the inclusion of new translations of the pre-Socratics by John Wilkinson and of Aquinas' On Being and Essence by John Wellmuth. Several selections from Aquinas and Scotus plus Burley's On the Existence of Universals appear in English for the first time, all translated by (...) Wellmuth. Chapter introductions vary considerably in quality. This is probably the best work of its kind available.—A. E. J. (shrink)

The primary problems of philosophy are those "whose answers directly bear on our lives." Scriven believes definitive answers to primary questions can be given and justified, and he gives his answers in a straightforward, vigorous, no-holds-barred manner: judgments of greatness in art are usually best construed as expressions of personal preference; there is no God; "man is not just an animal or a machine, but yet he is an animal and a machine"; brain determinism is in no way incompatible with (...) free choice; it is rational to be moral. The work is intended as an introductory text, and could be good as such, despite the tendency for arguments to give way to sermons. The student would be forced to come to grips with philosophical questions by coming to grips with Scriven. Since alternative positions are not always indicated or presented in the strongest light, there is something left for the teacher to do.—A. E. J. (shrink)

A selection of readings on the philosophy of logic, intended for use in introductory logic courses. Areas covered are: the nature of logic, the syllogism, the laws of thought, symbolic logic, and induction. The selections are well diversified and, for the most part, substantial.—A. E. J.

A critical examination of the religious theories of Axel Hägerström and Anders Nygren, their respective disciples, Martin Fries and Ragnar Bring, and the critical literature on the two main figures. Hemberg's study focuses on the questions: whether all reality must be referred to spatial-temporal experience; the status of metaphysics; and the nature of religious experience. The religious theories of Hägerström and Nygren are of considerable philosophical interest although, for primarily linguistic reasons, their influence outside Sweden has remained slight. Despite the (...) presence of a fifteen page English summary one suspects that interest in Hemberg's book will be similarly provincial, for similar reasons.—A. E. J. (shrink)

Among the more important changes in this revised edition: the incompleteness of the first set of natural deduction rules is proved; many proofs are shortened and simplified, especially in the development of the first-order functional calculus; there is a more lucid exposition of the quantification rules; more exercises are provided, with answers given for a number of them. The changes are all improvements, but none of them are of a sufficiently radical nature to be likely to alter anyone's original opinion (...) of Copi's book—A. E. J. (shrink)

An introductory logic text with the emphasis on the process of problem solving, said process being broken down into five parts: analysis of the problem, formation, examination, testing of hypotheses, and drawing of conclusions. Elements of traditional and symbolic logic are utilized in the section on examining hypotheses. There is a strong tendency towards oversimplification, and the author's unrestrained use of the exclamation point is rather annoying!—A. E. J.

Garelick, in this closely-argued presentation, maintains that although Johannes Climacus defines Christianity as irrational, he presents it not as an end in itself but as a means to the higher end, eternal happiness, "a choice which a reasonable man could accept." Climacus thus becomes "anti-Christian" in a twofold manner, by making Christianity reasonable and by making it a means. This book can be considered a welcome addition to Kierkegaard scholarship, even though the arguments for the final conclusion are not quite (...) convincing.—A. E. J. (shrink)

With the appearance of this book, Kierkegaard's dissertation for the master's degree, all major works of Kierkegaard are available in English. Capel's translation is felicitous, and his "historical introduction" and notes are genuinely helpful. The Concept of Irony is itself an exercise in irony, and most problems of interpretation relate to that point. Although the book is of considerable independent interest, sprinkled with wit and insight, it is likely that it will be used mainly by scholars tracing the origins of (...) Kierkegaard's thought. It should be good for a handful of dissertations, and several hands full of articles.—A. E. J. (shrink)

Those who believe that linguistic philosophy has no principles are not likely to have their opinion dispelled by Waismann's book. The book, written prior to World War II, withdrawn from the publisher and constantly modified thereafter, does not attempt to present a set of philosophical or metaphilosophical principles. What it does present is a method, applied both to traditional philosophical problems and to the central themes of linguistic philosophy. If the method has a principle, it is to be found in (...) the concept of a grammatical rule. Philosophical questions are clarified by appeal to rules of grammar, beyond which there can be no appeal. Principles was written as a textbook, and could be quite useful as such since all the important issues of analytic philosophy are raised. Despite the obvious influence of Wittgenstein, the treatment of the issues, the linguistic philosophy presented, is Waismann's own unique blend. The blend is interesting and often fruitful.—A. E. J. (shrink)

Garnett attempts to defend realism while accepting much of what sense-data theorist have had to say. He does this by tracing the origin of our belief in external objects to the finding of "centres of resistance" in the experience of effort and resistance, these centres being symbolized by sensory qualia. Since the centres are found in experience they are not unknowable Lockean substances, and since the resistance is something over and above sensations of pressure they are not phenomenalistic patterns of (...) sense-data. Though a great deal of the book is devoted to the "refutation" of particular arguments of Ryle and Austin, Garnett seems oblivious to the thrust of recent criticism of traditional accounts of the role of sense qualia in perception. All too often he allows assertion to replace argument.—A. E. J. (shrink)

A French "textbook" edition of the Pensées including, in addition to a fair selection of the Pensées themselves, a variety of editorial aids to the understanding and interpretation of Pascal: biography, bibliography, textual history, commentaries on some major themes, and "thèmes de réflexion."—A. E. J.

A new translation of the Pensées, presented here in the order of the Copy made by Pascal's literary executors, which is the order in which Pascal left them. Since Pascal never did complete the job of ordering and classifying, it does not follow, as the cover of the book insinuates, that this edition enables us to appreciate the workings of Pascal's mind better than others, which are marred by the intrusions of editors. Krailsheimer also translates fragments not found in the (...) Copy, including those recently discovered by Mesnard. The translation is a good one, and a definite improvement over other paperback editions.—A. E. J. (shrink)

An anthology of meta-philosophical selections culled from the writings of Maritain, Russell, Carnap, Black, Cornforth, Dewey, Husserl, McKeon, Collingwood, and Heidegger. Johnstone's introductory essay attempts a brief historical survey, then discusses and relates the various selections, which are seen as representing a process from philosophy as wisdom back to philosophy as wisdom. The book is part of the "Sources in Philosophy" series.—A. E. J.

This paper offers a new approach to the philosophical foundations of information systems through feminist philosophy and, in particular, feminist epistemology. This can be used to expose the universalizing tendency of many information systems and to show the importance of using real-life complex examples rather than the simplified examples often favored by philosophers. Within traditional epistemology and its relation to IS, subjectivity, the propositional/skills distinction and epistemic hierarchies are subject to arguments from feminist epistemology. With respect to the emerging critical (...) school of IS, feminist epistemology, and within that, feminist standpoint theory, are used to examine the complexities of the positivist/anti-positivist position and the related concept of emancipation. In addition, it is argued that the liberal version of emancipation encapsulated in such systems may have an effect opposite to that of emancipation These issues are illustrated in an existing expert systems project. (shrink)

Objectives To evaluate whether the requirement of “minimal risk and burden” for paediatric research without direct benefit to the subjects compromises the ability to obtain data necessary for improving paediatric care. To provide evidence-based reflections on the EU recommendation that allows for a higher level of risk. Design and setting Systematic analysis of the approval/rejection decisions made by the Dutch Central Committee on Research involving Human Subjects (CCMO). Review methods The analysis included 165 proposals for paediatric research without direct benefit (...) that were reviewed by the CCMO between January, 2000, and July, 2007. A separate, in-depth analysis of all drug studies included 18 early phase drug studies and nine other drug studies without direct benefit. Results 11 out of 165 studies were definitively rejected because the CCMO did not regard the risk and/or burden to be minimal. In three of these 11 cases (including two early phase drug studies) the requirement of minimal risk and burden was cited as the only reason for rejection. Four other early phase drug studies also involved risks and/or burdens that were not regarded to be minimal but were nevertheless approved. Conclusions The requirement of minimal risk and burden, aiming to protect research subjects, occasionally leads to rejection of protocols. Early phase drug studies relatively often do not comply with the requirement. Committees may find ways to approve important studies that formally should be rejected, but that is not a desirable solution. The regulatory framework should be revised to make such occasional exceptions to the requirement legitimate and transparent. (shrink)

Tsc question of the date of Ctesibius has been much obscured of late years by those German scholars1 who assert that Ctesibius the pneumatic and hydraulic engineer mentioned by Vitruvius IX. 8. 2 is distinct and separate from Κτησίβιος Κτησίβιος μηΧανικός who is mentioned by Athenaeus Mechanicus , Philo of Byzantium , and Hedylus ap. Athenaeum Naucratitam Deipn. XI., p. 497, d-e = Anthologia Graeca ed. Cougny, Paris , 1890, Vol. III., p. 298, n. 67.

Uitvoerige historische speurtocht naar de betrekkingen van Erasmus met zijn Hollandse humanistische vrienden en zijn invloed op hun leven en werken.

In this paper we raise three questions of clarification about Alfred Mele's fine recent book, Free Will and Luck. Our questions concern the following topics: (i) Mele's combination of 'luck' and 'Frankfurt-style' objections to libertarianism, (ii) Mele's stipulations about 'compatibilism' and the relation between questions about free action and questions about moral responsibility, and (iii) Mele's treatment of the Consequence Argument.