For the safe and economical construction of embankment dams, the mechanical behaviour of the rockfill materials used in the dam’s shell must be analyzed. The characterization of rockfill materials with specified shear strength is difficult and expensive due to the presence of particles greater than 500 mm in diameter. This work investigates the feasibility of using an extreme gradient boosting computing paradigm to estimate the shear strength of rockfill materials. To train and validate the proposed XGBoost model, a total of (...) 165 databases obtained from the literature are chosen. The XGBoost model was compared against support vector machine, adaptive boosting, random forest, and K-nearest neighbor models described in the literature. XGBoost beats SVM, RF, AdaBoost, and KNN models in terms of performance evaluation metrics such as coefficient of determination, Nash–Sutcliffe coefficient, and error in the root mean square ratio to the standard deviation of the measured data. The results demonstrated that the XGBoost model has the highest prediction performance with, followed by the SVM model with, RF, the AdaBoost model with and the KNN model with. A sensitivity analysis has been conducted to ascertain the impact of each investigated input parameter. This study demonstrates that the established XGBoost model for estimating the shear strength of rockfill materials is reliable. (shrink)

Data mining’s primary clustering method has several uses, including gene analysis. A set of unlabeled data is divided into clusters using data features in a clustering study, which is an unsupervised learning problem. Data in a cluster are more comparable to one another than to those in other groups. However, the number of clusters has a direct impact on how well the K-means algorithm performs. In order to find the best solutions for these real-world optimization issues, it is necessary to (...) use techniques that properly explore the search spaces. In this research, an enhancement of K-means clustering is proposed by applying an equilibrium optimization approach. The suggested approach adjusts the number of clusters while simultaneously choosing the best attributes to find the optimal answer. The findings establish the usefulness of the suggested method in comparison to existing algorithms in terms of intra-cluster distances and Rand index based on five datasets. Through the results shown and a comparison of the proposed method with the rest of the traditional methods, it was found that the proposal is better in terms of the internal dimension of the elements within the same cluster, as well as the Rand index. In conclusion, the suggested technique can be successfully employed for data clustering and can offer significant support. (shrink)

In this paper we study a notion of HL-extension for a structure in a finite relational language $\mathcal {L}$. We give a description of all finite minimal HL-extensions of a given finite $\mathcal {L}$ -structure. In addition, we study a group-theoretic property considered by Herwig–Lascar and show that it is closed under taking free products. We also introduce notions of coherent extensions and ultraextensive $\mathcal {L}$ -structures and show that every countable $\mathcal {L}$ -structure can be extended to a countable (...) ultraextensive structure. Finally, it follows from our results that the automorphism group of any countable ultraextensive $\mathcal {L}$ -structure has a dense locally finite subgroup. (shrink)

Collection of articles on philosophy of social sciences; Shīʻah.

Different aspects of competition in stock exchanges have been discussed from either a positive or normative perspective, but this article seeks to come up with an approach encompassing both positive and normative dimensions of competition in various aspects of stock exchanges' activities. As far as the positive nature of the securities market and industry is concerned, conflicting trends are emerging. The liberalization of securities markets and the disappearance of technical barriers have dismantled the monopoly of national stock exchanges but led (...) to more consolidation. However, we are also witnessing a destabilizing and fragmenting effect of competition on these markets. Following an analysis of the normative/positive dichotomy in approaching competition in financial services, we discuss the centrality of information disclosure in creating a competitive and stable financial market. Disclosure of information, therefore, reinforces both competitive and prudential objectives alike. In a further attempt, we discuss the tension between the principles of competition and prudence alongside the conflict between competition objectives and economies of scope and scale. While arguments in weighing competition against economies of scope and scale are evenly balanced, the unique characteristics of such markets do not allow the absolute application of competition principles when it comes to prudential concerns. (shrink)

The potential of the soil to hold plant nutrients is governed by the cation-exchange capacity of any soil. Estimating soil CEC aids in conventional soil management practices to replenish the soil solution that supports plant growth. In this study, a multiple model integration scheme supervised with a hybrid genetic algorithm-neural network was developed and employed to predict the accuracy of soil CEC in Tabriz plain, an arid region of Iran. The standalone models and extreme learning machine ) were implemented for (...) incorporation into the MM-GANN. In addition, it was tested to enhance the prediction accuracy of the standalone models. The soil parameters such as clay, silt, pH, carbonate calcium equivalent, and soil organic matter were used as model inputs to predict soil CEC. With the use of several evaluation criteria, the results showed that the MM-GANN model involving the predictions of ELM and ANN models calibrated by considering all the soil parameters as inputs provided superior soil CEC estimates with a Nash Sutcliffe Efficiency = 0.87, Root Mean Square Error = 2.885, Mean Absolute Error = 2.249, Mean Absolute Percentage Error = 12.072, and coefficient of determination = 0.884. The proposed MM-GANN model is a reliable intelligence-based approach for the assessment of soil quality parameters intended for sustainability and management prospects. (shrink)

Many healthcare goods, such as surgical instruments, textiles and gloves, are manufactured in unregulated factories and sweatshops where, amongst other labour rights violations, workers are subject to considerable occupational health risks. In this paper we undertake an ethical analysis of the supply of sweatshop-produced surgical goods to healthcare providers, with a specific focus on the National Health Service of the United Kingdom. We contend that while labour abuses and occupational health deficiencies are morally unacceptable in the production of any commodity, (...) an additional wrong is incurred when the health of certain populations is secured in ways that endanger the health and well-being of people working and living elsewhere. While some measures have been taken to better regulate the supply chain to healthcare providers in the UK, further action is needed to ensure that surgical goods are sourced from suppliers who protect the labour and occupational health rights of their workers. (shrink)

Mitos ve Logos kavramları Antik Yunan uygarlığında söz kavramına karşılık gelen sözcükleri karşılamak için kullanılmıştır. Felsefe tarihinin başlangıcı için yapılan tanımlamalarda ise mitos kavramının yerine logos kavramının tercih edilmesi iki kavram arasında bir farklılığı ortaya koymak için yapılmaktadır. Bu ayrımın nedeni ise mitos’un daha çok dinsel içerikle anılması logos’un ise içerisinde bir tür akılsallık barındırması şeklindeki yorumlarda kendini göstermektedir. Ancak söz konusu ayrımın ilk doğa filozofu/ilk felsefeci olarak nitelendirilen Thales için geçerli olup olmadığı geçmişte olduğu gibi günümüzde de halen tartışılmaktadır. (...) Felsefe tarihi yazımlarında ilk sıraya konan Thales’in anılan kavramları gerçekten farklı şekilde yorumlayıp yorumlamadığı bizce de tartışmaya açık bir husustur. Bu açıdan bakıldığında Thales, söz konusu kavramları iki farklı problemler alanı olarak mı görmüştür? Onun düşüncelerinde kendinden önceki mitolojik mirasın izleri bulunabilir mi? O, katışıksız bir rasyonel midir, yoksa henüz felsefenin yeni filizlendiği bir toplumda bir ara basamağı mı temsil etmektedir? Bu makalenin içerisinde tartışacağımız bu sorular, felsefe tarihinin başlangıcına ilişkin kavramsal arka planın ne olduğu hakkında bize katkı sağlayacaktır. (shrink)

Aversion towards logic is a characteristic feature of the Islamic traditionalists. There is in fact a history of opposition to logic in Islam. As any other areas of history, here also the correct picture will not be achieved unless all of the pieces are put together. In what follows, I am going to shed light on a chapter written by Zayn al-Dīn al-ʿĀmilī (d. 966/1558), the Twelver Shīʿī Scholar better known as al-Shahīd al-Thānī. The chapter not only shows al-Shahīd al-Thānī’s (...) negative stance towards logic, but also is important because it is a part of less studied Shīʿite traditionalists’ tendencies towards logic; those who are considered as the most influential figures in Iranian seminaries from the Safavid period up until today. (shrink)

Before the popularization of the printing press, the circula­tion of commentarial texts across regional borders, especially of Islamic texts outside of the Middle East, remains largely unexplored. This article focuses on the movement of Islamic manuscripts in the Indian Ocean world, from South and East Africa to South and East Asia. Together with merchants, sail­ors, travelers, and commodities, the books also traveled long distances, replete with ideas, stories, dreams, myths, norms, manners, and emotions. What was the role of manuscripts in (...) the expansion of Islam into the premodern oceanic world and in religio-cultural exchanges between central Islamic lands and the larger world? What sorts of books did people access, read, and use, and what did the circulation of these texts imply? I address these questions with a broad focus on the oceanic littoral and Islamic manuscripts and a specific focus on one of the ports and a legal commentary. Based on this analytical exercise of zooming-out and zooming-in between macro- and micro-maritime textual histories anchored in the sixteenth century, I argue that the citations of specific manuscripts reveal the prominence of a transregional circula­tion of certain texts, along with their contextual cultures of reading, writing, producing, and circulating commentaries. (shrink)

The turn to descriptive studies of ethics is inspired by the sense that our ethical theorizing needs to engage ethnography, history, and literature in order to address the full complexity of ethical life. This article examines four books that describe the cultivation of virtue in diverse cultural contexts, two concerning early China and two concerning Islam in recent years. All four emphasize the significance of embodiment, and they attend to the complex ways in which choice and agency interact with the (...) authority of tradition. In considering these books, this article examines the relations between our academic claims concerning the self and ethics, conceptual or theoretical claims made in the elite writings of traditions, and the lived experiences of the people we study. The conclusion turns to our methodological foundations for studying these topics both comparatively and constructively. (shrink)

This article’s central aim is to debunk the overly simplified, paradigmatic, and essentialist description of certain types of Muslim sexuality, arguing that such essentialist characterization of Muslims ignores the nonunique social determinants (poverty, education, and sociostructural exclusions) of HIV/aids risk in an increasingly globalized world. To support this argument, we rely on a thematic and comparative analysis. A reoccurring theme in this project is that issues of public health, human rights, justice, and social empowerment are inextricably intertwined. Having established a (...) conceptual framework linking health and human rights, we use a comparative analysis of the cases of Iran, Indonesia, and Bangladesh in an attempt to single out similarities and differences among these cases. All these cases hold a majority Muslim population (at 98%, 86%, and 89%, respectively) and are also representative of the two primary strands of Islam: Shi’a and Sunni. Additionally, each of these states has signed the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/aids and reports the progress of their HIV/aids treatment and prevention efforts to United Nations Program on HIV/aids, the United Nations organization tasked with monitoring and combating the spread of HIV/aids. (shrink)

Monshipouri examines three paradoxes in the conflict between the legal-political global order and the growth of civil society in the international system: state-building vs. democratization; economic liberalization vs. political liberalization; and human rights vs. state sovereignty.

This study develops a conceptual framework and investigates green human resource practices —green recruitment and selection, green training and development, and green reward and compensation? effects on pro-environmental psychological climate and pro-environmental behavior, which cause green corporate social responsibility. We employ information technology capabilities as a moderator between the GHRM and pro-environmental behavior. It applies a convenience sampling technique and survey questionnaire to collect data from 388 employees at CPEC projects. Results demonstrate that GHRM positively influences pro-environmental psychological climate and (...) pro-environmental behavior that significantly develops GCSR. IT capabilities significantly moderate the relationships between GHRM and pro-environmental behavior. The study findings add to the body of green HRM practices, strategic management, and information processing and policy makers better postulate, align, and exercise their green HRM practices for its synergetic effects for green CSR and sustainability. We also acknowledge some limitations and provide future directions. (shrink)

In this short but meaty book, Peter Unger questions the objective answers that have been given to central problems in philosophy. As Unger hypothesizes, many of these problems are unanswerable, including the problems of knowledge and scepticism, the problems of free will, and problems of causation and explanation. In each case, he argues, we arrive at one answer only relative to an assumption about the meaning of key terms, terms like "know" and like "cause," even while we arrive at an (...) opposite answer relative to quite different assumptions, but equally arbitrary assumptions, about what the key terms mean. (shrink)

Rockburst phenomenon is the primary cause of many fatalities and accidents during deep underground projects constructions. As a result, its prediction at the early design stages plays a significant role in improving safety. The article describes a newly developed model to predict rockburst intensity grade using Adaptive Boosting classifier. A database including 165 rockburst case histories was collected from across the world to achieve a comprehensive representation, in which four key influencing factors such as maximum tangential stress of the excavation (...) boundary, uniaxial compressive strength of rock, tensile rock strength, and elastic energy index were selected as the input variables, and the rockburst intensity grade was selected as the output. The output of the AdaBoost model is evaluated using statistical parameters including accuracy and Cohen's kappa index. The applications for the aforementioned approach for predicting the rockburst intensity grade are compared and discussed. Finally, two real-world applications are used to verify the proposed AdaBoost model. It is found that the prediction results are consistent with the actual conditions of the subsequent construction. (shrink)

The Art of War application to education is about solving problems to improve student and school success. The Art of War describes the significance of a leader and his knowledge and prudent application of the strategies. At the core of theses strategies is the non-negotiable moral purpose of the leader to be reinforced by other fine qualities as wisdom, commitment, discipline, and courage.

The purpose of this study is to find empirical evidence on whether work from home or residential emissions reduces office emissions. Based on existing research the study supports that there are short-term effects on office emissions, i.e., carbon emissions do not outshine the long-term effects. The shift from offices to working from home due to COVID-19 regulations meant more people operating from home as maintaining their position in the market was crucial. The potential research area is to understand how this (...) would affect energy usage and carbon emissions. This study has used a before and after mixed approach to collect data from 301 working-from-home employees and 348 top managers who are responsible for monitoring the employees in a work from home setting. Convenience sampling helped collect responses in a timely manner as offices were not allowing visitors and collecting data in person was difficult, so online surveys were conducted. Work from home reduced usage of office equipment, transportation, pollution, etc. The air quality improved considerably but our findings show that the low emissions were only short-lived. This was not a long-term scenario as organizations kept practicing their operations even at home and the emissions stayed in the environment. Future suggestions and implications are also provided. The results give new insights to researchers in the field of sustainability and the environment. (shrink)

Timetabling problems are specific types of scheduling problems that deal with assigning certain events to the timeslots. This assigning is subject to certain hard constraints that should be achieved to get a feasible timetable and soft constraints that must meet as many as possible during forming a feasible schedule. This paper introduces an adaptive tabu search. Eleven benchmark datasets of the year 2002 are applied to show the effectiveness of the introduced algorithm. These datasets consist of 5-small, 5-medium, and 1-large (...) dataset. As compared to other methods from previous works, the proposed algorithm produces excellent timetables, in comparison with the algorithms as well as the current results, the mathematical results showed the high effectiveness of the suggested algorithm. It has a minor deficit on the medium or the small problem adaptive Tabu, and the tabu search relies on the tabu list and penalty cost when the change in the penalty cost is checked; if it is still unchanged for the period of iterations (1,000 iterations), the tabu list reduces automatically by (−2); furthermore, the tabu list remains constant. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Diacritics 32.3-4 (2002) 33-59 [Access article in PDF] Amnesty or Impunity? A Preliminary Critique of the Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa (TRC) Mahmood Mamdani The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa was the fruit of a political compromise whose terms both made possible the Commission and set the limits within which it would work. These limits, in turn, defined the space available (...) to the Commission to interpret its terms of reference and define its agenda. This paper takes the compromise legislation that set up the TRC as a historical given and focuses attention on the TRC's interpretation of its terms of reference.The TRC claimed to be different from its predecessors, whether in Latin America or Eastern Europe. It would practice neither impunity nor vengeance. It was therefore determined to avoid two pitfalls: on the one hand, reconciliation becoming an unprincipled embrace of political evil and, on the other hand, a pursuit of justice so relentless as to turn into revenge. To do so, the Commission was determined to address both "victims" and "perpetrators," not just one or the other.This double determination was first written into the interim constitution that paved the way for the legislation that set up the TRC. First, there would be no blanket amnesty. Amnesty would be conditional. It would not be a group amnesty. Every perpetrator would have to be identified individually, and would have to own up to his or her guilt—the truth—before receiving amnesty from legal prosecution. Second, any victim who is so acknowledged would give up the right to prosecute perpetrators in courts of law. Justice for the victim would thus not be criminal but restorative: acknowledgment would be followed by reparations. In sum, individual amnesty for the perpetrator, truth for the society, and acknowledgement and reparations for the victim—this was the pact built into the legislation that set up the TRC.Since the Act did not clearly define "victim," however, the definition of "perpetrator" was unclear as well. The task of defining "victim" and "perpetrator" was left to the Commission and was the single most important decision that determined the scope and depth of the Commission's work. Without a comprehensive acknowledgment of victims of apartheid, there would be only a limited identification of perpetrators and only a partial understanding of the legal regime that made possible the "crime against humanity." From this perspective, the paper identifies three key limitations in the Commission's Report.First, the TRC individualized the victims of apartheid. Though it acknowledged apartheid as a "crime against humanity" which targeted entire communities for ethnic and racial policing and cleansing, the Commission majority was reluctant to go beyond the formal acknowledgment. The Commission's analysis reduced apartheid from a relationship between the state and entire communities to one between the state and [End Page 33] individuals. Where entire communities were victims of gross violations of rights, the Commission acknowledged only individual victims. If the "crime against humanity" involved a targeting of entire communities for racial and ethnic cleansing and policing, individualizing the victim obliterated this particular—many would argue central—characteristic of apartheid. Limiting the definition of harm and remedy to individuals center-staged political activists as victims of apartheid, as indeed happened with the victim hearings. The consequence was to narrow the TRC perspective to a political reconciliation between state agents and political activists, individual members of a fractured political elite, rather than the "national unity and reconciliation" mandated by the legislation that set it up. To pursue its actual mandate, the TRC needed to broaden its perspective: to work for a social reconciliation between perpetrators and victims required that the relationship between the state and the entire South African people be addressed.Second, by focusing on individuals and obscuring the victimization of communities, the TRC was unable to highlight the bifurcated nature of apartheid as a form of power that governed natives differently from non-natives. If the apartheid state spoke the language of rights to... (shrink)

“Doğal din” terimi, bazen doğanın kendisinin ilahi olduğu bir panteistik doktrine atıfta bulunur. “Doğal teoloji” terimi ise aksine, başlangıçta gözlemlenen doğal gerçekler temelinde (ve bazen) Tanrı’nın varlığını savunmaya yönelik projeye atıfta bulunur. Bununla birlikte çağdaş felsefede, hem “doğal din” hem de “doğal teoloji” genel olarak, dinî veya teolojik konuları araştırmak için insana, “doğal” olan bilişsel yetilerini – akıl, algı, içgözlem- kullanma projesini ifade eder. Doğal din veya teoloji, mevcut anlayış üzerine, doğayla ilgili ampirik araştırmalarla sınırlı olmamakla birlikte ayrıca panteistik bir (...) sonuçla da bağlantılı değildir. Bununla birlikte o, özel doğal olmayan yetilere (ESP, telepati, mistik deneyim) veya doğaüstü bilgi kaynaklarına (kutsal metinler, vahiy teolojisi, inanç otoriteleri, doğrudan doğaüstü iletişim) hitap etmekten kaçınır. Genel olarak, doğal din veya teoloji (bundan böyle “doğal teoloji” olarak anılacaktır), diğer felsefi ve bilimsel girişimlerle aynı rasyonel inceleme standartlarına uymayı amaçlamaktadır ve aynı değerlendirme ve eleştiri yöntemlerine tabidir. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Diacritics 32.3-4 (2002) 33-59 [Access article in PDF] Amnesty or Impunity? A Preliminary Critique of the Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa (TRC) Mahmood Mamdani The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa was the fruit of a political compromise whose terms both made possible the Commission and set the limits within which it would work. These limits, in turn, defined the space available (...) to the Commission to interpret its terms of reference and define its agenda. This paper takes the compromise legislation that set up the TRC as a historical given and focuses attention on the TRC's interpretation of its terms of reference.The TRC claimed to be different from its predecessors, whether in Latin America or Eastern Europe. It would practice neither impunity nor vengeance. It was therefore determined to avoid two pitfalls: on the one hand, reconciliation becoming an unprincipled embrace of political evil and, on the other hand, a pursuit of justice so relentless as to turn into revenge. To do so, the Commission was determined to address both "victims" and "perpetrators," not just one or the other.This double determination was first written into the interim constitution that paved the way for the legislation that set up the TRC. First, there would be no blanket amnesty. Amnesty would be conditional. It would not be a group amnesty. Every perpetrator would have to be identified individually, and would have to own up to his or her guilt—the truth—before receiving amnesty from legal prosecution. Second, any victim who is so acknowledged would give up the right to prosecute perpetrators in courts of law. Justice for the victim would thus not be criminal but restorative: acknowledgment would be followed by reparations. In sum, individual amnesty for the perpetrator, truth for the society, and acknowledgement and reparations for the victim—this was the pact built into the legislation that set up the TRC.Since the Act did not clearly define "victim," however, the definition of "perpetrator" was unclear as well. The task of defining "victim" and "perpetrator" was left to the Commission and was the single most important decision that determined the scope and depth of the Commission's work. Without a comprehensive acknowledgment of victims of apartheid, there would be only a limited identification of perpetrators and only a partial understanding of the legal regime that made possible the "crime against humanity." From this perspective, the paper identifies three key limitations in the Commission's Report.First, the TRC individualized the victims of apartheid. Though it acknowledged apartheid as a "crime against humanity" which targeted entire communities for ethnic and racial policing and cleansing, the Commission majority was reluctant to go beyond the formal acknowledgment. The Commission's analysis reduced apartheid from a relationship between the state and entire communities to one between the state and [End Page 33] individuals. Where entire communities were victims of gross violations of rights, the Commission acknowledged only individual victims. If the "crime against humanity" involved a targeting of entire communities for racial and ethnic cleansing and policing, individualizing the victim obliterated this particular—many would argue central—characteristic of apartheid. Limiting the definition of harm and remedy to individuals center-staged political activists as victims of apartheid, as indeed happened with the victim hearings. The consequence was to narrow the TRC perspective to a political reconciliation between state agents and political activists, individual members of a fractured political elite, rather than the "national unity and reconciliation" mandated by the legislation that set it up. To pursue its actual mandate, the TRC needed to broaden its perspective: to work for a social reconciliation between perpetrators and victims required that the relationship between the state and the entire South African people be addressed.Second, by focusing on individuals and obscuring the victimization of communities, the TRC was unable to highlight the bifurcated nature of apartheid as a form of power that governed natives differently from non-natives. If the apartheid state spoke the language of rights to... (shrink)

The 2019 Pandemic has forced students to take online classes, increasing their stress levels and negatively impacting their academic performance. This issue urges the development of a mechanism to make online learning more effective in this nerve-racking time. Therefore, the present study has integrated the task technology fit model and the DeLone and McLean Model of Information Systems Success to address the stated issue. The data were collected from 330 and 326 students of top-ranked public and private universities of Punjab, (...) respectively. The theoretical framework was analyzed with the help of structural equation modeling using Analysis of Moment Structures. The findings indicate that overall quality positively predicts performance through the mediating role of user satisfaction and TTF. The overall quality also positively elevates performance through the mediating role of user satisfaction and actual usage of the system. Moreover, perceived usefulness proved to be a moderator between overall quality and user satisfaction. Finally, the expected practical and theoretical implications have also been discussed. (shrink)

Modal ontolojik argüman, Tanrı’nın varlığını sadece bilfiil gerçek olan bu dünyada değil, bütün mümkün dünyalarda göstermeye yönelik bir argümandır. Anselm’in (1033-1109) Proslogion adlı eserinin 3. bölümünde “kendisinden daha büyüğü düşünülemeyen” şeklinde tanımlanan; Tanrı’nın var olmamasının da düşünülemeyeceğini, bu yüzden de varolmamasının imkansızlığı üzerinde kurulu yeni bir argüman bulunduğunu öne süren bazı araştırmacılar, bu argümanı mümkün dünyalar semantiği yardımıyla formüle edip, “modal ontolojik argüman” şeklinde adlandırmışlardır. Çok farklı şekillerde formüle edilmiş bu argüman kabaca Tanrı’nın mümkünse zorunlu olması, dolayısıyla bilfiil gerçek olan (...) bu dünyada da var olması gerektiğini savunur. (shrink)

Çağdaş epistemoloji içerisinde, dışsalcı, güvenilirci ve erdeme dayalı epistemolojik tartışmaların bir benzerini, dini epistemoloji içerisinde etkili bir şekilde yer edinen ve reformcu epistemoloji olarak bilinen yaklaşım üzerinden görebilmek mümkündür. Alvin Plantinga, Nicholas Wolterstorff ve William Alston gibi filozofların öne çıktığı bu yaklaşımın ana iddiası, kanıta ya da argümana dayanmaksızın, Tanrı’nın varlığına inanmanın bütünüyle doğru, rasyonel, makul ve güvenilir olacağı şeklindeki bir tezdir. Kanıtın, gerekçelendirme için zorunlu bir koşul olmadığı fikri, algısal deneyimlerin gerekçelendirilmesine benzer şekilde, dini deneyimlerin de öyle olduğu ve (...) dolayısıyla, aynı epistemik statüye sahip olması gerektiğini öne süren, eşitlik tezine dayanır. İlk ortaya çıktığı günden bugüne, üzerinde çokça konuşulan ve tartışılan bir yaklaşım olan reformcu epistemoloji, özellikle son beş yıl içerisinde, oldukça farklı bir hale gelmiştir. Zira bu yaklaşımı, kanıtsalcılıkla uyumlu, erdem epistemolojisiyle bağlantılı ve diğer teistik dinler üzerinden değerlendiren yeni çalışmalar ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu nedenle, bu makalede, reformcu epistemoloji ana hatlarıyla ele alınmıştır. Beraberinde, ona yöneltilen itirazlara değinilmiş ve sonrasında, bahsi geçen yenilik iddiaları soruşturulmaya çalışılmıştır. Son olarak, teistik inancın rasyonalitesiyle ilgili, farklı bir bakış açısı sunulmuştur. (shrink)

Studies of epistemic communities and collaborative research in the social sciences have deepened the understanding of how science works, and more specifically how the social dimensions of scientific practice both enable and impede social scientists in realizing their epistemic goals. Two types of studies of epistemic communities are distinguished: general theories of epistemic communities aim to construct accounts of theoretical change applicable to all social scientific specialties, whereas historical studies emphasize the contingencies that affect specific social scientific disciplines, subfields, or (...) institutions. Although collaborative research plays a less pronounced role in the social sciences than in the natural sciences, collaboration has enabled social scientists to investigate topics that would otherwise be difficult to investigate. (shrink)

One of the most consequential American Presidential elections in recentyears saw nominees Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democrat nominee;and Donald J. Trump, the Republican nominee battle head to head forthe honour to occupy the Oval Office. The 2016 Presidential campaignwas hard fought and could be categorized as one candidate running forthe Presidency while espousing the best of America while the otherstarted his run by latching onto the fears, insecurity, and the frustrationsof Americans and eventually rode that fear to victory.

The article examines Thomas Kuhn's work in the history of science with special attention to its relevance to subsequent developments in social epistemology. The article begins with a discussion of Kuhn's historical work, and the so-called historical turn in philosophy of science. It then examines Kuhn's views on textbook science, followed by an analysis of Kuhn's views on the relationship between the history of science and the philosophy of science. Then it discusses Kuhn's contributions to our understanding of the social (...) dimensions of scientific inquiry. Finally, it discusses his influence on the social epistemology of science and the sociology of science. (shrink)

We develop the concept “political residency” in this essay to highlight both the foundational role of built environments in our political life as well as how access to, and displacement from, built environments is therefore a central feature of political harms and goods. The example of housing and housing displacement is instructive for developing our concept because it is central to most people’s everyday life, yet residential security and stability—having control with other inhabitants over shared, built spaces—is often missing from (...) peoples’ lives, especially those who are most socially and politically vulnerable. (shrink)

Epistemolojik olarak bilgiye başvuran ve bilme faaliyetinde bulunan insanın, Kur’an’da önemli bir yeri vardır. Buradaki bilme faaliyetini, salt teolojik bir buyruk olarak, yani Allah’ı bilmek olarak değil, doğru bilgi ile yanlış bilgi arasında hem teorik hem de ahlaki bir farklılık olarak anlamak ve Kur’an'da insana epistemik özellikler atfedildiğini ve böylece insanın epistemik başarılarından dolayı övüldüğünü söyleyebilmek mümkündür. Bu açıdan bakıldığında herhangi bir önermeye yönelik olarak rasyonel bir tutum benimseyen, yani bilen özne ile bu faaliyette isteyerek ve istemeyerek giren kişinin durumu (...) arasında bir fark olduğu açıktır. Doğrusu bu farkın epistemik önceliği kadar, ahlaki önceliği de dikkate değerdir. Nitekim buradaki ahlaki üstünlük, doğru bilgiyi hedefleme ve ona ulaşma noktasında ortaya çıkan erdemdir. Doğru bilgiye ulaşmanın entelektüel bir erdem olduğu düşünüldüğünde, Kur’an’ın Erdem epistemolojisi üzerinden değerlendirilmesi bu noktada önemlidir. Doğrusu erdemli bir bilişsel faaliyet, Kur'an’da açık bir şekilde ana fikir olarak ortaya konulur ve buna göre cehaletten kaçınmak ve doğru bilgiye ulaşmak için erdemli bir çaba göstermek önem taşır. Kur’an’daki ifadeleri bilgeliğe ulaşmak olarak anlayacak olursak, asıl hedef; bilgi ve anlayışımızın, entelektüel ve ahlaki vicdanımızı veya takvamızı güçlendirmesi için kullanılabileceği söylenilebilir ve bu inanç, erdem epistemolojisine dayalı bir yaklaşım içerisinde şekillendirilebilir. (shrink)

The purpose of this study is to understand how leader humility effectively stimulates follower creativity in the workplace during the coronavirus disease 2019 scenario. Relying on social cognitive and social information processing theories, this study investigates how leader humility cultivates follower self-efficacy and follower creativity. Furthermore, it explores an intervening mechanism of follower self-efficacy and examines a moderating role of leader proactive personality. The hypothesized model is empirically tested by collecting the data from 405 employees and 87 managers working in (...) the banking sector of Pakistan. The results indicate that leader humility is positively related to follower self-efficacy and follower creativity, which improve the organization’s innovation climate and an environment for social sustainability. Follower self-efficacy is also significantly related to follower creativity. The mediation analysis shows that follower self-efficacy mediates the relationship between leader humility and follower creativity. Additionally, leader proactive personality moderates the relation between follower self-efficacy and follower creativity. This study highlights the importance of leader humility for creativity and extends the literature by explaining the role of self-efficacy. Furthermore, the findings may assist the policymakers in how a humble leader heightens employee creativity and social sustainability in COVID-19. (shrink)

Güvenilirci (reliabilist) bilgi teorisi, çağdaş epistemik gerekçelendirme kuramları içerisinde, dışsalcı (externalist) kuramın bir türü olarak kendisine yer bulmaktadır. Kısaca, bir inancı gerekçelendiren şeyin o inancın oluşturulduğu sürecin güvenilirliği olduğunu öne süren bu yaklaşım, bu bilişsel süreçleri özne dışı unsurlara bağladığı içinde dışsalcı bir pozisyonda yer almaktadır. Bu bilgi teorisinin tam karşı konumunda yer alan içselci (internalist) bilgi teorisi ise, özne merkezli bir yaklaşımla, doğru inancı gerekçelendirecek yöntemin, kişinin kendi zihinsel yapısından yola çıkarak, belli kognitif süreçler sonucunda ulaşılabileceğini öne sürmektedir. Epistemik (...) gerekçelendirme kuramları içerisinde birçok tartışmada kendisine yer bulan bu iki bilgi teorisi, kendi içerisinde de birçok farklı kurama kapı aralamıştır. Burada içselci bilgi teorisinden ortaya çıkan erişim içselciliği, farkındalık içselciliği gibi kuramları ve dışsalcı bilgi teorisinden ortaya çıkan süreç güvenilirciliği, gösterge güvenilirciliği ve erdem güvenilirciliği gibi farklı türden kuramları örnek olarak verebiliriz. Öte yandan çağdaş epistemolojideki bu tartışmalar, dini epistemoloji içerisinde de kendisine yer bulmuştur. Özellikle Alvin Plantinga, kendi dini epistemolojisi içerisinde dışsalcı bir tutum sergilemiş ve son dönem çalışmaları içerisinde de güvenilirci bir anlayışla Tanrı inancının epistemik mahiyetini ortaya koymaya çalışmıştır. Bu makalede öncelikle dışsalclık ve onun bir türü olan güvenilirci bilgi anlayışını ve bu kuramlara getirilen eleştirileri ele almaya çalışacağız, daha sonra A. Plantinga’nın son dönem dini epistemolojisinin de yönünü belirleyen güvence (warrant) kavramını açıklayıp, bu kavramın bütün teist dinlere uygulanabilirliğini sorgulayacağız. (shrink)

Improved governance in any economy indicates government stability, secured law and order, and minimum internal and external conflicts. A higher level of governance may demonstrate the healthy performance of economic activities and tax revenue collection. Hence, it is vital to investigate the relationship between governance and tax revenue collection in any developing country. Therefore, we aim to investigate the impact of governance on tax revenue in Pakistan using control variables inflation and industrial value-added. The Autoregressive Distributive Lag cointegration technique is (...) utilized to find the long- and short-run effects of hypothesized variables on the tax revenue using a period 1976–2019. After employing a cointegration on the hypothesized model, the results expose that government stability, law and order, and internal and external conflicts leave a positive and significant impact on tax revenue in the long and short run. Hence, it is concluded that governance is an essential source in expanding tax revenue in Pakistan. Moreover, industrial value-added and inflation also show positive effects on the tax revenue. On the grounds of these results, it is proposed that the government should make serious efforts to improve governance and industrial activities for better tax revenue collection. (shrink)

The unsettling fear of COVID-19 infections has caused a new trend in consumer behavior in the food and beverage industry. The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has shifted consumers’ preferences from eat-in to online delivery. This research aims to measure the impact of consumers’ motivation to protect themselves from contracting COVID-19, which explains why people switch from eat-in to online food delivery. We adopted the theory of protection motivation to explain consumer switching behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study investigated the (...) mediating effect of switching intention on the relationship between vulnerability, altruistic fear, anticipated regret, and switching behavior. Simultaneously, we examined the role of brand awareness as a moderator of behavioral choices of consumers switching from eat-in to online delivery. We collected data from 681 eatery consumers in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia, using scenario-based survey questionnaires. Then, the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. This new generation analysis was conducted using the analysis of moment structure and the statistical package for social science. The results indicated that consumer vulnerability, altruistic fear, and anticipated regret of COVID-19 increased consumers’ propensity to shift from eat-in to online food delivery. Allegedly, consumer behavioral control and intention of switching toward online delivery were pointedly affected by switching behavior. The results indicated that consumer vulnerability, altruistic fear, and anticipated regret of COVID-19 increased the shifting of restaurant dine-in patterns and made the intention to switch to online delivery. Consumers’ alleged behavioral control and their intention of switching toward online delivery were pointedly affected by switching behavior. We also found that brand awareness moderately affects switching behavior toward restaurant settings. The present research contributes to developing the consumer behavior model of switching from eat-in to online delivery. This study also provides eatery customers and the business community with a safer and healthier proposition of shifting to online food delivery during the pandemic. (shrink)

Hristiyan inancı içerisinde merkezi konuma sahip olan mevzulardan birisi de, İsa’nın ölümünden üç gün sonra diriltildiğine yönelik olan inançtır. Hristiyan eskatolojisinin de dayanak noktasını oluşturan bu mevzu, dinler tarihi ya da teoloji gibi disiplinlerin içerisinde tartışıldığı gibi, çeşitli Hristiyan düşünürlerce, din felsefesi disiplini içerisinde de tartışılmıştır. Din felsefesi açısından bakıldığında, konunun merkezi konumda olması, bu mevzunun rasyonel bir zeminde tartışılıp tartışılamayacağını da beraberinde getirmektedir. Bu bağlamda, özellikle din felsefesi içerisinde birçok Hristiyan düşünür tarafından konu ele alınmış ve farklı çevrelerce de (...) mevzuya yönelik karşı itirazlar dile getirilmiştir. Bu noktada yapılan tartışmaların içeriğine baktığımızda, mucize kavramı önem taşımakla birlikte, Hristiyan düşünürlerin argüman haline getirdikleri ve bir delil olarak öne sürdükleri “Boş mezar” ve “Tanıklıklar gibi birçok farklı husususun din felsefesi açısından tartışıldığını söyleyebiliriz. Ayrıca bazı ateist düşünürlerin bu delillere yönelik itirazları olmakla birlikte, bazı Hristiyan tarihçilerinde konuya ilişkin ciddi itirazları bulunmaktadır. Biz de bu makalemizde, İsa’nın ölümünden sonra dirilişinin rasyonel bir şekilde izahının nasıl olabileceği sorusunu merkeze alıp, konuyu Hristiyan düşünürlerin bakış açısından değerlendirmeye çalıştık. Bu noktada İslam gibi farklı dinlerde ve farklı anlatılarda karşımıza çıkan Hz. İsa figürünü konumuzun dışında tuttuğumuzu ayrıca belirtelim. Çünkü bizim yazımızın konusunu oluşturan kişi Hristiyan inancındaki İsa ve bu din içerisinde önem taşıyan kutsal metinler ve bu metinlerde geçen anlatılar oldu. Bu açıdan bakıldığında yazımız içerisinde, konuya ilişkin doğrudan bir teoloji ya da dinler tarihi çerçevesinde değerlendirme yapmaktan çok, din felsefesi içerisinde bize sunulan tartışmalardan yola çıkarak eleştirilerimizi ve tahlillerimizi dile getirmeye çalıştığımızı ifade edebiliriz. (shrink)

Flipped Learning is a pedagogical model that leverages technology-enhanced instruction inside and outside of class time to maximize student engagement and learning during class time. This study investigated the effectiveness of ICT-supported Flipped learning in an EFL context in Northern Iraq to contribute to sustainable personalized language learning. The participants were EFL students and teachers of a primary school in Raniyah. The study employed an experimental method to collect student data and a teacher questionnaire. The results indicated that Flipped learning (...) had statistically significant effects on the students’ academic performance and achievement. The mean scores of the post-tests scored higher than that of the pre-test. The mean scores of the EG with for the fifth grade and for the sixth grade were much higher than those of the CGs for the fifth grade and for the sixth grade which indicated that FL had a statistically great impact on the students’ academic performance and their product improvement. Besides, the results of the t-test showed a significant difference in performance between students in both EGs and CGs; the participants outstripped statistically significant on the post-test compared to the pre-test. The majority of the participants’ attitudes were positive toward Flipped learning, and they remarked that it had a significant role in learning compared to the conventional classes. The participant teachers quoted positive views on Flipped learning over traditional classes. (shrink)

The aim of the present research is studying the relationship between the salespersons’ ethical philosophy and their ethical decision-making process and seeks to answer two fundamental questions: first, what is the ethical philosophy of salespersons? And second, how does the salespersons’ ethical philosophy affect their ethical decision-making process? Statistical population of this research is salespersons who have passed the sales training course at the Department of Commerce Research Centre. One hundred thirty-seven questionnaires of total 300 accessible populations were analyzed through (...) path analysis method. The findings indicate that most salespersons are idealists. Although this idealism affects the ethical judgment directly, but the effect of relativism on ethical intention is more considerable. (shrink)

Though the current research stream has provided some risk factors for envy at the workplace, little is still known about the drivers and consequences of envy. Based on Vecchio’s theory, this study investigates the ripple effect of the span of supervision on envy. Moreover, it sheds light on the moderating role of meaningful work in their relationship. The data comprising sample size 439 were collected from confrères of four fast food companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Pakistan. Partial Least (...) Square Structural Equation Modeling technique was implemented through SmartPLS 3.3.2 to analyze the measurement and structural relationships. The results demonstrate that a narrow span of supervision will increase work engagement, and reduce instigated incivility via decreasing envy and resource depletion in sequence. Moreover, meaningful work would help regulate the inimical stream of dénouement of envy. Theoretical and practical implications, along with the limitations and future directions, have also been discussed. (shrink)