This article reports on a case-based, longitudinal study of the micro-foundations of business sustainability development in the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in the turbulent years between 2002 and 2012. The study proposes an emerging 3-i process model, mapping the role of bounded, shared, and embedded intentionality; operational, functional, and strategic integration; and constraining, accelerating, and stabilizing institutionality as they relate to the micro-foundations underpinning the development of corporate sustainability from an operational capability to as a dynamic capability as it (...) evolved across multiple levels of context and over time. The research extends extant literature exploring transformations toward sustainability as part of the strategic change process, the micro-foundations of capabilities as well as discussions on sustainability and temporality. (shrink)

We develop a process-based framework, articulating the escalation of difference between “private” self and “public” display as an alternative trajectory in the pursuit of authenticity to alignment and compromise. A parsimonious model presents an endogenous dynamic of binary choice that generates momentum toward polarization. The model is illustrated in the context of “black” metal – a branch of heavy metal music that appeared in Norway in the early 1990s, notorious for its involvement in criminal activities. Using fanzine data, we construct (...) a narrative of how a process of escalation led to innovation and transgression through self-selection and exclusion. The analysis addresses two related theoretical problems – what motivates actors to challenge normative scripts and “burn the bridges” to social acceptance, and why such challenges may prove more effective in achieving recognition than compromise. Examples from politics, culture and sports reinforce the importance of these problems. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to highlight the rationale behind the use of data from neuroscience, particularly neuroimaging, in psychiatric legal expert procedures and their interference with the mind-brain problem.The critical argument is that the employment of mental health evaluation of the defendants and/or witnesses as collected with clinical assessment methods in court proceedings should not be considered irrespective to the data from neuroscience. Essentially, neuroscience methods belong to the domain of nomothetic (natural explanatory) knowledge, whereas clinical evaluation methods (...) in psychiatry belong to the domain of intra- and inter-subjective narratives. There exists an explanatory gap between those two groups of disciplines which concerns the ability to translate and integrate data across diverse methodological and terminological systems. Furthermore, it depends largely on the implicit positions in the mind-brain debate and the brain-to-behavior connections, which reflect on the professional and legal reasoning in terms of prioritizing certain solutions or approaches over another in the expert judgements. There are described those tacit positions adopted in the mind-brain debate by different traditions in psychiatry, with special emphasis on reductive and non-reductive forms of physicalism.In conclusion, a cognitive pluralist stance is adopted which sets priority for the supervenience theory of mind. (shrink)

The article compares Pope Francis's encyclical “LAUDATO SI” (2015) and the report by the Club of Rome, “”ome On!: Capitalism, Short-termism, Population and the Destruction of the Planet” (2018), in how they harness the narrative potential of the concept of home. Both with overtly religious and entirely secular arguments, the narrative of our common home is presented as a possible alternative to the prevailing narrative of growth today. The metaphor of home possesses not only conceptual but also generative power to (...) offer concrete solutions to two of humanity's most pressing issues today: the problem of waste and the problem of climate change. The narrative of home activates the power of local places while simultaneously seeking global balance on a worldwide scale. The study focuses on how the narrative of home transforms the relationship with places and the balance between the local and the global. (shrink)

The article examines the concept of “revolving ownership” as a metamodel of property, whose structure allows for the interchange (rotation) of diverse components included in it, each capable of achieving different objectives through varied means. It is noted that the metamodel of revolving ownership can be utilized in the creation and structuring of property models over specific entities, necessitating consideration of specific social and environmental factors. In this context, a distinction is made between yang-ownership (“classic” private ownership used as an (...) instrument for growth through extraction and accumulation, analogous to so-called “extractive” ownership) and yin-ownership (engaged possession involving a healthful balance between rights and obligations, i.e., flexible distribution of various components aimed at achieving sustainable equilibrium, analogous to the so-called “generative” ownership). The thesis is presented that the sooner the “proprietary” nature of yang-ownership is overcome, yielding to its dominance through the integration of balancing yin-components, the more easily and effectively legal professionals can propose novel and diverse ownership models. The recognition and acknowledgment of the complexity of nature imply greater intricacy in contemporary property law. It is time for property law to reconsider its unquestionable axioms and seek an appropriate solution to the challenges humanity faces today. (shrink)

Biomolecules and particularly proteins and DNA exhibit some mysterious features that cannot find satisfactory explanation by quantum mechanical modes of atoms. One of them, known as a Levinthal’s paradox, is the ability to preserve their complex three-dimensional structure in appropriate environments. Another one is that they possess some unknown energy mechanism. The Basic Structures of Matter Supergravitation Unified Theory (BSM-SG) allows uncovering the real physical structures of the elementary particles and their spatial arrangement in atomic nuclei. The resulting physical models (...) of the atoms are characterized by the same interaction energies as the quantum mechanical models, while the structure of the elementary particles influence their spatial arrangement in the nuclei. The resulting atomic models with fully identifiable parameters and angular positions of the quantum orbits permit studying the physical conditions behind the structural and bonding restrictions of the atoms connected in molecules. A new method for a theoretical analysis of biomolecules is proposed. The analysis of a DNA molecule leads to formulation of hypotheses about the energy storage mechanism in DNA and its role in the cell cycle synchronization. This permits shedding a light on the DNA feature known as a C-value paradox. The analysis of a tRNA molecule leads to formulation of a hypothesis about a binary decoding mechanism behind the 20 flavors of the complex aminoacyle-tRNA synthetases - tRNA, known as a paradox. (shrink)

The book consists of an Introduction, Three Parts (Part One “Lifetime and Society's Suffering: A Sociology of Generativity”; Part Two “The Generative World: Perspectives on Genetic Phenomenology” and Part Three “Promulgation of Generative Time: Towards a Phenomenological Critique of Biocapitalism”) and Epilogue. As the exhibition progresses, there is an increasing relevance of the subject of research, reaching a socio-analytical and critical review of fully presented events in contemporary times such as the global pandemic caused by COVID-19 (2020 – 2022) and (...) the war in Ukraine (2022 – 2023). Special emphasis in the review are the socalled “aporias” of the category of property when it is applied to one's own body. They are the subject of exposition in Chapter Seven, entitled “Biocapitalism and the World of Life”. (shrink)

According to the BSM- Supergravitation Unified Theory (BSM-SG), the energy is indispensable feature of matter, while the matter possesses hierarchical levels of organization from a simple to complex forms, with appearance of fields at some levels. Therefore, the energy also follows these levels. At the fundamental level, where the primary energy source exists, the matter is in its primordial form, where two super-dense fundamental particles (FP) exist in a classical pure empty space (not a physical vacuum). They are associated with (...) the Planck scale parameters of frequency and distance and interact by Supergravitational forces. These forces are inverse proportional to the cube of distance at pure empty space and they are based on frequency interactions. Since the two FPs have different intrinsic frequencies, the SG forces appear different for interactions between the like and unlike FPs and may change the sign. This primordial form of matter exists in the super-heavy black holes located in the center of each well formed galaxy. The next upper level of matter organization includes the underlying structure of the physical vacuum, called a Cosmic Lattice, and the structure of elementary particles. They have common substructure elements obtained by specific crystallization process preceding the formation of the observable galaxies. The Cosmic Lattice, forming a space known as a physical vacuum, is responsible for the existence and propagation of the physical fields: electrical, magnetic, Newtonian gravity and inertia. The energy of physical vacuum is in two forms: Static (enormous) and Dynamic (weak). The Static energy is directly related to the Newtonian mass by the Einstein equation E = mc^2 and it is a primary source of the nuclear energy. The Dynamic energy is responsible for the existence of the electric and magnetic fields, the constant speed of light and the quantum mechanical properties of the physical vacuum. The next upper energy level is the dynamical energy of excited atoms and molecules. At this level a hidden energy wells exit, such as the internal energy of the electron and the internal energy of atoms with more than one electron. The next upper energy level is at some organic molecules and particularly in the biomolecules that contain ring atomic structures. In such a structure, some quantum states are not emitted immediately, but rotating in the ring. While in organic molecules the energy stored in such a ring is released by a chemical process, in the long chain molecule of proteins in the living organism the stored energy can be released simultaneously by triggering. A huge number of atomic rings are contained in the DNA strands. The release of the energy stored in DNA, for example, is an avalanche process that causes an emission of entangled photons possessing a strong penetrating capability. A sequence of entangled photons emitted by DNA should carry the genetic information encoded by the cordons. This mechanism, predicted in BSM-SG theory, is very important for intercommunication between the cells of the living organism. The next upper level of energy organization may exist in the brain. The brain is an organ of a most abundant number of atomic rings, while its tissue environment might permit complex energy interactions. The human brain contains billions of atomic rings. The next hypothetical upper level of energy organization is an information field, physically existed outside, but connected with the living brain. It corresponds to a specific field known as aura, while the possibility of its existence is still not accepted by the main stream science. The problem is that this field could not be detected by the currently existing technical means used for EM communications. The BSM-SG predicts that this field might differ from the EM field we use for communication, but it is a subject of a further theoretical development that must be supported by experiments using specifically designed technical means. According to the BSM-SG theory, the energy conversion from the primary energy source to the complex levels of matter and field organization is a permanent syntropic process based on complex resonance interactions. (shrink)

According to the BSM Supergravitation Unified Theory, the physical vacuum contains energy that is not of electromagnetic origin. The Heterodyne Resonance Mechanism (HRM) predicted by the theory permits access to this hidden energy by a process involving the anomalous magnetic moment and the quantum mechanical spin flipping of the electron. Plasma experiments and analysis of lightning observations indicate that the HRM effect could be involved in the natural lightning phenomena. Although the energy density of this hidden source is much smaller (...) than nuclear energy, the opportunity to access this energy will lead to some new practical applications. The derived physical model of the HRM effect provides the opportunity for development of new technologies. This book could be an useful handbook for researchers and experimenters. (shrink)

Remarkable advances in cold fusion, known also as LENR, raised the hope for a safer and cheaper nuclear energy. The results, however, cannot be explained from the point of view of current physical understanding of nuclear fusion. This is an obstacle for research investment in this field. The present book suggests a new approach for analysis of the experimental results and practical recommendations based on the models of atomic nuclei derived in the BSM-Supergravitation Unified theory (BSM-SG). The book provides: (1) (...) a method for analysis of the LENR experiments using the BSM-SG atomic models; (b) a selection of isotopes suitable for a more efficient energy yield with a minimum of radioactive byproducts; (c) practical considerations for selection of the technical method and the reaction environment. (shrink)

The text aims to explore the soteriological nature of the ascetic views of two of the most remarkable ascetic fathers. Based on a comparative analysis, are traced the general moments in their writings, as well as their differences, which outline the development of the ascetic tradition from antiquity to the present day. Abba Dorotheos conveys the ascetic experience of the Egyptian ascetics of the sixth century, the core of which is the spiritual struggle, the cutting off of passions and the (...) acquiring of virtues. At the heart of the Christian feat, St. Porphyrios places the love for God, which transforms passions, converts evil and deifies man, with the focus being not on the fight against the passions, but on Christ and the communion with Him. Sacraments, prayer, worship lead one to praise and contemplation of God. In the words of St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalivia the correlation between soteriology and ecclesiology is much more clearly expressed. (shrink)

In ”Skepticism,” Peter Klein distinguishes between the “Academic Skeptic” who proposes that we cannot have knowledge of a certain set of propositions and the “Pyrrhonian Skeptic” who refrains from opining about whether we can have knowledge. Klein argues that Academic Skepticism is plausibly supported by a “Closure Principle‐style” argument based on the claim that if x entails y and S has justification for x, then S has justification for y. He turns to contextualism to see if it can contribute to (...) the discussion between one who claims that we can have knowledge about some epistemically interesting class of propositions and the Academic Skeptic. He outlines the background of Pyrrhonian Skepticism, pointing out that the Pyrrhonist withholds assent concerning our knowledge‐bearing status because reason cannot provide an adequate basis for assent. He assesses three possible patterns of reasoning, and concludes that the Pyrrhonist view, that reason cannot resolve matters concerning the nonevident, is vindicated. (shrink)

In this important new book in the IPPP series, a group of leading thinkers in psychiatry, psychology, and philosophy offer alternative perspectives that address both the scientific and clinical aspects of psychiatric validation, emphasizing throughout their philosophical and historical considerations.

The contemporary epistemic status of mental health disciplines does not allow the cross validation of mental disorders among various genetic markers, biochemical pathway or mechanisms, and clinical assessments in neuroscience explanations. We attempt to provide a meta-empirical analysis of the contemporary status of the cross-disciplinary issues existing between neuro-biology and psychopathology. Our case studies take as an established medical mode an example cross validation between biological sciences and clinical cardiology in the case of myocardial infarction. This is then contrasted with (...) the incoherence between neuroscience and psychiatry in the case of bipolar disorders. We examine some methodological problems arising from the neuro-imaging studies, specifically the experimental paradigm introduced by the team of Wayne Drevets. Several theoretical objections are raised: temporal discordance, state independence, and queries about the reliability and specificity, and failure of convergent validity of the inter-disciplinary attempt. Both modern neuroscience and clinical psychology taken as separate fields have failed to reveal the explanatory mechanisms underlying mental disorders. The data acquired inside the mono-disciplinary matrices of neurobiology and psychopathology are deeply insufficient concerning their validity, reliability, and utility. Further, there haven’t been developed any effective trans-disciplinary connections between them. It raises the requirement for development of explanatory significant multi-disciplinary “meta-language” in psychiatry (Berrios, 2006, 2008). We attempt to provide a novel conceptual model for an integrative dialogue between psychiatry and neuroscience that actually includes criteria for cross-validation of the common used psychiatric categories and the different assessment methods. The major goal of our proactive program is the foundation of complementary “bridging” connections of neuroscience and psychopathology which may stabilize the cognitive meta-structure of the mental health knowledge. This entails bringing into synergy the disparate discourses of clinical psychology and neuroscience. One possible model accomplishment of this goal would be the synergistic (or at least compatible) integration of the knowledge under trans-disciplinary convergent cross-validation of the commonly used methods and notions. (shrink)

If institutional heterogeneity tends overall to reduce survival chances, it may also persist and be harnessed to good use. This article investigates this ambivalence by looking at how institutional heterogeneity emerges, develops, and survives. An inductive study of the “Metropolitan Opera” archives suggests that what enables heterogeneity to survive and to withstand the pressure for homogenization is its inherent potential for “multivocality.” The analysis shows how institutional discrepancies were bridged over through an opportunistic, “multivocal” action pattern, whereby the organization maneuvered (...) between conflicting institutional demands, seeking to minimize dependence on any single constituency or evaluation principle. Maintaining discretionary options is essential in multi-dimensional space, where ambiguity makes optimization impractical. The trade-off in this action pattern includes remarkable adaptability and operational inefficiencies. (shrink)

Bioethics needs an expanded moral vision. It is now time for bioethics to take full account of the problems of health disparities and structural injustice that are made newly urgent by the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of climate change. Nancy M. P. King, Gail E. Henderson, and Larry R. Churchill make the case for a more social understanding and application of justice, a deeper humility in assessing expertise in bioethics consulting, a broader and more relevant research agenda, and greater (...) appreciation of the profound health implications of global warming. (shrink)

First published in 1982, this reissue contains a critical exposition of the views of Frege, Dedekind and Peano on the foundations of arithmetic. The last quarter of the 19th century witnessed a remarkable growth of interest in the foundations of arithmetic. This work analyses both the reasons for this growth of interest within both mathematics and philosophy and the ways in which this study of the foundations of arithmetic led to new insights in philosophy and striking advances in logic. This (...) historical-critical study provides an excellent introduction to the problems of the philosophy of mathematics - problems which have wide implications for philosophy as a whole. This reissue will appeal to students of both mathematics and philosophy who wish to improve their knowledge of logic. (shrink)

This book views Green's philosophical opus through his public life and political commitments. It demonstrates how his main ethical and political conceptions -- his idea of 'self realisation' and his theory of individuality within community -- were informed by evangelical theology, popular Protestantism and an idea of the English national consciousness as formed by religious conflict. While the significance of Kant and Hegel is acknowledged, it is argued that 'indigenous' qualities of Green's teachings resonated with Victorian Liberal values.

First published in 1987. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

As a preliminary step to beginning to assess the usefulness of clinical vignettes to measure ethical sensitivity in undergraduate medical students, five clinical vignettes with seven to nine ethical issues each were created. The ethical issues in the vignettes were discussed and outlined by an expert panel. One randomly selected vignette was presented to first, second and third year students at the University of Toronto as part of another examination. The students were asked to list the issues presented by the (...) patient problem. Responses from 281 students were obtained. These students identified an average of 2.72 ethical issues per vignette. Each response was classified under the domains of autonomy, beneficence and justice. Comparisons were made between classes and between vignettes. There was considerable variation between classes and the responses to different vignettes seem to indicate that different vignettes measure the various domains in different ways. It does appear that the use of vignettes is one way to measure aspects of ethical sensitivity in medical students but more study is required to clarify exactly what is being measured. (shrink)

An instrument to assess 'ethical sensitivity' has been developed. The instrument presents four clinical vignettes and the respondent is asked to list the ethical issues related to each vignette. The responses are classified, post hoc, into the domains of autonomy, beneficence and justice. This instrument was used in 1990 to assess the ethical sensitivity of students in all four medical classes at the University of Toronto. Ethical sensitivity, as measured by this instrument, is not related to age or grade-point average. (...) Sensitivity increases between the 1st and 2nd year and then decreases throughout the rest of undergraduate medical training, such that the 4th-year students identify fewer issues than those entering medical school. Students expressing a career choice of family medicine identify more issues than their peers. Several problems with the use of the instrument and the interpretation of the data were found. Nonetheless, these findings, if reproducible, are important and their meaning needs further discussion. (shrink)

Engineering is 'the people-serving profession'. The work of engineers involves interaction with clients, other engineers, and the public at large. More than any other profession, their work also directly involves and affects the environment. This book makes the case that engineers have special professional obligations to protect and enhance the environment, and the authors - one, an engineer and the other, a philosopher - seek to provide an ethical basis for these obligations. In exploring these ethical issues, the authors aim (...) to show that engineers make a difference. The text opens with a series of case studies in which engineers face complex and challenging decisions about the environment. Succeeding chapters examine different ideas about environmental ethics for engineers, including professional codes and both modern and historical discussions of environmental responsibility. The book concludes with a collection of readings that complement the text. Students, as well as practising engineers, will find much of interest in this well-argued and thought-provoking book. (shrink)

This is the first book to take a comprehensive look at white collar criminal offenses from the perspective of moral and legal theory. Focussing on the way in which key white collar crimes such as fraud, perjury, false statements, obstruction of justice, bribery, extortion, blackmail, insider trading, tax evasion, and regulatory and intellectual property offenses are shaped and informed by a range of familiar, but nevertheless powerful, moral norms.

First published in 1987. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Gordon Baker and I had been colleagues at St John’s for almost ten years when we resolved, in 1976, to undertake the task of writing a commentary on Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations. We had been talking about Wittgenstein since 1969, and when we cooperated in writing a long critical notice on the Philosophical Grammar in 1975, we found that working together was mutually instructive, intellectually stimulating and great fun. We thought that we still had much to say about Wittgenstein’s philosophy, and (...) it seemed to us that misinterpretations of passages in the Investigations were so extensive that it would be worth trying to write a detailed analytical commentary. It is difficult to recapture the excitement of those early days in being among the first to work on the microfilms and, subsequently, on the photocopies of Wittgenstein’s Nachlass. We spent many hundreds of hours poring over the typescripts and the often only semi-legible manuscripts, fascinated and privileged to be able to try to follow the development of the thoughts of a great philosophical genius. We talked endlessly about what we had found in Wittgenstein’s manuscripts and typescripts, and debated how it should be understood. The first fruit of our labours was Wittgenstein – Understanding and Meaning. Its guiding idea was to draw attention to the manner in which Wittgenstein linked the concepts of meaning, understanding and explanation, and so to bypass the connections between meaning, truth and truth-conditions that so fascinated philosophers of the 1970s, and to abandon the red-herring of assertion-conditions and anti-realism. After a hiatus of four years, during which time we wrote a controversial book entitled Frege – Logical Excavations and a polemical book on contemporary philosophy of language – Language, Sense. (shrink)

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been employed to investigate the glass transition activation energy E g, thermal stability and glass-forming ability (GFA) of Se90In10− x Sb x (x = 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10) chalcogenide glasses. DSC runs were performed at six different heating rates. Well-defined endothermic and exothermic peaks were obtained at glass transition and crystallization temperature. The dependence of glass transition temperature T g on heating rate (α), as well as composition of Sb, has been studied. From (...) the dependence of glass transition temperature on heating rate, the E g has been calculated on the basis of the Kissinger [Anal. Chem. 29 (1957) p.1702] and Moynihan [J. Phys. Chem. 78 (1974) p.267] models. Thermal stability has been monitored through the calculation of temperature differences T c–T g, the stability parameter S, and the enthalpy released during crystallization H c. The GFA has been investigated on the basis of the Hruby parameter H r, which is strong indicator of GFA. Results for GFA are in good agreement with fragility index F i calculations, indicating that Se90In6Sb4 is an excellent glass-former. (shrink)