This work shows differences in public participation in China and Western countries, conceptually and empirically. To do so, the different philosophical and public administration traditions are outlined. Main contributions are tables and dashboards to allow general comparisons and to differentiate contexts in both political settings, besides being useful for other settings. The tables included are: 1) Main features of context in China, 2) Deliberative democracy, 3) Main features of context in the west, 4) The Gil Dashboard helping to outline the (...) endogenous foundations for change both in China and the West. -/- democracy, rule of law, public participation, China, western countries . (shrink)

This textbook has been written to discuss the fundamental problems of Greek Philosophy. There has been many philosophical Problems which Greek philosophers has discussed and examined with rational approach. The philosophical problems which we have mentioned in this book are: Greek Rationalism, Greek Naturalism, Greek Idealism, Greeks on human mind, Number theory and Greek Metaphysics. We have defined some significant issues like Greek atomism, Nihilism, Solipsism, Dogmatism, Sophism and Pluralism. Philosophy is the subject which studies the fundamental Problems of the (...) world. The problems which Philosophy studies are reality, existence, mind, thought, language, essence, experience, perception, knowledge, God, and so on. This book ‘Problems of Greek Philosophy’ is divided into six chapters while first Chapter ‘Introduction to western Philosophy’ deals with overall discussion and argumentation of western philosophy and also some valuable introductory information on Greek Philosophy. Second Chapter ‘Greeks on Nature’ attempts to discuss the lonian classification and examination of natural elements like water, air, Aperion, fire and reality. This chapter deals with the ultimate constituents of the natural stuff. Third chapter ‘Greek Rationalism’ deals with the role of reason in explanation of the world. Greek rationalists have used reason as the fundamental constituent of the universe. Fourth chapter ‘Number theory and Greek Metaphysics’ deals with the contribution of great mathematicians like Pythagoras and Zeno to the world. This chapter has highlighted the philosophy of number and metaphysics. Fifth Chapter ‘Greek Idealism’ highlights the philosophy of Greek idealists; Protagoras, Socrates and Plato. Sixth Chapter ‘Mind in Greek Philosophy’ deals with the concept of mind and thought in Greek philosophy. This section examines the contribution of Anaxagoras and Empedocles. (shrink)

In this article, we start from the general thesis of theatomism – everything in the universe is composed by atoms – toassume an atomist reading of the ethical fragments of Democritus.If Leucippus and Democritus explain not only the beginning of the world, as well as the constitution of the soul and the body from therelation atom-emptiness (to be-not to be), this structure will also beapplied to the ethical maxims that we know. Despite this, the relationsoul-body is one of superiority (the (...) knowledge that drift of the sensations it’s obscure), it is also of interdependence, that leads Democritusto blame soul when body is only a tool of its vices or the need to takecare of soul and body in the same way. However, it is in the soul thatwe must look for true knowledge (subtle), as well as the pleasures thatvalue the man. From this relation, we will also analyse the consequencesin the education as well as in the life in society. (shrink)

This paper adopts the lens of environmental ethics to explore whether there is a disparity between the ethical approaches of a company in comparison to those expressed by stakeholders in relation to environmental issues, specifically those communicated through the corporate environmental report. Discourse analysis is adopted to explore the environmental section of the sustainability reports of the case study company as compared to the responses of a sample of the company’s stakeholders, using the lens of three branches of environmental ethics: (...) utilitarianism, deontology and virtue ethics. Results indicate that the ethical approaches expressed in the case study company’s environmental reports were grounded in utilitarianism and deontology, in contrast to a virtue ethics approach expressed by external stakeholders. The disparity widened as the relationship between the company and the stakeholder became less direct. This disparity signals a failure to meet one of the primary purposes for preparing sustainability reports: to engage with stakeholders. As such this research contributes to the literature by identifying a disparity in the how this information is communicated compared with how it is perceived by stakeholders. This has important implications for the success of current stakeholder engagement practices. (shrink)

The work is a theory application thesis specifically applying Aristotle’s virtue ethicsto evaluate and discuss the potential implications that social media pose on the individual’s potential to achieve happiness as it is understood through the virtue ethics. It includes a close discussion of the virtues temperance and friendship, as well as empirical studies on the subjectand critical discussion incorporating the Aristotelian theory. It concludes that although a subject with many nuances, it is possible to argue that social media might be (...) an obstacle to an individual’s happiness. (shrink)

While much has been written on phronesis, there is a dearth of empirical work on the how the concept can be developed and implemented in practice, particularly in an educational setting. To address this problem, characteristics of phronesis were identified through a review of current literature and an examination of related themes from a special issue of the Philosophy of Management Journal on the philosophy of innovation. The implementation of the concept was investigated using an illustrative study of ongoing work (...) aimed at embedding phronesis in an innovation educational module. The study will contribute to the nascent debate by providing evidence of embedding Aristotle’s phronesis in the curriculum of future managers, in this case Engineering and Business students, working in cross-functional teams. A schema is proposed, based on concepts distilled from the literature and the illustrative study, to examine whether an educational project cultivates phronesis among the students. (shrink)

The ‘Other’ can be near to us, or far from us. We are in-relation with both. Given that, we explore whether, from a moral philosophical perspective, the ‘near-other’ is in tension with the ‘far-other’. We argue that we find our relationship with the near-other through a transcendent metaphysical empathy derived from the noumenon, which is manifest in the phenomenon as compassion and justice. We then argue that perceived differences in the phenomenon mean that we do not reliably transfer this empathy (...) for the near-other, to the far-other. Further, empathic and constructive dialogue is made more difficult because of our proclivity to actively engage in ‘othering’ those not-like-us. Properly, moral decision-making is positioned in a space cognizant of the other. Near-otherness makes consensus in the decision-making process easier, while far-otherness makes consensus more difficult. In our post-modern, multicultural and multifaith era, we need to be alert to the other’s perspective, to find a way to have a meaningful dialogue and thus achieve consensus in our moral decision-making. (shrink)

In this paper, we demonstrate (1) how harnessing stochasticity can be the basis of creative agency; (2) that such harnessing can resolve the apparent conflict between reductionist (micro-level) accounts of behaviour and behaviour as the outcome of rational and value-driven (macro-level) decisions; (3) how neurophysiological processes can instantiate such behaviour; (4) The processes involved depend on three features of living organisms: (a) they are necessarily open systems; (b) micro-level systems therefore nest within higher-level systems; (c) causal interactions must occur across (...) all the boundaries between the levels of organization. The higher levels constrain the dynamics of lower levels. The experimental evidence and theoretical arguments are shown to be consistent with previous research on the neuronal mechanisms of conscious choice, and with the interconnected multi-level processes by which organisms harness stochasticity, whether conscious or unconscious. (shrink)

از قرن هفدهم در فلسفة غرب تحولی بنیادی در پژوهش فلسفی روی داد و بحث دربارة نحوة شکل‌گیری شناخت و میزان اعتبار آن محور مسائل فلسفی شد. این تحول در قلمرو فلسفة اسلامی به‌علت نبود ارتباط میان دو عالم فلسفة اسلامی و غرب با سه قرن تأخیر بازتاب یافت. استاد مطهری به‌عنوان استاد مبرز فلسفة اسلامی کوشید تا ابتدا با آرای فیلسوفان جدید و معاصر آشنا شود، سپس به نقد و بررسی آن‌ها بپردازد. یکی از مسائل مورد توجه استاد مسئلة (...) شناخت بود که در آن دو دیدگاه اصلی در برابر هم قرار دارند: یکی رئالیسم که وجود مابازای ادراکات حسی را در خارج می‌پذیرد و شناخت حسی را کاشف از خارج می‌داند؛ و دیگری ایده‌آلیسم ذهنی که منکر این امر است. علامه طباطبایی و استاد مطهری در اصول فلسفه و روش رئالیسم با دفاع از مبانی رئالیستی فلسفة اسلامی به نقد ایدئالیسم ذهنی یا اصالت تصور ازیک‌سو و نقد مبانی ماتریالیسم دیالکتیک ازسوی‌دیگر می‌پردازند. دیدگاه استاد مطهری در این کتاب، که در دهة سی نوشته شده است، با آنچه در درس‌های شرح مبسوط منظومه در دهۀ پنجاه القا کرده‌اند قدری تفاوت دارد. ایشان در کتاب نخست ایدئالیسم به‌معنای اصالت تصور را از حیث انکار واقعیت هم‌تراز سفسطه می‌گیرد و فیلسوفان ایدئالیستی چون بارکلی و شوپنهاور را به لحاظ انکار جهان خارج از ظرف ذهن، در کنار سوفسطائیانی چون پروتاگوراس و گرگیاس نام می‌برد، درحالی‌که در کتاب دوم تحلیل عمیق‌تری از مسئلة شناخت و اثبات جهان خارج به‌دست می‌دهد. در این مقاله می‌کوشیم با ارائة تحلیلی جامع از دیدگاه استاد مطهری در باب شناخت و نقد ایشان بر ایدئالیسم، به نقد و بررسی آرای ایشان بپردازیم. (shrink)

Norbert Elias’s early work – specifically ‘Idea and Individual’ – offers a positive account of philosophy’s potential contribution towards historically oriented concrete sociological investigation. His later work, on the other hand, characterizes philosophical investigation as little more than a distraction from the myth-exposing vocation of the sociologist. This later ‘post-philosophical’ account of figurational sociology predominates today. Within this article, however, I suggest it has come to prominence through a series of dubious rhetorical strategies, most notably subtextual hearsay and disingenuous caricature. (...) By dispensing with the post-philosophical rhetoric, I argue, figurational sociologists might again, following the Elias of ‘Idea and Individual’, take the possibility of a philosophically grounded sociology seriously. If the article does not convince figurational sociologists to revisit philosophy as a potentially positive sociological resource, however, my effort will not have been wasted for as long as it demonstrates the presently dubious nature of their post-philosophical rhetoric. (shrink)