“Since the actions I perform as an individual only have an inconsequential effect on the threat of climate change,” a common argument goes, “it cannot be morally wrong for me to take my car to work everyday or refuse to recycle.” This argument has received a lot of scorn from philosophers over the years, but has actually been defended in some recent articles. A more systematic treatment of a central set of related issues shows how maneuvering around these issues is (...) no easy philosophical task. In the end, it appears, the argument from inconsequentialism indeed is correct in typical cases, but there are also important qualificatory considerations. (shrink)

Social movements possess transformative and progressive power. In this paper, I argue that how this is so, or even if this is so, depends on one's explanatory framework. I consider three such explanatory frameworks for social movements: methodological individualism, collectivism, and complexity theory. In evaluating the various appeals and weaknesses of these frameworks, I show that complexity theory is uniquely poised to capture the complex and dynamic reality of the social world.

For many years, the human need for the group, social life, and the impact of this form of life on mental health and body have been discussed. This is said to be less about loneliness and the role played by human beings. Loneliness is a global issue experienced by all humans more or less and with their lives. In other words, many people with races, cultures, social classes, and at different ages and times each experience some kind of loneliness. It (...) is true that human being is an absolute social being and we always hear from the benefits of communication and satisfaction from it, But this should not be overlooked by the constructive and positive aspects of being alone, especially in education systems; Hence, this article was conducted with the aim of examining the opinions and views of Eric Forum on loneliness and analyzing its consequences in education. This research is part of qualitative research, which is done by analytical-deductive method. Findings indicate that Any social person with extensive communication does not necessarily have mental health; On the other hand, loneliness is not always a sign for malicious and anti-social characters, In other words, what is important is the difference between antisocial people and a group consciously choosing loneliness. Therefore, loneliness is an emotional feeling that in the case of balance, it can be constructive and lead to self-knowledge, the development of reflection thinking, self-consciousness and if it is to be extreme, there will be plenty of harm in the community, especially education systems. (shrink)

Jackson (1991) proposes an interpretation of consequentialism, namely, the Decision Theoretic Consequentialism (DTC), which provides a middle ground between internal and external criteria of rightness inspired by decision theory. According to DTC, a right decision either leads to the best outcomes (external element) or springs from right motivations (internal element). He raises an objection to fully external interpretations, like objective consequentialism (OC), which he claims that DTC can resolve. He argues that those interpretations are either too objective, which prevents them (...) from giving guidance for action, or their guidance leads to wrong and blameworthy actions or decisions. I discuss how the emphasis on blameworthiness in DTC constraints its domain to merely the justification of decisions that relies on rationality to provide a justification criterion for moral decisions. I provide examples that support the possibility of rational but immoral decisions that are at odds with DTC’s prescription for right decisions. Moreover, I argue what I call the desire-luck problem for the external element of justification criterion leads to the same objection for DTC that Jackson raised for OC. Therefore, DTC, although successful in response to some objections, fails to provide a prescription for the right decision. (shrink)

My goal is to help us see the importance of social connections to social change in even our conceptual toolbox regarding social transformation. I compare and summarize two discussions about the political value of hope: one in Western modern political thought and the other in non-violent movements and their subsequent philosophy. I follow Michelle Moody- Adams’ conviction that visionaries and intellectuals of constructive social movements ground political hope in collectives rather than in individuals, as Western political philosophy tends to do. (...) However, I suggest that the proper interpretation of a collectivist hope requires attention to the people with whom we hope. (shrink)

Understanding a normative concept like oppression requires attention to not only its harms but also the causes of those harms. In other words, a complete understanding of such a concept requires a proper causal explanation. This causal explanation can also inform and constrain our moral response to such harms. Therefore, the conceptual explanatory framework that we use to inform our moral diagnosis and our moral response become significant. The first goal of this dissertation is to propose complexity theory as the (...) proper framework for not only explaining a social phenomenon like oppression but also understanding the proper sites for social change. The second goal of this dissertation is to answer three interrelated questions about how we should respond, morally, to a chronic and complex social problem like racial or gender inequality: (1) Why do the current interventions to address these problems fail? (2) Do social movements play any unique role in addressing these problems? (3) What is our individual responsibility to participate in social movements? In response, I argue that the explanatory frameworks that we choose to understand the cause(s) of social problems can be the source of the inadequacy of our intervention. I argue that a proper social and moral intervention needs to capture the complex and dynamic nature of the social world. I also show that changing the explanatory framework allows us to see the unique role social movements play in making effective and sustainable social change possible. Finally, I conclude supporting such movements is a moral imperative. (shrink)

Alternative currencies are means of payment that circulate alongside—as an alternative or complement to—official currencies. While these currencies have existed for a long time, both society and academia have shown a renewed interest in their potential to decentralize the governance of monetary affairs and to bring people and organizations together in more ethical or sustainable ways. This article is a review of the ethical and philosophical implications of these alternative monetary projects. We first discuss various classifications of these currencies before (...) analyzing the ethical challenges linked to the way they tackle social and environmental issues. We also examine the incentive-based and coercive mechanisms used by these currencies from an ethical perspective and debate the promises and perils of monetary decentralization and democracy. We conclude by identifying an agenda for future research. (shrink)

This paper analyzes the proposal that central banks should issue digital currencies (CBDC) to provide a public alternative to private digital accounts and cryptocurrencies. We build on some The promises and perils of central bank digital currencies recent themes in political economy research to give a broader and more balanced perspective than the existing literature, highlighting both the promises and perils of CBDC. We argue that, on the one hand, the present state of the private financial sector is problematic and (...) regulators should seek to tackle the issues of financial power, financial instability and lack of adequate monetary policy options. On the other hand, implementing CBDC comes with risks of its own, such as that of creating a “Frankenstein scenario” where too much power is given to unelected technocrats. Our tentative conclusion is therefore that CBDC should be seen as a second-best option, while the primary focus of policy makers should be on the possibility of financial re-regulation. (shrink)

A violation of procedure invariance in preference measurement is that the predominant or prominent attribute looms larger in choice than in a matching task. In Experiment 1, this so-called prominence effect was demonstrated for choices between pairs of options, choices to accept single options, and preference ratings of single options. That is, in all these response modes the prominent attribute loomed larger than in matching. The results were replicated in Experiment 2, in which subjects chose between or rated their preference (...) for pairs of options which were matched to be equally attractive either in the same session or 1 week earlier. On the basis of these and previous results, it is argued that the prominence effect is a reliable phenomenon. However, none of several cognitive explanations which have been offered appears to be completely viable. (shrink)

Abstract: The analytical, comparative cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the thyroid profiles and modified lipid profiles levels among Sudanese patients with coronary heart disease performed on forty-one patients with coronary heart disease as test group collected from Sudan Heart Center, Al rebat teaching hospital and Al mawada hospital in Khartoum state, during the period between November 2017 and May 2018. Furthermore, the test group compared with forty-one apparently healthy volunteers as control group was selected with the same inclusion criteria. (...) Spectrophotometeric methods were used for measurement of lipid profile. Thyroid hormones (T3 &T4) and thyroid stimulating hormone were measured by using Sandwich Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Moreover, statistical package for social science (SPSS version 23) computer software was used for data analysis. The study clearly demonstrated that there was statistically significant decrease in T3, and significant increase in T4 levels in test group compared to control with (P. value 0.047) for T3, and (P. value 0.002) for T4.Nonetheless, the result of this study indicated a significant elevation in mean of total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels and significant decrease in high density lipoprotein –cholesterol in test group compared to control (P.value 0.000). In conclusion Coronary heart diseases patients have significantly low Triiodothyronine, elevated Thyroxin, and normal Thyroid Stimulating Hormone levels, with significantly higher Total Cholesterol, Low Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol concentrations, and lower HighDensity Lipoprotein-Cholesterol concentrations. (shrink)

This special issue consists of four articles, contributed by David Owen; Désirée Lim, Sahar Akhtar and (as co-authors) Mollie Gerver, Miranda Simon, Patrick Lown and Dominik Duell. These contributions address issues related to migration policies with the aim of bringing normative theories of migration and discrimination into dialogue. These theories describe the various types of discrimination inherent in the domestic and global migration systems, as well as assess arguments, pro et contra, about whether these forms of discrimination are permissible.