The Arab and Islamic world is in cultural, political and ethical flux. Pressures of globalisation contend with ancient ideas and concepts that permeate cultural frameworks. Health professionals are among the many groups battling to accommodate the rapidly changing conditions. In many predominantly Muslim countries intense debates are underway among clinicians about the impact of the forces of change on their practices. To help understand these forces we conducted a study of the experiences of clinicians in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, (...) a Middle Eastern nation state where the overwhelming majority of the population is Muslim. The sample contained 508 doctors and doctors-in-training, of whom 63% were male and 80% were younger than 40 years of age. It included both a quantitative survey, covering a wide range of issues, and qualitative, free-text written responses. Our results demonstrated high levels of disquiet related to the overall organisation and administration of the health care system, the specific content of ethical decisionmaking, and the impact of changing social, cultural and religious factors. Concerns included overcrowding, widespread corruption and hierarchical, non- democratic, management practices, and tensions relating to traditional and modern approaches to ethics, especially in relation to consent, organ donation, confidentiality, privacy, abortion, and the role of women. The roles of religion and religious authorities, the relative importance of the family, and community and tribal obligations were also areas of contention. The study exposes profound divisions and widely differing perspectives among Jordanian doctors and an abiding sense of uncertainty and instability within the profession. Many doctors express ambivalence in relation to both modern trends and traditional precepts. Three main axes of ethical contention were demonstrated, relating to the tensions between: "conservative" and "pragmatic" styles of decision-making; "traditional" approaches and internationalised standards of ethics; and the role of Islam and pressures to disengage ethical decision- making from religious authority. We speculate that these issues and divisions, and the deep sense of disquiet revealed by our data reflect large-scale forces to which Jordanian society is exposed and to a substantial degree may provide a way to understand the ethical predicament of many other countries in the contemporary Arab world. (shrink)

Like other Arab countries, Jordan must find ways of responding to the rapid processes of change affecting many aspects of social life. This is particularly urgent in healthcare, where social and technical change is often manifested in tensions about ethical decision-making in the clinic. To explore the attitudes, beliefs and concerns relating to ethical decision-making among health professionals in Jordanian hospitals, a qualitative study was conducted involving face-to-face interviews with medical personnel in four hospitals in Amman, the capital of Jordan. (...) Data were analysed thematically in relation to a pre-existing set of ethical categories. Interviews were conducted with thirty-eight doctors covering most medical specialities. Five major themes emerged from the interviews: ethical awareness, ethical issues, the impact of religion on ethical decision-making, practical and theoretical resources for ethical decision-making, and challenges. While uncertainty was expressed about some aspects of Western approaches to ethics, participants strongly supported adoption of a range of Western bioethical principles, including cultural and ethical diversity, along with adherence to Islamic religious norms. A range of serious ethical challenges facing the Jordanian health system were identified, covering social, legal, managerial, and technical issues. Ethical decision-making in Jordan is complex, having to accommodate the needs of patients, the opinions of doctors and their families, the views of religious authorities, managerial considerations, and both local norms and international standards. Health professionals struggle with three sets of tensions that emerge out of the struggle between traditional, community-embedded forms of social organization and the demands generated by globalization and the influence of Western culture: the tensions between tradition and modernity, conservatism and pragmatism, and religion and secularism. Doctors in Jordan prefer approaches to ethical decision-making that realize a balance between the extremes, although the exact nature of where that balance should lie remains uncertain. (shrink)

Despite the theoretically important role of green human resource management (HRM), relatively little research has been discovered so far about this role particularly in the Oil and Gas industry. We contribute to fill this gap by developing and testing a set of hypotheses to provide a first attempt at analyzing the antecedents and outcomes of green HRM practices in the Qatari Oil and Gas industry. Data were collected from 144 managers and analyzed using Partial least squares (PLS). The analysis shows (...) that both top management support and internal environmental orientation positively influence green HRM, which in turn has a significant positive impact on environmental performance. The results also provide evidence for the mediating effect of green HRM on the links between both top management support and internal environmental orientation, and environmental performance. Moreover, environmental performance is found to positively influence organizational performance. The implications of these results for theory and HRM practices in the Oil and Gas industry are taken into consideration. (shrink)

Arab and English cultures are incongruent, where the former is greatly influenced by religion when compared to the latter. This study focuses on court interpreting from Arabic into English and questions the interpreters’ objectivity when rendering religious and cultural expressions, bearing in mind that certain cultures, like the Arab and Muslim ones, have significant religious ties. To this end, fifteen transcripts were randomly collected from Canadian court hearings. The analysis showed that interpreting religious and cultural expressions can be complex, especially (...) when the original speaker attempts to transmit a notion that may have negative implications in the target language. The results also showed that court interpreters either added explanations to religious and cultural expressions or omitted them. Such additions and omissions may be used to avoid negative stereotypes other cultures have about Muslims and Arabs. The study recommends that future researchers interested in legal interpreting consider the non-verbal factors that can be observed during court hearings. The study suggests allocating extensive training sessions to interpreters on how to impartially render culture-bound expressions, mainly in the legal context. (shrink)

Design education requires a specific setting that facilitates teaching/learning activities including lecturing, demonstrating, and practicing. The design-studio is the place of design teaching/learning activities and where students/students and students/instructor interaction occur. Proper interior design improves not only the function of such learning environment but also the confidence of its users involved in the teaching/learning process. This study finds impetus in the lack of research data relative to the design of the design-studio classroom, most crucial space in design and architectural education. (...) The purpose of the study is to examine the design-studio classroom environment and to determine, by the perception of its users, to which level this specific environment assures users’ needs and objectives. A survey was developed and distributed to a purposive sample of design and architecture educators. Ninety four responds were collected. The results of the study support the stability of earlier findings that the physical environment has a direct impact on the satisfaction of the space users. The findings suggest that lighting, noise, glare, air quality, temperature, seats comfort and possibilities of arrangement are all essential environmental features in the achievement of an appropriate pedagogic environment. Likewise, it was found that designated workstations are important part of the teaching/learning process of design. It also emerges from this study that lighting is the most important feature. (shrink)

Research on human subjects is ethically justified when its anticipated results would ultimately benefit the society or public and not only the individuals participating in this research. Besides contributing to scientific knowledge, social benefits of scientific research may extend to all aspects of the public’s life including health, education, and security. In this paper, we aimed to discuss the social benefits principle as an ethical requirement for the conduct of scientific research in general and nursing research in particular. We critically (...) examined the current situation of nursing research in developing countries including its adherence to the social benefits principle and provided exemplars of both hindered and successful utilization of nursing research evidence in developing countries. We concluded that the utilization of nursing research evidence in clinical practice, education, and policy making is almost nonexistent and faces many challenges in most developing countries. Thus, most nursing research in developing countries are not currently meeting the social benefit principle of the ethical conduct of scientific research. We provided recommendations to promote the utilization of nursing research in evidence-based practice, nursing education, and health policy. (shrink)

During the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, stress and anxiety were pervasive among the masses due to high morbidity and mortality. Besides the fear of coronavirus was also particularly driven by social media. Many people started to look for faith and spiritual connections to gain comfort. The role of spiritual ties and religious beliefs in relation to coping with pandemic stress gained the attention of researchers in some parts of the world. This cross-sectional survey aimed at assessing the intensity (...) of stress and anxiety symptoms experienced by people and how much they were alleviated by employing spiritual connections. The study sample comprises 795 respondents with 52% males and 48% females living in Saudi Arabia. The brief online study questionnaire collected data about background variables, anxiety and stress scale from DASS-21, and items from the WHOQOL instrument assessed the use of spiritual beliefs to cope. Multiple regression models were tested to determine the role of spiritual connections after adjusting demographic variables. Results illustrated that after adjusting for gender and age, participants' anxiety symptoms decreased by units with each unit increase in the use of spiritual connections, and participants’ stress symptoms reduce by units with each unit increase in coping with spirituality. Additionally, females’ risk to experience anxiety and stress symptoms was more than males and, respectively. An increase in age decreases the likelihood of experiencing anxiety symptoms and stress symptoms by and units respectively. Findings support the protective role of spiritual connections despite small beta coefficients. The social and cultural context in Saudi Arabia favors deep-rooted connections with spirituality and faith. Our findings support that the reliance on spiritual connections helped older people to deal with exaggerated fear during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and reduces the risk of experiencing anxiety and stress symptoms. Females and younger participants were relatively vulnerable to developing these symptoms. We discussed these findings considering some recent studies that reported similar relationships and made recommendations for future research. (shrink)

27-28 Mayıs 2016 tarihinde Ankara Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Tefsir Anabilim Dalı'nın organizasyonu ile yapılan XIII. Tefsir Akademisyenleri Koordinasyon Toplantısı ve Akademik Tefsir Çalışmaları Sempozyumu toplantısının tanıtım yazısı.

The urgency of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 has intensified political commitments to a Green Transition. Yet, current strategies often overlook the structural links between carbon emissions and economic inequality. This paper argues that effective and fair climate action within developed liberal democracies must directly address economic disparities. I develop this claim through three main arguments. First, since the wealthiest 1% are disproportionately responsible for emissions, climate justice should shift its normative focus from the poor to the super-rich. While this (...) resonates with emission limitarianism, its isolationist framework remains too narrow. Instead, I propose a non-monist integrationist approach that embeds climate justice within broader concerns of distributive justice. Second, extreme economic inequality erodes democratic institutions, fostering plutocratic tendencies, and also enables the super-rich to obstruct decarbonization through lobbying, litigation, and climate change denialism. Third, in developed liberal democracies, climate action centred solely on subsistence needs or poverty eradication lacks democratic legitimacy. If seen as worsening inequality, such policies face backlash. These concerns lead me to advocate for what I call the principle of proportionality, which requires that wealth and income inequalities be contained within well-defined limits. This principle offers a more viable and just framework for the Green Transition than competing distributive criteria. (shrink)

How rich should the 1% be? And, most importantly, when does the distance in economic resources between the richest citizens and ‘us’, the average citizenry, become a concern for justice? This volume explores how excessive economic inequality gives the best-off considerably more political influence than average citizens, thereby violating political equality. It argues that the gap between the best-off and the worst-off should not be reduced because it is good, but rather as an inescapable instrument to protect citizens from the (...) risk of material domination. For this reason, it defends the ‘principle of proportionality’: economic inequality should not exceed a certain range or proportion to enable both the best-off and the worst-off to be co-authors of the legal, political, and socioeconomic rules that govern the ‘social’ relations in which they are involved. Further, the book discusses material domination and explains how money influences politics and what are the remedies for this phenomenon; how social justice should face and harmonise power, poverty, efficiency, individual merit, and economic liberties; and, most importantly, how to determine income and wealth limit ratios in a liberal democracy. A thoughtful investigation on the interdependencies of money and justice and their influence our socio-political systems, this volume will be of great interest to students and researchers of political theory, political philosophy, economics and development, economics theory and philosophy, and social policy. (shrink)

In this paper, I explore Derrida’s concept of exteriorization in relation to texts generated by machine learning. I first discuss Heidegger’s view of machine creation and then present Derrida’s criticism of Heidegger. I explain the concept of iterability, which is the central notion on which Derrida’s criticism is based. The thesis defended in the paper is that Derrida’s account of iterability provides a helpful framework for understanding the phenomenon of machine learning–generated literature. His account of textuality highlights the incalculability and (...) mechanical elements characteristic of all texts, including machine-generated texts. By applying Derrida’s concept to the phenomenon of machine creation, we can deconstruct the distinction between human and non-human creation. As I propose in the conclusion to this paper, this provides a basis on which to consider potential positive uses of machine learning. (shrink)

The book provides an analysis of the ungraspable. In sensible reality, we often speak of the “untouchable,” the “invisible,” the “inaudible,” and the “untastable.” In the abstract realm, we speak of the “non-conceptual,” the “ineffable,” the “unsayable.” These are the modalities of the ungraspable that are explored in this study.

The background position of this paper is that an excessive economic inequality between the most and the least advantaged citizens in a liberal democracy has a relevant effect on exposing the latter to the risk of material domination. In this respect, this paper argues that even the most sophisticated and ambitious version of the so-called “insulation strategy” recently proposed by Julia Cagé is an insufficient remedy for the influence of money on politics. Moreover, it sustains that we have strong reasons (...) to maintain a noncommittal view about the choice of ideal types of social systems. Being committed in principle to only one specific ideal social system restricts our political imagination and democratic autonomy of political societies. By contrast, this paper suggests coupling the noncommittal view with a “pluralistic distributive approach”, the main purpose of which is to focus on a set of distributive proposals concerning the most crucial areas of socioeconomic structures in liberal democracies. (shrink)

The article argues that the possibility of an unlimited gap in income and wealth between the top and bottom segments of society is incompatible with a democratic commitment to political equality. The first section outlines why current distributive and relational approaches are unable to adequately address this problem. The second and third sections introduce the notion of material domination and argue that the only remedy against it is the containment of economic inequality within a certain proportion, expressed in terms of (...) ratios between the material resources of the best-off and the worst-off. The fourth section spells out the constraints that any definition of these ratios should satisfy and shows, through a case study based on the contemporary United States, that an approximate, yet non-arbitrary definition is within reach. The fifth and final section rebuts some predictable objections to this approach. (shrink)

This paper presents the results of a study which examined children's ideas about speciation. Two groups of elementary school students, 9‐year‐olds and 12‐year‐olds, were interviewed using a semi‐structured questionnaire. The results indicate that several children explain the phenomena of speciation in terms of consistent explanatory frameworks that strongly resemble either early Greek or renaissance variants of Essentialist theories in biology. The core beliefs of such frameworks constrain the types of solutions that are generated for a variety of biological problems.

Limitarianism takes an important step towards an appropriate concern in normative theory about the danger that financial power can pose to political equality. Despite its significant merits, this paper will show that Robeyns’ proposal still has serious shortcomings. These criticisms pave the way for an alternative proposal that we call proportional justice. In the first section, we briefly reconstruct the limitarian approach. In the second section, we formulate a series of criticisms that expose the inadequacies of limitarianism. In the third (...) section we explain how proportional justice is better equipped than limitarianism to defend political equality. (shrink)

Nevrotik bozukluk ile din ve dindarlıkla ilgili temelde iki görüş vardır. Birincisi dinin bir nevroz olduğu, dinin kişiyi ruhsal yönden hasta ettiği, ibadetlerin saplantılı davranışlar olduğu görüşünü savunmaktadır. Diğer görüş ise dinin ve dindarlığın kişiyi hasta etmeyeceğini vurgulayarak belki de dinsizliğin veya dini bilgi ve yaşantının az olması kişinin ruhsal yönden hasta olabileceğini belirtmektedir. Bu yüzden ABD ve Avrupa’da 1970’lerden itibaren ülkemizde ise 2000’lerden sonra ruh sağlığı ve din araştırmaları artmıştır. Ruh sağlığı ve kişilik bozukluğu olan nevrotik bozukluk ile din (...) ve dindarlık ilgili yurtdışında ve ülkemizde araştırmalar yapılmıştır. Bu araştırmaların hepsi nicel yöntemle yapılmıştır. Nevrotik bozukluk ve dindarlık ile ilgili yapılan araştırmalarda birbirinden farklı ve zıt sonuçlar elde edilmiştir. Yapılan araştırmalarda bu şekilde anlamsız ve çelişik sonuçların elde edilmesi nevrotik bozukluk ile dindarlık arasında tek yönlü ve basit bir ilişkinin olmadığını görülmektedir. Bu araştırmada nevrotik bozukluk tanılı bireylerin dindarlıkları incelenmiştir. Nevrotik bozukluk tanılı bireylerin öznel dindarlık, din ve Allah algılarının nasıl olduğu, ibadetlerinin sıklığı, bireysel ve kurumsal dindarlıkları, dindarlıklarının nevrotik olmalarına neden olup olmadığı ve nevrotiklik bozukluklarının dini yaşantısını etkileyip etkilemediği anlaşılmaya çalışılmıştır. Araştırmanın bu konuları aydınlatmaya çalışması ve nitel yöntemle yapılan ilk çalışma olmasından dolayı önemli olduğu düşünülmektedir. Nevtotik bozukluk tanılı bireylerin dindarlık algılarını ve tecrübelerini anlamayı amaç edinen bu araştırmada nitel yöntemin fenomenolojik deseninden yararlanılmıştır. Ruh Sağlığı ve Hastalıkları (Psikiyatri) polikliniğinde tedavi gören 30 katılımcı ile yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler yapılarak veriler elde edilmiştir. Elde edilen veriler betimsel, içerik ve yorumlayıcı fenomenolojik analizler ile analiz yapılmıştır. Yapılan analizden şu sonuçlar elde edilmiştir. Nevrotik bozukluk tanılı bireylerin çoğunun öznel dindarlık algılarının zayıf olduğu, din ve Allah algılarının olumlu olduğu, ibadetlerinde eksiklik ve aksamaların olduğu, dini yaşantılarını bireysel olarak yapmaktan haz aldıkları görülmektedir. İnançları ve dindarlıkları onların nevrotik olmalarına neden olmadığı anlaşılmaktadır. Ancak belki dini yaşantılarının yetersiz ya da yanlış olması nevrotik olmalarına neden olabileceğini düşündükleri görülmektedir. Yalnız nevrotik bozuklukları dini yaşantılarını olumlu veya olumsuz olarak bir şekilde etkilediği anlaşılmaktadır. Katılımcıların yarısının dindarlığını olumsuz etkilediği görülmektedir. Yapılan çalışmalarda nevrotiklik ile dindarlık arasındaki ilişkiye dair birbiriyle zıt ve birbirinden farklı sonuçların elde edilmesi konuyla ilgili yapılacak yeni araştırmalara ihtiyaç olduğunu göstermektedir. Farklı yöntem ve teknikler, örneklem grubu ve değişkenlerle yapılacak çalışmalar konu hakkında daha kapsamlı bir kanıya varılmasını sağlayabilir. (shrink)

This paper compares ethics in countries with different cultural dimensions based on empirical data from 12 countries. The results indicate that dimensions of national culture could serve as predictors of the ethical standards desired in a specific society. The author divided societal cultural practices into desired and undesired practices. According to this study, ethics could be seen as the means for achieving a desired state in a society: for reducing some societal characteristics and increasing others. Finally, a model of the (...) impact of cultural dimensions on desired ethical standards is proposed. (shrink)

The paper examines the book Martin Buber’s Theopolitics and analyzes the conflict between the hierarchy in nature and in human society. Buber qualifies our relations to nature and to other non-living objects as darker than human relations. This creates an imbalance between the human You and the other type of You. This reflection allows us to think about the meaning of the principle of humanity in relation to personhood, and in relation to different forms of communities (natural, or inorganic communities). (...) It is an important question in the light of “conflicts” and tensions created by the environmental crisis we are facing today. The paper explains how to use the word “conflict” in this context and whether it is justified. (shrink)

One over Many: The Unitary Pluralism of Plato’s World is a tightly integrated collection of essays by the author, some newly drafted for the present work, some previously published as journal articles, all conceived and developed in pursuit of corrective intervention in Plato’s metaphysics. The book replaces the standard view of Plato as a metaphysical dualist with an alternative interpretation providing greater explanatory power through the paradigm of unitary pluralism in a single reality built on ontological diversity.

27-28 Mayıs 2016 tarihinde Ankara Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Tefsir Anabilim Dalı'nın organizasyonu ile yapılan XIII. Tefsir Akademisyenleri Koordinasyon Toplantısı ve Akademik Tefsir Çalışmaları Sempozyumu toplantısının tanıtım yazısı.

This book discusses recent developments relating to ethical and sustainable issues in accounting and finance. Accounting is often seen as a technical discipline that records, classifies and reports financial transactions. However, since the financial information produced concerns all interest groups both within and outside the enterprise, accounting also has social characteristics and involves multi-faceted duties and responsibilities. As such, in addition to basic principles and accepted rules and standards in the field, this book focuses on the ethical aspects and fundamentals (...) of this profession that accountants should also take into consideration, as this is the only way to build and preserve society's confidence in accounting and increase its social credibility. Kıymet Tunca Çalıyurt graduated from the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Marmara University, Istanbul Turkey. She also has Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Accounting and Finance from the Social Graduate School at Marmara University. She pursued her postdoc studies on "Accounting and Corporate Social Responsibility" with Prof. David Crowther at London Metropolitan University in 2003. Her research interests are in accounting, auditing, fraud, social responsibility, corporate governance, finance, business ethics with a special interest in NGOs, and aviation management. She has business experience as a management trainee at McDonald's, as a member of the finance staff at Singapore Airlines, and as an auditor at Horwath Auditing. She is external auditor and trainer at Consulta Auditing Company, INAA in Istanbul under the presidency Prof Dr. Emre Burckin. (shrink)

Why did the scientific revolution take place in the West and not in China or the Islamic world? How did humanity's progress in science and technology, which had been moving along at a relatively steady pace for tens of thousands of years, end up taking such an unprecedented leap? Subjecting the history of thought and technology to a novel interpretation based on the relationship between theory and practice, Ahmet Selami Çalışkan argues that the industrial revolution and modern science-and the scientific (...) revolution that preceded both-did not alone suffice to sort out the philosophical problems of their day or to produce the institutions of the modern age. Both required a new sort of human: Homo economicus faber. Tracing the historical emergence of this figure and its persistence in our own age, this book offers an innovative and holistic assessment of the economic, cultural, and political effects of centuries of interaction between East and West and their repercussions in our world today. (shrink)

Delegating socially significant roles to artificial intelligence (AI) is an emerging reality, yet little is known about how publics evaluate this transfer of responsibility across contexts and countries. This study applied a structural model to a large cross-national dataset (30,994 individuals in 35 countries) to test how cognitive appraisals, affective dispositions, and contextual factors jointly shape willingness to delegate socially important roles of companionship, mental health advisor, doctor and teacher to children to AI. The results revealed a robust hierarchy of (...) delegation preferences, with companionship most frequently entrusted to AI, followed by mental-health advisor, teacher, and doctor. Cognitive appraisals emerged as the strongest predictors: trust in online information was consistently the most powerful driver across all roles, while optimism and life satisfaction made smaller but reliable contributions. Affective dispositions played narrower, domain-specific roles, with anxiety shaping delegation in teaching and mental health, and loneliness linked only weakly to companionship. Women were less willing than men to delegate across all roles, with the gender gap largest in medicine and education, and strikingly invariant across cognitive and affective predictors. Beyond these, national baselines diverged by nearly 30 percentage points even after adjusting for these predictors demonstrating the independent influence of country context. Our findings show that willingness to delegate socially important roles to AI follows a robust hierarchy and reflects the combined influence of cognitive appraisals, affective dispositions, and contextual factors. A key implication is that delegation roles to AI must be understood as both a personal and a societal orientation, requiring attention to the interplay between these layers. (shrink)

No presente artigo, refuto o argumento que uma concepção robusta de liberdades econômicas, que inclua a propriedade produtiva como um direito básico, implica necessariamente no enfraquecimento do compromisso institucional com as exigências distributivas. O propósito do artigo é, portanto, defender a tese exatamente oposta. Se, por um lado, há argumentos válidos para endossar uma concepção robusta de liberdade econômica que é necessária para o adequado desenvolvimento e exercício das “faculdades morais” da cidadania democrática; por outro lado, a mesma razão nos (...) impõe categoricamente condenar desigualdades econômicas excessivas, a fim de que tanto o valor equitativo das liberdades políticas, como também das econômicas possam ser garantidos. (shrink)

Although equality of opportunity is a fundamental idea of the egalitarian project, there is a continuing controversy about the effective distributive implications of the notion. This paper focuses on this controversy, and maintains that when equality of opportunity is correctly understood, it entails strong distributive implications. In this way, this paper intends to reject the notion that equality of opportunity is associated with a non-institutional idea of meritocracy: an idea which is often used as an ideological tool to make unacceptable (...) inequalities seem acceptable. This paper defends the argument that only an ‘institution-dependent’ conception of equality of opportunity, such as Rawls’ fair equality opportunity, is the most adequate interpretation for a liberal democratic society. Nonetheless, it does not mean that individual merit has no place in liberal democratic societies. Fair equality of opportunity - if correctly understood - is deeply relevant and might contribute to a significant reduction of economic inequality, much more so than is currently perceived in the public debate. (shrink)

This article examines the issue of ikhtilāf, which denotes differences in meaning that arise during the interpretation of Qur’anic verses, within the ʿulūm al-Qur’ān literature, and in this context addresses the nature of concepts frequently mentioned in the literature such as taʿārud, tanāqud, and ishkāl. According to a significant number of exegetes, although the use of such terms with regard to Qur’anic verses may at first glance give the impression of contradiction, they do not point to a genuine inconsistency; rather, (...) they mostly reflect problems of understanding and interpretation that are centered on the addressee. In line with this approach, classical exegetes and scholars of legal theory emphasized that, by virtue of being divine speech, the Qur’an cannot contain a real contradiction. For this reason, they developed expressions such as mūhim al-ikhtilāf (“the illusion of contradiction”) to indicate that ikhtilāf stems from the addressee’s capacity to comprehend and grasp the issue at hand. In this respect, the study first surveys major works written from the early period to the present that deal with the concept of ikhtilāf. It then evaluates the function of the criteria of time, place, and audience, which exegetes frequently employ when explaining apparent contradictions. In addition, the study discusses the type of methodological framework offered, from the perspective of tafsīr methodology, by the discipline of Mushkil al-Qur’ān, which was developed to resolve apparent contradictions in the Qur’an. Finally, the article focuses on the understanding of ikhtilāf articulated by the Ottoman scholar of legal theory Kāfiyecī and sets out the approach he adopted in explaining apparent cases of taʿārud. According to him, even when the evidences are sound, a person may perceive verses as contradictory if there is a deficiency in their power of understanding or ability to grasp the issues involved. Accordingly, Kāfiyecī emphasizes that ikhtilāf arises not from the divine word itself, but predominantly from the level of human comprehension and interpretive capacity. This study adopts a qualitative research method and, in this framework, employs the document analysis technique. (shrink)

A comparative study of business related values among business students was conducted over the last 10 years in two neighbouring countries. Although Estonia and Finland are culturally related, according to an empirical study of managerial values, including the ethical values of business students, the two countries display significant differences. During the last decade, Estonia has changed from being a country characterised by an authoritarian, centralized, totalitarian state socialism, to a democratic country with a free market economy and different attitudes and (...) values. At the same time Finland has experienced almost a century of capitalism and democracy. It is argued that the differences in values exhibited by these two countries could be explained by using the institutional and historical context. The authors propose a model of value hierarchies in relation to institutionalism. (shrink)

It is controversial whether a teacher, not familiar with philosophical literature, can do philosophy with children—in other words, conduct philosophical discussions in philosophy activities with them. There are views in the literature that oppose and support this issue. These debates necessitate more studies. Therefore, we carried out a qualitative case study in a kindergarten with a teacher and fifteen students in Turkey. The teacher implemented fourteen lessons with the students aged 5–6 years. The lesson plans were developed together with the (...) researchers and the schoolteachers in meetings over three months. We collected data through field notes, meeting minutes, interviews and audio recordings. Our findings showed that the teacher was able to exhibit behaviors appropriate for philosophical inquiry during the philosophy activities with children and develop a positive attitude towards the practice. This finding supported the views arguing that a teacher with no previous philosophy training can do philosophy with children. (shrink)

The study draws attention to the transfer of management theories and practices from traditional capitalist countries such as the USA and UK to post-socialist countries that are currently experiencing radical change as they seek to introduce market reforms. It is highlighted that the efficacy of this transfer of management theories and practices is, in part, dependent upon the extent to which work-related attitudes and values vary between traditional capitalist and former socialist contexts. We highlight that practices such as Human Resource (...) Management (HRM) and Organization Development (OD) are inextricably associated with conceptions surrounding culture and society, as well as to variables such as job satisfaction and organisational commitment. The main aim of this study is to compare various attitudes and values of employees in traditional capitalist countries and post-socialist countries. On the basis of the findings of an attitudinal survey of (N = 5914) workers in 15 countries we conclude that certain aspects of the attitudes and values of workers in post-socialist countries and traditional capitalist countries differ significantly. Specifically, these differences were found in respect of context-related and job-related attitudes, and also in relation to the importance that the respondents attached to the subject of ethics more generally. The implications of the study are discussed particularly in relation to the transfer of management theory and practices between traditional capitalist and post-socialist contexts. (shrink)

During the last decade and a half, Estonia has concentrated predominantly on economic development in its narrowest sense. Currently, the emphasis is gradually moving towards a broader approach, including an increasingly social agenda. The research question here concerns the awareness of corporate social responsibility among Estonian owners and managers. Empirical research in Estonia indicates that there has been a shift towards recognizing the importance of social responsibility, but this primarily concerns the “lower layers” of social responsibility, recognizing the importance of (...) economic responsibility and in some respects also public responsibility. Responses in interviews show a certain amount of personal initiative, but these are single examples rather than a general trend and are not enough to change the overall picture. Still, in any assessment of the current situation regarding social responsibility in Estonia, emphasis should be laid on the fact that changes are taking effect and will continue to do so. In transition economies, including Estonia, we should not overlook the fact that, at least in the early years of transition, the focus is on a rapid economic development where the social side will inevitably be left in the background and economic development will take place at the expense of social and environmental development. (shrink)

This article argues about John Rawls' paradigm shift in contemporary political philosophy. In the article, this paradigm is defined as democratic insofar it claims, among other things, to leave enough room for democratic deliberations and citizens’ political autonomy. On this specific issue, Rawls and Habermas dialogue is still particularly fruitful. Both authors believe that contemporary political philosophy must be modest in some relevant theoretical and methodological aspects but they disagree on which of these aspects should be more or less modest. (...) This article argues that when we look for the legitimate boundaries of the contemporary political philosophy, Rawls and Habermas projects should be seen as closely complementary to one another. On the one hand, the article partially agrees with Habermas’ objections to Rawls that political philosophy should not be too modest in providing orientations for the normative grounds of the political justification. On the other hand, against Habermas, the article remains on Rawls's side on the idea that political philosophy cannot be agnostic regarding the substantive and distributive issues of social justice. (shrink)

Le texte propose une analyse de l'acte de manger chez Emmanuel Levinas. Plus spécifiquement, nous nous concentrons sur le manger et le travail. Le manger et le travail sont deux types d’appropriation possibles du monde par l’ipséité. Notre but est de décrire les deux types d’appropriation du monde chez Emmanuel Levinas et de les comparer. On en tirera des possibles conséquences pour une pensée écologique dans la conclusion parce que le manger éfface les frontières entre l'humain et le non-humain. Il (...) s'agit d'un essai écologique de déconstruire le rapport entre l’humain et le monde, qui se montre dans l’acte de manger. (shrink)

This study contributes to our understanding of how work-related values, including ethics, are connected with the readiness to change in Estonian organizations. Research in Estonian companies involved 747 respondents. The author examined the influence of work-related values on attitude towards change and organizational learning. Empirical research in Estonian organizations indicates that work-related values predict attitude towards change and organizational learning. This study indicates the need for ethical conduct to achieve a competitive advantage in Estonia. Guidelines for managers and a model (...) of value-based change management are subsequently developed. (shrink)

This paper presents methodological reflections on power sharing and shifts of power in various interview situations. Narratives are said to be shaped by our attempts to position ourselves within social and cultural circumstances. In an interview situation, power can be seen as something that is created and that shifts between the interviewer and the interviewed. Reflexivity is involved when we as interviewers attempt to look at a situation or a concept from various perspectives. A modified form of discourse analysis inspired (...) by subject positioning was used to reflect on power relations in four different interview situations. The analyses indicate that reflection on the power relations can lead to other forms of understanding of the interviewee. The main conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that power relations are created within an interview situation and therefore it is important to be aware of dominant perspectives. Researchers and nurses face the challenge of constantly raising their level of consciousness about power relationships, and discursive reflexivity is one way of doing this. Thus, reflexivity is an important part of the qualitative research process. (shrink)

Globally, northern regions are characterized by sparse populations and long distances between settlements, often resulting in limited travel infrastructure. Because of the remoteness of locations in these regions, small companies looking to attract larger tourist groups face various challenges. However, recent developments show a growing interest in novel and unique places, which can entice tourists who value sustainability. Thus, to respond to this increased customer interest, these authentic, sparsely populated areas (SPAs) in rural regions have the potential to strengthen their (...) economic activities by increasing tourism activities. In this chapter, we discuss tourism industries in the region of Northern Ostrobotnia and Kainuu in Finland and in Russian Karelia. We approach this case study using the political, economic, sociocultural, technological, environmental, and legal (PESTEL) analysis tool, which provides a structure for a strategic analysis of cross-border tourism opportunities and challenges. In light of recent global developments and preferences, such as a growing interest in individuals’ unique experiences, these regions possess ample tourism opportunities by placing value on real-life experiences, pure nature, and other authentic values. These opportunities have paved the way for the entrance of new actors in tourism-related industries, such as farming, fishery, and wellness, which can exploit the business opportunity of offering additional part-time services for tourists based on their main businesses. This will not only bring important economic income to these companies and the region, but can also create new, unique tourist experiences with little risk for either nature or humans; however, there are several challenges to overcome. We argue that this emerging trend supports sustainable tourism principles, and we highlight the challenges that will need to be overcome for these endeavors to succeed. This research was carried out prior to the invasion of Ukraine. (shrink)

This ethnography explores the aesthetic dimension of religion and the sensational ways in which it contributes to shaping ordinary ethics on Long Street in Cape Town, South Africa. In the context of everyday social life on Long Street, homeless peoples’ claim of an ethical character is denied recognition. Long Street is a public space of conviviality and differences, a hybrid social reality marked with growing urbanization, globalization, and neoliberalism, and overseen by a continuous presence of security units. It is a (...) street saturated with ever‐increasing social problems resulting from a revival of class differences. Ordinary ethics on Long Street is complex, unpredictable, dynamic, and vulnerable, and stands the risk of potential breakdown. Against this backdrop, this ethnography recounts the ways in which aesthetic formations of religion stimulate technologies of imaginations that offer homeless people sensory experiences of refuge, recognition, being, and belonging amidst social exclusion and a harsh lived experience. Aesthetics of religion are ethics made visible in public life. (shrink)

A major issue in the philosophy of human rights today concerns the divide between the orthodox and the political/practical view. The former focuses on and emphasizes the moral dimension of human rights, the latter their political/legal function. The present article displays the main strengths and weaknesses of each competing conception by providing a thorough analysis of all relevant theoretical aspects of the issue as well as of its practical significance. It then sustains that a compelling theory should include a social (...) conception of human dignity in the grammar of human rights - as suggested by Buchanan's and Forst's interpretations - which takes into due consideration the equal status of human beings, and in doing so it is able to reveal all the complexity of the notion of human dignity, in particular in its intersubjective dimension. Thus, we might obtain an essential mediation between the moral dimension and political/legal function of human rights, in a way that covers almost entirely the list of human rights as it is spelled out in the major official documents, and secures adequate normative force for their justification. (shrink)

Mu‘allâkâtların, tefsir, nahiv, sarf ve dil ilimlerindeki önemli rolünün yanı sıra Arap dili ve edebiyatı âleminde de yüksek ve önemli bir konumu bulunmaktadır. Cahiliye devri müfredatlarının pek çoğunu kapsamasından ötürü dil ve edebiyat erbabı ona önem atfetmiştir. Onlardan biri de, ‘Şerhü’l-Kasâ’idi’l-السبع’ adıyla el-Muâ‘llekât’a yaptığı şerhiyle Ebu Bekir Muhammed bin el-Kasım bin Beşar bin el-Anbari. Bu eserinde pek çok nahiv, zamirin aidiyeti, harflerin manası, zarf ile car ve mecrûrun bağlı olduğu yerin belirlenmesi, müfredatlarıni‘râbı, illetler arasındaki üstünlükler, kıyasa ve luğatta asıl olana, (...) kelimenin irabını belirlemede bazı seslerin etki nedenlerine, sarf, lügat, belağat, eleştiri vb. konulara değinmektedir. Bu itibarla bu araştırma, betimsel analitik yöntemini kullanarak et-Anbari’ninMu‘allâkât şerhindeki nahiv yöntemini, Arap nahiv ilminde iki önemli konu olan kıyas ve ta‘lîl ile ilgili duruşunu açıklayarak değerlendirmeyi hedeflemektedir. (shrink)