Prolegomena to a Theory of Standards of Proof

The most familiar objections to consequentialism claim that the theory gives counterintuitive answers to certain moral questions: requiring us to make massive donations to distant impoverished persons, for example, or permitting us to kill someone and harvest his vital organs to save others. But some consequentialists respond that our intuitions about such cases are themselves mistaken. Paul Hurley's ambitious book challenges consequentialism in a more fundamental way, arguing that the theory is internally inconsistent. The book addresses central issues in normative ethics. It is organized, lucid, and enjoyable to read. Hurley's arguments combine into an elegant whole. Much of the book is a kind of second-order project that consolidates, generalizes, and reframes critiques of consequentialism that others have made: arguments from “demandingness, alienation, confinement, and integrity” (21). Hurley poses questions that consequentialists must answer. Perhaps consequentialists can answer them, but doing so will help them to define their view and clarify their commitments. All consequentialists should therefore read this book.Hurley claims that there are “tensions within the consequentialist approach itself” (3). Most consequentialists, he asserts, accept three propositions:1)Rational Authority of Moral Standards (RAMS): agents have decisive reasons to do what they are morally required to do.2)Nonimpersonal Reasons (NIR): agents have some fundamentally nonimpersonal reasons that sometimes provide them with sufficient reasons not to bring about the best overall state of affairs.3)Consequentialist Moral Standards (CMS): agents are morally required to bring about the best overall state of affairs.In chapters 1–4, Hurley argues that these propositions form an inconsistent triad and that there is a conclusive case for dropping consequentialism (CMS), rather than RAMS or NIR. Chapter 2 introduces the challenge. Chapter 3 develops it by inverting the well-known objection that consequentialism is too demanding. Hurley argues that, on the contrary, consequentialism makes no demands at all because it is a theory of moral standards, not a theory of reasons for action. Consequentialists espouse RAMS but provide no rationale for it (62). RAMS is so widely accepted that critics of consequentialism have not demanded a rationale, nor have they noticed that consequentialists who espouse RAMS and NIR are being inconsistent. Agents have decisive reasons not to conform to such “demanding” moral standards.In chapter 4, Hurley intensifies the challenge, making novel use of Bernard Williams's objections to utilitarianism. Hurley argues that consequentialists typically presuppose NIR in their very conception of “the best overall state of affairs.” The best states of affairs are, by definition, ones in which many individuals act on various nonimpersonal reasons (pursuing personal projects, giving priority to loved ones). So the very formulation of consequentialism presupposes NIR. Consequentialists cannot, therefore, coherently sustain their essential claim that impersonal reasons always trump nonimpersonal ones.In chapter 5, Hurley interprets an intuition that is often thought to support consequentialism—that it is always wrong to fail “to do what is best.” He argues that consequentialists “misappropriate” this intuition, interpreting it tendentiously to mean that it is always wrong to fail to promote the best state of affairs, when in fact our intuition is merely that it is always wrong to fail to perform the best action—an intuition that does not support consequentialism.Chapter 6 proceeds to challenge the consequentialist claim that the impartiality of morality should be understood as impersonality. Inspired by T. M. Scanlon and Stephen Darwall, Hurley articulates a conception of impartiality that is interpersonal, but not impersonal. This standpoint, he suggests, supports agent-centered permissions and restrictions and represents the moral standpoint. The interpersonal standpoint also supports the rational authority of moral standards (RAMS) just where consequentialism fails to do so (chapter 7). Chapter 8 shows how Hurley's foundational challenge to act consequentialism extends to the most prominent recent versions of indirect, rule, and nonfoundational consequentialism, as defended in books by Brad Hooker (2000), David Cummiskey (1996), and Derek Parfit (2011).Hurley makes many important points in these chapters. Consequentialists have not explained how anyone could have decisive reasons to be moral if consequentialism is the correct theory of moral standards. They have not converged on a position in the internalism/externalism debate(s). They have not adequately justified their interpretation of the intuition that it is always right to do what is best. Nor have they adequately defended impersonality as the uniquely correct conception of impartiality. Hurley rightly pressures consequentialists to defend positions on these topics. In the rest of this review, I shall suggest how consequentialists might interpret RAMS and NIR so as to avoid Hurley's central incoherence argument.Hurley's argument that the RAMS/NIR/CMS triad is inconsistent assumes that, if you have a decisive reason to Φ, then you do not have a sufficient reason not to Φ. This conditional is true only if ‘reason’ has the same denotation in the antecedent and the consequent. So it matters whether ‘reasons’ in RAMS has the same denotation as the second appearance of ‘reasons’ in NIR (in the phrase ‘sufficient reasons’). Must it? In some contexts, ‘reasons’ denotes a subset of reasons (such as prudential reasons), not reasons, simpliciter. In other contexts, ‘reasons’ denotes a broader set of reasons (at the limit: all reasons). As Hurley emphasizes, RAMS is implausible as applied to prudential reasons. On any plausible theory of prudential reasons and any plausible theory of moral standards, morality can require an agent to act against his or her own interests, as when he or she could benefit by making a lying promise without suffering any adverse consequences. RAMS becomes plausible only if ‘reasons’ is understood in a broader, more moralized sense, such that the agent can be said to have ‘decisive reasons’ not to make the beneficial lying promise.Given this interpretation of RAMS, I think there is a reading of NIR that is compatible with both consequentialism (CMS) and RAMS. We can understand ‘sufficient reasons’ in NIR to denote reasons in the narrower sense. A devoted father might have sufficient reasons to spend thousands of dollars on music lessons for his daughter and decisive reasons not to spend the money on a racehorse for himself (although he has a pro tanto prudential reason to buy the racehorse if it will bring him joy). These are reasons only in the narrower sense. If he wrongly embezzled the money, then he has decisive reasons, in the broader sense, to return it to its rightful owner, rather than spending it on anyone. It is not inconsistent to assert that he has decisive reasons, in the narrower sense, to buy the music lessons, and decisive reasons, in the broader sense, not to do so.A decisive reason, in the narrower sense, could simultaneously constitute a pro tanto reason in the broader sense. For example, the father's decisive reason to buy the music lessons could constitute a pro tanto reason, in the broader sense, to do so, but not a sufficient reason, because the money was embezzled. A consequentialist can similarly hold that the father's decisive reason to buy the music lessons constitutes a pro tanto reason, in the broader sense, to do so, but not a sufficient reason, because impoverished children will benefit more from the money than his daughter will benefit from the lessons. Consequentialists can accept that decisive reasons, in the narrower sense, always constitute pro tanto reasons in the broader sense. They need only insist that such pro tanto reasons to Φ do not constitute sufficient reasons to Φ, in the broader sense, if Φ-ing fails to bring about the best overall state of affairs because in that case there are stronger pro tanto reasons not to Φ.I have not proven, of course, that these stronger pro tanto reasons always exist. That would require proving that consequentialism is true. I am just questioning Hurley's charge that consequentialism is incoherent. Nor have I shown that any actual consequentialist endorses my interpretations of RAMS and NIR. I have simply argued that there is a plausible interpretation of each claim such that, contra Hurley, they do not jointly conflict with consequentialism. However, Hurley succeeds in demonstrating that consequentialists cannot consistently endorse RAMS and NIR if they interpret the claims as he does.I have also said nothing about what reasons, in the broader sense, are. Here I can offer only an analogy. Consider an agent who is indifferent to her own future welfare. She knowingly ingests a drug that produces immediate pleasure but will kill her next week. She stubbornly denies that she acts irrationally. There is a narrow sense of ‘rational’ in which she acts rationally—she takes effective means to her dominant end of the moment (obtaining immediate pleasure). But there is a broader (although still prudential) sense of ‘rational’ in which she acts irrationally—she acts against her long-term self-interest. She is rationally required, in this broader sense, to care about her future interests, even if she does not. Analogously, there is a narrow sense of ‘rational’ in which agents are often rationally justified in not bringing about the best overall consequences because doing so will not promote their own welfare. But there is a broader sense of ‘rational’ in which they would be rationally required to do so. Hurley writes as though there were a straightforward understanding of ‘rational,’ simpliciter (50–53), to which moral theories must answer, but I am not sure what sense he has in mind.The views expressed in this review are the author's. They do not represent the views of the National Institutes of Health or the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

LABOR HISTORY SYMPOSIUM

Efficient thinking is the foundation of efficient operation. The correct definition of concepts, especially the basic ones for a given field, in order to reach the truth, is a condition for the development of science and its social utility. The Petrażycki’s research methodology of law is a thoroughly modern method, as it enables effective examination of the accuracy of contemporary legal theories created after Petrażycki’s input. A model contemporary theory susceptible to an examination through the research methodology of law by Petrażycki is the normative theory of legal rules and non-legal standards by Dworkin. For this purpose some falsifications will be subject, i.e. selected ad hoc among many others, two important theories of normative law theory Dworkin. The first one is the thesis classifying legal norms into two groups of norms, namely legal rules and non-legal standards. The second one is a thesis about the existence of who are capable of discovering and issuing lawful and, at the same time, fair (just) court decisions, which are also the only ones for resolving particular court disputes. Unfortunately, owing to the seemingly cognitive research methodology of Petrażycki, both Dworkin’s deformed division of legal norms as well as Dworkin’s Hercules judges - cannot stand the test of authenticity. Due to the Petrażycki’s methodology, the legal-normative theory of Dworkin does not lose an innovative outlook on the existence of social norms, which are being discovered by judges in the jurisprudence, indifferently to the doubts over their proper classification (be it non-legal standards or, perhaps, outright standards supplementing statutory and sub-statutory legal regulations). Moreover, Dworkin’s theory is placed between naive theories, regardless of whether they are considered realistically naive theories (towards the Hercules judges) or nihilistically naive theories (when it comes to the existence of the only judgments in the given court cases which are also the just ones.) A few random reflections on the well-known work of Dworkin with the help of Petrażycki’s methodology serve to provide a new perspective on the contemporary legal normativity.

Relevance of the work. Nowadays, Russian enterprises and their employees are subjects of the labour, product, services market, and capital market. An analysis of the theory, methodology and practice of labour standards for workers in coalmining enterprises has shown that rate fixing, as one of the important institutions that regulate the quality, quantity and efficiency of labour use, restrains an employee’s subjectivity in the labour market. Lack of subjectivity is disadvantageous either to employees, or to management (to the owners of the enterprise, or the state), since it does not allow increasing labour efficiency, which is a source of workers’ dissatisfaction with the quality of working life and incomes, labour conflicts, insufficient to ensure the competitiveness of enterprises with increased productivity and labour safety, insufficient growth tax revenues to the state budget. These circumstances indicate the need to develop the theory and methodology of labour standards for workers of coal-mining enterprises aimed at increasing the market subjectivity of each employee of the enterprise by means of socio-economic standardization of his labour activity allowing the employee to satisfy his socioeconomic needs, and the enterprise to carry out socio-economic development as one of the conditions for effective functioning in a market environment. Purpose of the work – theoretical and methodological substantiation of the socio-economic standardization of labour activity of coal-mining workers as a real socio-economic phenomenon and a means to increase their market subjectivity, and for an enterprise to successfully realize the goals of socio-economic development in the conditions of high dynamics of the functioning environment. Methodology and methods of research. The methodology of socio-economic regulation of labour activity of workers is based on the theoretical and methodological provisions of the scientific organization of labour, the results of modern research on the development of labour standards in the context of the formation of a socially oriented market economy and an institutional approach that allows us studying the problems of functioning and changing the role of labour standards as one of the social and economic institutions that form the market subjectivity of the employee and the level of social -economic development of the enterprise. Results of the research. The key concepts of the methodology of socio-economic standardization are identified, the main provisions of the concept of socio-economic standardization of labour activity of coal-mining workers are developed. Conclusions. The increase in the market subjectivity of workers is ensured by the formation and adoption by the enterprise management of the socio-economic standardization of the labour activity of workers at all levels of management, which is based on the determination, establishment and maintenance of a measure of conformity of the social and economic benefits received by the employee, the results of his labour activity and the conditions for obtaining these results.

This chapter examines the part of philosophy that the Epicureans called kanonikê, a term meaning “theory of standards or criteria,” the aim of which is to establish the standards of the truth of beliefs, and thereby the truth of Epicurean theory. The fundamental standard is provided by appearances (equivalently, experiences, sense-impressions, or sense-contents), feelings, and concepts. Epicurus argues that all appearances are true, first by arguments external to Epicurean theory (viz. that no alternative to that thesis is possible) and then by an argument internal to Epicureanism, that appearances exactly reproduce their physical causes (viz. eidôla, films of atoms emitted in continuous streams by external physical objects and exactly reproducing the surface characteristics of the objects which emit them). This chapter contends that both sets of arguments are inconclusive, and that since the role of concepts as standards of truth depends on their derivation from appearances, Epicurus’s attempt to guarantee the truth of his theory is consequently unsuccessful.

Theory of Pharmacy and Academic Standards

This paper gives a theory of the signal strength in rubidium vapor frequency standards for various situations encountered in practice. The density matrix formalism is used and the signal strength is given as a function of light intensity, rubidium density, absorption cell length, and applied microwave power. The results obtained are found to be in good agreement with published data.A theory is also developed giving the strength and the phase of the signal as a function of the modulation frequency and of the frequency excursion amplitude. This theory uses a model of a simple harmonic oscillator. The results are similar to those obtained by previous authors using a more complex model.

Owing to low cost, excellent pressure and corrosion resistance, bimetallic lined pipes were regarded as one of the most important methods to resolve corrosion of traditional steel pipes used for oilfield. Nowadays, the pipes are widely used in the projects of oil and gas gathering and transportation. However, there were some failure cases in succession in recent years. In this paper, the failure causes were excavated from multiple perspectives, and on this basis further countermeasures were put forward. Firstly, three typical failure accidents, including CRA layer collapse, CRA layer corrosion and weld joint failure, were listed throughout the whole life cycle from product ordering, construction technology to later operation. Secondly, failure analysis was carried out from five aspects: product quality, test technology, welding process, standard specification and application threshold, and a serial of comprehensive views were proposed. 1) Manufacturing period: Water seepage and tightness between CRA layer and backing pipe could not be effectively monitored. The ratio of collapse test was low so that proposed relevant risk could not be eliminated; 2) Welding period: the process has high risk failure in theory and lack of process assessment and construction acceptance standards. Potential danger could not be effectively assessed, and weld quality could not be guaranteed; 3) Application period: The CRA application range remained unclear, and bimetallic lined pipes were used in the environment beyond the threshold sometimes. The paper also summarized further improvement measures and research directions about these five aspects, including process quality, inspect technique, welding process, standard specification and application range. Finally, solution suggestions were proposed for the whole chain from manufacturers, testing institutions, construction units to oilfield users.

When the editors suggested this special issue on rhetoric and argument, they play­ fully appended a sub-title: What every in­ formal logician should know about rhetoric, but was too shy to ask. The com­ mon ground on which informal logicians and rhetoricians meet is argumentation, and both parties share a common goal, i.e., understanding argumentation-in theory, practice, and criticism. A well developed theory of argumentation, 1 submjt, requires principles and standards drawn from three sources that, together, make up the contro­ versial arts par excellence: rhetoric, logic, and dialectic. If that's a fair statement, then it behooves informal logicians to attend to insights derived from rhetorical studies of argumentation.

The article proposes a new development concept of topographic mapping in Ukraine. The goal. It is based on the implementation of a new system model that responds to the geoinformation approach to topographic mapping in the development of National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) and provides the creation of geospatial data sets in the form of databases and knowledge bases based on existing standards and specifications: series of International Standards ISO 19100 “Geographic information/Geomatics”, Open Geospatial Consortium (OGS), INSPIRE, National Standards of Ukraine (DSTU), Complex of Standards Organization of Ukraine (SOU) “Topographic database”. Methods. The basis for the research is the analysis of the possibilities of applying the theory of databases and knowledge bases International Standards and specifications. Scientific novelty and practical significance. It provides a high intellectual level of Core Reference and profile geospatial data, which is capable to provide geoinformation analysis and modeling in modern GIS. In addition, the implementation the infrastructure approach to topographic production and the creation and development of a permanent topographic monitoring system will ensure the publication of geospatial data in real time, almost simultaneously with changes in the terrain, which guarantees the maintenance of the single digital topographic basis and, accordingly, Core Reference Datasets for NSDI.

This article presents the scenario of programming use by architects and engineers, creating their own unique tools. The goal is to emulate and understand the phenomenon of BIM software customization by developing plug-ins that can explore the human-environment relationship. Demonstrates the process for building a plugin that seeks to equalize the theory of accessibility technical standards, visually impaired and architects. Uses Design Science Research methodologies to guide the construction of artifacts for specific practical problems and the Collaborative Design / Codesign to understand and know the users' expertise. It is argued that the low quality of projects that include elements for the orientation of the visually impaired in Brazil is often related to an unstructured methodology in which important aspects such as the real needs of this group and the human-environment relationship are neglected.

This paper examines the economic consequences of adopting the International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) from a diffusion of innovation theory perspective. Using a very extensive dataset with 160 countries over 20 years and generating 3,200 country-year observations, this study examines the impact of ISAs adoption on the economic consequences of adopting countries. Our findings are threefold. First, we show that early ISAs adoption has positively and significantly influenced three economic indicators of the adopting countries: (i) economic growth, (ii) foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, and (iii) exchange rate. Second, our results show that late ISAs adoption has positively and significantly influenced two economic indicators: (i) exports and (ii) interest rates, but negatively with imports. Third, we find a significant positive association between ISAs adoption with amendments or translation and two economic indicators: (i) FDI and (ii) exchange rate, but negative with inflation. Finally, and by contrast, we find a negative link between early ISAs adoption, economic growth rate, and exports. Our findings have implications for theory and practice.

Earthquake Resistant Building is the main requirement for Indonesian people because Indonesia is earthquake risk prone. Surveying showed that every earthquake in Indonesia caused many material losses and fatalities. Therefore the concept of earthquake resistant building is the main requirement for community and building construction practices. There are four components that affect the performance of earthquake resistant buildings: Strength, Stiffness, Ductility and Configuration of building structures. These need to be socialized to be understood correctly so that people understand the concept of earthquake resistant buildings. Based on the observations in various regions and compared to earthquake resistant building standards and concepts, it can be shown that the failure of building structures occurs due to the poor connection details of the structural elements and structural rigidity configuration of structure elements are not in a single entity,sturdy and compact. This paper discibes some of the basics theory of earthquake resistant and standards of SNI 03-1726-2012 and it compared to the pattern of damage of the structural elements due to earthquake. Comparison of that theory to the survey results show that the damage is due to the implementation in the field is not the same as result of the concept of theory and standards of earthquake resistant buildings regulations SNI 03-1726-2012. For this reason, it is recommended to conduct a socialization program and training in the construction of earthquake-resistant buildings to the community and to building practitioners, especially the builders and foremen Hopely that the implementation of the program can reduce the risk of material and life loss due to the earthquake in Indonesia.

The problem of stability of web sheets in box-girders of overhead cranes

I consider markets with asymmetric information. As suggested by Akerlof, quality deterioration in such markets may take place. I show that this is a general phenomenon. Minimum quality constraints (or "licensing requirements") are examined as a possible solution to the problem. Although not generally a first-best solution, such constraints will increase welfare in a number of cases. The types of markets that are likely to benefit from minimum quality standards are identified. It is then shown that, if quality standards are set by the profession (or industry) itself, it is likely that the standards will be too high.