Normative Conditions Research Articles

Reasoning and normative beliefs: not too sophisticated

Does reasoning to a certain conclusion necessarily involve a normative belief in support of that conclusion? In many recent discussions of the nature of reasoning, such a normative belief condition is rejected. One main objection is that it requires too much conceptual sophistication and thereby excludes certain reasoners, such as small children. I argue that this objection is mistaken. Its advocates overestimate what is necessary for grasping the normative concepts required by the condition, while seriously underestimating the importance of such concepts for our most fundamental agential capacities. Underlying the objection is the observation that normative thoughts do not necessarily cross our minds during reasoning. I show that proponents of the normative belief condition can accommodate this observation by taking the required normative belief to guide the reasoning process and offer a novel account of what such guidance consists in.

Trybunał Konstytucyjny jako organ stojący na straży konstytucyjności. Uwagi na tle analizy orzecznictwa z 2017 r.

The Constitutional Tribunal`s task is to examine the constitutionality of legal acts. The dispute over the Tribunal in Poland in 2016–2017 raises the question whether it still performs this function. The author addresses this issue in the light of the analysis of judgments issued by the Constitutional Tribunal in 2017. In conclusion, the Author indicates that due to the nature of the activities, the constitutional court will always be included in the political discourse in some extent. The answer to the question whether the Polish Constitutional Tribunal constitutes a barrier for the legislator’s actions depends in a large extent on the legislator himself. The latest defines the normative conditions of his activity as well as decides on the selection of the Tribunal`s judges. The study closes the remarks regarding the constitutional judiciary model in Poland in the future.

Analysis of Environmental Aspects of Exploiting Unconventional Reservoirs

This article, written by Special Publications Editor Adam Wilson, contains highlights of paper SPE 185546, “Importance of the Study of Environmental Aspects in the Exploitation of Unconventional Reservoirs for Risk Assessment of the Activity in Argentina,” by M.A. De La Zerda and E. Erdmann, SPE, Instituto Tecnologico de Buenos Aires, and R. Sarandon, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, prepared for the 2017 SPE Latin America and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference, Buenos Aires, 17–19 May. The paper has not been peer reviewed. This paper presents an analysis of the environmental aspects of the exploitation of unconventional reservoirs in order to evaluate the risk of the activity. To this end, the existing normative framework, the natural and socioeconomic conditions of the area, and the applicable technologies are considered. The novelty of this work is the analysis of the factors that determine the environmental risk including technologies, environmental conditions at the site, and the legal context in the region. Methodology A review and comparative analysis was performed of the general and environmental regulatory framework in Argentina where unconventional exploration or exploitation activities are carried out. This analysis was completed with a review of the effluent-management strategy, comparing it with criteria used by other countries, especially the United States. In order to perform a preliminary evaluation of the environmental risk, a structured, conceptual, and qualitative analysis was conducted in specific sectors corresponding to each of the areas of exploration and exploitation. Depending on the information available at the regional level, and based on the analysis of satellite images, each site was characterized according to 20 parameters. Parameters 1–9 represented the natural physical environment, 10–13 represented biotic or ecological factors, and 14–20 represented human environment: Temperature—Low temperatures result in a longer time for recovery; biochemical processes are slower. Extreme temperatures result in operational technological challenges. Precipitation—High levels of precipitation make the land less stable, raising the risk of water erosion, landslides, torrential phenomena, floods, and other extreme events. Contour—Abrupt land contour changes increase the risk of erosion, landslide, or mass removal. Wind—Frequent and intense winds increase the dispersion of atmospheric pollutants, especially particulate matter, and can lead to potential contamination of populated or productive areas. Water Depth—Deeper groundwater increases the risk of contamination by intentional or accidental spills, as well as contact with hazardous substances. Wetlands—The proximity to wetlands (e.g., streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds) increases the risk of contamination by intentional or accidental spill. Water Resources—The availability of water resources affects hydraulic-fracturing operations. Land Quality—High-quality land results in greater risk to the environment from an accidental spill or degradation from occupation, erosion, or contamination. Hydrologic Regime—Increased intermittence of the watercourse increases the risk of torrential activity, erosion, and flooding, raising the risk of accidents during the operation phase.

Chapter 4. Risks and benefits of medical nanotechnologies: a balancing to be Reconsidered

Nanomedicine opens new diagnostic and therapeutic perspectives. So far, even if few health nanoproducts are on the market, more than a hundred are in clinical trials, mainly in oncology. In fact, the uncertainty that characterizes the knowledge of risks related to nanoparticles, such as the difficulty of adapting evaluation methodologies to the singularity of each of them, in turn, affects the establishment of the benefit-risk balance, prior to any marketing. The objective of this study is to show that, facing the pitfall of risk assessment, the measurement of a global benefit, combining medical efficacity and life benefit for patients, from the very beginning of the nanoproduct design, becomes crucial for the construction of the balance and should be apprehended as the key normative condition of its development.

New technology entrepreneurship initiatives: Which strategic orientations and environmental conditions matter in the new socio-economic landscape?

The transformation of ideas into new technologies depends not only on how knowledge diffuses but also on which context/time this transformation is developed. In the assumption that internal and environmental conditions directly affects the decision of exploiting technological opportunities, this paper explores how some strategic dynamic capabilities (entrepreneurial and export market) and supportive environmental conditions (regulative and normative) influence the configuration of technology entrepreneurship initiatives. A proposed conceptual model is tested with 30,648 ventures in 23 countries participating in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor for the years 2005 (pre-financial crisis), 2008 (financial crisis), and 2011 (recession). The main findings suggest the positive role of entrepreneurial orientation and export market orientation in the development of new technology entrepreneurship initiatives. Also, environmental conditions influence on the development of initiatives of technology entrepreneurship. Particularly, the study evidences how regulative environmental conditions (property rights and government programs) enhance while other regulative conditions (support for science and technology) and normative conditions (opportunity perception and national culture) simultaneously retard the probability that a new/established venture develops new technology entrepreneurship initiatives. These effects are moderated and intensified by the influence of the economic cycles. The paper provides important insights to the field of entrepreneurship, innovation, and strategic management.

Adaptation of local work organization to modern conditions

The current state of the organization of local work is characterized by a large number of normative and technological documents that are developed without mutual coordination. Therefore, often the actual situation and the volume of the local work are significantly different from the normative conditions. Disadvantages of the existing organization of local work are: - performance planning of local work based on the achieved performance level of technical tasks cumulative from the beginning of the month without taking into account the real capabilities of stations and freight fronts; - criteria for shunting work does not take into account the use of loading and unloading capabilities of freight fronts; - evaluation of the effectiveness of local work organization does not take into account the final results of freight operations. The end result of local work should be the maximum volume of loading and unloading. The criterion for organizing local work is the optimal working conditions for freight fronts, when, by the time the freight operations are completed, the station has cars for the next timely delivery. The task of operational planning for local work in a mathematical formulation is formulated in terms of the distribution of flows on graphs. The developed algorithm for performing calculations leads to ranging the flow of car arrival to the station to ensure the maximum possible amount of freight work, and also determines the required schedule for its arrival. An operational plan for the transportation of local cars to stations and its supply to freight fronts is being developed as a result of automation of operational planning of local and freight work.

Against Cognitivism About Personhood

The present paper unravels ontological and normative conditions of personhood for the purpose of critiquing ‘Cognitivist Views’. Such views have attracted much attention and affirmation by presenting the ontology of personhood in terms of higher-order cognition on the basis of which normative practices are explained and justified. However, these normative conditions are invoked to establish the alleged ontology in the first place. When we want to know what kind of entity has full moral status, it is tempting to establish an ontology that fits our moral intuitions about who should qualify for such unique normative standing. But this approach conflates personhood’s ontology and normativity insofar as it stresses the primacy of the former while implicitly presupposing the latter; it thereby suffers from a ‘Normative Fallacy’ by inferring from ‘ought’ to ‘is’. Following my critique of Cognitivism, I sketch an alternative conception, contending that, whereas the Cognitivist ontology of personhood presupposes the normative, a social ontology is constituted by it. In due consideration of evidence from developmental psychology, the social embeddedness of persons—manifested in the ability of taking a ‘second-person stance’—is identified as a key feature of personhood that precedes higher-order cognition, and is directly linked to basic normative concerns.

Looking Back, Moving Forward: Technical, Normative, and Political Dimensions of School Discipline

Purpose: School discipline reformers have presumed that such work is largely a technical task, emphasizing discrete changes to discipline policies and protocols. Yet prior theory and research suggest that emphasizing technical changes may overlook additional and important aspects of reform, namely, the normative and political dimensions within which technical aspects are embedded. Although this earlier work appears relevant to contemporary school discipline reform, the extent to which this theory extends to school discipline remains unestablished. The purpose of this article is to show how this earlier line of theory extends to the topic of school discipline. Method: We draw on data collected as part of a qualitative study in which we conducted semistructured interviews and focus groups with 198 educators from 33 public schools on the topic of school discipline. We applied an equity-minded reform theory to examine technical, normative, and political dimensions of school discipline. Findings and Implications: We found the technical dimension of school discipline was characterized by educators’ strategic use of school resources and capacity building; normative conditions that supported conflict prevention and increased responsibility; and political dynamics in which administrators shifted power to encourage more inclusive discipline strategies. Furthermore, using this model illuminated interrelationships between dimensions, suggesting that unidimensional models—and their related reforms—may overlook nuances of this important reform issue. This theoretical extension provides a more holistic conceptualization than currently used in reform efforts, contributes to earlier lines of scholarship, and opens up new avenues of future inquiry.

Risk management to ensure the exploitation reliability of high-rise buildings

The paper presents the results of a study of design risks affecting the exploitation reliability of high-rise buildings. The aim of the study was to study and optimize risk management strategies. The relevance of the work is justified by the statistics of recorded violations in the design of high-rise buildings, which affects their quality in the process of exploitation, leading to disastrous consequences. Existing methods of risk assessment take into account natural and man-made hazards. The consequences of risk are human victims. Damage to risk is estimated from material losses. The paper suggests refinement to the methodology for assessing project risks. As a criterion of the consequences of risks, the deviation from the normative technical condition is proposed. As a criterion of damage, the value of operating costs, as well as the amount of costs for eliminating not the consequences of risks, but the costs of eliminating their causes at the design stage are proposed. The risk classification was carried out according to the design stages, according to the source of occurrence. The ranking of risk criteria was proposed to establish the priority of their elimination. The algorithm of risk management proposed by the authors can serve as an addition to existing quality control systems for the stage of designing high-rise buildings.

Ethical dilemmas of dental implantology: Ready for aftercare?

Dental implantology is one of the most attractive and dynamic fields of work within clinical dentistry. It provides many patients with new and improved opportunities for stable (implant-supported) rehabilitation and also offers dentists a field that is interesting in both technical and economic terms. Adverse clinical outcomes are, however, often the subject of discussion. These relate both to prosthetic failure and to biologic complications and side effects, namely persistent infections surrounding implants. A further point of discussion relates to the question as to how far the triumphant march of implantology is accompanied by a reduction in the willingness to retain teeth. It thus appears all the more important to ask some questions regarding the normative overall conditions of responsible implantologic care on the basis of the present state of research and currently available studies. In line with this, this paper deals with both existing preconceptions and ethically relevant parameters of responsible implantology. These function simultaneously as concrete clinical-ethical guidelines for dentists practicing implantology.

الحجاج وتأويل الحقيقة في الفکر البلاغي المعاصر

إن ما تقدمه الذات من حقيقة مرتبط في النهاية بموافقة الآخر واتفاقه وقبوله. فما هو منطقي وعقلاني، ما هو حقيقي وصحيح بالتالي، وما يبرهن به من حجج، ليس سوى آراء تمت صورنتها واختزالها في شکل رمزي في مواجهة آراء أخرى تنازعها امتلاک الحقيقة. هذا الوعي بأوهام العقلانية، وبأن الحقيقة ليست دائما قرينة البرهان المنطقي أو العلمي، وأن المفهوم الوضعي لها لا يشمل ما يجري في الواقع الإنساني من أشکال التواصل في مجالات الأخلاق والسياسة والعمل ... وغيرها، بما يعني أن المحتمل/ النسبي/ الإنساني لا ينافي الحقيقة، بل هو مما يشکلها؛ هذا الوعي هو جوهر الفعل البلاغي الذي يعتمد الإقناع بصوره المختلفة: الجدلي، الخطابي، الحجاجي، المغالطي؛ من أجل بناء خطاب يستهدف اتفاقا أو تسليما بقيمة ما على أنها الحقيقة، عبر التواصل وتبادل الرأي واقعا أو افتراضا، ومن خلال خلق حالة من الفهم والمعرفة. ومن هنا کان الخطاب البلاغي عبر تاريخه مسکنا للحقيقة، وفق أوضاع نموذجية أو معيارية للقيم، أو مقاصد أخلاقية أو عقدية أو شخصية ... إلخ. What the self provides of truth is ultimately linked to the consent, agreement and acceptance of the other. What is logical and rational, what is true, and what is proven by the arguments, is only the views have been rationalized and reduced in a symbolic form in the face of other views disputed by the possession of the truth. This awareness of illusions of rationality, and that truth is not always the presumption of logical or scientific proof, and that the positive concept does not include what is happening in the human reality of the forms of communication in the fields of ethics, politics, work ... and others, which means that the verisimilitude / relative / humanitarian does not contradict the truth, but it is what constitutes it; This consciousness is the essence of the rhetorical act, which is based on persuasion in its various forms: dialectical, rhetorical, and fallacious; in order to construct a discourse that aims at understanding or acknowledging the value of what is truth, through communication and exchange of opinion. Hence, the rhetorical discourse through its history was a dwelling place for the truth, according to typical or normative conditions of values, moral, contractual or personal purposes.

The Syntax of Principles: Genericity as a Logical Distinction between Rules and Principles

AbstractMuch has been said about the logical difference between rules and principles, yet few authors have focused on the distinct logical connectives linking the normative conditions of both norms. I intend to demonstrate that principles, unlike rules, are norms whose antecedents are linguistically formulated in a generic fashion, and thus logically described as inclusive disjunctions. This core feature incorporates the relevance criteria of normative antecedents into the world of principles and also explains their aptitude to conflict with opposing norms, namely that their consequents are fulfilled to varying extents more frequently than those of rules. I conclude that the property of genericity should be predicated to the norm antecedent of principles, more precisely to the hypothetical action. This is of paramount importance to explain, in terms of logical implication and exclusion, the expansibility of competing principles, in contrast with the exclusive character of conflicting rules.

Detached Statements

Joseph Raz has introduced an interesting class of statements —detached statements— into the philosophical lexicon. In brief, such statements are (informative) normative statements, yet the speaker does not, in so uttering them, express or convey acceptance of the point of view of the hearer to whom they are addressed (as contrasted with committed statements, where the speaker does express or convey such acceptance). I propose to offer a novel analysis of such statements (and to clear away some confusions about them). In brief, such statements will be analysed as wide-scope normative conditionals.

Orientating multilingualism: navigating languages teacher identities

The impact of conversations about language, multilingualism and multiculturalism in Western education contexts—and their impact on student and teacher interaction—has been frequently remarked upon. There have been very few attempts, however, to explore the ways in which these norms and their underlying structures and behaviors play out in the practices of languages teaching. Through interrogating teachers’ conversations about their daily experience and practice, we discovered that some languages—and the teachers who spoke or taught them—were understood differently from others. These differences were produced and reproduced in complex interactions between race, class, education and Western hegemony, marking some languages and languages teachers as being more prestigious and knowledgeable than others. We argue that, in the transnational contexts of Australian schools, these discussions are framed within discourses that are raced, neo-colonial and neoliberal. They appear to be wrought within a world of dissolving national, linguistic and cultural boundaries that is experienced as unsettling and disempowering. Moreover, the languages teachers identities are shaped by the normative terms and conditions of an understanding of languages and languages education that remains rooted in parochial, monolingual and pecuniary perspectives. If we are to reorientate approaches to languages education, and develop a more sustainable and socially just approach in Australia’s multicultural schools, these conversations—and the norms and behaviors that frame them—need to be better understood.

Analysis of the Monitoring Results of Modernized Residential Multi-storey Buildings

The main objective of the monitoring analysed in the article is to evaluate and make recommendations of the actual energy and technical efficiency of the implemented measures of the modernization of multi-apartment buildings. More detailed assessment of energy efficiency measures implemented by modernized buildings, measurements of indoor microclimate and their evaluation is made. Based on the actual heat consumption collected before and after the modernization of buildings, the thermal balance of the building was constructed under the normative conditions. The basics of the methodology, conclusions and recommendations are also presented.

Democratization and the Arab Spring: A Theoretical Perspective

Democratization in a broad sense is a continuous process of sensitization and practice of given, rationalized, normative conditions to regulate relations among the state, society, and individuals. This may entail inculcation of ideas, values, and practices so that society and relationships are based on ideas of justice and equity. The recent phenomenon of democratization in the Middle East sheds interesting light on the process of democratization. Learning what factors triggered these processes is pertinent to understanding the nature and scope of an unfolding process. It is prudent to note that the ongoing democratization in this region is transitional and tentative at best, and there is a looming threat that the old power structure will superimpose itself again. There is a need to understand concepts of democracy from African, Arabic, and Indian contributions. This essay argues for the necessity for further research on the Arabic conception of state-society relations. This approach may unravel whether the social foundations in the region are conducive for democracy and shed light on the nature of traditional authority that has commanded loyalty from people over many centuries.

Interstitial Occupancies: From Industrialization to Informal Urbanism in Monterrey, Mexico

As the third largest city in Mexico, Monterrey is a manufacturing hub that offers a provocative counterpoint to industrial cities in developed countries. Suburban sprawl, political instability, violence, social injustice, and de-industrialization illustrate increasing fragmentation—or terrain vague—where the conventional urban fabric unravels and less formal occupancies unfold. Defined by Catalan architect and theorist Ignasi Solà-Morales, terrain vague is expressed through obsolescence and various organic practices that react to depopulation and under-productivity. Investigating production and city-building, this article positions post-industrial Monterrey as a place of difference reflecting hybridized Latin American and American normative conditions. It surveys processes of industrialization and changing technology to situate iconic European and American architectural and urban precedents as forerunners of similar conditions in Monterrey.

Transdiagnostic psychiatric disorder risk associated with early age of menarche: A latent modeling approach

BackgroundEarlier age of pubertal maturation in females is associated with increased risk for mental health problems in adolescence, compared with on-time or later maturation. However, most investigations of pubertal timing and mental health consider risk for individual disorders and fail to account for comorbidity. A latent-modeling approach using a large, nationally representative sample could better explain the transdiagnostic nature of the consequences of early-onset puberty. MethodsData on age of menarche and mental disorders were drawn from a population-representative sample of adolescents (n=4925), ages 13–17. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to fit four latent disorder categories: distress, eating, and externalizing, and fear disorders. Timing of menarche included those with earlier (age≤10, age 11) and later age of onset (age 13, 14+), relative to those with average timing of menarche (age 12). Associations between timing of menarche and latent disorders were estimated in a structural equation model (SEM), adjusted for age, income, race, parent marital status, BMI, and childhood adversity. ResultsThe measurement model evidenced acceptable fit (CFI=0.91; RMSEA=0.02). Onset of menarche before age 11 was significantly associated with distress disorders (coefficient=0.096; p<0.0001), fear disorders (coefficient=0.09; p<0.0001), and externalizing disorders (coefficient=0.039; p=0.049) as compared to on-time or late menarche. No residual associations of early menarche with individual disorders over and above the latent disorders were observed. ConclusionThe latent modeling approach illuminated meaningful transdiagnostic psychiatric associations with early timing of menarche. Biological processes initiated at puberty can influence cognitive and affective processes as well as social relationships for adolescents. Under developmentally normative conditions, these changes may be adaptive. However, for those out of sync with their peers, researchers and clinicians should recognize the potential for these processes to influence liability to a broad array of psychopathological consequences in adolescence.

Beyond Repudiation: The Affective Instrumentalisation of Feminism in Girlfriendly Spaces

ABSTRACTAs a mediated sensibility, Gill, McRobbie and Angela have argued that postfeminism is held together by an incorporation of feminist ideas, in order to position feminism as ‘past’, a positioning which contributes to the production of highly individualised subjectivities. This article highlights an emerging modality of feminine subjectivity in which feminism is affectively incorporated, but, rather than being repudiated, it is deconstructed and instrumentalised to fit within norms of girlfriendship. To draw attention to how this discussion may open a more nuanced understanding of the relations between feminist and postfeminist subjectivity, I explore a set of blogs hosted on Tumblr that are situated within ‘girlfriend’ culture. In these blogs, young women articulate humorous reactions to everyday situations based on assumptions of common, feminine experience. I suggest that girlfriendliness, as an emerging normative condition of youthful femininity, constructs an instrumental relation to feminism requiring the discerning, selective performance of traits suggesting an acceptance of certain feminist ideas. Rather than proceeding to a repudiation of feminism per a classically postfeminist sensibility, feminism is dismantled into an affective plasticity that is flexibly incorporated to show individual value, creating ‘likeable’ and resilient femininities. This article draws attention to shifts in the regulation of femininity that occurs on the plane of the affective, calling for an expanded analytical approach that more broadly problematises the instrumentalisation of feminism as a technology of subjectivity.

The legal‐normative conditions of police transparency: A configurational approach to open data adoption using qualitative comparative analysis

In the United States, there is mounting political pressure on public agencies to publish internal data. But transparency policy innovation brings a unique set of legal and normative challenges regarding how sensitive information will be used. It is therefore an open question as to what legal‐normative conditions favour innovation. Are there specific kinds of laws, rules, or normative conditions that are related to adoption of new, potentially risky, transparency policies? In this article, qualitative comparative analysis with secondary data from multiple sources is used to find out what configurations of conditions are associated with open data use in 122 police departments. Results show three different paths to innovation among police departments: mandate driven, city‐stakeholder convergence, and network learning. The findings are examined and developed through interviews with experts from a national police transparency initiative.