Normative Convictions Research Articles

Holding still, together - Parkinson's care Portrayed

Complexity within the healthcare setting grows rapidly, and person-centered care takes on center stage. This begs for a mind- and skillset change in health professionals, because most current education equips them poorly to deal with this. Last year at ICIC22, we presented our innovative arts-based research project, focusing on a combination of narrative accounts and photographs of 21 people with Parkinson’s and 22 different practitioners. The research project was co-developed with people with Parkinson’s and professionals. Now, this project has evolved into an workshop that aims to develop healthcare practitioners in becoming reflective practitioners. Reflecting on deeper beliefs and observation skills are vital for future healthcare professionals in a complex world. 
 This workshop aspires to develop these skills and has been piloted three times in the last year with different target groups: people with Parkinson’s, nurse practitioners, and university - & art academy students. The workshop itself holds three phases. First, the workshop intents to put participants in a beginner’s frame of mind. The focus of the first exercises lie with judgement free observations. Secondly, the workshop focuses on judgment: what do you think you see, and what words will you give the description? Thirdly, we delve deeper in those judgements. Helping participants search effectively for often latent, but crucial normative convictions. All in all, the workshop is about slowing down and providing space and tools for a mindset evaluation.

Value creation and CSR.

A more robust, inclusive model of value creation will sharpen dominant normative theories of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) such as stakeholder theory and the theory of communicative/deliberative democracy. When measuring value creation, CSR theories oscillate between traditional, exchange-based approaches utilizing narrow financial metrics and value-oriented approaches embedded in prominent CSR theories. The two are often in conflict. The problem is aggravated by CSR's assumption that all firms, regardless of industry, possess the same generic responsibilities. A mining company, a sports betting service, and a medical device manufacturer are on all fours when measuring CSR success. The paper identifies a contradiction between settled normative convictions and the corporate decision making that normative CSR theories prescribe. Using the pharmaceutical industry as an example, it references the widespread conviction that during the 2019 Covid-19 pandemic some pharmaceutical companies had a responsibility to reach beyond the goal of financial optimization. It then explains why this conviction cannot be rationalized using two prominent normative theories of CSR, namely, stakeholder theory and the theory of communicative/deliberative democracy. The problem hinges on a defective model of value creation. One implication of the analysis is that healthcare companies should readjust corporate governance in order to make health a focal goal alongside that of profit. At the same time, a semiconductor firm might satisfy its CSR responsibilities by only designating profit as its focal goal. The thrust of the paper is to show why reconceiving the model of value creation can advance not only stakeholder and communicative/deliberative democracy theories, but all CSR.

Social critique and transformation: Revising Habermas’s colonisation thesis

What is critical theory – and what is it not? This essay attempts a new answer to this old question and examines which normative convictions immanent to social reality can be used to describe, analyse and criticise contemporary, global forms of domination that form blockades of social and political participation. The analysis proceeds in a double step, referring both to the critique of society and to the critique of theory that describes society. The basis of this parallel swing is an analysis in which the author makes revisions to Jürgen Habermas’s colonisation thesis and uses the example of housing to show how these revisions which refer to the global perspective, the demarcation between system and lifeworld, the language of critique and, finally, the theoretical mode of an inherent dialectical critique make possible an analysis of the financial and economic sectors as well as everyday interactions. Reading Habermas more dialectically than he probably would himself also allows the identification of potentials for transforming relations of oppression.

Some Reflections on the Stability of Liberal Democracy

Liberal democracy is often considered to be unstable, consisting of two markedly different ideals (i.e., liberalism and democracy) that remain in tension. Yet the thesis regarding the alleged instability of liberal democracy is itself ambiguous, for it may refer to two senses of instability: empirical or conceptual. After introducing this, in our view, important distinction (though overlooked in the relevant literature where both senses of ‘stability’ are usually mixed up) we argue that while liberal democracy is indeed empirically unstable, it is, contrary to the implicitly assumed dominant opinion, conceptually stable. In the first part of the paper, we introduce several arguments supporting the thesis about the conceptual stability of liberal democracy; the arguments appeal to the ideas of the (constitutional) precommitment, intrinsic equality, and liberty. In the second part, we provide arguments for the claim about the empirical instability of liberal democracy, identifying its main causes, viz. several anthropological-psychological propensities, in particular the weakness of the propensity for freedom, hierarchical proclivities, and inclinations to adopt extreme normative convictions.

Przeoczony dyskurs, czyli rzecz o konstruktywizmie i (z)marnowanych szansach oceniania wczesnoszkolnego

The aim of the paper is to reconstruct the (un)used chances which are generated for early education assessment by the constructive paradigm. In my reflections I take into account two complex and interpermeating perspectives: the premises of educational theory and educational practice. I order the area of reflection thus created by means of the assessment categories present in the language of practicalised didactics and colloquial assessment discourses. The analysis of declared assumptions, tacitly adopted or overlooked in various concepts and solutions, leads to the conclusion that in early education assessment constructivism is not so much an overlooked discourse, but distorted by normative convictions and educational practices.

Looking Good or Feeling Well? Understanding the Combinations of Well-Being Indicators Using Insights from the Philosophy of Well-Being

In the context of the broad question of the combination of different indicators of social well-being, this paper points to a distinction between four normative approaches to social well-being. The paper identifies this distinction as a path for pursuing distinct legitimate interpretations of the concept, and hence of its measurement. Analyzing the four approaches—subjectivist, objectivist, pluralist and QSH, inspired by four parallel theories in the philosophy of (individual) well-being—imparts clarity to the act of aggregation. Each approach results in different weighing schemes. The paper analyses these four approaches and their significance for the issue at hand, thereby establishing grounds for a non-arbitrary interpretation of the data represented by indicators and non-arbitrary choice between indices. A particular contribution of the paper is defining and exemplifying the QSH approach, at the heart of which is the normative conviction that a society is not better off unless both subjective and objective aspects have been improved.

Beyond the Moral Domain: The Normative Sense Among the Chinese

In this paper we report a study on how different types of normatively relevant transgressions are evaluated by Chinese participants. We hypothesized that, given the continuing influences of Confucian worldview on contemporary Chinese societies, the Chinese will not make a distinction between moral (daode) and conventional norms of cultured behavior (wenming). Our results indicate that Chinese participants expressed a strong normative conviction not only towards harmful and unfair actions, usually subsumed under the moral domain in Western literature, but also towards violations of what would be widely accepted as conventional (or cultural) norms. Similarly, Chinese participants expressed a strong normative conviction towards violations of the traditional Chinese value of family reverence (xiao), thus further supporting our general thesis. Moreover, results indicate that, overall, explicit consi­derations of wenming (unculturedness) emerged as the best predictor of a normative conviction response among the Chinese. Though considerations of harm and fairness also emerged as significant predictors of normative conviction response. The results are discussed in the light of recent debates about the moral/conventional distinction and the scope of morality.

An Argument for Contrarian Thinking

Probing widely circulating truisms has been a hallmark of Michael Schudson’s work on the press, citizenship, and democracy. Schudson has eloquently warned us about misreading the past to criticize the present, and invited us to recognize advances in news and democracy during the past half century. His work has poked many normative convictions underpinning studies in political communication: the centrality of civic conversation for democracy, the viability of participatory citizenship, the role of experts in democracy, the analytical rigor and normative horizons of the public sphere, and the contributions of the press to public life. He has been hopeful about the present without being sentimental about the past. Schudson has alerted us to the pitfalls of unwarranted pessimism and giddy celebration, and urged us to bring historical rigor and clear-minded analysis to confront conventional wisdoms. His distinctive revisionist voice has charted fresh paths for sober and critical analysis.

Scholarship on South Africa’s Foreign Policy Behaviour: Parsimony versus Eclecticism

ABSTRACTSome commentators note that much of the literature on South Africa’s foreign policy behaviour is marked by clash of concepts, arguments and normative convictions. This clash has mainly been between two dominant intellectual traditions: realism and liberalism. Works based on each of the perspectives incline towards particular preferences, values and prescriptions – a single vision or a universalising organising principle guides the framing of policy problem, interpretation of empirical observations and prescriptions. The limitation of this mode of enquiry is that it fails to take account of the complexity of the social world and that there are many ways of looking at it. The article argues that neither of the two dominant perspectives ‘comprehensively and persuasively’ explains South Africa’s foreign policy behaviour and practice. Beyond parsimony the paper advocates scholarship grounded in ‘analytic eclecticism’. It is an approach that integrates ideas and variables associated with different theoretical perspectives. This approach is preferable because it ensures that the scholarly endeavour is sufficiently close to the experience of real world actors. It leads to deeper insights into policy behaviour and how to holistically deal with the problems associated with it.

Coping with Academic Schizophrenia

The aim of this article is to cope with the academic schizophrenia and the anthropological deficit of contemporary social theory by a comparative investigation of Christian Smith and Paul Ricoeur. Two interrelated “gaps” are identified: the “external” gap, which has to do with the brutal, yet seldom recognized, contrast between the naïve, uncritical praise of humanism in public life, and the theoretical anti-humanism of the strong versions of the predominant poststructuralist and postmodern epistemologies within human and social sciences - and the “internal” gap associated with the academic schizophrenia of scholars who systematically disconnect scholarly theory and personal experience, description of facts from normative convictions. In order to provide resources to cope with these challenges, the author turns to Smith and Ricoeur, considered as two different versions of contemporary personalism.

Glancing Blows, Crossing Boundaries: From Local to Global in the Company of Afghan Women

Photography has complicated Afghan visual culture considerably since its introduction in Kabul at the turn of the twentieth century, destabilizing normative convictions about who can be seen and by whom. In effect, Afghan women became visible, extricated from socially mandated invisibility by means of the camera. Transgressive images in some contexts and compelling icons in others, widely disseminated portraits entailed power and risk in the cracks between people, classes, cultures, and nations. This essay tracks the agency of images and image-making in these interstitial spaces, thereby exploring the aesthetics of social change. It begins with Queen Soraya, who willingly colluded in crafting a public persona for herself as she traveled through Europe on Afghanistan’s diplomatic mission of 1926; the argument ends with Vida Samadzai, who chose to participate in the Miss Earth competition of 2003. Both women deployed their own visibility for political purpose, behaving against the grain of normative behaviors in their own country but capitalizing on the consumption of female beauty abroad. In the intervening decades, the boundaries between nations were increasingly perforated by peripatetic images, blurring differences between previously discrete visualities. This study thus maps the helix by which the local and the global interact generatively over time.

The European Union's Myanmar Policy: Focused or Directionless?

What is the European Union (EU) trying to achieve in Myanmar? Is the EU speaking with one voice and acting collectively (and does it really matter)? Were the sanctions lifted too early? These are some of the key questions surrounding the current role of the EU in relation to Myanmar. A close analysis of the EU's Myanmar policy demonstrates that, while clearly driven by normative convictions, the EU's approach and posture vis-à-vis Myanmar since 1988 has been more reactive than carefully planned and strategised. Whereas in the period from 1988 until early 2011 the EU's Myanmar policy frequently fluctuated between a “carrot” and a “stick” approach, depending on the circumstances, since 2011 the emphasis has been on carrots, which signifies an important shift in the application of normative power. The EU has generously provided large amounts of aid intended mainly to assist Myanmar in its transition. This approach does not seem to factor in the possibility of backward steps and is based on a scenario of ongoing, linear political and economic reforms. This optimism is shared by both the European Commission and most EU member states. However, the similar perceptions and compatible normative foundations on which their policies are based have so far not translated into well-coordinated and coherent strategies and development cooperation programmes.

Le devenir de la bioéthique

The paper is about the links between ethics and science, at a time (1974–2014) when the life sciences expanded rapidly. First (1974–1994), the development of a principlist ethics, set out by philosophers, sustained the research, and the scientists, expected to behave responsibly, felt like they could easily converge towards impeccable and consensual solutions to any problem arising from scientific innovations. Later on (1994–2014), however, while yielding ground to social sciences and ground work, bioethics took an empirical turn; then it became clear that behaving responsibly was compatible with a plurality of divergent normative convictions. Ethics crumbled. Local or national policies restored order, so-called bioethical laws short-circuited ethical reflection. And far from being respected as the wise men, apt to recommend the very best solutions to problems raised by new scientific advances, researchers happened to be deemed irresponsible, as some of them were suspected of lacking intellectual integrity.

A fallacious jar? The peculiar relation between descriptive premises and normative conclusions in neuroethics.

Ethical questions have traditionally been approached through conceptual analysis. Inspired by the rapid advance of modern brain imaging techniques, however, some ethical questions appear in a new light. For example, hotly debated trolley dilemmas have recently been studied by psychologists and neuroscientists alike, arguing that their findings can support or debunk moral intuitions that underlie those dilemmas. Resulting from the wedding of philosophy and neuroscience, neuroethics has emerged as a novel interdisciplinary field that aims at drawing conclusive relationships between neuroscientific observations and normative ethics. A major goal of neuroethics is to derive normative ethical conclusions from the investigation of neural and psychological mechanisms underlying ethical theories, as well as moral judgments and intuitions. The focus of this article is to shed light on the structure and functioning of neuroethical arguments of this sort, and to reveal particular methodological challenges that lie concealed therein. We discuss the methodological problem of how one can--or, as the case may be, cannot--validly infer normative conclusions from neuroscientific observations. Moreover, we raise the issue of how preexisting normative ethical convictions threaten to invalidate the interpretation of neuroscientific data, and thus arrive at question-begging conclusions. Nonetheless, this is not to deny that current neuroethics rightly presumes that moral considerations about actual human lives demand empirically substantiated answers. Therefore, in conclusion, we offer some preliminary reflections on how the discussed methodological challenges can be met.

Non-state Actors and Global Crime Governance: Explaining the Variance of Public-private Interaction

This article: Shows the variance of non-state actors in global crime governance and transnational governance in general, and shows that existent accounts fail to explain this variance. Proposes a model of how we can understand the different roles of non-state actors, distinguishing normative from rationalist reasons for non-state actor involvement. Compares different forms of current global crime governance (human trafficking, conflict diamonds, money laundering, cybercrime) to explore the validity of the model. Shows that non-state activism and public debate are usually only related to a specific type of crime, turning a ‘blind eye’ to other forms of crime and their governance. Argues that this creates problems with regard to oversight and discussion of global crime governance, exemplified with regard to intelligence surveillance via internet traffic. Global crime governance has become a major area of international activity, including a growing number of public and private regulatory efforts. Yet it is puzzling that a considerable variance exists in how state and non-state actors interact: non-state actors have been important agenda-setters in some issue areas, while they have been absent in others. Sometimes they are implementation bodies, sometimes they set regulations themselves. I argue that this variance is caused by issue characteristics: If an issue area is framed in a highly moralised way, it is likely that resulting non-governmental activity can be explained by normative convictions, and in particular advocacy occurs frequently. If an issue area is framed in a technical way, resource exchange is central, and delegation to non-state actors becomes more prominent. A comparison of human trafficking, conflict diamonds, money laundering and cybercrime shows that this relation can be found on the global and national level.

PENGARUH BAURAN PEMASARAN JASA TERHADAP LOYALITAS PELANGGAN DI TAMAN AIR PANAS DARAJAT PASS

This research was made to understandand analyze how big is the influence of marketing mix service toward customer loyalty using tourist service Taman Air Panas Drajat Pass. A method used in this research about the influence of marketing mix service toward customer loyalty arefield observation method, interview, questionnaire, and literature study using liker scale. In samle determination, the writer usedaccidental sampling method for about 90 samles whereas the approximation method used in data analysis methodis Linearregression method which has the function to know the relationship between independent variable, that is marketing mix (X) with dependent variable, that is customer loyalty (Y). The research showed us that marketing mix consist of: product (X1), price (X2), place (X3), promotion (X4), physical evidance (X5), people (X6),and (x7) simultaneously has a significant. Effect toward customer loyalty (Y). But partially, the one who has a significant effect toward customer loyalty is variableprocess with the significantlevel that is 0,017. This marketing mix can expalin that customer loyalty of Taman Air Panas Darajat Pass is 0,356 or 35,6% while the rest of it, that is 64,4% is the customer loyalty that has not been explained by customer’s attitude, purchasing conviction variable, evaluation variable normative conviction variable and motivation variable.

Does the Golem Feel Pain? Moral Instincts and Ethical Dilemmas Concerning Suffering and the Brain.

Pain has variously been used as a means of punishment, extracting information, or testing commitment, as a tool for education and social control, as a commodity for sacrifice, and as a draw for sport and entertainment. Attitudes concerning these uses have undergone major changes in the modern era. Normative convictions on what is right and wrong are generally attributed to religious tradition or to secular-humanist reasoning. Here, we elaborate the perspective that ethical choices concerning pain have much earlier roots that are based on instincts and brain-seated empathetic responses. They are fundamentally a function of brain circuitry shaped by processes of Darwinian evolution. Social convention and other environmental influences, with their idiosyncrasies, are a more recent, ever-changing overlay. We close with an example in which details on the neurobiology of pain processing, specifically the question of where in the brain the experience of pain is generated, affect decision making in end-of-life situations. By separating innate biological substrates from culturally imposed attitudes (memes), we may arrive at a more reasoned approach to a morality of pain prevention.

The 'Partisan Constitution' and the Corrosion of European Constitutional Culture

The paper examines the legal developments associated with new Hungarian Constitution, a text that, by entrenching the normative convictions and institutional solutions favored by a contingent political majority, gives rise to a distinct institutional setting: the ‘partisan constitution’. The analysis unfolds in three stages. Firstly, the new Hungarian Constitution is contrasted with the idea of pluralist constitution traditionally inspiring national European constitutions. Secondly, by investigating the reactions of European institutions to the approval and implementation of the partisan constitution, the difficulties in affirming EU values post enlargement are discussed. Finally, the Hungarian Constitution is assessed also in the light of the prevailing contemporary EU legal culture. It is argued that the Hungarian Constitution reproduces in amplified and grotesque form a more profound and pervasive phenomenon: the corrosion of European constitutional culture. Thus, rather than looking at it as a backward product and a contingent malaise, we should study and criticize it as the most emblematical example of a broader trend: the decline of the idea of pluralist constitution.

Between willing and reluctant entrapment: CEE countries in NATO's non-European missions

The article focuses on Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries' experiences related to Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, three non-European theatres of Western military operations, in predominantly Muslim lands, in the decade between 2001 and 2011. CEE countries readily became involved in two of these foreign missions (Afghanistan and Iraq) because of their deep ties to Western politico-economic structures, without direct security interests compelling them to do so, but not without normative convictions regarding what were seen by them as virtues of the two missions. In Libya, however, they were reluctant to join the Western intervention. In light of this, the article is interested in examining how political elites within the region relate to the generally constrained security policy agency that they have. A key argument advanced is that such agency may be located in how external hegemony is mediated in elite discourses of threat and legitimacy construction. This as well as the three case studies outlined in the article show that the seeming changes in CEE countries' behaviour in fact boil down to a simple set of rules guiding their behaviour. Having identified this “algorithm” as an implicit pattern of CEE foreign policy behaviour, originating in the intra-alliance security dilemma within the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the article formulates its conclusions about the alliance policy of these countries largely within a neorealist framework.

The Secret of Shangri-La: Agricultural Travels and the Rise of Organic Farming Discourse

The Secret of Shangri-La: Agricultural Travels and the Rise of Organic Farming Discourse