Notion Of Reason Research Articles

Responding to (Un)Reasonable Requests

We consider the notions of static and dynamic reasonableness of requests in a trust game experiment. We vary systematically the experimental norm of what is expected from trustees to return to trustors, both in terms of level of each request and in terms of sequence of the requests. Static reasonableness matters in a self-biased way, in the sense that low requests justify returning less but high requests tend to be ignored. Dynamic reasonableness also matters, in the sense that, if requests keep increasing, trustees return less than if requests of different size are presented in random or decreasing order. Requests never systematically increase trustworthiness, but may decrease it.

Subjective and situational conditions affecting personality development

Personality development takes place through mutual interactions involving the person and their environment. It can be analyzed and described on three levels: basic dispositions (traits), characteristic adaptations (e.g. basic beliefs, desires or goals), and personal meanings (narrative identity). The phenomena and processes involved are different on each level. Analyses of this are concerned with what promotes and/or inhibits developmental changes of personality. This article introduces the notion of reasons for great life changes, as well as Zenomena Pluzek’s conception of personality development.

Is democracy compatible with global institutions?

The salience and relevance of the currently existing global institutions raise the question of their compatibility with some reasonable notion of democracy. I hold that democracy, as a form of government based on social consent, can be operationalized with different institutional formulas, mostly depending on the territorial scale and the degree of conflict of interests of the issues submitted to collective decision-making. Democratic institutional formulas include the people’s assembly in small cities, party elections of representatives in large states, and expert accountable rulers at the global level. Analogously to how democracy was scaled up from the city level to the state level in early modern times, it needs to be scaled up to the global level by the design and adoption of appropriate institutional formulas.

On computational complexity of length embeddability of graphs

A graph G is embeddable in Rd if the vertices of G can be assigned to points of Rd in such a way that all pairs of adjacent vertices are at distance 1. We show that verifying embeddability of a given graph in Rd is NP-hard in the case d>2 for all reasonable notions of embeddability.

Quine’s conjecture on many-sorted logic

Quine often argued for a simple, untyped system of logic rather than the typed systems that were championed by Russell and Carnap, among others. He claimed that nothing important would be lost by eliminating sorts, and the result would be additional simplicity and elegance. In support of this claim, Quine conjectured that every many-sorted theory is equivalent to a single-sorted theory. We make this conjecture precise, and prove that it's true, at least according to one reasonable notion of theoretical equivalence. Our clarification of Quine's conjecture, however, exposes the shortcomings of his argument against many-sorted logic.

Dimensions of Emancipation: Rethinking Subjectivity, Domination and Temporality in Feminist Theory

“Emancipation” is one of the most opaque words in political language and political theory. It refers to the hope of overcoming all forms of domination, yet is articulated with the highly ambivalent notions of reason, progress, equality and liberty, and with the unfulfilled utopias that accompany them. In light of the different and contested uses that have been made of the concept of emancipation within and beyond contemporary feminist theory, I argue that a close examination of the concept and of the unresolved political and theoretical questions it articulates is a timely endeavour. With reference to Reinhard Koselleck’s conceptual history of emancipation, in which he highlights three developments that helped to shape the modern concept of emancipation – first, the turn towards a reflexive understanding of emancipation as self-emancipation; second, the politicisation of the concept; and third, its temporalisation – I examine the ways in which subjectivity, domination and temporality have been articulated in contemporary feminist theory.

Reasonable fermionic quantum information theories require relativity

We show that any quantum information theory based on anticommuting operators must be supplemented by a superselection rule deeply rooted in relativity to establish a reasonable notion of entanglement. While quantum information may be encoded in the fermionic Fock space, the unrestricted theory has a peculiar feature: the marginals of bipartite pure states need not have identical entropies, which leads to an ambiguous definition of entanglement. We solve this problem, by proving that it is removed by relativity, i.e., by the parity superselection rule that arises from Lorentz invariance via the spin-statistics connection. Our results hence unveil a fundamental conceptual inseparability of quantum information and the causal structure of relativistic field theory.

KOOPMANS IN THE SOVIET UNION: A TRAVEL REPORT OF THE SUMMER OF 1965

Tjalling C. Koopmans, research director of the Cowles Foundation of Research in Economics, was the first US economist after World War II who, in the summer of 1965, travelled to the Soviet Union for an official visit to the Central Economics and Mathematics Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Koopmans left hoping to learn from the Soviet economists’ experience with applying linear programming to economic planning. Would his own theories, as discovered independently by Leonid V. Kantorovich, help increase allocative efficiency in a socialist economy? Inspired by a vague notion of universal reason spanning the iron curtain, Koopmans may have even envisioned a research community that transcends the political divide. Yet, he came home having discovered that learning about Soviet mathematical economists might be more interesting than learning from them. On top of that, he found the Soviet scene caught in the same deplorable situation he knew all too well from home: that mathematicians are the better economists. Reconstructing Koopmans’s voyage from a first-person perspective puts the spirit of universal economic knowledge at Cowles to test: Is it capable of establishing a dialogue across the political divide of the Cold War or is it limited to the Western academic cocoon?

Simplified proceeding as a civil procedure model

Currently the directions for the development of modern civil procedural law such as optimization, facilitation, forwarding proceedings promoting the increase of the civil procedure efficiency factor are of peculiar importance. Their results are occurrence and functionality of simplified proceedings system designed to facilitate significantly hearing some categories of cases, promotion of their consideration within reasonable time and reduce legal expenses so far as it is possible. The category “simplified proceedings” in the native science of the procedural law is underexamined. A good deal of scientists-processualists were limited to studying summary (in the context of optimization) as a way to improve the civil procedural form, summary proceedings and procedures functioning in terms of the mentioned proceedings, consideration of case in absentia as well as their modification. Among the Ukrainian scientist who studied some aspects of the simplified proceedings are: E. A. Belyanevych, V. I. Bobrik, S. V. Vasilyev, M. V. Verbitska, S. I. Zapara, A. A. Zgama, V. V. Komarov, D. D. Luspenuk, U. V. Navrotska, V. V. Protsenko, T. V. Stepanova, E. A. Talukin, S. Y. Fursa, M. Y. Shtefan others. The problems of the simplified proceedings were studied by the foreign scientists as well, such as: N. Andrews, Y. Y. Grubanon, N. A. Gromoshina, E. P. Kochanenko, J. Kohler, D. I. Krumskiy, E. M. Muradjan, I. V. Reshetnikova, U. Seidel, N. V. Sivak, M. Z. Shvarts, V. V. Yarkov and others. The paper objective is to develop theoretically supported, practically reasonable notion of simplified proceedings in the civil process, and also basing on the notion of simplified proceedings, international experience of the legislative regulation of simplified proceedings, native and foreign doctrine, to distinguish essential features of simplified proceedings in the civil process and to describe them. In the paper we generated the notion of simplified proceedings that shall mean a specific, additional form of consideration and solution of civil cases that is based on the voluntary approach to its use, characterized by the reduced set of procedural rules and ends with rendering a peculiar judicial decision. Moreover, the most common features of summary proceedings are highlighted. Simplified proceedings as a specific form of consideration of dispute regarding civil law and as a special way to optimize legal proceedings is provided with a set of peculiar features that distinguish them among the other proceedings. Therewith, the analyzed features shall be defined as basic, in other words, such features peculiar to the certain kind of proceedings during its development and direct application to the civil procedural law.

Self-Awareness and Cognitive Agency in Descartes’s Meditations

There are two main strands in the afterlife of Descartes’s famous redefinition of mind in terms of thinking likely to color one’s reading of his notion of mind or self. The one stressed most by his posterity and developed from early on in the empiricist tradition sees consciousness as its main characteristic. The other focuses on reason and rationality. This paper discusses the textual support for the first reading promoted by Ryle and his followers and aligns itself with the second arguing that it is the exercise of its rational, cognitive capacities that are essential to the Cartesian mind and not consciousness, which is merely a presupposition for its rational activity. It examines the interrelation and respective roles of awareness on the one hand, and reason on the other in Descartes’s account of mind or self. But it also suggests that the role given by Descartes to the will in judgment and his separation of will and intellect into two distinct powers may be seen as contributing to a transformation of the very notion of reason and of self as a cognitive and moral agent.

The Opioid Challenge.

The Opioid Challenge.

Responding to (Un)Reasonable Requests

We consider the notions of static and dynamic reasonableness of requests in a trust game experiment. We vary systematically the experimental norm of what is expected from trustees to return to trustors, both in terms of level of each request and in terms of sequence of the requests. Static reasonableness matters in a self-biased way, in the sense that low requests justify returning less but high requests tend to be ignored. Dynamic reasonableness also matters, in the sense that, if requests keep increasing, trustees return less than if requests of different size are presented in random or decreasing order. Requests never systematically increase trustworthiness, but may decrease it.

Reason and Faith in God

The topic of “reason and faith in God” has challenged philosophers and theologians since the beginning of their disciplines, and it has left many inquirers confused. The key notions of faith and reason are often left unclear, and this complicates inquiry about faith in God. Many inquirers end up puzzled about the significance of the distinction between reason and faith. This paper outlines an approach to reason and faith in God that explains how faith in God can be well-grounded in reason as evidence, even if reason as an argument does not apply in a case. It identifies distinctive roles for experience and defense in an account of faith in God.

Variations on the concept of topological transitivity

We describe various strengthenings of the concept of topological transitivity. Especially when one departs from the family of invertible systems, a number of interesting properties arise. We present the architecture of implications among ten reasonable notions of transitivity.

SIDUMO REVISITED – AN ARTICLE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE REVIEW TEST IN SOUTH AFRICA

The primary purpose of the second article in a series of two, is to revisit and reconsider the development of the review test set out in the Constitutional Court judgment of Sidumo v Rustenburg Platinum Mines Ltd ((2007) 28 ILJ 2405 (CC)), and consequently ascertain the correct approach to be adopted by our Labour Courts in the application of such test. The secondary purpose entails the determination of the extent to which Labour Court judges interfere with the merits of awards and the resulting impact on the distinction between appeal and review. In order to establish whether the test for review was correctly developed and to determine whether our review proceedings deter recurrent interference by our judges, a consideration of judicial review in South Africa, an extensive analysis of various judgments pertaining to such development, and a comprehensive comparison with the United Kingdom`s application of review proceedings are made. The Sidumo contour is unpacked firstly. This discussion is followed by an evaluation of three contentious Labour Appeal Court judgments and concluding with a Supreme Court of Appeal judgment, which clarifies the operation of the review test. The contour is interlinked with the notion of reasonableness. The judgment in Herholdt v Nedbank Ltd (2013) 34 ILJ 2795 (SCA), concluding the Sidumo contour, underlines the current position in our law and consequent narrower approach. A comparison made with the United Kingdom, differentiates between such approach implemented by our courts and the strict gross unreasonableness approach applied by Employment Appeal Tribunals, recognising the finding, that South African Labour Court judges ardently interfere with the merits of awards. In the conclusion it is submitted that our labour law jurisprudence will constantly evolve, dictated by the interpretation of lawfulness, reasonableness and fairness in South African jurisprudence.

Language, culture and values: towards an ethnolinguistics based on abduction and salience

<p>W jednej z niedawnych prac autor zaproponował model etnolingwistyki stosowanej jako narzędzia do wykorzystania w nauce języka obcego na poziomie zaawansowanym (na uczelniach wyższych). Model ten ma służyć uświadomieniu studentom, iż poznają oni liczne wskazówki mogące pomóc w zrozumieniu wartości kulturowych wyznawanych przez rodzimych użytkowników danego języka obcego. Jest to zintegrowany model łączący pojęcia języko-kultury, abdukcji i wyrazistości, mający pomóc w zrozumieniu pozornie niewytłumaczalnych zachowań o podłożu kulturowym. Służy temu sześć „ścieżek” funkcjonujących jako drogowskazy dla nauczycieli i studentów, pomagających im wykorzystać możliwości stwarzane przez kontekst wielokulturowych zajęć uniwersyteckich; są to: etnoleksykologia, etnoretoryka, etnofrazeologia, etnoskładnia, etnopragmatyka i etnoaksjologia.</p>

Lethal Injection in Uncharted Territory: The Need to Ensure the Humanity of Current Death Penalty Practices

When lethal injection was first legalized in the late 1970s, many people viewed it as safe, reliable, and humane. Today, however, lethal injection does not always perform as promised. Due to difficulties with sourcing lethal injection drugs, states are utilizing untested lethal injection protocols, with little knowledge or experience to guide them. This article argues that lethal injection reform requires regulation similar to that for human subject research, and that the practice of utilizing untested lethal injection methods comes very close to falling under the federal statutory definition of “human subject research“ formulated in the Common Rule. This article argues further that even if one decides that it does not, the practice of lethal injection today is the type of conduct that the human subject research regulations were designed to correct. Moreover, society has an interest in ensuring that executions are conducted in a way that reduces pain and suffering to the lowest extent possible. As such, lethal injection ought to receive further review and oversight to ensure that it comports with reasonable notions of humanity.

SIDUMO REVISITED – THE JUDGMENT OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

The primary purpose of this article is to revisit and reconsider the development of the review test set out in the Constitutional Court judgment of Sidumo v Rustenburg Platinum Mines Ltd ((2007) 28 ILJ 2405 (CC)) and consequently ascertain the correct approach to be adopted by our Labour Courts in the application of such test. The secondary purpose, entails the determination of the extent to which Labour Court judges interfere with the merits of awards and the resulting impact on the distinction between appeal and review. In order to establish whether the test for review has been correctly developed and to determine whether our review proceedings deter recurrent interference by our judges, an edifying consideration of judicial review in South Africa, an extensive analysis of various judgments pertaining to such development, followed by a comprehensive comparison with the United Kingdom`s application of review proceedings and judicial composition are made. The research methodology is based on a contour of Sidumo, commencing with the Sidumo judgment, followed by three contentious Labour Appeal Court judgments and concluding with a Supreme Court of Appeal judgment, which clarify the operation of the review test. The contour is interlinked with the notion of reasonableness. In a follow-up article a trilogy of LAC judgments that place a gloss on Sidumo will be analysed.

Into the wild country: epistemic issues in professional guidelines for palliative sedation in end-of-life care

End-of-life care is an important object of governance. Using the linguistic notions of polysemy, metaphorical blending and counterfactual reasoning, this paper critically examines epistemic issues in professional guidelines for palliative sedation of the dying. As a last resort option, palliative sedation is described as the intentional, pharmacological reduction of the patient’s consciousness with the aim to reduce intolerable suffering from intractable physical symptoms that cannot be managed otherwise. Like a wilderness trail that simultaneously facilitates and constrains, the guidelines provide a set of ‘due care requirements’ that allows for the provision of end-of-life care in controversial territory.

Sustainability screw: role of relative production and abatement time scales

We postulate that reasonable notions of sustainability must include a time-scale synchronization of both the processes of human development and those of the natural environment. We perform our analysis within a simple system of five differential equations where non-renewable and renewable resources are coupled with production capacities, abatement and human capital as functions of time. A ‘sustainability screw’ phenomenon is demonstrated describing a spiral like trajectory of three key variables—the non-renewable resources, the renewable resources and the production capital. This spiral may tend to an undesirable steady state, however, by adjusting a ratio of intensity parameters, time scales of production and natural recovery processes can be altered to produce more sustainable trajectories.