Using Virtue to Think About Science and Technology

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Stapleford ◽  
Emanuele Ratti
Keyword(s):  
Good Life ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
High Technology ◽  
Ancient Philosophy ◽  
The Good Life ◽  
Contemporary Science ◽  
Philosophy And Religion ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship

Scholars have recently turned to a surprising source for analyzing contemporary science and technology: concepts of virtue drawn from ancient philosophy and religion. This chapter provides a brief history of the relationship between virtue, science, and technology before turning to the contents of this edited volume. Science, Technology, and Virtue offers a range of perspectives illustrating how scholars across multiple disciplines have found virtue valuable for helping us to understand, construct, and use the fruits of modern science and technology. In doing so, the authors show how intellectual and moral character—as embodied dispositions for action—continue to be central for pursuing the good life, even in an age of high technology and science.

Virtue, Happiness, Knowledge

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Practical Reason ◽  
Good Life ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
Ancient Philosophy ◽  
The Good Life ◽  
Scholarly Work ◽  
Scholarly Output ◽  
Systematic Philosophy ◽  
History Of ◽  
Complete Bibliography

Fifteen leading philosophers explore a set of themes from the pioneering work of Gail Fine and Terence Irwin, in ancient philosophy but also in later periods and in systematic philosophy. The contributors discuss knowledge, rhetoric, freedom and practical reason, virtue and the good life, ethics and politics in Plato and Aristotle and beyond. The editors offer an introduction charting the scholarly contributions of Fine and Irwin and assessing their individual and joint impact, together with a complete bibliography of their writings. This volume is a token of our immense gratitude to Gail Fine and Terry Irwin for the benefit we have derived from their penetrating scholarly work. Through their writing, their teaching, their mentoring, and their broader scholarly output, Gail Fine and Terry Irwin have reshaped the character of Ancient Philosophy as an academic discipline. Their contributions to the discipline do not, however, end there. On the contrary, their wide-ranging achievements extend into all periods of the history of philosophy and indeed into several areas more systematic than historical.

An Analysis of Prudential Value

Utilitas ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 334-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEPHEN M. CAMPBELL
Keyword(s):  
Good Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Good Life ◽  
Prudential Value ◽  
Good For ◽  
The Relationship

This essay introduces and defends a new analysis of prudential value. According to this analysis, what it is for something to be good for you is for that thing to contribute to the appeal or desirability of being in your position. I argue that this proposal fits well with our ways of talking about prudential value and well-being; enables promising analyses of luck, selfishness, self-sacrifice and paternalism; preserves the relationship between prudential value and the attitudes of concern, love, pity and envy; and satisfies various other desiderata. I also highlight two ways in which the analysis is informative and can lead to progress in our substantive theorizing about the good life.

scholarly journals Practice of Running Dyeing & Weaving Weekly in the Republic of China and Dissemination of Science and Technology

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Bochong Zhao ◽  
Kehui Deng
Keyword(s):  
Textile Industry ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Modern China ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Technology Dissemination ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Republic

Dyeing & Weaving Weekly (1935-1941) is a scientific and technological periodical which has been published for a long time and has never been interrupted in the field of textile in modern China. The journal publishes a large number of the latest achievements in textile science and technology, and is an important historical material and typical case for the study of modern science and technology dissemination. Rich in content, Dyeing & Weaving Weekly focuses on solving practical problems in the textile industry and guiding the direction of scientific research, which not only promotes the dissemination of textile science and technology but also contributes to the development of the textile industry. Therefore, from the perspective of science and technology communication and the history of newspapers and periodicals, this paper examines the practice and communication strategies of Dyeing & Textile Weekly, in order to prove that Dyeing & Textile Weekly has a positive impact on science and technology communication in modern China, and also provides experience reference for the development of contemporary science and technology periodicals in China, which has certain reference significance.

Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Ferroelectricity

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (9) ◽  
pp. 2-3
Author(s):  
Jaichan LEE
Keyword(s):  
History Of Science ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
New Age ◽  
100Th Anniversary ◽  
Look Back ◽  
History Of ◽  
Quantum Behavior ◽  
Collective Phenomenon

It is 100 years when we think about the history of ferroelectricity. We, who study ferroelectricity, are honored and pleased to share the 100-year anniversary of ferroelectricity and recall its history. At this great moment, we look back to the brief history on the verge of ferroelectricity. Our hope is that ferroelectricity studied as an early collective phenomenon will be coupled with quantum behavior, the essence of modern science, to become a new age in the history of science and technology.

Mathematics and the Good Life

2018 ◽  
pp. 52-78
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Feke
Keyword(s):  
Good Life ◽  
Practical Philosophy ◽  
The Good Life ◽  
Contemporary Debate ◽  
Continuous Activity ◽  
Good Order ◽  
Ultimate Objective ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Ordered State ◽  
Theoretical Philosophy

This chapter demonstrates how Ptolemy's distinctly mathematical ethics emerges from his response to a contemporary debate over the relationship between theoretical and practical philosophy. He first asserts that the two are independent, differentiated by the manner in which one attains virtues in each domain, whether by instruction or continuous activity. Thereafter, he diminishes the distinction by revealing how they relate. Theoretical philosophy, specifically mathematics, transforms the soul. The study of astronomical objects—the movements and configurations of heavenly bodies—reveals their constancy, good order, commensurability, and calm. Mathematicians, aided by habit, come to appreciate these qualities and transform their souls into a fine and well-ordered state. Organizing their actions in accordance with astronomical theories, they never forget their ultimate objective, the divine-like condition of the soul. The study of mathematics is crucial to obtaining this good life.

Thinking differently about leadership: a critical history of the form and formation of leadership studies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Suze Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Modern Science ◽  
Leadership Studies ◽  
New Approach ◽  
The Past ◽  
Critical History ◽  
Form Function ◽  
History Of ◽  
Truth Claims ◽  
Thinking Differently ◽  
The Relationship

<p>We have come to live in an age where leadership is the solution, regardless of the problem. Today, managers are called on to provide leadership which is ‘visionary’, ‘charismatic’, ‘transformational’ and ‘authentic’ in nature. This is what ‘followers’ are said to need to perform to their potential. The efforts of the academy in promoting these ideas means they are typically understood as modern, enlightened and grounded in scientific research. Taking a critical step back, this study examines why we have come to understand leadership in this way.  Adopting a Foucauldian methodology, the study comprises three case studies which examine Classical Greek, 16th century European and modern scholarly discourses on leadership. The analysis foregrounds change and continuity in leadership thought and examines the underpinning assumptions, problematizations and processes of formation which gave rise to these truth claims. The relationship and subjectivity effects produced by these discourses along with their wider social function are also considered.  What the study reveals is that our current understanding of leadership is not grounded in an approach more enlightened and truthful than anything that has come before. Rather, just as at other times in the past, it is contemporary problematizations, politically-informed processes of formation and the epistemological and methodological preferences of our age which profoundly shape what is understood to constitute the truth about leadership.  Through showing how leadership has been thought of at different points in time, this thesis argues that far from being a stable enduring fact of human nature now revealed to us by modern science, as is typically assumed, leadership is most usefully understood as an unstable social invention, morphing in form, function and effect in response to changing norms, values and circumstances. Consistent with this understanding, a new approach to theory-building for organizational leadership studies is offered. This study shows, then, why we ought to think differently about leadership and offers a means by which this can occur.</p>

Thinking differently about leadership: a critical history of the form and formation of leadership studies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Suze Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Modern Science ◽  
Leadership Studies ◽  
New Approach ◽  
The Past ◽  
Critical History ◽  
Form Function ◽  
History Of ◽  
Truth Claims ◽  
Thinking Differently ◽  
The Relationship

<p>We have come to live in an age where leadership is the solution, regardless of the problem. Today, managers are called on to provide leadership which is ‘visionary’, ‘charismatic’, ‘transformational’ and ‘authentic’ in nature. This is what ‘followers’ are said to need to perform to their potential. The efforts of the academy in promoting these ideas means they are typically understood as modern, enlightened and grounded in scientific research. Taking a critical step back, this study examines why we have come to understand leadership in this way.  Adopting a Foucauldian methodology, the study comprises three case studies which examine Classical Greek, 16th century European and modern scholarly discourses on leadership. The analysis foregrounds change and continuity in leadership thought and examines the underpinning assumptions, problematizations and processes of formation which gave rise to these truth claims. The relationship and subjectivity effects produced by these discourses along with their wider social function are also considered.  What the study reveals is that our current understanding of leadership is not grounded in an approach more enlightened and truthful than anything that has come before. Rather, just as at other times in the past, it is contemporary problematizations, politically-informed processes of formation and the epistemological and methodological preferences of our age which profoundly shape what is understood to constitute the truth about leadership.  Through showing how leadership has been thought of at different points in time, this thesis argues that far from being a stable enduring fact of human nature now revealed to us by modern science, as is typically assumed, leadership is most usefully understood as an unstable social invention, morphing in form, function and effect in response to changing norms, values and circumstances. Consistent with this understanding, a new approach to theory-building for organizational leadership studies is offered. This study shows, then, why we ought to think differently about leadership and offers a means by which this can occur.</p>

Moving Further Beyond Secularism: A “Lutheran” Reading of the Cosmology of Thomas Nagel

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-254
Author(s):  
Yiftach Fehige
Keyword(s):  
Modern Science ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Thomas Nagel ◽  
Metaphysical Theory ◽  
History Of ◽  
Individual Consciousness ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Universe

Summary Thomas Nagel has proposed a highly speculative metaphysical theory to account for the cosmological significance that he claims the human mind to have. Nagel argues that the mind cannot be fully explained by Darwinian evolutionary theory, nor should theological accounts be accepted. What he proposes instead is an explanation in terms of cosmological non-purposive teleological principles. Our universe awakens to itself in each and every individual consciousness. What comes to light in a pronounced manner when consciousness arises, are the mental aspects of the stuff that the universe is made of. These mental aspects are always concurrently present with the physical aspects of the basic elements that constitute the universe. This paper situates Nagel’s cosmology in the context of discussions of the relationship between modern science and Christian theology. It focuses on the history of modern science’s efforts to locate the origins of humanity. The aim of the paper is to present a qualified “Lutheran” reading of Nagel’s theory of the cosmological significance of the human mind. This will unearth strong reasons to think that Nagel’s cosmology is less secular than it claims to be.

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN CONSUMPTION ASPIRATIONS: A CROSS-CULTURAL APPRAISAL

1991 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 237-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Bryce ◽  
T. T. Olney
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Good Life ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
The Good Life ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Satisfaction Measures ◽  
The Relationship

This study explores the possibility of gender and cultural differences in consumption aspirations using two different approaches. The first approach is designed to elicit stereotypes with regard to consumption dreams or the “good life”: “What do you believe most Americans (New Zealanders) wish for or want to achieve in their lives?”. The second approach probes for individuals' actual aspirations: “Three years after graduation, how do you want your life to be in terms of …”. Specific consumption categories examined in both approaches allow an assessment of individuals' relative emphasis on Having, Doing and Being (Sartre, 1956). Priority rankings of these categories provide information regarding the relative importance of each class of possessions/experiences. In addition, materialism and life satisfaction measures are included to assess the relationship between these two constructs and consumption aspirations and dream stereotypes. Content analysis of the data indicates that (1) significant gender differences in consumption aspirations and dream stereotypes do exist, although the form of these differences varies as a function of culture, and (2) culture has a more significant effect on aspirations and dreams than does gender. Findings are discussed in terms of gender theory and cultural differences between the two countries.

The Autonomy-Based Liberalism of Joseph Raz

1989 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. J. Norman
Keyword(s):  
Good Life ◽  
Liberal Theory ◽  
Recent Book ◽  
The Good Life ◽  
Political Morality ◽  
Philosophical Aspect ◽  
History Of ◽  
Joseph Raz ◽  
The One ◽  
Conception Of The Good

Ask a practising liberal to define her political creed, and more likely than not she will begin by describing the wonderful life of the free person. That is, in the parlance of modern political philosophers, she will begin with a conception of the good. The good life is the free life, and the good society is the one where people are as free as possible. By contrast, recent liberal philosophers have for the most part grounded their theories in principles of right or rights. Indeed, some have argued that what is unique about liberalism as a political doctrine is that it is not committed to the advancement of any particular conception of the good, let alone to that of the free person. In his celebrated recent book, The Morality of Freedom, Joseph Raz sides with the practitioner and confronts the pedlars of right-based or deontological liberalism head-on. Believing the history of liberal theory to be against them, he labels his opponents ‘revisionists’. The Morality of Freedom has already been hailed as the most significant new statement of liberal principles since Mill’s On Liberty. And while this may be a bit over-enthusiastic, Raz would welcome at least one philosophical aspect of the comparison with Mill. Both are teleologists who ground their theories of political morality on considerations of the value of the free or autonomous life. I shall dub such theories ‘autonomarian’. And I shall examine Raz’s autonomarian reaction in detail here, for it may well be the most important such theory in the post-Rawlsian era.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document