The Faces of Human Vulnerability

The notion of vulnerability is one of the beliefs of a recent current of moral and political philosophy, namely care ethics. Stemming, especially, from the North American feminist movement, this care ethics, based on the rejection of a universal and abstract morals, privileges the relational dimension based on the orientation towards human vulnerability.Subject to the weight of the tyranny of normality and perfection, contemporary societies, glorifying the individual who is useful and performant, struggle to hide, or more often than not deny the vulnerability of human beings. The notion of vulnerability appeared not only as a mutual sign of any person who is in a dependent situation, but also as one of the constitutive dimensions of the essence of living beings and of their life environment. In this article, the notion of vulnerability will be studied by identifying the representative themes of human vulnerability particular to their life and its conditions of being. Firstly, the hypothesis proposed by Freud in Le malaise dans la culture (2010)represents the underlying basis of this study on human vulnerability. Next, two important concepts guide the study proposed: the vulnerability inherent to human subjectivity, from the perspective of Lévinas, and the one akin the process of socialising of human beings, from the perspective of Habermas.

Convictions and self-deception: attention and the fundamental vulnerability

The present study focuses on the anthropological factors that constitute a kind of specifically human vulnerability. This typically human fragility can be expressed in many different ways that have something in common with fallibility, faultiness, which consists in an oscillation between greatness and finitude. As far as vulnerability itself is concerned, it means a susceptibility to being easily affected, an exposure to injury. Insofar as I speak, in the rest of this research, of the phenomenon of self-deception, it is a question, in the case being investigated, of making injury to oneself. In order to understand how it is possible to wound oneself in the analysed sense, it seems necessary to refer to some kind of maintaining a rupture, of an inconsistency within a set of convictions that one forms about oneself, other people, and the world. My investigation below is divided into four parts. First, I describe analytically, and from a rather epistemological perspective, the essential components that define the phenomenon of self-deception. To do so, I will rely mainly on Donald Davidson's well-known text Deception and Division. Secondly, I briefly review the more important solutions that have been proposed to deal with the difficulty in question. These proposals can be classified into two groups: the first contains the solutions that consider the conflicting beliefs in terms of their intentionality; the second group of solutions, on the contrary, includes the non-intentional solutions. The brief examination of them shows that the most philosophically promising views bear the mark of an insurmountable weakness and therefore require new approaches. Thirdly, I propose to take up some of the achievements of Paul Ricoeur's thought and I justify my choice. In addition, I try to establish a link between the problem of self-deception and the Ricoeurian theme of attention. Fourthly and finally, starting from the Ricoeurian phenomenology of attention, I present a possible understanding of self-deception that would keep both the intentionality of the opposing convictions (and thus the philosophical scope of the problem) and its rootedness in a real human experience (and thus a concrete, less abstract character of the approach than the one referring to mathematical models). As a result, the study offers a new understanding of vulnerability as a constituent of the human condition.

Lightning Climatology and Human Vulnerability to Lightning Hazards in a School Community: A Case Study in Sri Lanka using LIS Data from TRMM Satellite

This study reported lightning climatology and human vulnerability to lightning in a 20 km × 20 km high-density school area in Colombo city in Sri Lanka from 1998 to 2014 using Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) flash data of NASA’s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). An average annual flash density recorded over the study area was 9.43 flashes km-2 year-1. A maximum of 49% lightning flashes happened during the first inter-monsoon season. There were only 4% lightning flashes that occurred during 06.00-12.00 LT and during 18.00-24.00 LT, it was 67%, whereas 94% of lightning flashes within a day had occurred after 14.00 LT. It is recommended that, without having proper lightning hazard preventive measures, schools in the study area should avoid or minimalize scheduling their outdoor activities in high lightning risk months of April and November. Especially, after-school outdoor activities should be planned with proper safety measures during the aforementioned months as per the diurnal analysis. Moreover, May to September and December to February were the months with the least lightning risk levels. It is recommended to follow the proposed five-level lightning safety guideline which includes, schedule outdoor activities by considering the variation of lightning activities, follow the 30-30 rule whenever required, avoid staying at the most hazardous locations which are vulnerable to lightning accidents, crouching action if required and providing first-aid whenever necessary. Not only for the Sri Lankan context but also the study is crucial and highly applicable for all schools and other institutes especially in other tropical countries.

A Geographical Analysis of the Hazardscape of the Wellington Region: Influences on Intra-Regional Response

<p>This thesis defines and explores the hazardscape of the Wellington Region and investigates its influences on variations in the hazard response from local people and administration throughout the region. The research first identifies and argues for a holistic conceptual framework such as 'hazardscape' to study multiple hazards and associated issues at a place. Although the need for a holistic approach has been recognised in the literature, conventional research has generally been compartmentalized into the individual study of hazards, issues and response. Despite the fact that geography has a tradition of using an ecological approach to study natural hazards, the holistic approach has been compromised for various reasons. Behavioural, perception, vulnerability and resilience models, although covering significant aspects of hazards, present only a partial reality. A skewed focus on humans, although a popular emphasis, also detracts from the ability of hazard geography to attain a truly holistic view. Even though it has been recognized that natural hazards result through interaction of human and natural systems, the separation of the two fails to explain many complexities that result through ecosystem functioning. Studies of hazards and disasters are predominantly focused on single hazard assessment of an area, and there is a gap in the literature that deals with multiple hazards and associated issues. With the background of these shortcomings, this thesis explores the concept of 'hazardscape' for a more holistic framework to study various aspects of hazards at a place. The thesis broadly contains three parts. In the first part, it gives the conceptual framework to study the hazardscape. It defines 'hazardscape' as a dynamic scape, which reflects the physical susceptibility of a place and vulnerability of human life and assets to various hazards in a given human ecological system. The research uses the term 'hazardscape' for its geographical connotation, its ability to express the ecological perspective behind hazard creation and its merits over the other related term 'riskscape'. The study also argues the significance of hazardscape in the shifting paradigm of both subject matter and method of evaluation i.e. from descriptive account of individual factors to a holistic analysis. The second part of the thesis examines the hazardscape of the Wellington Region, by assessing its physical susceptibility, human vulnerability and spatio-temporal occurrence of hazards in the region. This investigation is primarily based on the secondary data, and attempts to provide an overall picture of the local hazardscape. It highlights a few distinctive characteristics of the hazardscape of the Wellington Region including its excessive physical susceptibility to a wide range of hazards along with varied human vulnerability and the history of extreme events in the region. The nature and amount of impact from past events differ over space, and is heavily skewed towards the urban areas in the western section of the region. The third section of the thesis assesses the influences of hazardscape on hazard response of local people and administration. The hypothesis used to guide the study is "whereas integrated regional planning is likely to produce a uniform response to hazard, hazardscape introduces variations in the local response throughout the region". It was formulated because the establishment of a Regional Policy Statement and a Regional Civil Defence and Emergency Management Plan could be expected to lead to uniform responses throughout the region. However, the expectation was that aspects of the hazardscape would continue to influence response, despite the existence of the over-arching plan. The analysis is based on both primary and secondary data, and involves both quantitative and qualitative data and methods to present the findings. The primary data is based on the interview schedules and structured questionnaires conducted with local people and administration throughout the region. The sample was selected through a stratified purposive sampling method based on the location of respondents with respect to their hazard exposure. This method, while providing an unsuitable platform for rigorous statistical testing, has been designed to capture the extreme range of conditions and responses. It is also able to reveal trends and indicative relationships that can be matched with expectations and theory. The research finds that various characteristics of the hazardscape including hazards, physical susceptibility and vulnerability have influenced and produced variations in the hazard response over space. It argues that a detailed analysis of a hazardscape can contribute to effective hazard management along with human response to hazards. The thesis therefore has both theoretical significance and a practical validity.</p>

A Geographical Analysis of the Hazardscape of the Wellington Region: Influences on Intra-Regional Response

<p>This thesis defines and explores the hazardscape of the Wellington Region and investigates its influences on variations in the hazard response from local people and administration throughout the region. The research first identifies and argues for a holistic conceptual framework such as 'hazardscape' to study multiple hazards and associated issues at a place. Although the need for a holistic approach has been recognised in the literature, conventional research has generally been compartmentalized into the individual study of hazards, issues and response. Despite the fact that geography has a tradition of using an ecological approach to study natural hazards, the holistic approach has been compromised for various reasons. Behavioural, perception, vulnerability and resilience models, although covering significant aspects of hazards, present only a partial reality. A skewed focus on humans, although a popular emphasis, also detracts from the ability of hazard geography to attain a truly holistic view. Even though it has been recognized that natural hazards result through interaction of human and natural systems, the separation of the two fails to explain many complexities that result through ecosystem functioning. Studies of hazards and disasters are predominantly focused on single hazard assessment of an area, and there is a gap in the literature that deals with multiple hazards and associated issues. With the background of these shortcomings, this thesis explores the concept of 'hazardscape' for a more holistic framework to study various aspects of hazards at a place. The thesis broadly contains three parts. In the first part, it gives the conceptual framework to study the hazardscape. It defines 'hazardscape' as a dynamic scape, which reflects the physical susceptibility of a place and vulnerability of human life and assets to various hazards in a given human ecological system. The research uses the term 'hazardscape' for its geographical connotation, its ability to express the ecological perspective behind hazard creation and its merits over the other related term 'riskscape'. The study also argues the significance of hazardscape in the shifting paradigm of both subject matter and method of evaluation i.e. from descriptive account of individual factors to a holistic analysis. The second part of the thesis examines the hazardscape of the Wellington Region, by assessing its physical susceptibility, human vulnerability and spatio-temporal occurrence of hazards in the region. This investigation is primarily based on the secondary data, and attempts to provide an overall picture of the local hazardscape. It highlights a few distinctive characteristics of the hazardscape of the Wellington Region including its excessive physical susceptibility to a wide range of hazards along with varied human vulnerability and the history of extreme events in the region. The nature and amount of impact from past events differ over space, and is heavily skewed towards the urban areas in the western section of the region. The third section of the thesis assesses the influences of hazardscape on hazard response of local people and administration. The hypothesis used to guide the study is "whereas integrated regional planning is likely to produce a uniform response to hazard, hazardscape introduces variations in the local response throughout the region". It was formulated because the establishment of a Regional Policy Statement and a Regional Civil Defence and Emergency Management Plan could be expected to lead to uniform responses throughout the region. However, the expectation was that aspects of the hazardscape would continue to influence response, despite the existence of the over-arching plan. The analysis is based on both primary and secondary data, and involves both quantitative and qualitative data and methods to present the findings. The primary data is based on the interview schedules and structured questionnaires conducted with local people and administration throughout the region. The sample was selected through a stratified purposive sampling method based on the location of respondents with respect to their hazard exposure. This method, while providing an unsuitable platform for rigorous statistical testing, has been designed to capture the extreme range of conditions and responses. It is also able to reveal trends and indicative relationships that can be matched with expectations and theory. The research finds that various characteristics of the hazardscape including hazards, physical susceptibility and vulnerability have influenced and produced variations in the hazard response over space. It argues that a detailed analysis of a hazardscape can contribute to effective hazard management along with human response to hazards. The thesis therefore has both theoretical significance and a practical validity.</p>

Antropo-etica della vulnerabilità al tempo del Covid-19

Concern for human vulnerability seems to be at the heart of the recent sanitary emergency. The aim of this article is to show why actual reflections on Covid-19 need an adequately theorized conception of vulnerability. We first review anthropological and ethical approaches to vulnerability in two of the main authors of the classical-medieval tradition: Aristoteles and Thomas Aquinas, proving that they include the vulnerability in their reflections. The thought of these authors is then combined with the ethical reflections of the contemporary philosophers Alasdair MacIntyre and Marta Nussbaum, identifying some of the challenges emerging from these authors. In particular, we wonder how to reconcile constitutive human vulnerability, which reappears manifestly after Covid-19, with the general tendency to be scared from or to avoid it. We then briefly propose theoretical concepts, such as humility, care and creativity, available within the philosophical literature, to address these challenges.

A Legacy of Child Exclusion

Chapter 1 begins with an overview of the historical argument for human rights, starting in the seventeenth century, that stresses human reason and autonomy as the foundation of rights for “abstract adults,” especially in the theories of Locke and Kant. These liberal approaches denied children rights on the grounds that they did not meet the criteria for rights. In contrast, this chapter presents a relational approach to rights based on shared human vulnerability and dependency. Those aspects stress the social, not individualist, nature of rights, as envisioned by Marx, feminists, and communitarian thinkers. The new approach makes inclusion of children’s human rights possible.

The Faces of Human Vulnerability

The philosophic notion of human vulnerability cannot be pinpointed as such in the corpus of classic philosophy. Nevertheless, death and suffering as essential philosophical and theological problems make reference to the dimension of vulnerability inherent to the human condition. Since times immemorial, the fear of death, the avoidance of suffering, or the crisis situations of human existence have laid at the basis of philosophical and religious systems. According to Freud, in the futile pursuit of happiness humans often face misery, which stems from a suffering that threatens them from three different directions: their own body, the outside world, and the relationships with other people. Starting from this angle, the present article furthers the notion of vulnerability by identifying its archetypal themes in relation to human life and its conditions of existence. Two main concepts will guide this study of human vulnerability: a vulnerability inherent to human subjectivity, and one consubstantial to the process of human socialisation. For Levinas, vulnerability has become alike an obsession for others, a full responsibility, which leads to the following formula: it is only a vulnerable person who can love one’s neighbour. In accordance with Habermas, the manner in which a human being leaves natural law and accesses social justice is here re-examined, as it stands for a vulnerability structurally determined by the forms of socio-cultural life.