On Sense and Preference

Determining the precise nature of the connection between preference, choice, and welfare has arguably been the central project in the field of welfare economics, which aims to offer a proper guide for economists in the making of policy decisions that affect people’s welfare. The two leading approaches here historically – the revealed preference and latent preference approaches – seem equally incapable of so guiding economists. I argue that the deadlock here is due to welfare economists’ failure to recognize a crucial distinction between two senses of “preference.” I analyze and defend these senses of “preference,” and argue that each shares a close connection with just one of choice and welfare. This analysis reveals how economists should conceive of both the connections between “preference,” choice, and welfare, and the proper roles of these concepts in welfare economics. I conclude by showing this analysis to best explain the plausibility of two leading alternative approaches from Hausman and Sugden.

INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION AND THE SUBSIDIARITY PRINCIPLE: A PROPOSAL FOR A VIA MEDIA

This article discusses implementation of the principle of subsidiarity in intercountry adoption cases. The authors demonstrate that, whilst this principle has become well established in international law, the precise nature of its application remains uncertain. The adverse effects of this uncertainty on the reception of the principle of subsidiarity in South African Law are analysed. It is shown that neither our courts nor the legislature have been able to provide the degree of clarity required by professionals and parties involved in intercountry adoption cases. A proposal for improved guidance is put forward.

Inside Animalinside, Ottilie Mulzet's Translation of László Krasznahorkai’s Állatvanbent

László Krasznahorkai is now the best-known Hungarian writer in the English-speaking world (perhaps in the world, period). But what is the precise nature of the relationship between his Hungarian works and their English translations that have been, on the whole, so well received in Britain and especially the USA? This article takes a very close linguistic look at one his shorter works, ÁllatVanBent, in a version by Ottilie Mulzet, co-recipient with George Szirtes of the translators’ share of the 2015 Man Booker International Prize, which recognized Krasznahorkai for his “achievement in fiction on the world stage.” I argue that Ottilie Mulzet’s translation is in a hybrid English that in some places evidences a misunderstanding of the Hungarian, and in others claims to be a foreignized, “Krasznahorkai-English” that is, however, insufficiently justified by the original. More broadly, the article thus takes issue with the increasingly widely held view that the translator is not merely a co-author but enjoys a kind of authorial autonomy that implies that the translation can be judged without close reference to the original. As Krasznahorkai’s known views on translation suggest the acceptance of this notion, he is therefore, to a degree, complicit in the partial misrepresentation (and hence misconstrual) of his work.

Meningioangiomatosis: an uncommon cause of focal epilepsy with characteristic neuroimaging and neuropathology

A 3-year-old boy presented with acute onset of prolonged right sided focal seizures with secondary generalisation. The investigation findings were suggestive of a neoplastic process more than an inflammatory process. Decision to perform brain biopsy from the lesion to establish the precise nature of lesion was undertaken.

Perturbation of amygdala-cortical projections reduces ensemble coherence of palatability coding in gustatory cortex

Taste palatability is centrally involved in consumption decisions—we ingest foods that taste good and reject those that don't. Gustatory cortex (GC) and basolateral amygdala (BLA) almost certainly work together to mediate palatability-driven behavior, but the precise nature of their interplay during taste decision-making is still unknown. To probe this issue, we discretely perturbed (with optogenetics) activity in rats’ BLA→GC axons during taste deliveries. This perturbation strongly altered GC taste responses, but while the perturbation itself was tonic (2.5 s), the alterations were not—changes preferentially aligned with the onset times of previously-described taste response epochs, and reduced evidence of palatability-related activity in the ‘late-epoch’ of the responses without reducing the amount of taste identity information available in the ‘middle epoch.’ Finally, BLA→GC perturbations changed behavior-linked taste response dynamics themselves, distinctively diminishing the abruptness of ensemble transitions into the late epoch. These results suggest that BLA ‘organizes’ behavior-related GC taste dynamics.

Using PowerPoint slides as a resource for coordinating understanding during presentation consultations at an L2 speaking center

The site of this study is English as a second language speaking center at a university in Hong Kong. One of the center’s services is presentation consultation, in which students can practice giving a presentation in English and receive a tutor’s feedback. This study focuses on how the tutors and students coordinate understanding using the students’ PowerPoint (PPT) slides as situated objects. Detailed analyses of their interactions reveal that the participants make use of PPT slides as a referential resource in identifying problems in the student’s production and initiating repair, and as an essential object in solving problems of understanding. The paper shows the precise nature of the troubles in understanding that arise in these consultations, and how the participants make use of the slides as an interactional resource in coordinating their understanding. The paper discusses implications for L2 consultation sessions, particularly in regard to multimodal practices in solving understanding troubles.

Prioritarianism and Equality of Opportunity

This paper asks whether prioritarianism--the view that social welfare orderings should give explicit priority to the worse-off--is consistent with the normative theory of equality of opportunity. We show that there are inherent tensions between some of the axioms underpinning prioritarianism and the principles underlying equality of opportunity; but also that these inconsistencies vanish under plausible adjustments to the domains of two key axioms, namely anonymity and the transfer principle. That is: reconciling prioritarianism and equality of opportunity is possible but allowing room for individual responsibility within prioritarianism requires compromises regarding the nature and scope of both impartiality and inequality aversion. The precise nature of the compromises depends on the specific variant of the theory of equality of opportunity that is adopted, and we define classes of social welfare functions and discuss relevant dominance conditions for six such variants. The conflicts and the paths to reconciliation are illustrated in an application to South Africa between 2008 and 2017, where results suggest broad empirical agreement among the different approaches. (Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality Working Paper Series)

A Refined Propensity Account for GRW Theory

Spontaneous collapse theories of quantum mechanics turn the usual Schrödinger equation into a stochastic dynamical law. In particular, in this paper I will focus on the GRW theory. Two philosophical issues that can be raised about GRW concern (a) the ontology of the theory, in particular the nature of the wave function and its role within the theory, and (b) the interpretation of the objective probabilities involved in the dynamics of the theory. During the last years, it has been claimed that we can take advantage of dispositional properties in order to develop an ontology for GRW theory, and also in order to ground the objective probabilities which are postulated by it. However, in this paper I will argue that the dispositional interpretations which have been discussed in the literature so far are either flawed or—at best—incomplete. If we want to endorse a dispositional interpretation of GRW theory we thus need an extended account which specifies the precise nature of those properties and which makes also clear how they can correctly ground all the probabilities postulated by the theory. Thus, after having introduced several different kinds of probabilistic dispositions, I will try to fill the gap in the literature by proposing a novel and complete dispositional account of GRW, based on what I call spontaneous weighted multi-track propensities. I claim that such an account can satisfy both of our desiderata.

Employee Engagement and the Ethic of Friendship

The failure of managers and supervisors to earn the trust and followership of the employees with whom they work is well documented in recent research about employee engagement (Clifton & Harter, 2019). Without that employee commitment, organizations inevitably struggle to compete in the global marketplace and fail to achieve their potential (Cameron, 2012). Although much has been discussed in the light of the findings of concerned scholars (HR Research Institute, 2019), disagreement nonetheless exists about the factors which make up employee engagement, as well as the most effective approach that can be taken to increase engagement and those factors. Though there has not been full agreement about the nature of employee engagement, it is widely accepted that the failure of organizations to engage employees has been a serious deterrent to achieving organization results (Clifton & Harter, 2019).Objective: The purposes of this paper are to offer insights into the precise nature of employee engagement and to identify the value of employers adopting the Ethic of Friendship – an ethical perspective that has begun to be written about more frequently in the management literature.Methods: We begin the paper by proposing an integrated and updated definition of employee engagement – identifying nine factors which contribute to its makeup.Results: We suggest that each of these nine factors significantly impact employee engagement and warrant increased attention by organizational leaders. We then address the Ethic of Friendship and its increasingly important role in today’s arms-length and transactional relationship between employers and employees.Conclusions: The paper then clarifies how the Ethic of Friendship addresses all nine of the factors which constitute employee engagement and explains how the Ethic of Friendship can increase the ability of organization leaders, managers, and supervisors to bridge the gap of distrust that often exists in the modern organization. After identifying five important contributions made by this paper, we conclude by encouraging leaders to adopt the Ethic of Friendship’s commitment to treating employees as valued partners and, by so doing, create a culture in which employee engagement is likely to thrive.