Eliminating Group Agency

Aggregating individuals’ consistent attitudes might produce inconsistent collective attitudes. Some groups therefore need the capacity to form attitudes that are irreducible to those of their members. Such groups, group-agent realists argue, are agents in control of their own attitude formation. In this paper, however, I show how group-agent realism overlooks the important fact that groups consist of strategically interacting agents. Only by eliminating group agency from our social explanations can we see how individuals vote strategically to gain control of their groups and produce collective attitudes we cannot make sense of if we treat groups as agents.

Gross anatomy of the longitudinal fascicle of Sapajus sp.

Opposing genetic and cultural-social explanations for the origin of language are currently the focus of much discussion. One of the functions linked to the longitudinal fascicle is language, which links Wernicke’s area and Broca’s area in the brain, and its size should indicate the brain increase in the evolution. Sapajus is a New World primate genus with high cognition and advanced tool use similar to that of chimpanzees. A study of the gross anatomy of the longitudinal fascicle of Sapajus using Kingler’s method found it to differ from other studied primates, such as macaques and chimpanzees, mainly because its fibers join the cingulate fascicle. As in other non-human primates, the longitudinal fascicle of Sapajus does not reach the temporal lobe, which could indicate a way of separating these fascicles to increase white matter in relation to individual function. The study of anatomical structures seems very promising for understanding the basis of the origin of language. Indeed, socio-historical-cultural philosophy affirms the socio-cultural origin of speech, although considering the anatomical structures behind it working as a functional system.

Are there gender differences in delay discounting of monetary losses?

We investigate gender differences in delay discounting of monetary losses. 203 participants solved a discounting task based on the titration algorithm. The individual rates of delay discounting of losses were calculated with the use of AUC (Area Under the Curve) method. The results show that there is no statistically significant impact of gender on delay discounting of monetary losses. We briefly discuss possible biological and social explanations of the above finding.

‘It may not be due to illness’: social rights for applicants for incapacity benefits

The aim of this article is to understand the materialisation of social rights for citizens in need of incapacity benefits by analysing the institution of welfare inter-agency collaboration. We achieve this through an analysis of 12 observation sessions of inter-agency collaboration where incapacity benefits are being processed between several agencies. Social rights are materialised behind closed doors. The decisions are affected by suspicions of social explanations of incapacity while medical knowledge is prioritised. The laws and resources are used to suit the explanations from the officials. In such cases inter-agency collaboration risks disempowering the citizens.

Introduction: Whose Social Problems?

The social sciences underwent rapid development in postwar America. Problems once framed in social terms gradually became redefined as individual with regards to scope and remedy, with economics and psychology winning influence over the other social sciences. By the 1970s, both economics and psychology had spread their intellectual remits wide: psychology's concepts suffused everyday language, while economists entered a myriad of policy debates. Psychology and economics contributed to, and benefited from, a conception of society that was increasingly skeptical of social explanations and interventions. Sociology, in particular, lost intellectual and policy ground to its peers, even regarding 'social problems' that the discipline long considered its settled domain. This introduction frames the book's ten chapters, each of which explore this shift refracted through a single 'problem': the family, crime, urban concerns, education, discrimination, poverty, addiction, war, and mental health, examining the effects an increasingly individualized lens has had on the way we see these problems.

How to adopt the biopsychosocial model

This chapter focuses on how the biopsychosocial psychiatrist can most appropriately take account of the fact that mental illness has biological, psychological, and social aspects. Commitment to the biopsychosocial model should not involve an a priori acceptance of the view that mental illness always has biological, psychological, and social causes. Adopting the biopsychosocial model should involve recognizing that the understanding of any given mental illness may best be advanced by considering explanations at each of the biological, psychological, and social levels. Often, explanation at one of these levels may be more elucidating than explanations at the other levels, but considering all of them combined is likely to maximize one's understanding. Psychological and social explanations are not eliminable in favour of biological ones, largely because of the way that mental illnesses are conceived and diagnosed. Moreover, commitment to a biopsychosocial approach should not involve commitment to the view that treatment of mental illness should always involve interventions at every level. Which treatment is most effective in any given case—that is, whether a biological, a psychological, or a social approach—can best be decided empirically.

Neo-Liberal and Neo-Realist Theories Fail to Explain Regional Events; An Example of the Refugees Living in the Middle Black Sea Region within Scope of International Critical Theory

Contrary to traditional theories that accept states as rational and claim that identities are independent of the effects of social relations, international critical theory deals with how individuals, institutions and states are shaped in the historical process. When we examine the current situation in the region from the perspective international of critical theory, we see that international critical theory brings direct, systematic and social explanations of the situation in the region. International critical theory has drawn attention to the dangers of uncontrolled particularism, which can easily deprive 'strangers' from certain rights. Linklater claims that this would be overcome by the establishment of a system based on more cosmopolitan, negotiating, dialogue and rationality, beyond the borders of the sovereign states. If we evaluate the situation in terms of the refugees living in the Central Black Sea region, the universalization and centralization of justice can triggers social transformation in the long run and it can eliminate differences between citizen and people

Migration Labor Laws

This study continues to discuss the various legislative structures associated with migrant workers 'unfree labor;' as it also continues to question as to how a set of laws and standards regarding international labor will articulate and justify this problem adequately and would then attempt to fix it. The study continually relates to the exploitative, enforced labor activities, involving slavery, debt slavery, forced labor and trading in labor. A "labor -based framework" could possibly be regarded as an empirical paradigm that takes into account the political and economic history of exploitation; emphasizes on the deterrence and social explanations for inequality and abuse rather than on the enforcement of slavery; recognizes the value of labor rights and other labor market regulatory frameworks and considers the progression of spectrum within these regards.

More on the Missing Half Second

This review essay compares two early and two recent texts by N. Katherine Hayles and Mark B. N. Hansen. Considering their recent work in the context of Ruth Leys’s critique of the turn to affect, I argue that Hayles and Hansen use neuroscientific conclusions on a “missing half second” to propose theories of technology’s impact. These critics neglect to provide explanations of a social or political kind, a trend that appears to be related to the lesser importance accorded to intention. I show the value of giving social explanations and of differentiating between humans and things in analyses.