Topic Review
Autonomy as a Social Role
Personal autonomy is a crucial philosophical topic which is of great relevance for different disciplines. First I would present an introduction to the contemporary debate. Second,I’ll follow a line of thought that suggests to intend "personal autonomy" in a social sense. The urgency to undertake this move arises because of the wide variety of informational sources we are exposed which influence our behavior. Social background represents the basis for autonomy; at the same time, interaction with others (real or virtual) enlarges the possibility for autonomous judgements.
  • 2.6K
  • 01 Nov 2020
Topic Review
History of X-ray Research in Colonial India
This is the stroy of the beginning of X-ray research in colonial India and its progress to understand the India's respectable position globally in X-ray researh in modern times.The history of X-ray research in colonial India started with the procurement of X-ray tube by Dr. Mahendralal Sircar within six months of the discovery of X-rays at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS). The first application of X-rays for clinical purposes was done, in private capacity, independently by Dr. Sircar and Sir J.C. Bose. After his return from England in 1921, C.V. Raman initiated serious X-ray scattering studies in the structure of matter at the IACS which proliferated to all parts of India and laid the foundation stone of modern X-ray research in India.
  • 2.2K
  • 29 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Transformation of Natural Philosophy
Is there any reason, to believe a modern natural philosophy makes sense? The history of natural philosophy is marked by the search for principles that determine all beings independently whether they are abiotic matter or living organisms. Empirical data on the key features of life contradict even the possibility to find such principles because life in contrast to abiotic matter offers some main characteristics that are completely absent on abiotic planets. This means, if a modern natural philosophy should have any benefit it must be divided into a natural philosophy of physics or cosmology and a natural philosophy of life. If it is possible to give an updated definition of life, empirically based, non-reductive, non-mechanistic and without metaphysical assumptions, this would be an appropriate basis for a global consensus how future of humans may be generated in symbiosis with global biosphere. If we think on billions invested in health and drug research a new natural philosophy of life could orientate future of research on health and new drugs and avoid misinvestments.
  • 1.9K
  • 09 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Individualist Anarchism in France
Individualist anarchism in France has developed a line of thought that starts from the pioneering activism and writings of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and Anselme Bellegarrigue in the mid-19th century. In the early 20th century, it produced publications such as L'En-Dehors, L'Anarchie and around its principles it found writers and activists such as Émile Armand, Han Ryner, Henri Zisly, Albert Libertad and Zo d'Axa. In the post-war years, there appeared the publication L'Unique and activist writers such as Charles-Auguste Bontemps. In contemporary times, it has found a new expression in the writings of the prolific philosopher Michel Onfray. Individualist anarchism is a group of several traditions of thought within the anarchist movement that emphasize the individual and his or her will over external determinants such as groups, society, traditions and ideological systems. French individualist anarchism was characterized by an eclectic set of currents of thought and practices which included anti-militarism, freelove, freethought, illegalism and naturism. While most American individualist anarchists advocates mutualism, a libertarian socialist from of market socialism, or a free-market socialist form of classical economics, European individualist anarchists are pluralists who advocate anarchism without adjectives and synthesis anarchism, ranging from anarcho-communist to mutualist economic types.
  • 1.9K
  • 11 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Moral Psychology of Possibilities
Discussions about the ethics of buying and consuming animal products normally assume that there are two choices equally available to moral agents: to engage or not to engage in such behaviour. This paper suggests that, in some cases, the experience of those who refuse to participate in animal exploitation is not best described as a choice, but as the natural outcome of a reconfiguration of their understanding of what animals, and hence the products made out of them, are. Such reconfiguration involves not seeing animals as something to eat, wear, control, etc. In these cases, veganism is not a choice because it does not depend on opting for one of two possible courses of actions: on a certain way of thinking about other animals, the consumption of animals does not present itself as a possibility at all.
  • 756
  • 30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
The EU's Green Deal
In December 2019, the European Union introduced its Green Deal in which the ecological crisis is prioritized. In doing so, the EU seems to be breaking with its traditional green growth discourse. Does it? In this article, we seek to find out whether and to what extent the EC indeed has such a revolutionary cultural, economic and political agenda in mind with its Green Deal. While the green growth discourse presumes a growth-based economy that must become greener, the degrowth discourse questions the growth model and perceives it as ecologically irresponsible. If the European Green Deal represents a third alternative, then it will somehow succeed in prioritizing ecology without welfare loss. To ascertain to what extent the European Green Deal is that third alternative, three preliminary steps need to be undertaken. The first step consists in a brief exposition of the key features of the traditional green growth discourse, as propounded by the EC and its various allies. Thereafter, the overlaps between the green growth discourse and the European Green Deal are noted. In the third section, the latter’s divergences from that previous model are highlighted. In the final section, the main question of the article is answered. It is also suggested that specific interpretations and implementations of the European Green Deal could possibly turn the original communication into an alternative to both green growth and degrowth.
  • 515
  • 20 Jan 2021