When Language Breaks

In “Logic and Conversation,” H. P. Grice posits that in conversations, we are “always-already” implying certain things about the subjects of our words while abiding by certain rules to aid in understanding. It is my view, however, that Grice’s so-called “cooperative principle” can be analyzed under the traditional Heideggerian dichotomy of ready-to-hand and present-at-hand wherein language can be viewed as a “mere” tool that sometimes breaks. Ultimately, I contend that the likening of language to a tool allows for a more robust understanding of it and conversational failures, while ontologically recategorizing language as an object of sorts

A Genealogy of Self-Development in Modern America: Influences of the American Dream

This article offers a hypothetical conversation between various authors and creators who have embarked on progressive self-development journeys under the influence of a shared society that intermittently embraces and rejects the structures of the American Dream. While examining the instinctive human motives that cause the radical decision to actualize one’s life, this paper attempts to bridge the psychology of the desire for personal growth to our influential cultural landscape. It explores and analyzes the self-development journeys of individuals such as William Least Heat-Moon and Chris McCandless, as well as the recent message of self-development found in a cinematic pop culture music video, produced by The Lumineers. Through an exploration of how American culture’s fluctuating reactions towards the American Dream influence the motivations that generate self-developmental journeys, this paper aims to define successful personal growth as individuals of a community striving for personal growth in combination with a desire for interconnected social growth

A Genealogy of Self-Development in Modern America

This article offers a hypothetical conversation between various authors and creators who have embarked on progressive self-development journeys under the influence of a shared society that intermittently embraces and rejects the structures of the American Dream. While examining the instinctive human motives that cause the radical decision to actualize one’s life, this paper attempts to bridge the psychology of the desire for personal growth to our influential cultural landscape. It explores and analyzes the self-development journeys of individuals such as William Least Heat-Moon and Chris McCandless, as well as the recent message of self-development found in a cinematic pop culture music video, produced by The Lumineers. Through an exploration of how American culture’s fluctuating reactions towards the American Dream influence the motivations that generate self-developmental journeys, this paper aims to define successful personal growth as individuals of a community striving for personal growth in combination with a desire for interconnected social growth

Conversations About Drinking: College Student Perceptions of Personal and Peer Drinking

Alcohol consumption among college students relates to normative perceptions of peer use. One way in which these norms are likely disseminated among social groups is through conversations about drinking alcohol. Further, prior research suggests that frequency of alcohol-related conversations relate to self-reported college student drinking. However, little is known about college student discussions about alcohol. This study investigated how anticipated responses to a hypothetical conversation about drinking varied in relation to the valance of the discussion of drinking (positive vs. negative), perceptions of personal responses versus the “typical same-sex college student’s” responses, gender, and personal drinking behavior. Results indicated that college student participants generally matched the conversational valence depicted by fictitious peers in the vignette, and that participants perceived the typical same-sex college student as more accepting of heavy college student drinking than they perceived themselves. Overall, there were few gender differences, and self-reported personal drinking related weakly to anticipated responses. The findings suggest that college students report some willingness to express concern and offer advice when discussing heavy drinking with male peers. Results are generally consistent with previous college student drinking literature suggesting that college students match perceived normative tolerance of drinking behavior

Unethical informed consent caused by overlooking poorly measured nocebo effects

Unlike its friendly cousin the placebo effect, the nocebo effect (the effect of expecting a negative outcome) has been almost ignored. Epistemic and ethical confusions related to its existence have gone all but unnoticed. Contrary to what is often asserted, adverse events following from taking placebo interventions are not necessarily nocebo effects; they could have arisen due to natural history. Meanwhile, ethical informed consent (in clinical trials and clinical practice) has centred almost exclusively on the need to inform patients about intervention risks with patients to preserve their autonomy. Researchers have failed to consider the harm caused by the way in which the information is conveyed. In this paper, I argue that the magnitude of nocebo effects must be measured using control groups consisting of untreated patients. And, because the nocebo effect can produce harm, the principle of non-maleficence must be taken into account alongside autonomy when obtaining (ethical) informed consent and communicating intervention risks with patients

Ethical Issues in the Drug Approval Process

The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) drug approval process carries great significance for both pharmaceutical companies and for patients. In recent decades, there has been a shift towards expedited approval so that drugs, especially those for terminally ill patients, can be brought to market faster. However, the FDA still has the responsibility of protecting patients from harm. The case studies of two drugs, Vioxx and Avastin, highlight several of the ethical and practical issues of the drug approval process, including the nature of clinical trial research, the risk-benefit analysis of new treatments, the growth of Contract Research Organizations (CROs) and the ethics of post-marketing research. In today’s rapidly advancing global society, there is grey area in terms of how to act ethically in performing research on human subjects, yet provide the drugs that patients want in a timely manner. I advocate that the FDA should take a patient centered approach to the drug approval process. First, the FDA should continue to use accelerated approval and work to streamline the approval process further, since it has been shown to benefit patients greatly. Second, the agency should continue to utilize the comprehensive informed consent process. If in the future they can eliminate the theoretical misconception about research, by better educating patients about the difference between research and treatment, only then would I advocate for streamlining or removing the informed consent process. Until then, patients need to be made fully aware of their role as a research subject

Sound and fury, signifying something? NATO and the Trump administration’s second year

Published versio

Convergences and Divergences: The Lives of Swami Abhishiktananda and Raimundo Panikkar

Today the field of Hindu-Christian studies is burgeoning with both advanced scholars and freshly minted PhDs. However, during most of the twentieth century it was rare for a Christian thinker to take non-Christian religions seriously as a meaningful area of theological inquiry. Those who did generally limited themselves to theorizing about these religions in the abstract, rather than engaging with living members of these religions. Five outstanding exceptions were Jules Monchanin, Swami Abhishiktananda, Raimundo Panikkar, Francis Acharya, and Bede Griffiths, all of whom were Catholic priests who settled in India over a sixteen year time period, from 1939 to 1955. There are a multitude of studies of these men, but only a small proportion of these examine them comparatively. This is ironic, for their lives were intertwined

Savod o’rgatish davrida o’quvchilarni o’qishga o’rgatish

Savod o’rgatishning birinchi kunlaridanoq o’qish ongli bo’lishi, bolalarni ongli o’qishga o’rgatish juda muhim. So’roqlar yordamida o’qilganlarni bola qanday tushungani aniqlanadi, tekshiriladi. O’qishdan oldin o’tkazilgan tayyorlov suhbati ham, o’qilgan matn yuzasidan o’tkazilgan suhbat ham shu maqsadga - ongli o’qishga xizmat qiladi. Sharoitga qarab, bolalarga nimanidir o’qishni talab qiladigan muammoli holatni yaratish ham zarur. Bunday holat “Alifbe”dan yoki harf terish m atosidan, o’qiladigan topishm oqdan foydalanib yoki muammoli savolni keltirib chiqaradigan taxminiy suhbat yordamida hosil qilinishi mumkin

Тактика та техніки медіатора у подоланні владного дисбалансу у бізнес-медіації

Сьогодні Україна страждає від численної кількості конфліктів у багатьох сферах суспільного життя. Бізнес-сфера також не є винятком. Господарські спори можуть бути врегульовані господарськими судами, але сторони часто не задоволені рішеннями судів, що є причиною для пошуку альтернативного способу врегулювання спорів у сфері господарської діяльності. В останні роки такий медіація як метод вирішення спорів отримала широке визнання. Медіація це процес, в якому сторони вирішують свою суперечку за допомогою третьої сторони, яка приймає рішень щодо спору. Стаття присвячена питанню дисбалансу сил в медіації, який означає, що динаміка між сторонами впливає на продукування рішень таким чином, що сторони не можуть висловлюватись самі за себе або досягти добровільної згоди. Сторони в медіації або переговорах знаходяться в дисбалансі сили ще до того, як ці процедури почалися. В статті звертається у вага на те, що хоч медіатор і є нейтральним, це не означає, що у нього відсутня влада, насправді він володіє найбільшою силою в кімнаті. Силі у медіатора виявляється у контролі усього процесу. Для того, щоб впливати на сприйняття сили сторонами він застосовує різні тактики. В статті наводяться деякі заходи, які можуть вплинути на силовий дисбаланс. Одним з індикаторів дисбалансу влади є вербальні інструменти. Серед методів, що використовуються медіатором у статті зазначаються комунікативні навички, наприклад, навички ставити питання, перевірка, як найменш поінформована сторона може стати більш поінформованою, окремі сесії, визначення питань для обговорення, виявлення потреб, усвідомлення власних інтересів, ВATNA і WATNA. Іншими методами збалансування сил є нейтральними/безпечне місце для медіації, суворе дотримання основних правил, перевірка з обома сторонами досягнутих домовленостей на реальність і позитивність, перевірка того, чи розуміють обидві сторони силу спільно узгоджених рішень, використання співмедіатора. В статті обґрунтовується теза про те, що робота з дисбалансом сил не означає створення рівності в процесі медіації. Це означає забезпечення можливості сторонам самостійно визначати своє майбутнє. Наділення сторін медіації здатністю приймати обґрунтовані рішення у власних інтересах є наріжним каменем самовизначення і базисом компетенції медіатора.Nowadays Ukraine is suffering on number of conflicts in all life spheres. Business sphere is not an exception. Commercial disputes can be settled by commercial courts but parties often are not satisfied with the courts decisions that is the reason to find alternative way to settle commercial disputes. In recent years such method of dispute resolution as mediation gained wide recognition. Mediation is a process where the parties attempt to resolve their dispute with the aid of a third party that has no power to decide the dispute issues. When the dynamics between the parties affect the discussion of solutions to the point that one or both parties are unable to speak for themselves or to reach a voluntary agreement this means a power imbalance. Parties in mediation or negotiation are in a power imbalance even before the processes commence. Though the mediator is impartial, his or her impartiality should not be construed as a lack of power. The mediator actually has the most power in the room. A mediator’s power derives from his or her control of the entire process. To influence the perception of party’s power mediators apply a variety of tactics. Here some interventions which may deal with power imbalance. One indication of an imbalance of power is verbal instruments. Among techniques used by mediator we should mention communication skills, e.g. question asking skills, check how the least informed party can become better informed, caucus and separate sessions, agenda setting, need exploration, "enlightened self-interest", BATNA and WATNA. Other techniques to “balance” power are the neutral/safe venue for mediation, closely enforce ground rules, check with both parties that any agreements reached are realistic and positive, and ensure both parties understand the strength of genuine jointly agreed decisions, use of co-mediator. Dealing with power imbalance does not mean creating equality in the mediation process. It means to provide the parties ability to self-determine their own future. Empowering parties to make informed decisions in their own best interest is the cornerstone of self-determination and the lifeblood of a master mediator