What Pedro could do

This paper discusses Bernard Williams's famous case of Jim and the Indians. It contrasts two ways of diagnosing the alleged errors of Act Utilitarianism in considering this case. One approach suggests that Act Utilitarianism fails to appreciate the importance of what Jim does; it fails to understand the significance of Jim's agency. This paper favours an alternative diagnosis, according to which Act Utilitarianism fails to appreciate the importance of what Pedro could do; it fails to understand the significance of Pedro's agency

Portuguese intermunicipal organization - Basic principles

Portuguese territorial organization has two levels of territorial decision support legitimated: central and local/municipal government (municipalities). The lack an intermediate level of support decision between those levels is a central problem on territorial decision support system. Intermunicipal organization level can it play an important role as an intermediate level of decision-making process. After rejection of the regionalization process in 1998, trough popular referendum, Portuguese government has approved two laws of the Public Administration Framework Reform - Metropolitan Areas Act and Intermunicipal Organization Act (13th May 2003). Metropolitan Areas Act establishes two ways to promote the intermunicipal organization among municipalities: Great Metropolitan Areas (more than 350 000 inhabitants) and Urban Communities (more than 150 000 inhabitants). Intermunicipal Organization Act also establishes two ways to promote the intermunicipal organization between at least two municipalities: Intermunicipal Communities of wide Scope and Intermunicipal Communities of Specific Scope. This paper aims to present and discuss a set of basic principles towards success of this reform, and at the same time, to present some results of the research developed by the author of the paper.

A kiss is just...

This paper proposes that a survey of representations of men not-kissing men in recent television drama series makes clear a particularly hysterical fascination. While the Australian program GP has managed to produce a banal representation of two men kissing, American equivalents have resorted to a series of strategies which make insistently clear that not only can men not kiss-but that the act of not-kissing must be repeatedly displayed. By refusing to have lovers kiss; by having lovers kiss but refusing to show the act; by having gay lovers, but having one played by a woman; by having men kiss but rendering the act ridiculous; in these ways, American television programs make clear the importance of this act by consistently pointing towards it and declaring its impossibility. This paper calls for the justice of equal access to public images of kissing

A Disjunctive Conception of Acting for Reasons

A disjunctivist conception of acting for reasons is introduced by way of showing that a view of acting for reasons must give a place to knowledge. Two principal claims are made. 1. This conception has a role analogous to that of the disjunctive conception that John McDowell recommends in thinking about perception; and when the two disjunctivist conceptions are treated as counterparts, they can be shown to have work to do in combination. 2. This conception of acting for reasons safeguards the connection between considerations that move us to act in particular ways and considerations that favour our acting in particular ways.Articl

Right in some respects: reasons as evidence

What is a normative reason for acting? In this paper, I introduce and defend a novel answer to this question. The starting-point is the view that reasons are right-makers. By exploring difficulties facing it, I arrive at an alternative, according to which reasons are evidence of respects in which it is right to perform an act, for example, that it keeps a promise. This is similar to the proposal that reasons for a person to act are evidence that she ought to do so; however, as I explain, it differs from that proposal in two significant ways. As a result, I argue, the evidence-based account of reasons I advance shares the advantages of its predecessor while avoiding many of the difficulties facing it

The Causal Decision Theorist's Guide to Managing the News

According to orthodox causal decision theory, performing an action can give you information about factors outside of your control, but you should not take this information into account when deciding what to do. Causal decision theorists caution against an irrational policy of 'managing the news'. But, by providing information about factors outside of your control, performing an act can give you two, importantly different, kinds of good news. It can tell you that the world in which you find yourself is good in ways you can't control, and it can also tell you that the act itself is in a position to make the world better. While the first kind of news does not speak in favor of performing an act, I believe that the second kind of news does. I present a revision of causal decision theory which advises you to manage the news about the good you stand to promote, while ignoring news about the good the world has provided for you

Service-Learning and School-to-Work: Making the Connections

Recently, much attention has been focused on two federal initiatives that encourage students to explore learning opportunities outside the classroom. The National and Community Service Trust Act and the School to Work Opportunities Act provide states with assistance to develop and implement school programs in which elementary, secondary, and post-secondary students are engaged in learning experiences that are hands-on, meaningful, and connected to the real world. Although the acts differ on their intended educational purposes, both are based on similar educational philosophies, principles, and pedagogies. These fundamental similarities suggest that the two reforms can work synergistically to establish powerful and exciting school programs. This paper describes the tenets of each reform act, lists the ways the two acts are complementary, and provides examples of how school sites and districts have found ways to connect the two reforms in effective and creative ways

Thinking About You: Perspective Taking, Perceived Restraint, and Performance

Conflict often arises when incompatible ideas, values or interests lead to actions that harm others. Increasing people’s willingness to refrain from harming others can play a critical role in preventing conflict and fostering performance. We examine perspective taking as a relational micro-process related to such restraint. We argue that attending to how others appraise events supports restraint in two ways. It motivates people to act with concern and enables them to understand what others view as harmful versus beneficial. Using a matched sample of 147 knowledge workers and 147 of their leaders, we evaluate the impact of appraisal-related perspective taking on leaders’ perceptions of knowledge workers’ restraint and performance