Machines for Living: Philosophy of Technology and the Photographic Image

This dissertation examines the relationship that exists between two distinct and seemingly incompatible bodies of scholarship within the field of contemporary philosophy of technology. The first, as argued by postmodern pragmatist Barry Allen, posits that our tools and what we make with them are epistemically important; disputing the idea that knowledge is strictly sentential or propositional, he claims instead that knowledge is the product of a performance that is both superlative and artefactual, rendering technology importantly world-constituting. The second, as argued by Heidegger and his inheritors, is that technology is ontologically problematic; rather than technology being evidence of performative knowledge, it is instead existentially threatening by virtue of the fact that it changes the tenor of our relationship with the world-as-given. Despite the fact that these claims seem prima facie incompatible, I argue that they may be successfully reconciled by introducing a third body of scholarship: the philosophy of photography. For it is the case, I argue, that although we, qua human beings, occupy lifeworlds that are necessarily constituted by technology, technology also induces a kind of phenomenological scepticism: a concern that mediated action precludes us from the possibility of authentic experience. Arguing in favour of the sentiment that photographs serve as a kind of phenomenal anchor—a kind of machine for living—I claim that photographic images provide a panacea to this existential concern: despite being epistemically problematic, it is this selfsame epistemic “specialness” of photographs that forces us to phenomenologically recommit, if only temporarily, to the world in a serious way. Consequently, it is my belief that an analysis of our artefacts and the way they function is fundamentally incomplete without an analysis of the epistemic and ontological problems introduced of the photographic image; as I will demonstrate, the photographic image casts an extremely long shadow over the philosophy of technology

Maintaining systems-of-systems fit-for-purpose: a technique exploiting material, energy and information source, sink and bearer analysis

Across many domains, systems suppliers are challenged by the complexity of their systems and the speed at which their systems must be changed in order to meet the needs of customers or the societies which the systems support. Stakeholder needs are ever more complex: appearing, disappearing, changing and interacting faster than solutions able to address them can be instantiated. Similarly, the systems themselves continually change as a result of both external and internal influences, such as damage, changing environment, upgrades, reconfiguration, replacement, etc. In the event of situations unforeseen at design time, personnel (for example maintainers or operators) close to the point of employment may have to modify systems in response to the evolving situation, and to do this in a timely manner so that the system and/or System-of-Systems (SoS: a set of systems that have to interoperate) can achieve their aims. This research was motivated by the problem of designing-in re-configurability to the constituent systems of a SoS to enable the SoS and its systems to effectively and efficiently counter the effects of unforeseen events that adversely affect fitness-for purpose whilst operational. This research shows that a SoS does not achieve or maintain fitness-for-purpose because it cannot implement the correct, timely and complete transfer of Material, Energy and Information (MEI) between its constituents and with its external environment that is necessary to achieve a desired outcome; i.e. the purpose

The Influence of the Emotional Intelligence Management Curriculum to Improve College Students’ Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Skills to Impact Leader Behavior and Team Performance Effectiveness

There is a growing emphasis in institutions of higher learning to produce sustainable and competitive graduates who possess relevant personal competencies for career success. Emotional intelligence skills can provide the competitive edge for graduates to be successful int heir industry of choice. Integrating emotional intelligence into higher education can potentially shift the learning environment and increase specific personal competencies. This study aims to investigate the influence of an emotional intelligence intervention to improve college students’ intrapersonal and interpersonal skills to impact leader behavior skills and team effectiveness. The research looked specifically at students’ skills from three dimensions (intrapersonal,interpersonal, and leadership) and their performance in two areas (leader behavior and team effectiveness). These competencies were viewed as critical skills employers seek when hiring graduates according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE, 2008) survey. NACE also report in (2012) that employers expressed that teamwork and collaboration were critical skills for the work environment, thus making teamwork the number one skill employers valued in a new hire for that year. More employers, boards, and accrediting agencies are recognizing the need to incorporate personal qualities, skills and behaviors of emotional intelligence into the formal curriculum. While it seems that more colleges and universities are trying to do this, there does not seem to be a coherent and systematic way to modify the curriculum to address this growing need. This study makes a direct connection with new requirements from AACSB and provides examples of curriculum to improve interpersonal and intrapersonal aspects of leadership. The study is a quantitative quasi-experimental design that incorporated a pre-test and post-test, the Emotional Learning System (ELS) that was incorporated into the Emotional Intelligence Management Concept Curriculum Program intervention (EIMCCP) and provided a sequential systematic model that increased the experimental group’s post Emotional Skills Assessment Process (ESAP) score along with a community service team project experience. This research used emotional intelligence as an integral part of the Management Concept course curriculum in the School of Business and Economics at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. The results indicated a significant positive impact on emotional intelligence scores and team effectiveness. The findings implied that emotional intelligence made a significant difference in the experimental groups’ ability to perform in a team environment. Institutions of higher education should integrate emotional intelligence in course curricula to assist students in becoming sustainable and competitive graduates

The Influence Of The Emotional Intelligence Management Curriculum To Improve College Students’ Intrapersonal And Interpersonal Skills To Impact Leader Behavior And Team Performance Effectiveness

There is a growing emphasis in institutions of higher learning to produce sustainable andcompetitive graduates who possess relevant personal competencies for career success. Emotional intelligence skills can provide the competitive edge for graduates to be successful intheir industry of choice. Integrating emotional intelligence into higher education can potentially shift the learning environment and increase specific personal competencies. This study aims to investigate the influence of an emotional intelligence intervention to improve college students’ intrapersonal and interpersonal skills to impact leader behavior skills and team effectiveness

Contemporary Natural Philosophy and Philosophies - Part 1

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue titled "Contemporary Natural Philosophy and Philosophies" - Part 1 that was published in the journal Philosophies

The Kindynamic Theory of Tort

Commentators complain of two major deficiencies in modern tort law: (1) that liability concepts such as negligence or duty are so vacuously defined as to permit inadvertent subjectivity and error to hinder proper case adjudication, and (2) that tort is too slow in recognizing newly discovered risks and properly compensating nascent classes of injury. We accordingly report on the Kindynamic Theory, an emerging philosophy that overcomes these twin deficiencies and sharpens understanding of poorly articulated tort intuitions Kindynamics contends that causation is the cornerstone of tort, and that all risks are, at core, causal propositions. Contrary to its many everyday definitions, the word risk has a single exact meaning in Kindynamic Theory. A risk, unlike uncertainties, must be objectively known to be causally possible ( epistemically possible\u27). Put differently, Kindynamics prescribes that a change in a specific alleged stimulus must be objectively known to determine an asymmetric, directional change in a particular alleged harm. Second, and in the only notable break with traditional tort intuition, some Kindynamic proponents advocate permitting compensation only for injuries arising from significant risks: those that are (1) widespread and (2) also likely to be injurious. Similar to common regulatory practice, the prescriptive significant risk constraint seeks to sensibly prioritize risk deterrence, given limited judicial resources. Third, Kindynamic Theory invokes decision analysis-the method for formal, quantitativer isk analysis universallyfamiliarto risk analysts-to elucidate risk tradeoffs and make decisions about a risk\u27s costs and benefits. With its empirical grounding, decision analysis improves upon other cost-benefit models, which are typically too theoreticalo r assumption-ladenf or practicalu se. Finally, courts have long desired and intuitively but unsuccessfully sought an objective method for apportioning liability for a single injury among multiple alleged tortfeasors. Kindynamic Theory formally presents such a method. Searl

Benign Manipulation in Education

Benign manipulation is an integral part of educational relationships and processes, yet it has received little scholarly attention to date. The goal of this thesis is to provide educators with a conceptual framework by which to assess instances and practices of benign manipulation in education. To do so, I provide a theoretical analysis of the meaning and significance of benign manipulation in education, as well as multi-faceted criteria by which to assess manipulation. I maintain that although there is no consensus regarding the nature of manipulation, for the practical purpose of assessing manipulation, it would be reasonable to consider as manipulation any attempt to influence others which involves deception, trickery, subversion of rationality, pressure or a failure to track reasons. If the motivation for such influence is to advance the interests of the manipulee, I term it benign manipulation. Assuming that manipulation, at least in the case of benign manipulation, should be understood as a non-moralised concept, I establish a framework for the assessment of benign manipulation in education. The framework consists of three criteria: A) the consequences of the manipulation, B) the effect the manipulation has on both the manipulator’s and the manipulee’s understanding of the situation, and C) whether the manipulation breaches the trust that exists between the manipulator and the manipulee. To demonstrate the practicality of the framework, in the second part of the thesis I apply it to three case studies, all of which have educational implications: benign deception, pharmacological cognitive enhancement and gamification