Essai d’analyse philosophique de la désobéissance civile

On tente ici de mieux cerner la légitimité de la désobéissance civile en démocratie, car ces deux concepts et les réalités correspondantes paraissent incompatibles de prime abord.We try here better to understand the legitimacy of civil disobedience in a democracy, since those two concepts and their corresponding realities seem so incompatible at first

Integrating Traditional Culltural Expressions (TCE) and Indigenous Traditional Knowledge Sysetms (TK) in Social and Economic Policy for Sustainable Development

Intellectual property contributes to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in various ways. Most African economies are based on extractive industries. This creates a situation where developing economies are suppliers of raw materials to industrialized economies and importers of manufactured goods. Intellectual property coupled with an increased awareness of the importance of intellectual capital and intangible assets creates a situation where Africans and other developing economies are realizing that natural resources alone are not really wealth. There is a need for value addition and beneficiation of natural resources. There are good initiatives such as the development of the automobile industry in Ghana and Nigeria and the exportation of branded foods products such as chilly from Rwanda. In addition to traditional intellectual property protection mechanisms such as copyright, Related Rights, Patents, Industrial Designs, Trademarks, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has included in intellectual property indigenous knowledge, cultural expression and folklore. In this way, cultural expressions such as Kente cloth patterns from Ghana, Burundian drums, traditional ways of rearing animals, knowledge of medicinal plants, methods of food conservation and natural processes such as thermal waters which are believed to have therapeutic effects can be protected as intellectual property of communities. This is a paradigm shift from the traditional Western approach where Intellectual Property was subjected to individual proprietorship. The exploitation of intellectual property creates employment and generates revenue through IP exploitation i.e. selling and licensing, franchising, merchandising, joint ventures and strategic alliances. Intellectual property can actually be used as collateral to get a loan from financial institutions and it is increasingly taken into account in the valuation of companies. These initiatives contributes to SDGs especially SDG 9 industry, innovation and infrastructure but also to SDG 8 which is decent work and economic growth. Intellectual Property can be management through Common Management Organisations (CMOs)

Stunting among Under Five Years Old Children in Rwanda: Influences of Family Planning Status and Household Size and Composition

Background Stunting is one of the main challenges resulting in high child mortality and morbidity thought out the world, especially in many developing countries, including Rwanda. The overall prevalence rate of stunting is estimated at around 38% of under five years old children in Rwanda. Objective To examine the influences of household size and composition and family planning status on stunting among children under five in Rwanda. Methods The current study is a nationally representative cross-sectional study that used the secondary data analysis of Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) 2014-2015. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between family planning and household size and composition. Results The sum-total of children under five in the household (log odds=0.373(p<.05), CI=0.0577, 0.689), maternal age at childbirth (log odds=-0.682(p<.05), CI=-1.222, -0.141), fertility preference (log odds =-0.296(p<.05), CI=-0.549, -0.0427), and unmet need for family planning (log odds = 0.297(p<.05), CI= 0.0193, 0.574) were statistically significant associated with stunting among studied children. Conclusion The findings of this study suggest a significant association between stunting and family planning and household size and composition.   Rwanda J Med Health Sci 2021;4(1):112-13

Pattens of Human Knowing in the Information Society : A Philosophical Study of the Epistemological Implications of the Information Revolution

The aim of this thesis is to introduce a dynamic and integrative epistemology based on the notion of information. This thesis is mainly a critique of normative epistemology on the grounds that normative epistemology through its adoption of the assumptions of methods of modern sciences, models all processes of human knowing to the physical sciences and henceforth upholds a mechanical model of the universe which is indistinctly applied to natural phenomena and human behavioral and cognitive processes; (2) reduces human knowing to logical-deductive processes in the attempt to achieve a degree of certainty that is comparable to the one achieved by mathematics; (3) reduces knowing to achieving accurate representations of reality (true-justified-beliefs or clear and distinct ideas) with the assumption that the knower is a passive and impartial spectator of reality. The dynamic and integrative model of epistemology that this thesis advocates rejects the modeling of all processes of human knowing on the physical sciences basing itself on evidence from neurophysiology, cognitive and behavioral sciences. The knower is not a passive spectator of reality but an active agent who (1) is continuously in relation with his or her environment; and who (2) is involved processes of meaning and value creation as the knower pursues various goals. Dynamic and integrative epistemology defines knowing not in terms of achieving accurate representations (true-justified-beliefs or clear and distinct ideas) but as accumulating insights through information processing i.e. enriching the immediate data of experience with value and meaning for the purposes of decision-making and problem-solving. Dynamic and integrative epistemology is only possible in the context of a paradigm shift from mechanical (causal) to cybernetics (information processing) models. It overcomes the analysis and synthesis dichotomy characteristic of mechanical models and upholds systems thinking as a way of tackling in inherent complexity of reality. Dynamic and integrative epistemology rejects the reduction of wisdom to certainty or knowing to thinking that led to top-down logical deductive systems. It advocates a bottom-up approach that aims at wisdom in experiencing, understanding, judging and acting within the limits of a human “bounded rationality” i.e. subject to humanly attainable pre-determined goals (satisficing rather than optimizing), complexity of the subject matter and the limited human computational abilities. This is possible through processes that apply the methods of heuristics rather than clearly determined algorithms in processes that span at Lonergan’s four levels of consciousness (the empirical, the intellectual, the rational, the responsible) and that require attention, intelligence, reasonableness and responsibility as resources