Reclaiming Rationality Experientially: The New Metaphysics of Human Spirit in Hegel’s Phenomenology

Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit is typically read as a work that either rehabilitates the metaphysical tradition or argues for a new form of idealism centred on social normativity. In the following, I show that neither approach suffices. Not only does the metaphysical reading ignore how the Phenomenology demonstrates that human rationality can never adequately capture ultimate reality because ultimate reality itself has a moment of brute facticity that resists explanation, which prevents us from taking it as a logically self-contained, self-justifying metaphysical zone traditionally known as ‘substance,’ but it also ignores how the Phenomenology equally demonstrates that human rationality creates a historically self-unfolding universe of meaning that is, because it displays a rational systematicity and consistency unlike anything else in the world, the closest thing we have to substance, but which, given its freedom, is more correctly called ‘subject.’ Consequently, while the non-metaphysical reading rightly recognizes that the Phenomenology develops a radically innovative account of intersubjectivity, it neglects how the social theory that it develops comes fully equipped with various metaphysical commitments concerning nature, spirit, and the relationship between them without which this theory would be unintelligible

APNET - ADEA study project on intra African book trade

Following on the ADEA/APNET study on inter-African Book trade that was commissioned in 1999, ADEA tasked APNET to facilitate the production of national book industry updates in each country. The updates are aimed at encouraging commercial development of inter-African book trade and to make available to the public, total systematic and current situations on the book trade in each country

PRIVATE R&D INVESTMENT AND PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH IN A PANEL OF FOOD MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES

The paper presents production function estimates of human capital and business research and development knowledge for a panel of Canadian food manufacturing industries over the period 1993-2004. Our results show that physical and human capitals are major determinants of food manufacturing productivity. Business research and development (R&D) was found not to be a major factor shaping food manufacturing productivity. This result is consistent with previous studies showing that not only is R&D an important factor but engineering practices, information technologies, and equipment suppliers are a key ingredients shaping the technological landscape of food manufacturing. In addition, we tested the robustness of our food manufacturing sample results to a larger sample of manufacturing industries (food, wood, paper, fertilizer) over a shorter time period. Our results show from employing different panel model estimators business R&D was a significant variable impacting manufacturing productivity.Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

PRICING TO MARKET BEHAVIOR: EVIDENCE FROM SELECTED CANADIAN AND U.S. AGRI-FOOD EXPORTS

This study examines the pricing behavior of Canadian and U.S. agri-food exporters consistent with a model that permits the identification of pricing to market (PTM) behavior and imperfect market competition in agri-food markets. The estimation strategy takes advantage of recently developed panel unit root tests to determine the time-series properties of the data and avoid the problem associated with lower power conventional unit root tests. Among U.S. products, the conventional PTM model indicated evidence of a greater degree of imperfect competition in international markets for U.S. wheat. While price discrimination and market segmentation are apparent for Canadian exports in selected markets, the export adjustment pattern in most cases tended to exacerbate the effect of exchange rate fluctuations on foreign currency prices of Canadian products.Demand and Price Analysis,

Fostering positive intergroup relations between non-disabled people and physically disabled people: contact quality and its social psychological antecedents

Although intergroup contact is a well-established area of inquiry within social psychology, the majority of research adheres to testing its traditional formulation, i.e. the extent that contact can reduce prejudice. Under this approach researchers do not investigate what happens during interactions, only if (and often, what sort of) contact has occurred. Consequently, it lacks the power to explain why interactions should be as they are between groups. Conversely, this thesis proposes that investigating contact as an outcome may provide a new and important insight into intergroup life. Specifically, this thesis investigated social psychological antecedents of contact quality among non-disabled and physically disabled people. This unique and challenging context is one that has largely been neglected by prior research. A review of the existing literature identified two key potential antecedents of contact quality, specifically the psychological concerns and embarrassment that both groups experience when interacting with out-group members. A qualitative study (Study 1) was then conducted to gain insight into the phenomenology of these constructs. Importantly, this allowed for the identification of the unique group-specific concerns that non-disabled and physically disabled people may hold. This thesis went on to test the impact of concerns and embarrassment on contact quality through a series of experiments involving both vignette-based and actual interactions (Studies 2-5). Among both groups, these studies revealed evidence of an indirect link between concerns and reduced contact quality. Furthermore, embarrassment was identified as the linking mechanism driving this important relationship. Subsequently the thesis tested a series of interventions directed at attenuating embarrassment and improving the contact quality of these encounters. Two of these studies (Study 6-7) tested the efficacy of an interpersonal feedback strategy, delivered by the physically disabled interactant across an actual (Study 6) and vignette-based (Study 7) interaction. Findings indicated that such feedback could improve contact quality perceptions among both groups, but it was unclear if it did so by reducing embarrassment. Additionally, among the physically disabled sample, the effects became non-significant when controlling for demographic factors. Finally, Studies 8a and 8b examined the potency of a societal-level intervention, the 2012 Paralympic Games. Over the period of the event, concerns and embarrassment were found to decrease in both groups but there was no reported change in contact quality. Additionally, differences once again disappeared when controlling for demographic factors. Implications of these findings, limitations and directions for future research are discussed

An Analysis of Price Determination in the Sweet Cherry Markets of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California

Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis,

Electrodeposition and hot corrosion of cermets

Imperial Users onl

A vision-based system for inspecting painted slates

Purpose – This paper describes the development of a novel automated vision system used to detect the visual defects on painted slates. Design/methodology/approach – The vision system that has been developed consists of two major components covering the opto-mechanical and algorithmical aspects of the system. The first component addresses issues including the mechanical implementation and interfacing the inspection system with the development of a fast image processing procedure able to identify visual defects present on the slate surface. Findings – The inspection system was developed on 400 slates to determine the threshold settings that give the best trade-off between no false positive triggers and correct defect identification. The developed system was tested on more than 300 fresh slates and the success rate for correct identification of acceptable and defective slates was 99.32 per cent for defect free slates based on 148 samples and 96.91 per cent for defective slates based on 162 samples. Practical implications – The experimental data indicates that automating the inspection of painted slates can be achieved and installation in a factory is a realistic target. Testing the devised inspection system in a factory-type environment was an important part of the development process as this enabled us to develop the mechanical system and the image processing algorithm able to perform slate inspection in an industrial environment. The overall performance of the system indicates that the proposed solution can be considered as a replacement for the existing manual inspection system. Originality/value – The development of a real-time automated system for inspecting painted slates proved to be a difficult task since the slate surface is dark coloured, glossy, has depth profile non-uniformities and is being transported at high speeds on a conveyor. In order to address these issues, the system described in this paper proposed a number of novel solutions including the illumination set-up and the development of multi-component image-processing inspection algorithm

British Columbia Consumers' Preferences for Italian Wines: Reputation and Vintage Effects on Wine Quality and Prices

Italian wines have been enjoyed by Canadian consumers for decades and the consumption is not limited to the ethnic Italian population. The study examines effects of wine characteristics and the brand associated with the designation of geographic origin estimating five hedonic price equations for Barbaresco; Barbera; Veneto (Valpolicella, Amarone and Reecioto); Soave; and, Chianti and uses weekly sales data from British Columbia retail outlets. Results indicate that, in general, a premium was paid for higher alcohol content, but the effects of individual brands within each area of origin varied and the range of price premia and discounts was from 14% to -12% suggesting that small price changes with regard to the baseline wine price could affect purchase.Hedonic pricing, appellation, objective characteristics, Demand and Price Analysis,