Modern military operations:a normative practice approach to moral decision making

Modern military operations are characterized by ubiquitous use of technology, in particular the use of information and communication technologies for real-time information sharing. The use of technology on the battlefield is assumed to improve decision making in military practice. By making use of a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan, namely the Sangin incident in 2011, the author highlights why moral decision making could be hampered by technology. This is partly due to the fact that information and communication technologies subtly connect sub-practices that exist within the broader military practice, thus potentially blurring normative structures. Blurring of normative structures can cause problems for moral decision making on the battlefield, because it is suddenly not clear who is responsible for the course of action

Complexities and dilemmas in the sharing economy : the Uber case

By taking Uber as a case, we take a practice focus, in-depth analysis of the sharing economy. The business model that is typical for the sharing economy is based on using underutilized goods by private persons through digital technologies. In this paper, we bring together the complex reality of the sharing economy with a philosophical tool for analyzing normative issues. We listed a number of issues that were raised in debates, protests and court files that creates tensions and dilemmas for regulators and established industries and categorized them in a table with potentially normative aspects of the issues. The categorization was done through a multi-aspectual analysis. It revealed that next to several public complaints and worries, also other, presumably overlooked aspects, may give rise to moral issues and dilemmas at a deeper level

Using enkapsis theory for unravelling societal complexities - the case of Uber

Digital technologies can create novel clusters of societal entities. This can lead to tensions in relationships between existing societal entities and in some cases it requires a rethinking of the structures that characterize these relationships. An example of a digital technology that has challenged existing relationships between traditional businesses, legal authorities and the public is Uber, an application-based transportation networking company. One way of understanding such complex relationships is in terms of enkaptic interlacements. The theory of enkapsis is a philosophical tool, based on a specific view of reality, which may guide a novel understanding of the relationship between artefacts and entities and between social structures\u3cbr/\u3ethat exist in reality. It distinguishes between three main types of relationships between societal entities, namely part-whole relationships, enkaptic interlacements and interlinkages. If we apply this rather abstract theory to the complex case of Uber, we find, for example, that Uber has a part-whole relationship with the information technology infrastructure. This implies that\u3cbr/\u3ewithout digital technologies, Uber loses its meaning and will not function according to its primary function, namely to connect drivers to passengers. We explore how the theory of enkapsis can explain a multiplicity of other complex relationships and explain the different responses to Uber in different countries, cultural settings and legal systems

Morally responsible decision making in networked military operations

\u3cp\u3eIntroducing responsible innovations on the battlefield requires a rethinking of social and psychological aspects of moral decision making on the battlefield, and in particular, including how these aspects are influenced by technology. In this chapter, the social aspects of moral decision making are accounted for in terms of the normative practices in which soldiers do their jobs. Soldiers on the battlefield are embedded in a very specific structure, and are expected to act according to rules, norms and procedures. Their actions are inspired by a certain worldview, which influences the way in which the rules, norms and procedures are interpreted. Technology, especially ICT, connects different practices on the battlefield, thereby creating a network of different (sub-)practices. This may cause a blurring or clashing of different norative practices, which affects moral decision making. In this chapter, Remotely Piloted Aircrafts (RPAs) are used as a case in point for technologically mediated moral decision making. The normative practice model gives insights in the social aspect of decision making in networked missions, but it does not pay attention to the role of the individual soldier in an in-depth way. Therefore an addition is needed, which focusses on the individual soldiers themselves. For the individual level, we take the psychological component of moral decision making and explain how this aspect is affected by technology. The model of normative practices is thus informed by insights from empirical psychology. Moral psychologists have empirically investigated how certain cues influence moral decision making. Some of the cues can be effectuated through technology. Social cognitive theory, as developed by Bandura (Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1986), (Personality and Social Psychology Review 3(3):193-209, 1999) and moral intensity theory developed by Jones (Academy of Management Review 16(2):366-395, 1991) are theories that explain moral decision making mechanisms in terms of respectively moral (dis)engagement mechanisms and the perceived moral intensity of a situation. From both theories we infer how visual data sharing technologies can increase or decrease morally appropriate decision making in networked enabled operations.\u3c/p\u3

Characterizing the mobile phone use patterns of refugee hosting provinces in Turkey

We use coarse-grained mobile phone data from a large Turkish mobile phone provider and cross-reference this data with social media data and a qualitatively composed violent events list to explore the integration of refugees in Turkey. The data provides grounds for fruitful future research. It suggests that border communities with the refugee-sending country have much different communications patterns than non-border communities. Additionally, proximity to refugee camps may increase negative sentiment on social media toward refugees, which we suggest may be a proxy for understanding “compassion fatigue.” These findings provide directions for future research on integration

Characterizing the mobile phone use patterns of refugee hosting provinces in Turkey

We use coarse-grained mobile phone data from a large Turkish mobile phone provider and cross-reference this data with social media data and a qualitatively composed violent events list to explore the integration of refugees\u3cbr/\u3ein Turkey. The data provides grounds for fruitful future research. It suggests that border communities with the refugee sending country have much different communications patterns than non-border communities. Additionally, proximity to refugee camps may increase negative sentiment on social media towards refugees, which we suggest may be a proxy for understanding ‘compassion fatigue.’ These findings provide directions for future research on integration

Causes of mechanically induced collagen damage in articular cartilage

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a multifactorial disease, associated with articular cartilage degeneration and eventually joint destruction. The phases of the disease have been described in detail, and mechanical factors play an important role in the initiation of OA, but many questions remain about its etiology. Swelling of cartilage, one of the earliest signs of damage, is proportional to the amount of collagen damage. This strongly suggests that damage to the collagen network is an early event in cartilage degeneration. The goal of this study was to determine the mechanical cause of early collagen damage in articular cartilage after mechanical overloading. Both the shear strain along the fibrils and the maximum fibril strains were evaluated as possible candidates for causing collagen damage. This evaluation was done by comparing the locations of maximum shear and tensile strains with the locations of initial collagen damage after mechanical overloading in bovine explants as found using antibodies directed against denatured type II collagen (Col2-3/4M). Collagen damage could be initiated by excessive shear strains along the collagen fibrils, and by excessive fibrils strains. The locations of collagen damage after mechanical overloading were highly dependent on the cartilage thickness, with thinner cartilage being more susceptible to damage than thicker samples

A value sensitive ABM of the refugee crisis in The Netherlands

We develop an agent based model to characterize the wellbeing of newcomers (i.e. asylum seeking refugees) in the context of asylum logistics using Schwartz's theory of values. The model produces recommendations for decision-makers with respect to avoiding catastrophic outcomes and maximizing best case outcomes. We conduct analysis to show that while a relatively simple set of conditions is necessary to avoid catastrophic outcomes, these conditions are insufficient to maximize the best case outcomes. Furthermore, the conditions that maximize one best case outcome do so at the expense of another. The result is a platform for decision-makers to understand tradeoffs in policies for government and non-government organizations