Everyday Criticality : Questioning, Expertise, and the Embodiment of Critical Judgment

The development of critical disposition, and particularly the disposition to question assertions, has long been viewed as an essential goal of education. Its importance is expressed not only in numerous normative educational visions, but by contemporary policy documents, studies of teacher attitudes, and even popular educational literature. Indeed, the movement to educate for higher-order, critical thinking that has developed over the past four decades views questioning as perhaps the central activity of skilled cognition. As such, the disposition to question assertions – or what I have come to call “criticality” - transcends both the classroom and any specific academic or vocational discipline. It is essential to all good thinking, whether such thinking concerns scientific research, workplace decision making, or the navigation of everyday life. While there has been little conceptual analysis of criticality per se, there exists a substantial and relevant literature concerning the nature of critical disposition. In this dissertation, I analyze the two dominant conceptions in the literature as they relate to criticality, evaluating them with regard to both our held critical ideal of appropriate questioning, as well as a paradox that arises from the nature of the critical act itself – what I call the paradox of criticality. I argue that both conceptions fail to justify our critical ideal and offer little insight into how we can end the iterative questioning of critical behavior without paradoxically engaging in an “acritical” act. I propose that any understanding of criticality capable of supporting a commitment to appropriate questioning must view critical behavior as a form of judgment. With this in mind, I incorporate Hubert Dreyfus’ theory of expertise into a phenomenological analysis of critical recognition to develop a conception of criticality that views such recognition as an act of judgment that itself relies on the embodiment of previous judgment. I then turn to the literature on neurocognition and consciousness for empirical backing of this conception, arguing that both dual cognition and global workspace theory provide substantial justification for a commitment to it. I conclude with a discussion of the educational ramifications of the expertise conception and the role that didactic philosophy might play in an education for criticality

Bringing Families In: Recommendations of the Incarceration, Reentry and Family Roundtables

Building on the findings of the New Jersey Reentry Roundtable and a growing concern around the state about how to improve outcomes for the more than 70,000 individuals expected to return home from prison over the next five years, the roundtable examined the complex role that families – broadly defined – play in the lives of prisoners during incarceration and after their release. This document presents a set of recommendations emerging directly from roundtable sessions and provides a road map for individual and collaborative efforts accepted by a range of key players in New Jersey, including government officials, community and faith based service agencies, advocacy groups, family members and formerly incarcerated people

Gustatory Responses of a Tropical Frugivorous Bat

The electrical activity of the chorda tympani nerve in response to chemical stimulation of the tongue of the tropical frugivorous bat Artibeus jamaicensis was compared to that of several rodents and carnivores. The slope of the NaCl response-concentration curve is much steeper than curves for the other animals and the maximum response is reached at a lower concentration (approximately 0.25M NaCl). NaCl is a more adequate stimulus than NH4Cl, LiCl is approximately equal to NaCl, and KCl response is low. These results are similar to those previously found for the rodents but quite different from those for the carnivores. Response is lower to sucrose stimulation than to quinine or HCl, and response to all three is slightly higher, when compared to the NaCl response, than for most of the rodents and carnivores. Responses to monovalent chloride salts and the other taste qualities are quite different from those of the little brown bat, Myotis lucifugus. The NaCl response is not maintained at a steady-state level as in the rat but shows a constant decline after the initial response. A high water response, almost equal to the initial taste response, is obtained after stimulation with 0.01NHCl. Two types of water response are shown

Sinteza, in vitro antitumorsko ispitivanje i radiosenzitirajuće vrednovanje novih derivata 4-[3-(supstituiranih)tioureido]-N-(kinoksalin-2-il)benzensulfonamida

Sulfonamides and quinoxaline derivatives possess many types of biological activities and have been recently reported to show substantial antitumor activity. This paper reports the synthesis of novel thioureidosulfaquinoxaline derivatives. All the newly synthesized compounds were evaluated for their in vitro anticancer activity against a human liver cell line (HEPG2) and showed higher activity than the reference drug doxorubicin. 4-(3-(4-Ethylbenzoate)thioureido)-N-(quinoxalin-2-yl)benzenesulfonamide (9) (IC50 = 15.6 µmol L1), N-(pyridin-2-yl)-4-(3-(4-(N-quinoxalin-2-yl-sulfamoyl)phenyl)thioureido)benzene-sulfonamide (10) (IC50 = 26.8 µmol L1) and N-(quinoxalin-2-yl)-4-(3-(4-(N-thiazol-2-ylsulfamoyl)phenyl)thioureido)benzenesulfonamide (11) (IC50 = 24.4 µmol L1) were the most potent compared to doxorubicin (IC50 = 71.8 µmol L1). The most potent compounds 9, 10 and 11 were evaluated as radiosensitizing agents by subjecting the compounds to γ-irradiation (8 kGy).Derivati sulfonamida i kinoksalina imaju raznoliko biološko djelovanje, između ostalog i antitumorsko djelovanje. U radu je opisana sinteza novih derivata tioureido sulfakinoksalina. Svim novim spojevima ispitano je antitumorsko djelovanje in vitro na humanoj staničnoj liniji jetre (HEPG 2). Svi ispitani spojevi pokazuju jači učinak nego referentni lijek doksorubicin. Najjači učinak imali su 4-(3-(4-etilbenzoat)tioureido)-N-(kinoksalin-2-il)benzen-sulfonamid (9) (IC50 = 15,6 µmol L1), N-(piridin-2-il)-4-(3-(4-(N-kinoksalin-2-il-sulfamoil)fenil)tioureido)-benzen-sulfonamid (10) (IC50 = 26,8 µmol L1) i N-(kinoksalin-2-il)-4-(3-(4-(N-tiazol-2-ilsulfamoil)fenil)tioureido)benzen-sulfonamid (11) (IC50 = 24,4 µmol L1), dok je IC50 vrijednost bila 71,8 µmol L1. Najaktivniji spojevi 9, 10 i 11 evaluirani su kao radziosenzitirajuća sredstva nakon izlaganja spojeva γ-zračenju (8 kGy)

Movimientos Populares. A ofensiva golpista e a tímida resposta dos movimentos populares no Brasil

As another infamous chapter in this process, ex-President Lula was jailed in April this year. Lula is definitely a political prisoner.Brasil vive bajo el signo del golpismo y del estado de excepcion desde que la presidenta Dilma Rousseff fuese destituida de su cargo en abril de 2016 en una maniobra casuística, ilegítima e ilegal. El monopolio golpista (medios hegemónicos, capital rentista, oligarquías territoriales y una casta judicial ávida de poder y distinción) desborda por todos lados los fundamentos y las perspectivas de una inserción soberana del país en el escenario global, destruyendo también las posibilidades para un desarrollo humano capaz de enfrentar las abismales desigualdades, las asimetrías que guardan estrechos vínculos con el brutal pasado esclavista.O Brasil vive sob o signo do golpe e do estado de exceção desde que a presidente Dilma Rousseff foi destituída de seu cargo em abril de 2016 em uma manobra casuística, ilegítima e ilegal. O monopólio golpista (mídia hegemônica, capital rentista, oligarquias territoriais e uma casta judiciária ávida de poder e distinção) transborda por todos os lados os fundamentos e as perspectivas de uma inserção soberana do país no cenário global, destruindo também as possibilidades de desenvolvimento humano capaz de enfrentar as desigualdades abismais, as assimetrias intimamente ligadas ao passado brutal da escravidão

Thinking As Two - Philosophy, Critical Thinking, and Community of Inquiry

Supporters of the philosophy for children movement often claim that philosophy is the ideal subject to teach children if we seek to improve their critical thinking. Claiming that only philosophy encompasses the whole of the critical thinking enterprise, and that it alone teaches meta-cognition, these proponents argue for its inclusion in both elementary and secondary school curricula. Yet, if we accept a mainstream description of critical thinking as an activity demanding both aptitude and disposition, the discipline of philosophy, independent of any particular pedagogy, does not offer the unique ability to improve either aspect of the critical thinker. Indeed, matched with the "wrong" pedagogy, the teaching of philosophy does nothing to encourage the disposition to think critically. The pedagogy of Community of Inquiry, however, does encourage such a disposition, even independent of its use in teaching philosophy. As a public model of the process of critical thinking, this pedagogy acts as the "training wheels" of the critical thinker, allowing the individual to both observe and participate in the process. The expectation of the educator is that exposure to the model will, in time, result in its internalization. While philosophy itself may not improve either critical aptitude or disposition, the nature of the discipline does uniquely enable efficient, productive, and extended practice of Community of Inquiry in an educational context. And it is this indirect link between philosophy and critical thinking, a link mediated by the pedagogy of Community of Inquiry, that should be cited by proponents of philosophy for children