Thomas Aquinas' concept of freedom in the context of his treatment of God's knowledge of future contingents

This thesis examines Thomas Aquinas' concept of human freedom in the context of his treatment of God's knowledge of future contingents. Much has been written about Aquinas' attempt to solve the problem of how humans can act freely if God knows all future things, but little of that work comments on a major underlying assumption in his treatment of the problem - namely, the concept of human freedom presupposed. This thesis therefore seeks to establish the nature of the freedom that Aquinas was assuming in the important discussions of God's knowledge of future contingents. Chapter 1 sets out Aquinas' statement of the problem and his solution to it, that since God is outside time, he knows things not as future but as 'present'; and knowing x as 'present' imposes no necessity on x itself. Some criticism of Aquinas' solution is reviewed. It is noted that although Aquinas' approach seems to imply a concept of freedom which includes the possibility of doing otherwise than one does, other interpretations are possible. It is noted also that modern commentators hold differing views on what Aquinas' concept of freedom is. Chapter 2 examines the link between contingency and freedom and makes the point that, for Aquinas, contingency in human behaviour seems to arise from the peculiarly human way of bringing things about i.e. by voluntary action. As a preliminary to looking at his analysis of voluntary action, Aquinas' distinction between 'human acts' and 'acts of man' is noted and a further distinction drawn between 'simply' and 'fully' voluntary acts. It is concluded that the nature of freedom will be found in Aquinas' description of human, or fully voluntary, acts

Craft knowledge in medicine : an interpretation of teaching and learning in apprenticeship

The diagnosis and management of patients requires professional know-how or medical craft knowledge. To explain how this knowledge is acquired, this research asked 'How do medical experts pass on their craft?' Other questions arose through successive data collections and progressive focusing on what medical experts did well in their work and teaching. The programme comprised: pilot interviews with three expert physicians; a case study in a hospital medical unit; and paired consultant/SHO interviews. Participant observation, interviews, and expert-novice comparisons explored clinical work, teaching, and learning in apprenticeship.Data analysis of participants' responses and ward round discussions allowed identified categories to cluster within three inter-related constructs instrumental to the acquisition of medical knowledge: gaining experience in the experiential process of clinical practice (1); and the products of experience which manifest as experts' clinical expertise (2) and teaching/learning expertise (3). These constructs can be located within a model of apprenticeship based on Spady's (1973) analysis of authority in effective teaching containing two frames of reference: the social, 'traditional-legal'; and the individual, 'expert-charismatic'. The medical apprenticeship is associated with similar perspectives: the 'traditional-experiential' represents the professional process of learning through patient care with its infrastructure of clinical methods in presentation, discourse, and commentary; and the 'expert-charismatic' represents clinical and teaching expertise coupled with vocational enthusiasm.Experienced experts synthesised two repertoires of knowledge and skills derived from the craft knowledge of medicine and pedagogy, respectively. Both crafts are required for effective clinical education. While apprenticeship accommodates a range of teaching/learning experiences, in postgraduate education experts pass on knowledge through the deliberate engagement of junior doctors in diagnosis and management. The skills involved in this process were largely unrecognised by most senior and junior doctors and were not perceived as 'clinical teaching' although learning was structured through service-based work

A Comparative Report of Health Care Provisions in Prisons in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic

This report is a follow up to previous visits to the Hungarian, Polish and Czech Prison Departments in January 2001. In the first visits, discussions were held with the Prison Service Headquarters in each country about the key issues affecting the provisions of health care and related issues in the organisation and management of the prison system (see previous report, MacDonald, 2001). The initial exploratory visits also provided an understanding and knowledge of the policies for health and drug and alcohol addiction developed by the prison services in each of the countries. The initial visits of 2001 provided the basis for the second visits during 2002. The aim of the visits was to facilitate a broad-based review of provision of health care and response to drug addiction in each of the sample prisons. In each country, three prisons were visited which included male and female prisons, those for sentenced and pre-sentenced prisoners and institutions for young offenders. The sample prisons visited in the Czech Republic were Plzen male pre-sentenced and sentenced prison, Svetla nad Sazavou Women’s prison and Vsehrdy juvenile prison. In Hungary they were Kalocsa women’s prison, Szeged high-security male sentenced prison and Tököl juvenile prison. In Poland they were Katowice sentenced prison, Grochow pre-sentenced prison and Lubliniec women’s prison

Prison Health Care in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland

This study of health care in Central European penal systems was commissioned by HEUNI and took place during January and February, 2001. The three countries included in the research were the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. These countries were selected to complement the work already done by Roy Walmsley (1996) and his current follow-up study of the prison systems as a whole in Central and Eastern European countries. The link with Roy Walmsley’s research was important as a means of securing access to appropriate key personnel in each of the countries and as a means of securing general information about the prison systems. This study also complements the work already carried out in Italy and England and Wales about the structure and key issues facing the two prison systems in the areas of health policy and more specifically on HIV and drugs policy (MacDonald, 1999).The purpose of the visits to the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland was to prepare a report that provides descriptive data about the current health policies in prisons in the countries visited. Interviews were to be carried out with key officials in each of the countries to discover the extent to which international standards are currently adhered to in the implementation of health policy; the reasons for any lack of adherence; the concerns expressed, and the state of progress. It is the intention to return to each of these countries to undertake a more indepth follow-up study in the area of implementation of health policy in the form of audits in a sample of prisons, which will also include interviews with prisoners. Although this report is primarily concerned with the provision of health care services in each of the three countries’ prison services it is also recognised that there are other factors that make a significant contribution to the health of prisoners. Therefore, a variety of issues (overcrowding, budget constraints, drugs and sex in prison and so on) have been included in the report in so far as they impact on prisoner health. Three days were spent in each country. Interviews were carried out with a range of key officials in the prison service administration. At least one prison was visited in each country and further interviews were undertaken with the prison governor and medical staff working in the prison hospital/ department

A Study of the Health Care Provision, Existing Drug Services and Strategies Operating in Prisons in Ten Countries from Central and Eastern Europe

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Protecting women with multiple and complex needs from gendered violence: Impediments to obtaining and maintaining safe and secure accommodation in a European context

The aim of this article is to identify the key impediments to accessing and sustaining safe and secure accommodation by women with multiple and complex needs within a European context. Women with multiple and complex needs are particularly vulnerable to various forms of violence against them and homelessness is often one of their particular needs. The European context is important because ending violence against women is a key priority of the European Union yet this particularly vulnerable group has largely been overlooked in key strategy. This research was part of a European Union-funded project and a pragmatic, phenomenological approach was taken to the research, employing interviews of key stakeholders (women and professionals who work with them) from five European countries. The key findings, using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as a framework of analysis, were that accommodation is a key requirement for women with multiple needs to receive the treatment they need. However, simply providing safe and secure accommodation is not enough: a co-ordinated, wraparound service is required to ensure women successfully address their multiple needs and are empowered to sustain their tenancies and, ultimately, become self-actualised

Interprofessional education in practice.

This presentation focused on the implementation of interprofessional education (IPE) in practice-based settings for health and social care students. Building from recommendations and evidence accumulated during a classroom-based IPE programme at two universities from 2003-2008, "IPE in Practice" was piloted in two placement areas - operating theatre and primary care - using smaller groups and replicating the methodology from the previous, classroom-based study. This approach led to IPE in Practice being implemented in other areas, with IPE scenarios specific to those placement areas

Hope in dirt: report of the Fort Apache Workshop on Forensic Sedimentology Applications to Cultural Property Crime, 15—19 October 2018

A 2018 workshop on the White Mountain Apache Tribe lands in Arizona examined ways to enhance investigations into cultural property crime (CPC) through applications of rapidly evolving methods from archaeological science. CPC (also looting, graverobbing) refers to unauthorized damage, removal, or trafficking in materials possessing blends of communal, aesthetic, and scientific values. The Fort Apache workshop integrated four generally partitioned domains of CPC expertise: (1) theories of perpetrators’ motivations and methods; (2) recommended practice in sustaining public and community opposition to CPC; (3) tactics and strategies for documenting, investigating, and prosecuting CPC; and (4) forensic sedimentology—uses of biophysical sciences to link sediments from implicated persons and objects to crime scenes. Forensic sedimentology served as the touchstone for dialogues among experts in criminology, archaeological sciences, law enforcement, and heritage stewardship. Field visits to CPC crime scenes and workshop deliberations identified pathways toward integrating CPC theory and practice with forensic sedimentology’s potent battery of analytic methods

Service Provision for Detainees with Problematic Drug and Alcohol Use in Police Detention: A Comparative Study of Selected Countries in the European Union

Over the last two decades drug use has greatly increased. As a result increasing numbers find themselves in police detention: most of these detainees are vulnerable individuals and the recognition of their substance misuse problem is now perceived [in the UK] as important and is receiving local and national attention. Accurate assessment of substance-misuse-associated morbidities, including the degree and severity of dependence, and of the need for medical intervention, is essential, because both intoxication and withdrawal can put detainees at risk of medical, psychiatric and even legal complications (Royal College of Psychiatrists and Association of Forensic Physicians 2006,ii) Despite the expanding illicit drug industry and advances in law enforcement, which have led to an increase in the proportion of problematic drug and alcohol users coming in contact with the criminal justice systems throughout Europe, there is still little research about police detention (Van Horne & Farrell 1999), specifically in considering police forces’ response to the problem and the treatment of problematic drug and alcohol users in police detention (MacDonald 2004). Official statistics have shown an increase in the number of problematic drug and alcohol users across Europe and in Central and Eastern Europe. Recreational use and experimentation are becoming a central part of youth culture. Problematic drug and alcohol users represent a small minority of the whole population. However, this sort of use is responsible for the vast majority of associated harm, in personal, economic and social costs. This study explores legislation, policy and practice for problematic drug and alcohol users during police detention in eight countries in the EU