Justifications and Excuses

The distinction between justifications and excuses is a familiar one to most of us who work either in moral philosophy or legal philosophy. But exactly how it should be understood is a matter of considerable disagreement. My aim in this paper is, first, to sort out the differences and try to figure out what underlying disagreements account for them. I give particular attention to the following question: Does a person who acts on a reasonable but mistaken belief have a justification, or only an excuse? One disagreement I highlight concerns the extent to which justification is primarily about agents rather than about actions (viewed in isolation from the agents performing them). Those who think, as I do, of “His action, X, was justified” as “He was justified in doing X” are far more likely to allow that justification requires reasonable belief and does not require truth, than are those who think of “His action, X, was justified” as “Although actions of this type usually are prohibited, X is in these circumstances in fact permissible.” In addition to (and sometimes in the course of) sorting out the differences and tracing them to some underlying disagreements, I defend the reasonable belief view of justification against some objections, and argue that, whether or not we continue to use the term “justified” in a way that does not require truth (and does require reasonable belief), we need the concept. Contrary to the claims of some who reject the reasonable belief view of justification, justification thus understood does not reduce to excuse

A semiótica está na escola? Um olhae sobre a emoção na liderança do educador

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Produção.Este trabalho pretende convidar as pessoas a refletir sobre o ambiente escolar, apresentando alguns conceitos básicos da Semiótica, da emoção e da liderança do educador. Uma pergunta relevante é: por que algumas aulas são bem dadas e outras não? Essa pesquisa usa algumas ações de educadores para responder a esta pergunta e para ajudar professores e todas as pessoas que trabalham na escola. O objetivo desse estudo é unir a Semiótica, as emoções e a liderança do educador, mostrando algumas contribuições de grandes pesquisadores que colaboraram com estudos de diferentes áreas do conhecimento. Os estudos da Semiótica confirmam que o nosso modo de pensar é totalmente simbólico e nós podemos identificar como a Semiótica já afeta a nossa vida. Tais estudos mostram que os detalhes têm grande valor no trabalho desenvolvido pelo educador. Os estudos das emoções nos mostram a importância de cultivar e conhecer nossos alunos para ajudá-los a conhecer-se e a identificar as suas capacidades de mudar o mundo. Os estudos da liderança atestam que todo educador pode ser um líder, conhecendo suas próprias potencialidades, respeitando e compreendendo seus alunos. Este trabalho é sobre o ambiente escolar e ajuda na compreensão da relação entre as pessoas. Os resultados mostram como é importante observar algumas coisas que as pessoas fazem na escola que podem ajudar ou dificultar o andamento da aula e enfatiza a importância dos detalhes no quotidiano escolar. Este estudo é totalmente teórico sobre o tema, cujo objetivo é oferecer algumas dicas que enriquecem a discussão sobre os valores que serão adotados neste século. Este trabalho preocupa-se com a necessidade de novos conceitos sobre a relação entre as pessoas na escola, propondo seu uso na reconstrução da educação, vendo a escola como uma alternativa possível de reconstruir as relações humanas e garantir a superação das dificuldades de comunicação na nossa sociedade. This work intends to invite people to reflect about the school environment by presenting some basic concepts about semiotic, emotions and leadership educator. An important question is: why some classes are well done and others are not? This research uses some educators' actions to answer this question and to help teachers and all the people who work at school. The scope of this study is to link semiotic, emotions and leadership educator, by showing some important contributions from great researches who have collaborated with studies from different areas of knowledge. Semiotic studies confirm that our way of thinking is totally symbolic and we can identify how semiotic affects our life already. Emotions studies show us the importance to cultivate and know our students to help them to know themselves and to identify their capacities to change the world. Leadership studies attest that every educator can be a leader, by respecting and understanding its students. This work is about school environment and helps to understand it according to the relationship between people. The results show how important is to observe some little things people do at school that can help or even disturb class management. This study is totally theoretical about the theme, whose objective is to offer some clues that enrich the discussion about the values that will be taken to the education in this century. This work concerns the need of new concepts about relationship between people at school, proposing its use in the education rebuilding, seeing the school as a possible alternative to rebuild human relations and to guarantee the overcoming of the communication difficulties in our society

Factors Associated With Shorter Colonoscopy Surveillance Intervals for Patients With Low-Risk Colorectal Adenomas and Effects on Outcome

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Endoscopists do not routinely follow guidelines to survey individuals with low-risk adenomas (LRAs; 1-2 small tubular adenomas, < 1 cm) every 5-10 years for colorectal cancer; many recommend shorter surveillance intervals for these individuals. We aimed to identify the reasons that endoscopists recommend shorter surveillance intervals for some individuals with LRAs and determine whether timing affects outcomes at follow-up examinations. METHODS: We collected data from 1560 individuals (45-75 years old) who participated in a prospective chemoprevention trial (of vitamin D and calcium) from 2004 through 2008. Participants in the trial had at least 1 adenoma, detected at their index colonoscopy, and were recommended to receive follow-up colonoscopy examinations at 3 or 5 years after adenoma identification, as recommended by the endoscopist. For this analysis we collected data from only participants with LRAs. These data included characteristics of participants and endoscopists and findings from index and follow-up colonoscopies. Primary endpoints were frequency of recommending shorter (3-year) vs longer (5-year) surveillance intervals, factors associated with these recommendations, and effect on outcome, determined at the follow-up colonoscopy. RESULTS: A 3-year surveillance interval was recommended for 594 of the subjects (38.1%). Factors most significantly associated with recommendation of 3-year vs a 5-year surveillance interval included African American race (relative risk [RR] to white, 1.41; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.14-1.75), Asian/Pacific Islander ethnicity (RR to white, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.22-2.43), detection of 2 adenomas at the index examination (RR vs 1 adenoma, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.27-1.71), more than 3 serrated polyps at the index examination (RR=2.16, 95% CI, 1.59-2.93), or index examination with fair or poor quality bowel preparation (RR vs excellent quality, 2.16; 95% CI, 1.66-2.83). Other factors that had a significant association with recommendation for a 3-year surveillance interval included family history of colorectal cancer and detection of 1-2 serrated polyps at the index examination. In comparisons of outcomes, we found no significant differences between the 3-year vs 5-year recommendation groups in proportions of subjects found to have 1 or more adenomas (38.8% vs 41.7% respectively; P = .27), advanced adenomas (7.7% vs 8.2%; P = .73) or clinically significant serrated polyps (10.0% vs 10.3%; P = .82) at the follow-up colonoscopy. CONCLUSIONS: Possibly influenced by patients' family history, race, quality of bowel preparation, or number or size of polyps, endoscopists frequently recommend 3-year surveillance intervals instead of guideline-recommended intervals of 5 years or longer for individuals with LRAs. However, at the follow-up colonoscopy, similar proportions of participants have 1 or more adenomas, advanced adenomas, or serrated polyps. These findings support the current guideline recommendations of performing follow-up examinations of individuals with LRAs at least 5 years after the index colonoscopy

Meaning in Life as a Mediator of Ethnic Identity and Adjustment Among Adolescents from Latin, Asian, and European American Backgrounds

Establishing a sense of life meaning is a primary facet of well-being, yet is understudied in adolescent development. Using data from 579 adolescents (53% female) from Latin American, Asian, and European backgrounds, demographic differences in meaning in life, links with psychological and academic adjustment, and the role of meaning in explaining associations between ethnic identity and adjustment were examined. Although no generational or gender differences were found, Asian Americans reported higher search for meaning than Latin and European Americans. Presence of meaning was positively associated with self-esteem, academic adjustment, daily well-being, and ethnic belonging and exploration, whereas search for meaning was related to lower self-esteem and less stability in daily well-being. Presence of meaning mediated associations between ethnic identity and adjustment, explaining 28–52% of ethnic identity’s protective effect on development. Ethnic identity thus appears to affect adjustment, in part, through its role in fostering a positive sense of meaning in adolescents’ lives

A Trial of Calcium and Vitamin D for the Prevention of Colorectal Adenomas

Epidemiologic and preclinical data suggest that higher intake and serum levels of vitamin D and higher intake of calcium reduce the risk of colorectal neoplasia. To further study the chemopreventive potential of these nutrients, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of supplementation with vitamin D, calcium, or both for the prevention of colorectal adenomas