Local Communities and Globalization in Caritas in Veritate

Caritas in Veritate leaves us with a question, Does Benedict XVI see politics as a practice or as an institution? How one answers this question has tremendous implications for how one should address the inequalities of contemporary society and the increasing globalization of the world. Alasdair MacIntyre, for instance, would consider politics to be primarily a practice with a good internal to its activities. This good consists in rational deliberation with others about the common good. If one considers politics an institution, however, as seems to be the case with Jacques Maritain, then one pays less attention to the common good and more attention to the mechanics of the political institution. The difference in understanding goes a long way toward how one conceives of, determines, and achieves the common good, a central task for Catholic social teaching. It also prefigures whether and how one can justify self-sacrifice for the common good, demanded of police officers and soldiers, for instance, as well as whether and how one prioritizes the practices of a given political community. Caritas in Veritate (CIV) brings to the forefront issues of self-sacrifice and prioritization of practices at the global level. This paper shall address the position Benedict XVI lays out on globalization with reference to a global politics through the lens of the common good and the distinction between practice and institution

Auditory-Motor Adaptation to Frequency-Altered Auditory Feedback Occurs When Participants Ignore Feedback

Background Auditory feedback is important for accurate control of voice fundamental frequency (F0). The purpose of this study was to address whether task instructions could influence the compensatory responding and sensorimotor adaptation that has been previously found when participants are presented with a series of frequency-altered feedback (FAF) trials. Trained singers and musically untrained participants (nonsingers) were informed that their auditory feedback would be manipulated in pitch while they sang the target vowel [/ɑ /]. Participants were instructed to either ‘compensate’ for, or ‘ignore’ the changes in auditory feedback. Whole utterance auditory feedback manipulations were either gradually presented (‘ramp’) in -2 cent increments down to -100 cents (1 semitone) or were suddenly (’constant‘) shifted down by 1 semitone. Results Results indicated that singers and nonsingers could not suppress their compensatory responses to FAF, nor could they reduce the sensorimotor adaptation observed during both the ramp and constant FAF trials. Conclusions Compared to previous research, these data suggest that musical training is effective in suppressing compensatory responses only when FAF occurs after vocal onset (500-2500 ms). Moreover, our data suggest that compensation and adaptation are automatic and are influenced little by conscious control

The Common Good, Rights, and Catholic Social Thought: Prolegomena to Any Future Account of Common Goods

The argument between Jacques Maritain and Charles de Koninck over the primacy of the common good is well known. Yet, even though Mary Keys has carefully arbitrated this debate, it still remains problematic for Alasdair MacIntyre, particularly because of the role rights play in both Maritain and Catholic Social Thought. I examine Keys’ argument and, in addition, Deborah Wallace’s account of MacIntyre’s criticism of rights in Catholic social thought. I argue, in the end, that what Maritain, and in consequence Keys and Wallace, miss about the common good is its relationship to practical reasoning, and that MacIntyre highlights both that relationship and the role of the common good in human dignity

Effects of participation and sense of community on change agents in an Indonesian sanitation behaviour change communications program

Social and behaviour change programs often require “change agents” to effectively disseminate messages to target populations on issues ranging from sanitation to alcohol. How these programs select and utilise change agents – e.g. peer educators, community health workers, sales agents and counsellors – helps determine how effective they are. The setting for this quasi-experimental PhD study was the High 5 Kelurahan project designed to address five key sanitation behaviours, managed by the Cipta Cara Padu Foundation in Indonesia. This study utilised a mixed method approach to produce evidence for the effects of previous participation and sense of community (SOC) on 69 change agents engaged in the High Five program. A simple one-way between groups ANOVA test revealed that the Sense of Community Index (SCI) scores were statistically different across the three project locations. Following this, stepwise multiple regression analysis showed a small effect of previous participation by change agents on their subsequent participation in High Five community outreach activities, however SOC had no significant effect. A non-statistical comparison of SCI scores with changes in individual behaviour and health impact revealed that project locations where change agents with higher SCI scores were active also had higher rates of behaviour change and health impact. From the nine interviews of change agents, all responded that previous participation in similar programs was a factor in their High Five participation. 30 per cent of responses also identified the perceived ability to change the community as a factor. The quantitative and qualitative results were triangulated to produce a richer understanding of the role of change agents. This research will help governments, non-profits and businesses to better understand how change agents influence social and behaviour change programs in communities and improve interventions aiming to address a range of public policy issues

Quantification of deficits in lateral paw positioning after spinal cord injury in dogs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous analysis of the behavioural effects of spinal cord injury has focussed on coordination in the sagittal plane of movement between joints, limb girdle pairs or thoracic and pelvic limb pairs. In this study we extend the functional analysis of the consequences of clinical thoracolumbar spinal cord injury in dogs to quantify the well-recognised deficits in lateral stability during locomotion. Dogs have a high centre of mass thereby facilitating recognition of lateral instability.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We confirm that errors in lateral positioning of the pelvic limb paws can be quantified and that there is a highly significant difference in variability of foot placement between normal and spinal cord injured dogs. In this study there was no detectable difference in lateral paw positioning variability between complete and incomplete injuries, but it appears that intergirdle limb coordination and appropriate lateral paw placement recover independently from one another.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Analysis of lateral paw position in the dog provides an additional tier of analysis of outcome after spinal cord injury that will be of great value in interpreting the effects of putative therapeutic interventions.</p