A simple theory containing its own truth predicate

Tarski's indefinability theorem shows us that truth is not definable in arithmetic. The requirement to define truth for a language in a stronger language (if contradiction is to be avoided) lapses for particularly weak languages. A weaker language, however, is not necessary for that lapse. It also lapses for an adequately weak theory. It turns out that the set of G{\"o}del numbers of sentences true in arithmetic modulo $n$ is definable in arithmetic modulo $n$

The role of intellectual beliefs and professional culture as a source of potential conflicts of interest

This article explores the role of ‘systems of beliefs’ and disciplinary and professional norms and culture as a potential source of conflicts of interest in decision-making by professionals. In particular it argues that ‘intellectual’ views and professional values and agendas, may represent a potent source of potential conflicts of interest, which may not be readily recognised or fully understood across diverse disciplinary or professional settings, because of differing disciplinary/professional world-views, training and priorities. The article argues that there is a need for more open and honest cross-disciplinary conversations about how conflicts of interest are constructed and navigated in different scholarly and professional contexts. This is key to unmasking potential conflicts of interest that may unconsciously be sourced by particular intellectual views, positions and systems of beliefs, particularly when they are unquestioningly assumed to be beneficent. This discussion is important for decision-makers, such as university human research ethics committees and other cross-disciplinary institutional or organisational (corporate and non-corporate) decision-making or review bodies, for whom potential conflicts of interest are a core consideration in their activities and deliberations

The Vacuity of Postmodernist Methodology

Many of the philosophical doctrines purveyed by postmodernists have been roundly refuted, yet people continue to be taken in by the dishonest devices used in proselytizing for postmodernism. I exhibit, name, and analyse five favourite rhetorical manoeuvres: Troll's Truisms, Motte and Bailey Doctrines, Equivocating Fulcra, the Postmodernist Fox Trot, and Rankly Relativising Fields. Anyone familiar with postmodernist writing will recognise their pervasive hold on the dialectic of postmodernism and come to judge that dialectic as it ought to be judged

Memory In Black And White: Race, Commemoration, And The Post-Bellum Landscape

Interview with Dr. Paul A. Shackel by Leah Wood Jewett Paul A. Shackel is a professor and Director of the Center for Heritage Resource Studies, Department of Anthropology, University of Maryland. He is the author of Personal Discipline and Material Culture, Culture Chan...

Ending Rape in War: How Far Have We Come?

The rape of women has for centuries been an endemic feature of war, yet perpetrators largely go unpunished. Women were sanctioned as the spoils of war in biblical times and more recently it has been claimed that it is more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier in modern conflict. Nevertheless, until the establishment of the ad hoc International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia – there was very little concern regarding the need to address the rape of women in conflict.This paper briefly maps historical attitudes towards rape in war, outlines some analyses and explanations of why rape in war occurs and finally turns more substantively to recent efforts by the international community to prosecute rape as a war crime and a crime against humanity. We argue, that while commendable in some ways, contemporary approaches to rape in war risk reinforcing aspects of women’s status which contribute to the targeting of women for rape and continue to displace women from the centre to the margins in debates and practices surrounding rape in both war and peace time.  We conclude by arguing that criminal prosecutions alone are insufficient and that, if we are to end the rape of women and girls in war (and peace) we need a radical restructuring of gender relations across every sphere of social and political life

Making Justice Work for Women. Uganda Country Report.

The Uganda Country Report sits in a series of three reports of the findings of 'Making Transitional Justice Work for Women: Rights, Resilience and Responses to Violence Against Women in Democratic Republic of Congo, Northern Uganda and Kenya', funded by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2013-2016). It outlines Ugandan women's thoughts about justice, the background and context to violence against women in Uganda, identifies women's justice needs and priorities and analyses justice responses in Uganda