What is ‘mental action’?

There has been a resurgence of interest lately within philosophy of mind and action in the category of mental action. Against this background, the present paper aims to question the very possibility, or at least the theoretical significance, of teasing apart mental and bodily acts. After raising some doubts over the viability of various possible ways of drawing the mental act/bodily act distinction, the paper draws some lessons from debates over embodied cognition, which arguably further undermine the credibility of the distinction. The insignificance of the distinction is demonstrated in part by showing how the focus on ‘inner’ acts hampers fruitful discussion of Galen Strawson’s skepticism of mental agency. Finally, the possibility is discussed that a distinction between covert and overt action should supplant the one between mental and bodily action

Constructivism and the Problem of Normative Indeterminacy

I describe a new problem for metaethical constructivism. The problem arises when agents make conflicting judgments, so that the constructivist is implausibly committed to denying they have any reason for any of the available options. The problem is illustrated primarily with reference to Sharon Street’s version of constructivism. Several possible solutions to the problem are explained and rejected

Why cognitivism?

Intention Cognitivism – the doctrine that intending to V entails, or even consists in, believing that one will V – is an important position with potentially wide-ranging implications, such as a revisionary understanding of practical reason, and a vindicating explanation of 'Practical Knowledge'. In this paper, I critically examine the standard arguments adduced in support of IC, including arguments from the parity of expression of intention and belief; from the ability to plan around one's intention; and from the explanation provided by the thesis for our knowledge of our intentional acts. I conclude that none of these arguments are compelling, and therefore that no good reason has been given to accept IC

Does the normative question about rationality rest on a mistake?

Rationality requires that our mental attitudes exhibit specific patterns of coherence. Do we have reason to comply? 'Prichardian Quietists' regard this question as fundamentally confused: the only reasons to comply with rational requirements are the ones given by the requirements themselves. In this paper, I argue that PQ fails. I proceed by granting that Prichard's own position, from which PQ draws inspiration, is defensible, while identifying three serious problems with the parallel position about rationality. First, as I argue, PQ is not plausibly combined with either the narrow-scope or the wide-scope formulations of rational requirements. Second, PQ implies that the reasons to comply with rational requirements are reasons of the wrong kind. And finally, PQ lacks a crucial component of its explanation, viz. a plausible theory of what constitutes being rationally required to V

Disjunctivism about Intending

The overwhelmingly predominant view in philosophy sees intending as a mental state, specifically a plan-like state. This paper rejects the predominant view in favour of a starkly opposed novel alternative. After criticizing both the predominant Bratman-esque view of intention, and an alternative view inspired by Michael Thompson, the paper proceeds to set out and defend the idea that acting with an intention to V should be understood disjunctively, as (roughy) either one’s V-ing intentionally or one’s performing some kind of failed intentional V-ing, where the two disjuncts share no common state of intention. Instructive structural parallels to perceptual disjunctivism are pointed out, and the view is shown, unlike its rivals, to successfully extend to capture both prospective and present intention, thereby unifying the three different guises of intention

Towards an empirical development of critical value factors of online learning activities

Activities are at the center of human behavior. Extensive attention has been given in literature to the success and effectiveness of online learning programs. Value theory suggests that human perceived value is a critical construct in investigating what is important to individuals. However, very limited attention has been given in literature to the role of users’ perceived value of learning activities in educational settings. Scholars suggest that additional studies on learning activities are needed in order to progress the current knowledge of the use of information systems in education. Therefore, this study investigated issues related to learners’ perceived value by uncovering the critical value factors (CVFs) of online learning activities. Participants in this study included 209 graduate students attending an online learning program. This study extended the first phase done in a prior research to uncover the CVFs of online learning activities. Results of this research study produced five reliable CVFs: (a) Collaborative, Social, and Passive Learning Activities; (b) Formal Communication Activities; (c) Formal Learning Activities; (d) Logistic Activities; and (e) Printing Activities

The Debunking Challenge to Realism: How Evolution (Ultimately) Matters

Evolutionary debunking arguments (EDAs) have attracted extensive attention in meta-ethics, as they pose an important challenge to moral realism. Mogensen (2015) suggests that EDAs contain a fallacy, by confusing two distinct forms of biological explanation – ultimate and proximate. If correct, the point is of considerable importance: evolutionary genealogies of human morality are simply irrelevant for debunking. But we argue that the actual situation is subtler: while ultimate claims do not strictly entail proximate ones, there are important evidential connections between the two. Attending to these connections clears ground for a new and improved EDA. However, it also brings into view some possible problems with EDAs that have been largely neglected so far

Development and validation of a model to investigate the impact of individual factors on instructors’ intention to use e-learning systems

E-learning is becoming an increasingly important part of higher education institutions. However, instructors’ use of e-learning systems in community colleges in the United States is relatively sparse. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate some individual factors that may affect instructors’ intention to use e-learning systems in community colleges. In this study, we proposed a theoretical model predicting instructors’ intention to use e-learning systems in community colleges based on their resistance to change, perceived value of e-learning systems, computer selfefficacy, and attitude toward e-learning systems. The sample for this study included 119 (over 41% response rate) full-time, part-time, and adjunct instructors in different academic departments at a community college. Our findings indicate that the theoretical model developed was able to predict instructors’ intention to use e-learning systems. All four predictive variables have significant effects on intention to use e-learning systems. Two statistical methods were used to formulate and test predictive models: Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) and Ordinal Logistic Regression (OLR). Results of both models were consistent on resistance to change as having the greatest weight on predicting instructors’ intention to use e-learning systems, while computer self-efficacy in both analyses was found to have the least weight. We conclude the paper with a discussion, which includes a summary of the results, limitations of this research study, as well as implications for practice and future research

Bright Blue Cybersecurity (BBC) Project SIGSEC Research Initiative

It may be beneficial to the community of scholars in general and the members of Association of Information Systems (AIS) – Special Interest Group on Security and Privacy (SIGSEC) to coordinate research activities to achieve accomplishments that are beyond the scope of individual scholars as well as having the possibility to solve problems that are of value to both academics and practitioners. The Bright Blue Cybersecurity (BBC) research project seeks to develop a set of research goals in the area of cybersecurity and then devise strategies to coordinate efforts of both current and future scholars who wish to participate

Towards a Development of Predictive Models for Healthcare HIPAA Security Rule Violation Fines

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s (HIPAA) Security Rule (SR) mandate provides a national standard for the protection of electronic protected health information (ePHI). The SR’s standards provide healthcare covered entities (CEs’) flexibility in how to meet the standards because the SR regulators realized that all health care organizations are not the same. However, the SR requires CEs’ to implement reasonable and appropriate safeguards, as well as security controls that protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CIA) of their ePHI data. However, compliance with the HIPAA SR mandates are confusing, complicated, and can be costly to CEs’. Flexibility in the SR’s design and its facility-centric approach leave CEs’ at a disadvantage; it appears that there is no clear SR compliance benchmark or standard to measure up against to ensure compliance, while the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) fine companies for non-compliance. This work-in-progress study examines the preponderance of failed HIPAA compliance audits, regarding SR regulations in healthcare CEs. SR non-compliance puts CEs at significant risk of monetary loss via sanctions, fines, and penalties from regulatory audits and data disclosure investigations (i.e. OCR). Furthermore, disclosures of deeply sensitive ePHI can result in any number of critical issues, including a patient’s medical identity theft, financial fraud, and even problems that can negatively impact a patient’s medical treatment decision-making, or the treatment itself. The primary goal of this work-in-progress study is to develop predictive models of CEs HIPAA SR violation fines, based on past OCR enforcement actions and weighted SR controls by current subject matter experts (SMEs); to empirically assess the compliance as well as security posture of ePHI data. Furthermore, this work in progress study will extend the Theory of Regulatory Compliance (TRC), into the healthcare knowledge domain by identifying those critical SR controls that are predictive in reducing non-compliance penalty exposure(s). Keywords: HIPAA Security Rule, HIPAA compliance, critical security controls, healthcare cybersecurity, electronic protected health informatio