The book sets out a new logic of rules, developed to demonstrate how such a logic can contribute to the clarification of historical questions about social rules. The authors illustrate applications of this new logic in their extensive treatments of a variety of accounts of social changes, analyzing in these examples the content of particular social rules and the course of changes in them.
Assorted fruit from forty years' writing, these essays by David Braybrooke discuss (in Part One of the book) a variety of concrete, practical topics that ethical concerns bring into politics: people's interests; their needs as well as their preferences; their work and their commitment to work; their participation in politics and in other group activities. Essays follow on the justice with which theme matters are arranged for and on the common good in which they are consolidated. Justice here inspires a 'departures' approach, which moves from agreement on departures from commutative justice to agreement on measures of distributive justice needed to forestall such departures. Another essay (first published here) radically undermines the odd but entrenched belief that utilitarianism classically licenced, even prescribed, systematically sacrificing the happiness of some people to give others greater pleasure. Part II and Part III of the book concentrate upon the subject of settled social rules, which are devices for securing the objectives treated in Part I. Part II shows that rules are ubiquitous in ethics, since there are no virtues without rules, just as there are no (justified) rules; without virtues. Part Two also shows that rules are as ubiquitous in social phenomena as the causal regularities sought by one school of social science. Part III captures the dialectic of history at least in part by a logical analysis of changes in rules following the onset of quandaries. It then considers how political choices can be both prudent, by keeping within duly considered incremental limits, and yet imaginative enough to escape the recent embarrassments generated by social choice theory. Characteristically versatile in topic and style, Braybrooke offers original light on all theme subjects. One reader has commented, '[His] prose is elegant and always a pleasure to read. Some of the pieces are nothing short of brilliant.' Which did the reader have in mind? Readers may differ (they already have) on just which pieces they would rank highest.
This collection is a pioneering effort to bring together in fruitful interaction the two dominant perspectives on social rules. One, shared by philosophers, lawyers, anthropologists, and sociologists, directly invites formalization by a logic of rules. The other, originating with economists, emphasizes cost considerations and invites mathematical treatment, often in game-theoretical models for problems of coordination?models that some philosophers have taken up as well.Each perspective is represented by new and recent work that moves this important topic toward increased conceptual precision and deeper insight. As a whole, the collection strikes a balance between historical illustrations and theoretical argument, offering in both a rich body of suggestions for further work.
Manual workers tend to be represented as disoriented victims of post-socialist transformation, but how can such an approach explain the diversity of the actual ways of coping with social change adopted by workers in the new capitalist reality? To address this question the author turns to workers themselves, to their life strategies and personal experiences. He reconstructs the processes of adapting to and resisting structural changes in working-class milieus in one of the industrial regions of Poland (Silesia).
Braybrooke challenges received scholarly opinion by arguing that canonical theorists Hobbes, Locke, Hume, and Rousseau took St Thomas Aquinas as their point of reference, reinforcing rather than departing from his natural law theory.
Philosophy and World Problems theme is a component of Encyclopedia of Social Sciences and Humanities in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. The Theme on Philosophy and World Problems deals, in three volumes and covers several topics, with a myriad of issues of great relevance to our world on Philosophy and World Problems. Philosophy resists conclusions because its method across disagreements – like modern science to which it gives rise - always leaves issues open to counter-argument and furtherance of understanding. This is how philosophy differs from religious, sectarian and other dogmas and closed systems of thinking. Yet agreement across the research contributing to this work is implicit or explicit on one meta principle: whatever is incoherent with organic, social and ecological life requirements through time is false, and evil to the extent of its reduction and destruction of life fields and support systems. These three volumes are aimed at a wide spectrum of audiences: University and College Students, Researchers and Educators.
This book looks at the changing continuum that links individuals, communities and society. An outline of Aspirational Algorithms (AA) and Valuable Wearables is presented as tools to shift from an AI culture to the cultivation of Augmented Humanity (AH). The human mindset that is behind the design and use of technology determines the outcomes of technology. If the intended outcome is the common good, then the preceding human aspiration must be geared toward that goal. Only technology that is conceived with the aspiration of a society that lifts individuals to fulfill their potential can be a game-changer for good. Seeing the constant interplay between the four levels of human existence – soul, heart, mind, body, expressed as aspirations, emotions, thoughts and sensations, how technology may serve to systematically sway individuals from inspiration to desire, from informing to the ignition of tangible transformation. This transition is explained in the book along the scale of influence. Two convergent and mutually influencing dynamics are analyzed: first, the influence of values and aspirations on the impact of technology, and second, the influence of technology on the attitude and action of users. Both assess how hardware and software can serve a maximum of people to live a meaningful happy life.
Transform your nonprofit’s ability to innovate for the future In Innovation for Social Change, distinguished author Leah Kral delivers a practical manual for nonprofits and charitable organizations seeking to innovate their way toward new and exciting possibilities. In the book, you’ll explore hands-on design thinking strategies and techniques you can use as a disciplined process for exploring what’s possible in your organization. You’ll learn how to identify hidden needs, deal with the knock-on effects of your ideas, and focus your efforts where they can have the most impact. You’ll also discover how to transform your ideas into action, building small experiments and learning from them before scaling them up organization-wide, and how to create an ecosystem for everyday innovation. Finally, the author explains what we can learn from social entrepreneurs as they boldly challenge the status quo. The book also includes: Six basic and mutually reinforcing principles that will help you become more innovative today Instructive and engaging case studies from nonprofits with a variety of missions, visions, and political backgrounds Strategies for applying straightforward principles from economics to supercharge nonprofit innovation A can’t-miss roadmap to creative innovation, Innovation for Social Change will earn a place in the libraries of nonprofit board members, managers, fundraisers, and other professionals in the charitable space.
