IN A WORLD CHARACTERIZED BY MORAL PLURALISM, IS DIALOGIC CONSENSUS A WAY TO ESTABLISH MORAL TRUTH?PAUL WALKER
2017 Review of Contemporary Philosophy
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A system of morals aims at providing guidance in the resolution of moral
conflict. Our era is characterized by widely disparate personal and cultural values and, hence,
significant moral pluralism. Thus, different social and historical cultures regard different
actions as permissible or impermissible. We contend that a contemporary moral epistemology
is not based on absolute moral facts, but neither is it simply relative to our own cultural
mores. It is somewhere “in between.” Given our disparate ethical perspectives, we need a
means of approaching morally dilemmatic situations. Appeals to a common morality constitute
one such means. Another is via moral dialogue amongst those affected by the situation
in question. We examine certain paradigm cases which, from the standpoint of most
moralities, would be considered absolutely wrong-actions. We ask whether the setting of
apparently wrong actions in context can serve to mitigate an apparently evil act, or the actor
herself. If we are to peacefully coexist, and indeed flourish, then we need to dialogue about
our disparate beliefs, understand them in context, and aim to reach consensual agreement
about what is right and not right, permissible or impermissible. The requirements and
difficulties in such a process of moral argumentation seeking dialogic consensus, and hence
normative force, are considered.
Keywords: argumentation; dialogic consensus; discourse; ethics; moral pluralism;
moral decision-making
CULTURAL DECLINE, CAPITALIST DETERRITORIALIZATION, AND SOCIAL DEGENERATION IN HOUELLEBECQ’S FICTIONCARMEN PETCU
2017 Review of Contemporary Philosophy
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I draw on a substantial body of theoretical research (e.g. Abecassis, 2000;
Ahearne, 2017; Attridge, 2017; Holzer, 2003; McCann, 2010; Morrey, 2014; Schoolcraft
III and Golsan, 2007) on Houellebecq’s image of capitalist globalization, the depressive
narrative voice of his novels, and the peripheral status of his male protagonists within the
sexual marketplace. Houellebecq’s fiction is consecrated to depicting facets of the apparent
degradation of contemporary French society. His novels are filled with multivarious kinds
of established culture-shaping discourses that sometimes are linked to entities customarily
immersed in the realm of culture.
Keywords: cultural decline; capitalist deterritorialization; social degeneration
THE ETHICS OF ALGORITHMIC SOCIALITY, BIG DATA ANALYTICS, AND DATA-DRIVEN RESEARCH PATTERNSSOFIA BRATU
2017 Review of Contemporary Philosophy
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I follow recent research (e.g. Flyverbom, Deibert, and Matten, 2018; Herschel and Miori, 2017; Markham, Tiidenberg, and Herman, 2018; Pink and Lanzeni, 2018) showing that the most ordinary aspects of individuals’ lives are surely datafied and predictive data analytics are progressively employed in procedures of governance. Using data from Gartner, Pew Research Center, SAS Institute, Statista, TCS, and UN Trade Statistics, I performed analyses and made estimates regarding main reasons and business benefits of using big data, proportion of companies by country with big data initiatives, big data investments by industry, and percentage of U.S. adults who say they are “not at all confident” that their records will remain private and secure. Empirical and secondary data are used to support the claim that big data may integrate information that encroaches upon individuals’ privacy.
Keywords: ethics; algorithmic sociality; big data; research pattern
REALITY-CONSTRUCTION PROCESSES IN INFORMATION SOCIETIES: ALGORITHMIC REGULATION, AUTOMATED DECISION-MAKING, AND NETWORKED GOVERNANCEDOINA POPESCU LJUNGHOLM
2017 Review of Contemporary Philosophy
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Empirical research (e.g. Danaher et al., 2018; Just and Latzer, 2017; Kitchin,
2017) shows that algorithmic selection plays a part in reality construction. Using data from
BI Intelligence, Forbes, HfS Research, Ipsos, Medium, Statista, etc., I performed analyses
and made estimates regarding reasons for using algorithms in trading, size of the robotic
process automation market worldwide, and fastest growing marketing technologies. Empirical
and secondary data are used to support the claim that the experiences regulated by automated
algorithmic selections co-define human beings’ harmonization and combined effort. Algorithms
are permeated with the capacity to put data into effect and make far-reaching decisions.
Keywords: algorithmic regulation; automated decision-making; networked governance
THE SOCRATIC PROCESS OF LEARNING: BEING-EDUCATED AS A PHILOSOPHICAL WAY OF THE ETHICAL LIFEGEORGE LĂZĂROIU
2017 Review of Contemporary Philosophy
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This article reviews Magrini (2017) and supplements it with theoreticallybased
empirical research. Magrini rigorously proves that Socratic learning is substantiated
in the routine of care for the soul, which is the advancement or alteration of the character
via educational procedures. The practice of Being-educated for Socrates may be grasped in
relation to enabling ethical enhancement via a curriculum configuring life’s development as
a philosophical mechanism of learning, justified in the elenchus-dialectic, within occasions
of finite human transcendence. Socratic learning as the routine of care for the soul is
integral to the evolution of the human’s character/frame of mind, via which the virtues are
articulated in the framework of the dialectic’s evolvement.
Keywords: Socratic learning; Being-educated; ethical life; elenchus-dialectic