The Vanity of Small Differences

It is often suggested that aesthetic and ethical value judgements are similar in such a way that they should be analysed in analogous manners. In this paper, I argue that the two types of judgements share four important features concerning disagreement, motivation, categoricity, and argumentation. This, I maintain, helps to explain why many philosophers have thought that aesthetic and ethical value judgements can be analysed in accordance with the same dispositional scheme which corresponds to the analogy between secondary qualities and values. However, I argue that aesthetic and ethical value judgements differ as regards their fundamental structures. This scheme is mistaken as regards ethical value judgements, but it is able to account for aesthetic value judgements. This implies that aesthetic value judgements are autonomous in relation to ethical value judements and that aestheticians, not moral philosophers, are the true heirs of this renowned analogy.

The purpose of any social discipline is to understand the society through their theoretical perspectives. Human communication as a social science is also without exception, its purpose is to explain the society by means of inspecting the social information as well as the contents and extensions during the operation of social information system. Social together with its system are complex and comprehensive by nature, which determines human communication existing itself as a comprehensive science with multiple theories, aspects and perspectives. It is reasonable to study with the help of related theories of other subjects in facing concrete research issues and when the existing theories lack enough power to give an explanation. Interpersonal human communication is an important part in human life, the human communication study about is rather few, however. This paper is about to solve this problem, for current human communication cannot explain the barriers occurred in the interpersonal human communication. To deal with such issue that often happens in social life, the author is appeal to information system theories to explain that the trajectory of information changes in the course of human communication could cause barriers.

Are values more than measures of our needs and desires or internalized social and cultural rules of behaviour, originating in cultures and devoid of any universally accessible objectivity? Is there a place for values in a world of facts? If so, how can values preserve their ideality and normativity? If not, how can value judgements be true or false? Max Scheler’s Material Axiology is the best answer Classical Phenomenology provides to this dilemma. Yet Material Axiology, in particular material ethics of values, is largely ignored or looked down upon for being based on unclear presuppositions. This paper tries to provide a fresh start by clarifying the bottom-up approach characteristic of phenomenology with an exercise in experimental phenomenology in which I will analyse the actual experience of certain aesthetic values in emotionally qualified perception.

PurposeThe requirements of various participants of a project may conflict with the strategy of the project's parent organization and, consequently, the project may form its individual strategy independently, to better align with the factors in its environment. The purpose of this paper is to describe the formation of the strategy of a project as a response to the project's environment, providing insight into a project's strategy formation, where the project does not merely reflect the strategy of the parent but where the parent is only one influential actor (of many) in the project's environment.Design/methodology/approachTo increase understanding of the relationship between the project's environment, the strategy of the project‐based firm and the strategy formation of a project, the authors analyze a project of a metallurgy firm in an empirical case study. The authors use project literature and corporate venturing literature, look for the dimensions of project strategy and the factors in the project's environment and study how the factors in the environment shape the project's strategy.FindingsThe analysis suggests that factors in the internal and external environments affect the strategy formation with varying strength. The strategy of the case project was formed in micro‐level iterative processes, in interaction between dimensions of strategy of the project and factors in environment. The empirical case study suggests that a project initiated with strong influence of external factors has to face contradiction between the strategy and related influential factors in the parent organization of the project.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to our understanding of how the strategy of an individual project is formed through micro‐level processes that are related to external and internal factors that affect the strategy formation.

Background: Empirical legal research methods have gained increasing significance in legal scholarship, offering insights into the real-world application and outcomes of laws. In Indonesia, the use of these methods remains relatively underexplored despite the growing need for evidence-based policy and legal reforms. Legal research in Indonesia has traditionally relied on doctrinal methods, but empirical approaches have the potential to enhance the understanding of how legal systems function in practice and how laws impact society. Objective: This study aims to explore the applications of empirical legal research methods in legal research in Indonesia. The research focuses on examining how these methods can be effectively implemented in the context of Indonesian legal research to address pressing legal issues and improve the legal system's overall effectiveness. Method: A qualitative research design was employed, combining a review of existing literature, case studies, and interviews with legal scholars, practitioners, and policymakers. The study also analyzed existing empirical research on legal issues in Indonesia to identify current trends and gaps in research. Results: The findings suggest that empirical methods, such as surveys, interviews, and case studies, are increasingly being adopted in Indonesian legal research, though challenges remain in terms of resources, training, and institutional support. Conclusion: Empirical legal research holds significant potential for advancing legal scholarship in Indonesia. There is a need for greater integration of these methods to enhance the quality and relevance of legal research and inform legal reforms.

The relevance of the work is due to the existence of a large number of empirical methods for predicting the condition of a rock mass and the need to apply them at the design and operational stage of mining enterprises to minimize costs during construction and future maintenance. Research objective is to analyze and compare existing empirical methods for determining the strength and deformation properties of rock mass. Methods of research include the analysis, systematization and synthesis of existing empirical methods of rock mass condition assessment and their applicability to real-world sites. Recommendations for further application of empirical rock mass assessment methods in real-world conditions are determined by generalization of theory and practice, research results and analytical calculations based on the assessment of fracture formation in rock masses. Results. The main empirical methods such as Deere's method (RQD) of structural failure evaluation, the method relating strain rate to RMR rating system and the method relating strain rate to geomechanical classification of rock mass Q were found and chosen for comparison. Several types of rocks such as limestone, diorite, granite, basalt, tuff, andesite in different geotechnical conditions are chosen for comparison of the methods. Comparison of different empirical methods of rock mass condition assessment is carried out. Evaluations of each method are given. Ways of application of empirical research methods are recommended. It is concluded that it is necessary to apply several methods in order to get a more accurate picture of the rock mass condition. Recommendations for the initial assessment of the state of rocks are given. Conclusions. There are a large number of empirical methods of rock mass condition estimation. The results obtained by some methods for some types of rocks under different mining and geological conditions are very different from each other, this is due to the fact that the considered methods were created on the basis of different sources. It is necessary to take into account the stresses acting in the rock mass, which also influence the results obtained.

The article examines the idea of post-truth in contemporary philosophy and analyses truth in political, philosophical and anthropological contexts. The authors of the article point out the ambiguity of the concept of post-truth, which is on a par with such concepts as the death of the author in literature and literary criticism, the death of the subject and the end of metaphysics in philosophy. The article aims to study the philosophy of post-truth and the role of truth in contemporary philosophical thought, particularly philosophical anthropology, and their role in countering fake news and disinformation. The article outlines the meaning of the terms “truth”, “fake news”, and “truth” and describes current trends in the study of post-truth philosophy in the era of disinformation and fakes, the main facets of the phenomena of “truth” and “post-truth”, and explores the potential of post-truth and fakes to influence and change mass consciousness, form an ideological coordinate system in society, distort the picture of the world and determine changes in political situations. In addition, the article formulates recommendations for recognising and counteracting fake news, conducts an experimental study among the student audience of a higher education institution on the ability to recognise and respond to the most fake news. The methodological basis of the article is a combination of several theoretical and empirical methods: descriptive method, methods of synthesis and analysis, methods of contextual analysis, linguistic analysis, modelling, as well as empirical research methods (survey method combined with mathematical and statistical methods). The article proposes the hypothesis that digital literacy, understanding of the socio-political situation in the country and the world, and the ability to evaluate an information resource directly affect the process of ‘recognising’ fake news and counteracting this news in the public space. To confirm the hypothesis, an empirical study was conducted based on a survey of 4th year students majoring in Political Science and Computer Science (100 respondents, 50 students of each speciality) at Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University (Ukraine). As the results of the experiment showed, both linguistic analysis methods (comparison of contexts, presence of logical and grammatical errors, analysis of quotes) and technical methods (verification of the source, its domain, verification of the authenticity of the text) can be used to identify fake news.The research authors point out that the concept of post-truth in contemporary philosophical thought implements the idea of weak structures that should replace metaphysical structures. The author analyses the relationship between truth–philosophy and truth–man. The relationship between truth and man varies in national, social, Christian, and anthropological aspects. Truth allows a person to draw a system of coordinates and landmarks in the modern chaotic world. It is determined that post-truth is not a situation after the truth but a situation on the other side of the truth, a world beyond man. Post-truth exists in the post-truth paradigm, in which postmodern metamorphoses and technical transformations deepen. In the media sphere, post-truth is seen as a quasi-real environment favourable to pseudo-news, so the authors propose to consider fake news as a manifestation of post-truth.

A theory of aesthetic value should explain what makes aesthetic value good. Current views about what makes aesthetic value good privilege the individual’s encounter with aesthetic value—listening to music, reading a novel, writing a poem, or viewing a painting. What makes aesthetic value good is its benefit to the individual appreciator. But engagement with aesthetic value is often a social, participatory matter: sharing and discussing aesthetic goods, imitating aesthetic agents, dancing, cooking, dining, or making music together. This article argues that we should understand aesthetic value in a way that centers these social forms of aesthetic engagement. To this end, the article argues that there is a social practice of aesthetic valuing, characterized as a participatory practice governed by the value of aesthetic community, which engages us in the social development of our capacities for discretionary valuing and volitional openness. Current theories of aesthetic value have trouble capturing the character of the practice of aesthetic valuing, and this motivates a novel communitarian theory of aesthetic value: aesthetic value is what is worthy of engagement in the social practice of aesthetic valuing.

Patient-Focused Benefit-Risk Analysis to Inform Regulatory Decisions: The European Union Perspective

The article highlights some issues related to the formation of aesthetic culture of the individual through the historical and cultural prism. The analysis of philosophical ideas on the category of culture and aesthetics of the individual from the ancient era to the present is chronologically presented, which led to the derivation of basic research positions. The definition of the concept of aesthetic culture of the individual is presented, which is an instrument of holistic and conscious perception of beauty in art and reality, the ability to creative self-expression inherent in man. Attention is focused on the exclusivity of this property of personality as a natural and culturally appropriate human need, but which requires conscious, purposeful and systematic formation with prospective development. The author emphasizes that the primary goal in the formation of aesthetic culture is to rely on the identification of artistic and aesthetic characteristics of the individual with their prospective development to the level of aesthetically appropriate human ability to master the surrounding reality. It is assumed that such a level is manifested both in the integrated development of all segments of the aesthetic consciousness of the individual and in the development of skills and abilities of active transformative activity in art, work, life, and socio-cultural processes. It is substantiated that the main task of forming aesthetic culture is not only to expand the range of artistic perception, the number of books read, musical pieces heard, etc. but also to consciously generate feelings, spiritual growth of the individual, regulation and correction of behavior. In this context, the tasks of aesthetic education are specified, which are the development of sensory (sensual culture), the education of aesthetic tastes and value judgments, and the development of artistic creativity.

Paradigms for experimentation and empirical studies in software engineering

Structural Equation/Causal Models (SEMs/SCMs) are widely used in epidemiology and social sciences to identify and analyze the average causal effect (ACE) and conditional ACE (CACE). Traditional causal effect estimation methods such as Inverse Probability Weighting (IPW) and more recently Regression-With-Residuals (RWR) are widely used - as they avoid the challenging task of identifying the SCM parameters - to estimate ACE and CACE. However, much work remains before traditional estimation methods can be used for counterfactual inference, and for the benefit of Personalized Public Policy Analysis (P3A) in the social sciences. While doctors rely on personalized medicine to tailor treatments to patients in laboratory settings (relatively closed systems), P3A draws inspiration from such tailoring but adapts it for open social systems. In this article, we develop a method for counterfactual inference that we name causal-Graphical Normalizing Flow (c-GNF), facilitating P3A. A major advantage of c-GNF is that it suits the open system in which P3A is conducted. First, we show how c-GNF captures the underlying SCM without making any assumption about functional forms. This capturing capability is enabled by the deep neural networks that model the underlying SCM via observational data likelihood maximization using gradient descent. Second, we propose a novel dequantization trick to deal with discrete variables, which is a limitation of normalizing flows in general. Third, we demonstrate in experiments that c-GNF performs on-par with IPW and RWR in terms of bias and variance for estimating the ATE, when the true functional forms are known, and better when they are unknown. Fourth and most importantly, we conduct counterfactual inference with c-GNFs, demonstrating promising empirical performance. Because IPW and RWR, like other traditional methods, lack the capability of counterfactual inference, c-GNFs will likely play a major role in tailoring personalized treatment, facilitating P3A, optimizing social interventions - in contrast to the current `one-size-fits-all' approach of existing methods.

Ample research exists on barriers to the use of computers as a form of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in teaching. The most common barrier reported to prevent teachers from using computers in teaching is the lack of resources. However when resources are available, ICTs are still often not effectively integrated into teaching. This study explored how teacher beliefs relate to the use of ICTs for three purposefully selected teachers of Natural Sciences in a public school well resourced for ICT. This study, therefore, considered under-explored intrinsic factors that contribute to ICT usage in a technology-rich context. The theoretical framework for this study merged the Hew and Brush model with the Vickers Framework which shows the relationships among various factors, including beliefs about the pedagogical use of technology, that affect the use of ICTs in teaching and learning. A qualitative, multiple case study approach was used and data were collected using questionnaires, lesson observations and semi-structured interviews. The lesson observations and interviews were recorded and transcribed in full. The analysis of data involved coding and thematic categorisation for each case and across cases. The findings suggest that within a technology-rich context, extrinsic factors play a minor role whereas the intrinsic factor, namely beliefs, plays a major role in teachers’ ways of using ICTs in science teaching. Beliefs emerge and are influenced by three factors, namely, value judgement, reality judgement and action judgement. Value judgements, such as those based on the beliefs about the important role of the teacher and beliefs about the nature of teaching, have the largest influence on the way teachers use ICTs in the classroom, while reality judgements and action judgements are also influential to an extent. The study recommends that ICT use in schooling still needs consistent support in cultivating positive ICT-related teacher beliefs and that further research on intrinsic barriers encountered in technology-rich contexts is required.

Multi-method research: An empirical investigation of object-oriented technology

Purpose: Determination of legitimacies of clogging, pollution for broken stone ballast, perceiving vibrodynamic load from a rolling stock, as well as of the ballast life. Methods: Theoretical and empirical research methods are used in the study. Theoretical methods are based on the analysis of known models describing broken stone degradation processes during railway track exploitation, and empirical methods — on the pursued experiments and trials. The identification of the legitimacies for pollutants and clogs accumulation in broken stone ballast was based on the results of dynamic bench tests and laboratory determination of broken stone grain composition removed from ballast layer of exploited railway track with various tonnage workout. The methods of statistical processing of test results and regression analysis were used in the study. Results: According to the statistical processing of test results and laboratory determinations of broken stone grain composition, functional dependencies were established for the accumulation in broken stone ballast of the products of own crushing, abrasive wear as well as of external pollution, depending on broken stone initial physical and mechanical properties, railway track exploitation conditions and the system of its maintenance. Mathematical model for the prediction of broken stone ballast life depending on railway track section exploitation conditions was developed in the study. Practical significance: The results of the study make it possible to prognose broken stone ballast life from the condition of its maximally acceptable pollution and clogging and also to plan reasonably railway track maintenance work.