Leviathan: Or the matter, forme, and power of a common-wealth ecclesiasticall and civill
Abstract
Written by Thomas Hobbes and first published in 1651, Leviathan is widely considered the greatest work of political philosophy ever composed in the English language. Hobbes's central argument-that human beings are first and foremost concerned with their own fears and desires, and that they must relinquish basic freedoms in order to maintain a peaceful society-has found new adherents and critics in every generation. This new edition, which uses modern text and relies on large-sheet copies from the 1651 Head version, includes interpretive essays by four leading Hobbes scholars: John Dunn, David Dyzenhaus, Elisabeth Ellis, and Bryan Garsten. Taken together with Ian Shapiro's wide-ranging introduction, they provide fresh and varied interpretations of Leviathan for our time.
... the very 'condition of Man' is a 'condition of warre [sic] of every one against every one' . the general 'rule of reason' holds that men should hope to obtain peace but 'when he cannot obtain it… he may seek… advantages of warre [sic]' (Hobbes, 1996). realists, across various strands, conceptualize power by primarily focusing on material capability and associating it with military might. ...
... influenced by thucydides, the seventeenth-century social contract theorist thomas Hobbes (1588 -1679) presented a conflicting view of human nature (Fisher, 2011). in the Hobbesian state of nature, the 'natural equality of men' and the consequential conflict among them established such relations among men that translated into 'war of all against all' (Hobbes, 1996). in such a natural state of war, there was no common power that would provide for the 'effective government of men'; therefore, it was not possible to guarantee security to men (Hobbes, 1996). ...
... influenced by thucydides, the seventeenth-century social contract theorist thomas Hobbes (1588 -1679) presented a conflicting view of human nature (Fisher, 2011). in the Hobbesian state of nature, the 'natural equality of men' and the consequential conflict among them established such relations among men that translated into 'war of all against all' (Hobbes, 1996). in such a natural state of war, there was no common power that would provide for the 'effective government of men'; therefore, it was not possible to guarantee security to men (Hobbes, 1996). they were left to achieve whatever they could 'through their own individual strength and initiative' (Hobbes, 1996). ...
This paper examines the realist explanation of situations of war, mainly in the context of the rise of cosmopolitan ideals. The paper is an effort to recover the variable-based model to explain an event. Here, the effort is to understand the validity of the realist explanation of new wars. Realist explanations presuppose the importance of both power and dominance as independent variables. The paper examines dominance as the driving force behind cosmopolitan war. The major questions addressed here are: To what extent ‘dominance’ as an independent variable explain the pursuit for cosmopolitan wars? Is it possible to understand such a drive for cosmopolitan values as a prerequisite for attaining power in the international system? Can a cosmopolitan position be concomitant with a general realist aversion to norms and morality? Through a detailed analysis of various positions deriving from the realist perspective, the paper concludes that realism as a theoretical position and dominance as a variable fails to account for the rise of cosmopolitan wars.
... The founders of social contract theory, going back to Thomas Hobbes' landmark book, Leviathan [35], posit that centralized government is legitimate precisely because it enables industrious people to cooperate via third-party enforcement of contracts among strangers (see Figure 2). Some of these contracts are explicit, such as marriage contracts or commercial transactions. ...
... The Age of Enlightenment marked humanity's transition towards the modern social contract, in which political legitimacy no longer emanates from the divine authority of kings, but from the mutual agreement among free citizens to appoint a sovereign. We spent centuries taming Hobbes's Leviathan, the all-powerful sovereign [35]. We must now create and tame the new Techno-Leviathan. ...
Recent rapid advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning have raised many questions about the regulatory and governance mechanisms for autonomous machines. Many commentators, scholars, and policy-makers now call for ensuring that algorithms governing our lives are transparent, fair, and accountable. Here, I propose a conceptual framework for the regulation of AI and algorithmic systems. I argue that we need tools to program, debug and maintain an algorithmic social contract, a pact between various human stakeholders, mediated by machines. To achieve this, we can adapt the concept of human-in-the-loop (HITL) from the fields of modeling and simulation, and interactive machine learning. In particular, I propose an agenda I call society-in-the-loop (SITL), which combines the HITL control paradigm with mechanisms for negotiating the values of various stakeholders affected by AI systems, and monitoring compliance with the agreement. In short, `SITL = HITL + Social Contract.'
... According to Knights and O'Leary (2006), ethical leadership is 'ethical' because it reflects one or more ethical theories. Ethical theories underlying various leadership qualities were mostly discussed (Hobbes, 1960as cited in Dion, 2006 Leaders obey social rules to gain social recognition and prestige Utilitarian principle (Kant, 1959as cited in Dion, 2006 An activity is ethically correct if it generates the greatest amount of well-being (or happiness) for the largest number of people ...
... Dion, 2006, and SLT (Bandura, 1986) serve as foundations for dimensions of ethical leadership. In Eastern contexts, deontology may mean that leaders not only follow organizational rules but also adhere to social norms, reflecting philosophical egoism (Hobbes, 1960, cf. Dion, 2006. ...
Differences in cultures, religious beliefs, and philosophical views suggest that leadership ethics may vary between Western and Eastern perspectives. However, ethical leadership scales are mostly rooted in Western conceptualization. This systematic review explores the cultural contributions, philosophical perspectives, and underlying theories shaping the measures of ethical leadership. A comprehensive search across Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest Management, and Emerald Insight from 1990 to 2021 yielded over 3900 articles, with only 15 focusing on an Eastern conceptualization of ethical leadership. Findings reveal that Eastern ethical leadership encompasses unique dimensions, including leaders’ responsibility and concern for long-term sustainability, often overlooked in existing measures. Despite some similarities in virtues and values between Eastern and Western philosophical views, past studies predominantly employed Western theoretical perspectives to explain ethical leadership. This review highlights the imperative for measures that authentically capture Eastern cultural distinctions, crucial for advancing ethical leadership research amid the East’s increasing global influence.
... The Western concept of the modern state is based on the promise of equal security. Hobbes' Leviathan implied a basic 'equality of all under the one' (Mitchell, 1993) where the state's ability to protect its citizens 'from the invasion of foreigners, and the injuries of one another' (Hobbes, 2010(Hobbes, [1651) is the most basic source of its legitimacy. In this way, for Hobbes, 'the whole point of the political enterprise is security' (Waldron, 2006, p. 456). ...
... The Western concept of the modern state is based on the promise of equal security. Hobbes' Leviathan implied a basic 'equality of all under the one' (Mitchell, 1993) where the state's ability to protect its citizens 'from the invasion of foreigners, and the injuries of one another' (Hobbes, 2010(Hobbes, [1651) is the most basic source of its legitimacy. In this way, for Hobbes, 'the whole point of the political enterprise is security' (Waldron, 2006, p. 456). ...
... 45 Metaphors allow information from a familiar domain to be transferred to an unfamiliar domain, and this transferred information used to infer conclusions. 46 While philosopher Thomas Hobbes imagined the state as the biblical monster leviathan, 47 and novelist Franz Kafka imagined a maze-like castle, 48 perhaps the most common metaphor of traditional public administration is the machine. The 'machinery of government' consists of countless cogs, springs, and other small parts, each working together to produce outcomes of some grand design that cannot be understood from the perspective of any of the individual parts. ...
Politicians make decisions, but public programmes are carried out by public servants. To address the biggest policy challenges, the employees of all government departments must strive, innovate, and collaborate. Over hundreds of years, governments around the world have applied different approaches to try to maximise the value that these public servants generate, each with strengths and weaknesses. This essay explores the use of public service values as a performance and control mechanism, using New Zealand as a case study. In doing so, it demonstrates that a public service values approach is particularly suited to the biggest and most difficult policy challenges, and addresses the deficits of traditional and alternative models. It challenges other governments to consider which public service values need preserving, reevaluating, and redefining.
... This is a central question in political philosophy. Hobbes (1651) famously answered that the disorder of 'warre' would result; and this provides a reason for people agreeing to constrain their individual liberties in some respects by a Leviathan. In this paper, we embed Mill's (1859) harm principle in non-cooperative game theory to provide a different and more positive conclusion regarding the prospects for liberty. ...
Mill’s classic argument for liberty requires that people’s exercise of freedom should be governed by the harm principle (MHP): that is, an action should not harm another. In this paper, we develop the concept of a Millian harm equilibrium (MHE) in n-person games where players maximize utility subject to the constraint of an MHP. Our main result is in the spirit of the fundamental theorems of welfare economics. We show that for every initial ‘reference point’ in a game the associated MHE is Pareto efficient and, conversely, every Pareto efficient point can be supported as an MHE for some initial reference point. This is an important result for an old question in political philosophy over whether the exercise of liberty is consistent with order in society and for how we think about policy in a non-ideal world.
... This is because every element essential for life, such as water and air, also serves as a guarantee of a healthy life. For this reason, the necessary protection of such elements is treated as a serious matter by both the state and the law [19]. In fact, this is directly connected to Environmental Law, which is recognized as one of the modern branches of law. ...
In the article, the principles of international legal protection of the environment are analyzed in detail
on the basis of important international legal documents adopted in this field. The world practice and the
country's legislation in this field have been systematically studied, and the existing problems and the direction
of their solution, including effective solutions, have been shown. The author comes to the conclusion that the
countries of the world should act unanimously in this direction to prevent environmental pollution, which is a
universal problem.
... The three most important human abilities, being memory, imagination, and reason, have been the subject of well-known philosophical reflections and discussions (Hobbes, 2010;Kant, 1781;Hume, 1882). Each of these human abilities found its place in the networking era. ...
This article explores the evolution of constructionism as an educational framework, tracing its relevance and transformation across three pivotal eras: the advent of personal computing, the networked society, and the current era of generative AI. Rooted in Seymour Papert constructionist philosophy, this study examines how constructionist principles align with the expanding role of digital technology in personal and collective learning. We discuss the transformation of educational environments from hierarchical instructionism to constructionist models that emphasize learner autonomy and interactive, creative engagement. Central to this analysis is the concept of an expanded personality, wherein digital tools and AI integration fundamentally reshape individual self-perception and social interactions. By integrating constructionism into the paradigm of smart education, we propose it as a foundational approach to personalized and democratized learning. Our findings underscore constructionism enduring relevance in navigating the complexities of technology-driven education, providing insights for educators and policymakers seeking to harness digital innovations to foster adaptive, student-centered learning experiences.
... The three most important human abilities, being memory, imagination, and reason, have been the subject of well-known philosophical reflections and discussions (Hobbes, 2010;Kant, 1781;Hume, 1882). Each of these human abilities found its place in the networking era. ...
This article explores the evolution of constructionism as an educational framework, tracing its relevance and transformation across three pivotal eras: the advent of personal computing, the networked society, and the current era of generative AI. Rooted in Seymour Papert’s constructionist philosophy, this study examines how constructionist principles align with the expanding role of digital technology in personal and collective learning. We discuss the transformation of educational environments from hierarchical instructionism to constructionist models that emphasize learner autonomy and interactive, creative engagement. Central to this analysis is the concept of an “expanded personality”, wherein digital tools and AI integration fundamentally reshape individual self-perception and social interactions. By integrating constructionism into the paradigm of smart education, we propose it as a foundational approach to personalized and democratized learning. Our findings underscore constructionism’s enduring relevance in navigating the complexities of technology-driven education, providing insights for educators and policymakers seeking to harness digital innovations to foster adaptive, student-centered
learning experiences.
... The few benefits of living in a greedy, hyper-individualistic society are therefore built on the backs of the many dead and impoverished agents left behind in the wake of the successful few. Likewise, the seemingly pleasant deference in Altruist societies result in rampant and wasteful self-sacrifice which oxymoronically leads to similar societies as the greedy models: exceedingly few remaining agents, likely part of a single dominant tribe, who are free to accumulate wealth while any remaining stragglers live nasty, brutish, and short lives [84]. ...
In a world increasingly driven by artificially intelligent autonomous agents, it is imperative that these agents behave according to well-understood ethical standards. We provide a unified computational framework for simulating societies of autonomous agents and for evaluating the impact of individual agent decisions on overall societal success. To the best of our knowledge, this
digital terrarium
is the first such system that allows for a direct comparison of various socio-ethical agent behaviors. As a first step, we present implementations of three popular ethical theories: Jeremy Bentham’s hedonic act utilitarianism, ethical altruism, and ethical egoism. We compare these algorithmic
decision models
in a head-to-head manner and demonstrate that cooperative, utilitarian societies lead to vastly superior societal outcomes compared to the other two. Our explicit goal is to demonstrate the overt benefit of transparent, algorithmic ethical decisionmaking, in which developers, vendors, and users operate with awareness of the forms of ethical reasoning utilized by their technologies. Our results are a validation of a rich, interdisciplinary tapestry of work concerning the benefits of cooperation versus greediness. We enhance our results by also considering the impact of individual agent
greed
on a society’s overall success (or failure). Though exploring greed (and similar phenomena) is interesting in itself, our more important contribution is our malleable, robust, and foundational experimental framework that facilitates comparative insights across a wide variety of popular socio-ethical models. We invite scholars from all disciplines to use our digital terrarium to grapple with challenging questions using this new simulation-focused methodology, in hopes that it may meaningfully shed some light on these questions. Our experiments in this article are not exhaustive. Rather, they are illustrative of the role that simulation can play in answering or understanding big questions in our society in response to rapid technological change.
... In summary, traditional state theory emphasizes the binding effect of formal norms on the public's behavior (Hobbes 1651;Kant 1785;Waldo 1948;Dworkin 1972), but accumulating evidence has shown that heuristic interventions, such as imparting public knowledge, can also be effective (Salamon 2002;Thaler and Sunstein 2008;Vlaev et al. 2016). These findings, however, have not yet been thoroughly tested in disaster scenarios. ...
Seismic rumors can mislead the public and trigger unnecessary actions, underscoring the importance of their control in disaster management. This study examined the impact of two different intervention tools—rule-based intervention and knowledge-based intervention—on the trust and sharing of seismic rumors. We designed a survey experiment to explore this issue, and 500 respondents participated in the experiment. The results indicate that the rule-based intervention significantly reduced the public’s trust in and intention to share seismic rumors, but the knowledge-based intervention failed. Possible mechanisms are that the rule-based intervention raises awareness of the unreliability of disaster information sources and costs associated with sharing rumors. It is suggested that communicating the existing rules and policies regarding disaster information release might be an effective approach to rendering disaster rumors uncreditable and then reducing people’s intention to share. These findings enrich our understanding of the effectiveness of different intervention tools regarding rumor behavior in disaster scenarios and offer insights for practical seismic rumor management.
... Instead, Hobbes suggest Leviathan whose legitimacy is not driven from heirship or from religious sources, but from legal sources. Hobbes' contribution lies in basing the republic not on the values of the citizen (Aristotle) or the leadership (Machiavelli), but on rights that citizens reciprocally grant one another (Hobbes 1651;Niederberger and Schink 2013). ...
The contribution is about the meaning of 23 April National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. First, a substantive connection is sought between this bayram and the attempt to transition from the Ottoman Empire to the modern Republic of Türkiye by referring to the spirit of reforms carried out during that time. The thesis is developed that these reforms can be understood from a logic of communication between democracy, republic and laicism. These can be seen as constitutive elements of will formation and wise decision making of a pluralistic society. Because in the practical attempts to mediate these three entities, citizens develop certain type of knowledge and competences that motivate them to preserve the established and well deliberate types of action and at the same time enable them to innovate, which not only ensures society’s ability to resist against violent and destructive attempts to change its basic structure, but also citizens ability to learn to act in- and despite omnipresent uncertainties. Consequently, during that time the ability is developed to remain a complex society of citizens with the will to self-determination and freedom despite the lack of recipes for success. This would be in line with the hope of the founders of the Republic of Türkiye as a republic that shall last forever.
... The origins of the Zapatista uprising can be traced back to an improbable Leviathan that was erected upon an oxymoron: the PRI. The 'artificial man' embodying the Mexican 'Common-Wealth' (Hobbes 1985: 263-264, Brading 1991 indeed sat on a political party that, self-identifying as both revolutionary and institutional, uninterruptedly maintained almost absolute power over the country for seven decades -from 1929 to 2000. The PRI is undoubtedly one of the most perplexing contributions of Mexican imaginaries to the global political discourses of the 20 th century. ...
On January 1st, 1994, the Indigenous Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN, Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional) rose up in arms, in the south-eastern Mexican state of Chiapas, in response to the daily oppressions and injustices Indigenous peoples face within Mexican neo-colonial political systems and juridical orders. The Zapatista movement is grounded on a distinct methodology that structures political thought in the framework of Maya worldviews. This resulted in a unique political practice in which, for example, revolution does not aim to seize power, but rather to transform civil society. This article discusses the key political principles informing the Zapatista model of a just society that results from such a methodology and practices: the centuries-old Indigenous moral economy that resists turning land into a commodity, the radicalization of democracy through the mandate of command by obeying (mandar obedeciendo), and the transformation of pluralism into the pursuit of a world where other worlds fit (un mundo donde quepan otros mundos).
... On physicalism see notably Stoljar's work including his chapter in this volume. 6 See, e.g., Hobbes, Elements of Law (1640), in(Hobbes, 1992: IV, 8);(Hobbes, 1991(Hobbes, (1651: 34.1). 7 I don't engage here with the question of Marxism as a science, and its criticism of the supposed neutrality of bourgeois science (see the chapter by Freyberg and Kobakhidze in this volume). ...
... Hendry [31] argues that to reach useful conclusions or predictions, management as a science must make simplifying assumptions. For example, the approach starts from the principle that people are primarily guided by their own interests [32], a notion that is not simply an abstract theoretical concept but a cultural ideology collectively shared [33,34,35,36,37]. ...
This article critically examines the influence of the dominant paradigm in management, characterized by its emphasis on profit maximization and individualism, which has resulted in profound socio-economic and environmental challenges. The methodology involves an exploration of the historical evolution of management practices and an analysis of how these practices have primarily served shareholder interests while often neglecting broader impacts on employees, customers, and society. The results of this examination highlight the need for a paradigm shift that prioritizes ethical considerations, social responsibility, and sustainability in management decision-making processes. By advocating for this shift, this article encourages organizations to realign their objectives to balance financial performance with the goal of serving humanity more effectively. The conclusion emphasizes that this reorientation not only addresses contemporary management challenges but also fosters long-term sustainable success. Ultimately, this article’s significant contribution lies in its call to elevate human values in management decisions, thereby creating business models that positively impact society as a whole.
Without a goal every path is wrong. In our fast-paced, exponential times, with AI on the rise, we need a reliable compass to home in on our target and stay on track to get there. Today, we lack a normative narrative of where we as a species want to end up in this technological turning point in our history. Current discussions seem to be rather concerned with descriptive speculations of what is possible or impossible, not with what is a desirable purpose. We require substantial conversations about the why for AI, in contrast to the many arguments around the what and how. Philosophy, and ethics in particular, constitute a valuable reference system to steer through such debates. The selected frameworks in this chapter are deontology, consequentialism, individualistic and systemic morality, social contract theory and discourse ethics. They do not provide specific answers to how our future AI should look like but help establish communicative rationality to come closer to an ideal communication community and leverage our collective intelligence. Together, this will pay into our capacity to come up with a meaningful story of AI for humanity and thus increase the likelihood to make it come true.
Although the accumulated knowledge repository of the Corporate Responsibility (CR) literature continues to expand, organizational- and institutional-level studies dominate the field. This article addresses this gap by introducing a driver-based approach to CR through the moral mapping of CR policies and theory-building case studies in the textile sector. Considering the CR notion’s diverse stakeholder involvement and cross-disciplinary nature, process tracing of diverse actors from the Industrial Revolution is conducted. A reconstituted Kantian method is employed to assess the moral responsibility of individual agents. Employing this technique, the study categorizes diverse policies and strategies based on decision-makers and the most probable ethical thought processes, or “maxims”, at the time of the decision-making. The findings identify gaps in conventional CR practices, giving rise to CSR-washed actions and irresponsible corporate behavior. To tackle these challenges, we introduce the Corporate Local Responsibility (COLOR) model. This model is based on moral mapping by integrating them into its four pillars to minimize the ethical dilemmas of various actors by engaging broader stakeholders and local communities in the decision-making process.
This study aims to explain CNN's media framing and Instagram's shadow-banning censorship policy related to Israel's aggression against Palestine since October 2023 as an action that contains a constitutive construction of interests. Through CNN's media coverage, the situation between Palestine and Israel is not described as an aggression, occupation, or genocide but as a conflict that occurred due to Hamas's attack on Israel. CNN even only uses diction that places Israel as the party being attacked and limits exposure to the loss of life in Palestine caused by Israel's aggression. The international community sympathises and provides their views regarding the developing situation but is hampered by Instagram's censorship policy through shadow banning. By using an interpretive approach to observe CNN's reporting and Instagram's shadow banning, the results of this study show that both contain US-Israeli constitutive interests in manipulating and controlling international perceptions. This refers to the interest in constructing intersubjective understandings related to Israel's positive image, which simultaneously eliminates Palestine's existence as a nation-state.Keywords: CNN; Instagram; Israel; Knowledge Constitutive Interests; Media Framing; Palestina; Shadow Banning
This paper explores the evolution of the concept of peace in the context of a globalized and digitalized 21st century, proposing a novel vision that shifts from viewing peace as a thing or a condition, to understanding peace as dynamic and relational process that emerges through human interactions. Building on - yet also going beyond - traditional definitions of peace as something to be found through inner reflection (virtue ethics), as the product of reason, contracts and institutions (Enlightenment philosophy), and as the absence of different forms of violence (modern peace research), this paper introduces a new meso-level theory on networks, emphasizing the importance of connections, interactions and relationships in the physical and online worlds. The paper is structured around three main objectives: conceptualizing relational peace in terms of the quantity and quality of interactions, mapping these interactions into networks of peace, and examining how these networks interact with their environment, including the influence of digital transformation and artificial intelligence. By integrating insights from ethical and peace research literature, the paper makes theoretical, conceptual, and methodological contributions towards understanding peace as an emergent property of human behavior. Through this innovative approach, the paper aims to provide clarity on how peace (and violence) emerges through interactions and relations in an increasingly networked and digitalized global society, offering a foundation for future empirical research and concerted policy action in this area. It highlights the need for bridging normative and descriptive sciences to better understand and promote peace in the digital age.
Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) promises transformative benefits but also presents significant risks. We develop an approach to address the risk of harms consequential enough to significantly harm humanity. We identify four areas of risk: misuse, misalignment, mistakes, and structural risks. Of these, we focus on technical approaches to misuse and misalignment. For misuse, our strategy aims to prevent threat actors from accessing dangerous capabilities, by proactively identifying dangerous capabilities, and implementing robust security, access restrictions, monitoring, and model safety mitigations. To address misalignment, we outline two lines of defense. First, model-level mitigations such as amplified oversight and robust training can help to build an aligned model. Second, system-level security measures such as monitoring and access control can mitigate harm even if the model is misaligned. Techniques from interpretability, uncertainty estimation, and safer design patterns can enhance the effectiveness of these mitigations. Finally, we briefly outline how these ingredients could be combined to produce safety cases for AGI systems.
This article presents the oldest theory of the striving for power in European psychology; it was created in the philosophical–psychological Lvov–Warsaw School which itself derived from the thinking of F. Brentano. Despite humanistic inspirations, the theory represents a biological position close to the evolutionary tradition. The core of the theory of striving for power is the concept of ambition, taken from Greek philosophy (Plato and Aristotle). It offers an original classification of interpersonal relationships in the light of the universal striving (common to all people) for a sense of power/strength. It also provides an original interpretation of religious and aesthetic experience. Despite them being similar, the theory was created several years before Alfred Adler’s concept of striving for a sense of power. It emphasizes the aspect of competition and social comparisons more strongly than Adler but connects them closely with the ideas of value and ambition. Regardless of the passage of time, its potential still seems significant, primarily as a counterweight—or at least a complement—to contemporary theories of power because it also identifies power as personal growth and self-transcendence.
The purpose of the article is to build an assessing model for national economic security and to assess the national economic security of Ukraine during 2019–2021.The concept of national economic security is examined. Its relationship with the concept of state economic security is disclosed. Existing approaches to assess the economic security of the state are reviewed. Using epistemological contextualism by P. Unger for assessing national economic security is demonstrated and justified. Using index-based and indicator-based methods for this purpose is substantiated. Sources of provisioning national economic security are justified, serving as the basis for selecting indicators for assessing national economic security. Requirements for indicators to assess national economic security are suggested. For each of the identified sources of provisioning national economic security, a set of indicators is proposed, and for each such indicator, its selection is justified. The assessment time period is substantiated to eliminate the distorting influence of military actions against Ukraine on the assessment results. The qualitative interpretation of the values of each selected indicator is justified. Based on the calculated values of the proposed indicators for 2019–2021, visual linear profiles of Ukraine's national economic security have been constructed.
Fundamental objective of National security is state's survival within an anarchic international system, where the lack of a world government and the sovereign status of states complicate the enforcement of a rule-based international order and compel states into a self-help situation. The Theory of Balance of Power suggests how states behave to bring the power balance in their favour, while the Theory of Deterrence aims to prevent attacks by deterring potential aggressors. Examination of these theories in relation to Nepal's security challenges is a critical research problem in this study. Understanding the Balance of Power theory is crucial in national security policy decisions, as it guides state behavior, while deterrence provides practical defence mechanisms. Even minor lapses can threaten state survival, underscoring the need for strategic understanding. The study aims to identify viable security options for Nepal by examining these theories' relevance and application. Methodologically, the research uses a case study approach, relying on secondary sources like books and journals for data collection, which is primarily qualitative. This paper argues that with the global power balance shifting toward Asia, Nepal's non-aligned stance remains pertinent. However, achieving minimum deterrence requires Nepal to modernize its military through cooperation with global powers and neighboring states. Additionally, developing indigenous military technology is crucial to strengthen Nepal's defence capabilities.
This research delves into the cybersecurity ecosystem of Tanzania, concentrating on the threats and
vulnerabilities inherent in the government's electronic payment gateway and their ramifications for national
security. Utilising a descriptive research methodology, the study surveyed 1,420 officials from different
departments within the Tanzania Ministry of Finance and Planning. It narrowed them down to a sample of 200
through purposive and convenience sampling techniques. Data collection was executed via structured
questionnaires and in-depth interviews, with analysis conducted using both quantitative (SPSS for inferential
statistics) and qualitative (content analysis) methodologies. The findings highlight a pronounced deficiency in
cyber literacy among staff, rendering them more vulnerable to cyber-attacks and resulting in significant financial
losses. The research identifies critical weaknesses within the government's e-payment systems that pose
substantial risks to national security. The study advocates for a multifaceted strategy to address these issues,
including incorporating cyber literacy into educational curricula, enhancing national cybercrime management,
and reinforcing government cyber networks with advanced security technologies. Furthermore, the study
underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive cybersecurity policy. Implementing such a policy is pivotal to
ensuring a secure digital environment that supports national security and economic stability, forming the
cornerstone of the proposed multifaceted strategy
Scientific knowledge is acquired according to some paradigm. Galileo wrote that the “book of nature” was written in mathematical language and could not be understood unless one first understood the language and recognized the characters with which it was written. It is argued that Turing planted the seeds of a new paradigm. According to the Turing Paradigm, the “book of nature” is written in algorithmic language, and science aims to learn how the algorithms change the physical, social, and human universe. Some sources of the Turing Paradigm are pointed out, and a few examples of the application of the Turing Paradigm are discussed.
The article conducts a philosophical and ethical investigation into the interaction between human corporeality and the technologies that transform it. As the focus on these technologies shifts, the understanding of the model of corporeality changes as well. An analysis of historical teachings about the essence of corporeality and its structural components is carried out, allowing for the determination of the limits of changes that do not distort human nature. The relationship between corporeality and spirituality in various philosophical traditions and spiritual practices is also examined. The contribution of Rene Descartes to the doctrine of corporeality is highlighted, as he approached this duality from a new perspective, using analytical methods to identify patterns in the existence of the bodily and the spiritual. He concluded that matter has the property of divisibility, while spirituality is indivisible. Corporeality has structural elements, whereas the spiritual does not possess such characteristics, which allowed for a reevaluation of corporeality and the application of a new methodology for study. Over time, structurality began to transform into functionality as an expression of corporeality. This led to the formation of doctrines, one of which viewed humans as functioning soulless machines (block-functional model), while another approach contributed to the emergence of cellular theory (ontogenetic-epistemological), as one of the key directions in the study of human corporeality. The article examines the views on corporeality of Plato and Aristotle, focusing on their interpretation of the model of the immortality of the soul after physical death. It reveals the connections between body and spirit in the models of G.-W.-F. Hegel (the concept of interiorization) and F.-W. Nietzsche (the formation of the soul). The perspectives on corporeality by J. Baudrillard ("differentiated prosthesis", "matrix of simulation", "body as an object of fetishization") and the socio-cultural constructions of corporeality in the teachings of J.-P. Sartre, E.-G.-A. Husserl, and M. Merleau-Ponty are also discussed. Additionally, a philosophical analysis of the understanding of immortality is conducted. The article examines the influence of neuroscience on cognitive activity and bodily experiences, the expansion of embodiment beyond the physical body, CRISPR technologies, and the impact of virtual reality on existentialism.
This contribution aims at critically examining the evolving role of design in contemporary society, integrating insights from sociology, anthropology, and design theory. It discusses the shift from long-term ethical objectives to economic and technological imperatives. Emphasizing interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches, it highlights the necessity for enhanced collaboration to address complex societal issues. The article advocates the re-evaluation of design ethical dimension and its potential for shaping future narratives; it stresses the importance of promoting sustainable and ethical behaviors through design to enhance collective well-being. Drawing on philosophical and sociological perspectives, it proposes proactive design interventions to envision and shape desirable futures. Lastly, it calls for the establishment of transdisciplinary research centers to analyze future scenarios and guide societal transformations towards preferred outcomes.
In this article, I critically examine the anthropocentric attitudes that have historically shaped ethnography, focusing on their influence on key concepts such as researcher, researched agent, culture, and field. These perspectives, which took root during the Age of Exploration in the 15th and 16th centuries as the West grew increasingly fascinated with “the other,” persisted well into the 19th century. Ethnographers like Lewis Henry Morgan, Edward Burnett Tylor, and Johann Jakob Bachofen conceptualized culture as humanity’s dominion over nature. Similarly, the second generation of ethnologists—including Bronisław Malinowski, Edward E. Evans-Pritchard, and Claude Lévi-Strauss—continued to approach their fieldwork through an anthropocentric lens, often neglecting the agency of non-human actors. This article also engages with contemporary critiques informed by posthumanism, veganism and object-oriented ontology, which challenge the entrenched nature-culture dichotomy. Drawing on the works of scholars such as Philippe Descola, Anna Tsing, Eduardo Kohn, and Donna Haraway, I advocate for a redefinition of "the field" that includes non-human actors. Transcending anthropocentric boundaries necessitates an ethical and methodological reevaluation of foundational concepts like culture, the field, and the researcher/researched dynamic. It also calls for a broader transformation in interdisciplinary qualitative research practices. By emphasizing the indispensability of multispecies approaches, this article argues for a shift away from anthropocentric research paradigms. Such approaches are essential for achieving a more inclusive and comprehensive ethnographic analysis, one that better reflects the complex interrelations between human and non-human actors.
In this article, I critically examine the anthropocentric attitudes that have historically shaped ethnography, focusing on their influence on key concepts such as researcher, researched agent, culture, and field. These perspectives, which took root during the Age of Exploration in the 15th and 16th centuries as the West grew increasingly fascinated with "the other," persisted well into the 19th century. Ethnographers like Lewis Henry Morgan, Edward Burnett Tylor, and Johann Jakob Bachofen conceptualized culture as humanity's dominion over nature. Similarly, the second generation of ethnologists-including Bronisław Malinowski, Edward E. Evans-Pritchard, and Claude Lévi-Strauss-continued to approach their fieldwork through an anthropocentric lens, often neglecting the agency of non-human actors. This article also engages with contemporary critiques informed by posthumanism, veganism and object-oriented ontology, which challenge the entrenched nature-culture dichotomy. Drawing on the works of scholars such as Philippe Descola, Anna Tsing, Eduardo Kohn, and Donna Haraway, I advocate for a redefinition of "the field" that includes non-human actors. Transcending anthropocentric boundaries necessitates an ethical and methodological reevaluation of foundational concepts like culture, the field, and the researcher/researched dynamic. It also calls for a broader transformation in interdisciplinary qualitative research practices. By emphasizing the indispensability of multispecies approaches, this article argues for a shift away from anthropocentric research paradigms. Such approaches are essential for achieving a more inclusive and comprehensive ethnographic analysis, one that better reflects the complex interrelations between human and non-human actors.
En este artículo nos aproximaremos a dos corrientes teóricas que pueden mapear de forma crítica e innovadora los itinerarios y fenómenos sociopolíticos contemporáneos. Para ello, en primera instancia, se mostrarán las definiciones, delimitaciones y potencialidades del giro afectivo, como una herramienta eficaz para diagnosticar los cada vez más decisivos elementos emocionales de la palestra política y social. Y, en segunda instancia, examinaremos algunas estrategias de la macrofilosofía para avanzar hacia aristas transversales, holísticas, inter, post y transdisciplinares, que puedan articularse desde terrenos que suelen ser dilemáticos en la contemporaneidad. Finalmente, con la ayuda del ejemplo del cognitariado como fenómeno sociopolítico susceptible de ser mejor comprendido a partir de dichas corrientes, en este texto incidiremos en algunos aportes que ellas pueden brindarnos en los diagnósticos (¿post?)filosóficos de la realidad social.
With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, a new round of “militant democracy” is taking place. The current situation is very similar to the one that led to the invention of the very concept of “democracy capable of defending itself.” This raises the question of understanding “militant democracy” in its original and primary vision, which was formed in the middle of the twentieth century. The purpose of the article is to comprehensively disclose the concept of militant democracy in the middle of the twentieth century. It is based not only on the articles of Karl Löwenstahl, but also on the works of scholars in the fields of philosophy, political science and sociology. The achievement of this goal was made possible by the use of a set of methods of scientific knowledge, in particular, content analysis (for a comprehensive knowledge of the scientific works of scholars of the mid-twentieth century), formal logical method (to identify certain patterns, stable structures, interrelationships, and inconsistencies in scientific works), comparative legal method (by studying the experience of the last century and comparing it with the current understanding of the concept, to provide an up-to-date interpretation that would allow the use of the works cited in the article). In contrast to most studies of the sources of militant democracy, the article refers not only to the articles of the founder of “democracy capable of defending itself,” Karl Löwenstahl, but also to other scholars: Karl Schmitt, Karl Mannheim, and Karl Popper. The author shows the interrelation between the works and the mutual influence of the cited scholars. It is argued that the formation of the concept of militant democracy took place not only in the field of law, but also in other related sciences. Based on the results of the research, the author gives an intermediate definition of “democracy capable of defending itself”, which derives only from the articles of Karl Löwenstahl, and a finalized vision of militant democracy, which is a synthesis of all the analyzed works. On the eve of rethinking militant democracy in today's realities, it is necessary to re-comprehend the foundations of this concept, which will allow better implementation of necessary changes in our time.
The article dicusses the theologico-political relationship in modern liberal democracies. The author contrasts two approaches to understanding the relationship between religion and politics: political religion, which strives for complete coincidence of religious and political spheres, and the theology of the political, based on the principle of their de-coincidence . Exploring the historical evolution of these relations from Antiquity through medieval Christianity to modernity, the author demonstrates how Christianity first introduced the principle of de-coincidence between theological and political dimensions, which was subsequently lost in the modern era. Special attention is paid to analyzing the works of modern philosophers (Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Rousseau) who laid the foundations for the contemporary understanding of relations between religion and politics. The central thesis of the article is that modern liberal democracies suffer from the absence of a legitimate form of relationship between religious and political dimensions. The author proposes the concept of “theology of the political,” based on the principle of de-coincidence, as a way to overcome this crisis. This approach allows avoiding both complete separation of religious and political spheres and their merger in the form of civil religion. The article argues that the legitimacy of theological discourse in the public sphere should be based not on the external authority of religious dogma, but on theology’s ability to create space for critical reflection on political order and social norms. This is particularly important in the context of contemporary challenges such as the migration crisis, bioethical debates, multiculturalism, and religious pluralism. The author concludes that overcoming the current crisis of liberal democracies requires revisiting both the principles of modernity and the role of religion in the public sphere. The author concludes that genuine autonomy of the political subject paradoxically requires recognition of its fundamental non-autonomy, which constitutes the essence of the democratic paradox most fully expressed in the Christian tradition.
Bu çalışma, Türkiye'de Ulusal Güvenlik Hukuku ve Stratejisi alanında
uzmanlaşmış akademik programların kurulmasına duyulan ihtiyacı ve ulusal güvenlik
kanunu oluşturma gerekliliğini vurgulamaktadır. Uluslararası hukuk, siber güvenlik,
terörle mücadele ve insan hakları gibi geniş bir konu yelpazesini kapsayan ve pratik
eğitime vurgu yapan kapsayıcı bir müfredatın geliştirilmesi önerilmektedir. Aynı
zamanda, demokratik ve uluslararası standartlara uyumlu, ulusal çıkar ve demokrasi
arasındaki dengeyi kuran bir ulusal güvenlik kanununun oluşturulması gerektiği
vurgulanmaktadır. Bu gereklilik, Türkiye'nin ulusal güvenlik alanındaki hukuki ve
stratejik uzmanlığını uluslararası norm ve standartlara uyumlu hale getirme ihtiyacından
kaynaklanmaktadır. Yöntem olarak, nitel karşılattırmalı analiz kullanılmıştır. Türkiye'nin
mevcut durumunu ve ulusal güvenlik hukuku alanında eğitim eksikliklerini eleştirel bir
şekilde değerlendirmek için belge analizi, karşılaştırmalı metin analizi ve vaka
çalışmaları kullanılmıştır. Litvanya'nın AB düzenlemelerine uyumu, Türkiye’nin AB
Hukukundan nasıl etkileneceğini incelemek amacıyla vaka analizi olarak seçilmiştir. Bu
yöntem, sosyopolitik, ekonomik ve jeopolitik hususları entegre eden kapsayıcı bir
yaklaşımın önemini vurgulamaktadır. Sonuç olarak, disiplinler arası bir eğitim
yaklaşımına ve ulusal güvenlik hukuku ve stratejisi alanında uzmanlaşmış programların
oluşturulmasına duyulan kritik ihtiyaç vurgulanmakta, kapsamlı bir eğitim revizyonu ve
ulusal güvenlik kanununun oluşturulması için öneriler sunulmaktadır
Understanding the distinction between adolescent and adult pathways to concealed gun carrying can inform interventions to reduce gun violence.
This chapter introduces Artificial Life informally. First, we identify its definition by various viewpoints. Second, we overview the history and discuss related areas including Artificial Intelligence, biology and philosophy. This chapter can serve as an introduction to the present book.
This essay discusses the relation between populist constitutionalism and left-wing political populism, focusing primarily on their perception of ‘the people’. Being a distinctive current in United States (US) constitutional theory since the early nineties, populist or popular constitutionalism takes the people not just as a ‘name’ to which legislation and other political action are attributed. They consider them as citizens having the final word on the interpretation and the implementation of the Constitution. Populist constitutionalism cannot be associated with nationalist or authoritarian versions of political populism but has common features with left-wing populism which also aims to enhance people’s role and favors political mobilization. Notwithstanding their differences, populist constitutionalism and left-wing populism challenge minimalist theories of electoral democracy and legal distrust towards mass political activity. Their critical approach towards the dominant view of the Constitution from the standpoint of the ordinary people can be upheld if it is combined with questioning the social content and the institutional arrangements of existing liberal democracy.
Big Tech has profoundly reconfigured societies. With their size, financial power, logics of data extraction and accumulation, social influence, geopolitical role, and accomplishments of state missions, Big Tech firms have quickly gained a reputation as “new digital governments.” However, academic research (notably platform, innovation, and information systems research) is rather uncritical of Big Tech's power. In this conceptual paper, we problematize the nature, meaning, and implications of Big Tech's power by proposing an integrative framework on “biopower” (rooted in “pastoral power,” biopower refers to the subtle and pervasive regulation of life in modern societies). Drawing from Foucault's work, we argue that Big Tech firms produce a new form of biopower in the digital era by virtue of their material configurations (constituted by technology, such as applications, algorithms, AI systems), which create conditions for steering people's conduct. We use the “raj” metaphor (we refer to the ruling power exercised by the British East India Company in 17th century) to characterize Big Tech's power, which we describe as the “Big Tech Raj,” thus detailing the significant evolutions, extensions, and sophistication in the target, scope, relationships, and purpose of classic pastoral power. We discuss the implications of this power (in terms of possible resistance and counter-conducts) and call for more scholarly attention to them.
Science—theoretical and practical—and its applied and productive aspect, that is, Technology, are positioned as the greatest product of human activity, which characterizes and elevates human beings evolutionarily over the rest of the organisms, since it gives us the power to transform nature and not be transformed by it. However, a rigorous historical, philosophical and anthropological review reveals that on many occasions, paradoxically, the engines that stimulate these creative processes are none other than the impulse to annihilate the rival to prevail over him. This stark reflection on the dialectic between homo sapiens’ creative potential and its destructive motivations justifies the need for an intellectual and philosophical study on the relationship between Science and War that, beyond the mere descriptive conceptualizations about how technological advances are used in armed conflicts, may penetrate into the very concept of the condition of the human being and the role that the struggle for survival and the competition for resources plays in its evolutionary course.
This article explores the complexities of justice, power, and subjectivity in Shakespeare’s work, focusing on Measure for Measure. The analysis connects Shakespearean themes to emerging philosophical and legal traditions in early modernity, particularly tensions over authority and social order. The play is intertwined with the views of Hobbes, Machiavelli, and Sir Edward Coke, who debate the role of law and central authority. Seventeenth-century England, in transition from feudalism to absolutism, provides the backdrop for this reflection. Hobbes, in Leviathan, advocated a strong central government, while Coke argued for the primacy of the Common Law and judicial control over Parliament. This judicial contention is reflected in the moral and legal conflict of Measure for Measure, where the intersections between law and subjectivity emerge vividly. Shakespeare, although not presenting a partisan position, articulates dilemmas that echo modern concerns about the use of force and the flexibility of the law, opening up room for interpretations about the role of judges and the manipulation of laws in favor of private interests. These debates are deepened by Shakespeare's reading of themes such as honor, virtue, and the tension between freedom and order, linking the work to an ongoing dialogue between literature, law, and politics.
Авторка статті ставить за мету дослідження функцій та завдань сміху в контексті життя сучасної людини та труднощів, які виникають у сьогоденні, зокрема стресів та пошуків ідентичності. Авторка обґрунтовує свою тезу, спростовуючи дві поширені позиції, що існують в академічному просторі: 1) розуміння сміху як засобу руйнування ієрархії або трансгресивної сили, яка має потенціал викриття соціальних вад; 2) заразливість сміху. На думку авторки, ці позиції не здатні повністю описати та пояснити явища, які існують у сучасному світі. Замість розуміння сміху як трансгресії за межі соціальних ролей авторка пропонує трактувати його як засіб демаркації, який не руйнує соціальні ролі, а навпаки, утверджує їх. Згода із цінностями, закладеними у жарт, дає змогу людині ідентифікуватися з певною групою людей. Авторка протиставляє інтерпасивність сміху його заразливості. Функція інтерпасивності виникла через потребу сучасної людини у заміщенні власних емоцій. Проаналізувавши відведені для сміху місця, анекдоти та сучасні комедійні жанри, авторка дійшла висновку, що історичний розвиток суспільства створює нові виклики для людини, які сучасний індивід має подолати. У зв’язку з цим сміх у наш час набуває нових функцій, зокрема описаних вище.
Buku "Filsafat Ilmu: Panduan untuk Pemula" bertujuan memberikan pemahaman mendalam tentang dasar-dasar filsafat dan ilmu pengetahuan. Terdiri dari 14 bagian, buku ini membahas tema penting seperti Pokok-Pokok Filsafat Ilmu, Sejarah Perkembangannya, Subjek dan Objek Pengetahuan, serta alat pengetahuan seperti Indera, Akal, dan Intuisi. Teori Kebenaran, termasuk Koherensi, Korespondensi, dan Pragmatisme, serta madzhab Epistemologi seperti Rasionalisme dan Empirisme, juga dijelaskan secara detail.
Selain itu, buku ini meneliti hubungan antara Kebenaran Agama dan Filsafat, dengan mengintegrasikan perspektif Barat dan Islam untuk memberikan pandangan komprehensif tentang epistemologi. Diharapkan, buku ini menjadi panduan berharga bagi mahasiswa dan siapapun sebagai pembaca pemula, serta membuka wawasan baru dalam memahami esensi ilmu pengetahuan dan filsafat.
Although John Locke was brought up in the common law tradition, he formulated his theory of property based on the conceptual framework of Roman law and its catalogue of legal problems. Locke was interested in the pre-political origins of property in natural law. His position, although coinciding with some intuitions of Roman jurists, is not confirmed by the probable genesis of Roman property which stems from the political community. The most characteristic feature of John Locke"s doctrine on property is the recognition of work as a source of property. Roman was much more closely related to possession than to work. John Locke"s theory of acquisition of ownership is a characteristic example of the early modern period when the factual criteria were rejected in favour of economic ones. John Locke treated ownership as a legitimate reward for work. For the Romans ownership was above all part of the world in which they lived.
This chapter analyzes the role of civil society in the construction of the Afghan State, including its achievements and its huge deficiencies. The building up of a civil active and well-organized society constitutes one of the fundamental conditions for the development of a solid democracy. The weakness of the Afghan civil society helps to better understand the failure of the semi-democratic experience initiated in 2001. This chapter also explains the work undertaken by ASEA, the organization the author currently chairs. Finally, it reflects on the role that this civil society may play in the new scenario marked by the Taliban victory.
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