bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Rejection of the Extreme Demand
Authors: Cullity Garrett
Published: April 2005

Important personal goods – goods such as friendships and commitments to personal projects – are constituted by personal partiality. Such goods clearly ground requirements of beneficence – they supply the interests for the sake of which we should help other people. However, accepting this is not consistent with the Extreme Demand, which requires us to lead altruistically focused lives. So the Extreme Demand should be rejected.
Permission
Authors: Cullity Garrett
Published: April 2005

How far can the argument against the Extreme Demand be extended? If living one kind of life, or pursuing one kind of good, is better than the alternatives in a significant enough way to ground requirements of beneficence on others to help me, it cannot be wrong for me to refuse to forgo it to help others. Moreover, there are some kinds of lives, and some kinds of goods (‘commitment goods’), that are morally defensible even when there are alternatives that would be no worse for me. This generates neither an ultra-permissive nor an ultra-ascetic view.
Requirement
Authors: Cullity Garrett
Published: April 2005

We have an argument for rejecting an iterative but not an aggregative approach to the life-saving analogy. This means that, while Chs 7–9 show that certain forms of personal spending are morally defensible, the life-saving analogy still supplies us with grounds for thinking that other forms of personal spending are not. Some of the main practical implications of the resulting view are spelled out. The resulting view is not puritanical, but is still demanding in the constraints it places on living a morally good life.
Fighting Poverty in the US and Europe
Authors: Alesina Alberto , Glaeser Edward
Published: April 2005

This book explores the difference in the distributive policies of the United States and Europe. It seeks answers to why Americans are less willing than Europeans to redistribute from the rich to the poor. It finds that redistribution is influenced by political institutions, ethnic heterogeneity, and beliefs about the nature of poverty.
Introduction
Authors: Alesina Alberto , Glaeser Edward
Published: April 2005

This introductory chapter presents an overview of the topics discussed in this volume, which seeks to find an answer to why Americans are less willing than Europeans to redistribute from the rich to the poor. It discusses the economic, political, social, attitudinal, and historical differences between the United States and Europe. It argues that the differences between the two sides are deeply rooted in culture and attitude.
Redistribution in the United States and Europe: The Data
Authors: Alesina Alberto , Glaeser Edward
Published: April 2005

This chapter examines redistribution from the rich to the poor in the United States and Europe. It analyses macroeconomic variables on the spending side of the government budget, and specific redistributive programs. It considers the Luxembourg income study, which provides a survey of income sources for a sample of households in various countries. It argues that the poor are better treated in Europe than in the US.
Economic Explanations
Authors: Alesina Alberto , Glaeser Edward
Published: April 2005

This chapter looks at the “economic” explanations for the difference in the distributive policies of the United States and Europe. It argues that purely “economic” explanations fail to provide useful insights on redistribution. It is shown that higher social mobility in the United States is a substitute for redistributive policies.
Race and Redistribution
Authors: Alesina Alberto , Glaeser Edward
Published: April 2005

This chapter examines the link between heterogeneity and social welfare spending in the United States and Europe. It argues that the homogeneity in Europe has made it difficult for opponents of welfare to demonise the poor as being members of some hated minority. Thus, redistribution was easier and more natural. On the other hand, the highly heterogeneous society in the United States has made it easy for welfare opponents to use racial and ethnic divisions to attack redistribution.
The Ideology of Redistribution
Authors: Alesina Alberto , Glaeser Edward
Published: April 2005

This chapter examines the ideological beliefs of Americans and Europeans about poverty and income. Europeans are more likely to believe that the poor are trapped in poverty, and that their situation was due to forces beyond their control. Americans believe that the poor are not trapped in poverty, and that effort, rather than luck, determines income. It is argued that beliefs about poverty are not shaped by economic realities but by political realities in the United States and Europe.
Conclusions
Authors: Alesina Alberto , Glaeser Edward
Published: April 2005

This chapter presents some answers to the question: Why is the United States welfare state more limited than in Europe? It argues that the American welfare state did not develop as much as in Europe due to political institutions such as majoritarianism, federalism, and checks and balances. The impact of American ethnic heterogeneity, and different beliefs of Americans and European about the nature of poverty are also emphasised.
Science in Ancient Civilizations?
Authors: Lloyd Geoffrey
Published: April 2005

Even though there was no equivalent to modern laboratory-based science in ancient societies, ancient investigators had analogous ambitions to those of today's scientists, so there is no need, on this score, to postulate a radical great divide between the ancient and the modern world. Ancient investigators sought to understand, explain, and predict natural phenomena, for example, in relation to what we call 'astronomy'. The historian's task is to investigate the form those ambitions took, what stimulated or inhibited their growth, and the roles played by individual innovation and institutional support in the developments that took place.
Carving Out Territories
Authors: Lloyd Geoffrey
Published: April 2005

Different ancient civilizations, such as China, Babylonia, and Greece, entertained very different ideas about what, in the study of the heavens ('astronomy'), or of the human body ('biology' and 'medicine'), or of change ('physics'), should be the chief focus of interest and about how to go about the investigation. This study shows how important it is to pay due attention to the different routes that the early development of science has taken and to the differences in the aims, methods, and definitions of the subject matter that are found in ancient societies.
A Common Logic?
Authors: Lloyd Geoffrey
Published: April 2005

Different systems of formal logic have been developed by philosophers since Aristotle. But the key difference within ancient societies and between them and modern ones lies not in any supposed difference in the formal logic employed or presupposed, but rather in the areas of informal logic and pragmatics, for example, in the variety of informal argument schemata used in rhetoric or in persuasion and in the degree of explicit interest shown in studying them. What have often been interpreted as breaches in the laws of non-contradiction or excluded middle should be seen as challenges to interpretation rather than as the first steps towards the formulation of an alternative formal logic.
The Questionability Of Belief
Authors: Lloyd Geoffrey
Published: April 2005

Focusses on the circumstances and the manner in which the beliefs of individuals or groups or even of society in general can come to be challenged, taking ancient Greece and China as examples. Attacks on other people's opinions sometimes attempt to justify the claim certainty for the beliefs that were offered to replace them. One recurrent tactic in both societies is to claim that the beliefs criticized are a threat to political stability. The idea that opinions can be evaluated impersonally and objectively, irrespective of who holds them is expressed in Greece, but proved to be difficult to implement in practice, as Socrates' fate illustrates.
Styles Of Enquiry and the Question Of a Common Ontology
Authors: Lloyd Geoffrey
Published: April 2005

Do Greek and Chinese cosmologies relate to different worlds or merely express various views concerning the same, one world? Different world views may be associated with different styles of enquiry, where a style is constituted by different key preoccupations, aims, or methodologies. If we make allowance for the multi-dimensional character of the phenomena to be explained, and for the different possible goals and methods of different investigators, we can steer a middle course between naive realism and outright relativism.
The Use and Abuse Of Classification
Authors: Lloyd Geoffrey
Published: April 2005

Are natural kinds cross-cultural universals or the products of culture? An analysis of the assumptions that generally underlie these two points of view reveals the weak points of both. There is, for instance, no one correct taxonomy of animals or of plants to which all classifications should be thought to be aiming. Rather, reality is multi-dimensional. Classifications will vary according to the criteria selected, but given a particular criterion, there can be more, or less, accurate classifications. An examination of Greek and Chinese taxonomies illustrates the different perspectives adopted and throws light on the origins of doubts on the nature of species.
Universities: Their Histories and Responsibilities
Authors: Lloyd Geoffrey
Published: April 2005

Traces the development of different ideals of higher education, in the West from the philosophical schools of ancient Greece, through the great late mediaeval universities, and in China from the imperial Academy founded in the Han period. The recommendation is that we ought to resist current attempts to commodify education and to counter the tendency to put the main emphasis on specialist vocational training. Rather, we need to recover more of the ancient Greek ideal of the value of higher education for its own sake.
Human Nature and Human Rights
Authors: Lloyd Geoffrey
Published: April 2005

The concept of nature has a history, one that begins in ancient Greek polemic, where the self-styled naturalist philosophers and certain medical writers employed the term phusis (nature) to define the areas of enquiry over which they claimed to be expert and used that idea to put down and defeat rival claimants to knowledge, particularly from among traditional wise men. That concept of nature has no exact equivalent in ancient China, although there we find terms to describe what happens spontaneously, to distinguish human characters and so on. Neither ancient Greeks nor Chinese have a concept that matches that of human rights. Rather the key notions in that area that both ancient societies use relate to responsibilities, to equity, and to justice. This study concludes that they provide a more adequate framework than the modern concept of rights in which to discuss the problems.
Multinationals and Global Capitalism
Authors: Jones Geoffrey
Published: April 2005

This book explores the role of multinationals in the creation of the global economy in the last two centuries. It argues that multinationals should be viewed as one of the primary drivers of investment, trade, and knowledge flows across national borders, which are at the heart of the globalisation process. The book is divided into five parts. Part I provides a historical and theoretical context for understanding the role of multinationals in global capitalism. Part II shows how multinationals identified and exploited opportunities to create value. Part III shows how firms built organisations that functioned in multiple environments. Part IV examines the impact of public policy on multinationals. Part V reviews historical evidence on the economic, social, and political impact of multinationals.
Concepts
Authors: Jones Geoffrey
Published: April 2005

This chapter begins with a brief explanation on the aims of this book, and followed by an overview of its five parts. It then presents definitions of concepts used throughout this volume. These cover globalisation debates, concepts of the multinational enterprise, and multinationals in theory.
Multinationals and globalization
Authors: Jones Geoffrey
Published: April 2005

The history of global economy is characterised by major ebbs and flows. By 1914, an integrated global economy was in place. This was later destroyed by World War I. The global economy was rebuilt between the 1950s and 1970s. From the 1980s, the integration of global capital and commodity markets intensified.
Natural resources
Authors: Jones Geoffrey
Published: April 2005

Multinational investment in natural resource exploitation grew rapidly in the 19th century. This was the first sector where entrepreneurs discerned and exploited opportunities to create value by operating across borders. These strategies were among the main drivers of integration during the first global economy. They created some of the world’s largest multinationals that have retained leadership in their respective industries till today.
Manufacturing
Authors: Jones Geoffrey
Published: April 2005

Multinational strategies have played key roles in nearly all of the world’s dynamic manufacturing industries since the late 19th century. The firms that pioneered the capital-intensive technologies of the Second Industrial Revolution in the late 19th century — chemicals, electronics, and machinery — rapidly expanded into international markets. Automobile manufacturers followed in their path, as did their post-World War II successors in computers, pharmaceuticals, and telecommunications.
Managing multinationals
Authors: Jones Geoffrey
Published: April 2005

The organisational history of multinationals involved a constant search for the most effective means to control and benefit from cross-border operations. Variants of the multinational, international, global, and even transnational organisational forms coexisted as firms sought ways to achieve efficiency, local responsiveness, and knowledge transfer. Forms varied widely between industries, and within industries.
Public policy
Authors: Jones Geoffrey
Published: April 2005

The relationship between firms and governments has been central to the history of multinationals. Tensions exist in this relationship due to the fact that the borders of multinationals are different from that of nation states. This chapter examines the historical evidence on the relationship between multinationals and governments.
Multinationals and home economies
Authors: Jones Geoffrey
Published: April 2005

This chapter examines the relationship between multinationals and their home economies. It looks at the long-term differences between the firms of different nationalities in their propensities to invest, and the geographical and sectoral distribution of their investments. The issue of whether nationality still matters is discussed.
Engines of growth?
Authors: Jones Geoffrey
Published: April 2005

This chapter reviews the historical evidence on the long-run impact of multinationals on their host economies. It is shown that although multinational served as ‘engines of growth’, negative outcomes have occurred. The spread of multinationals since the 19th century has coincided with an extraordinary growth in world incomes, and with the increasing gap between the rich and poor, the North and South.
Conclusions
Authors: Jones Geoffrey
Published: April 2005

One of the most important themes in history is globalisation, which has connected a world once separated by geography, culture, language, and politics. Globalisation accelerated rapidly from the 19th century. Business enterprises were the principal orchestrators of trade, capital, and knowledge flows, while governments provided the legal and administrative framework.
The Body in St Maximus the Confessor
Authors: Cooper Adam G.
Published: April 2005

Maximus the Confessor (580-662) is increasingly regarded as a theologian of towering ecumenical importance. This book engages the full vista of Maximus’ profound incarnational and cosmic theology with the question: What happens to the body when human beings are deified? The answer unfolds in five chapters under the rubrics of epistemology, cosmology, christology, ecclesiology and spirituality. Each specifies an integral dimension in the Confessor’s theological vision and its central motif, viz. God the Word wills always to be embodied in all things. By virtue of their respective teleological orientation to Christ the incarnate Word, creation, history and the life of virtue each functions as a pedagogical strategy by which the transcendent God simultaneously conceals and reveals himself with the aim of leading all creation, including matter and the body, into deifying union with himself by grace. Ultimately it is the deification of Christ’s body that constitutes the paradigmatic and definitive renewal of fallen creation.
The Sustainability of Extractive Economies
Authors: Hamilton Kirk.
Published: April 2005

This chapter presents a theoretical approach to measure whether an economy is on a sustainable path, and then presents empirical evidence on the sustainability of various extractive economies. An indicator of sustainability termed ‘genuine saving’ is developed, which accounts for the effects of natural resource depletion and environmental degradation in measuring national savings. Distinctive patterns of genuine savings across country incomes and natural resource endowment groups are observed. Robust savings do not ensure a smooth development path if the quality of investment is low.
Natural Resources, Human Capital, and Growth
Authors: Birdsall Nancy , Pinckney Thomas , Sabot Richard
Published: April 2005

This chapter examines the role of human capital investment in lowering the growth of resource-abundant countries. It is shown that resource abundance leads to high initial levels of income inequality, making it difficult to generate a virtuous circle of human capital accumulation and equitable growth. However, this virtuous circle is achievable if governments can resist the temptation to ignore the quality of schooling and pursue a capital intensive growth strategy.
Political Economy of Resource-Abundant States
Authors: Auty Richard M. , Gelb Alan H.
Published: April 2005

This chapter examines the relationship between political economy and natural resource endowment using an extension of Lal’s (1995) typology of political states. The extended typology explains why the governments of resource-abundant countries are less likely to align their interests with those of the majority than the governments of resource-deficient countries. Natural resource rents feed conflicts so that the resource-abundant country has a factional or predatory government that relaxes market discipline in capturing and redistributing the rents. Thus, the economy is deflected from its comparative advantage and cumulates economic distortions that retard growth and/or cause the economy to depend on a weakening primary sector.
Reforming a Small Resource-Rich Developing Market Economy: Costa Rica
Authors: Barboza Gustavo. , Cordero José.
Published: April 2005

This chapter explains why Costa Rica’s potentially favourable endowment of social capital delayed reform and economic recovery. It analyses the country’s growth collapse in the early 1980s and economic reforms initiated in 1985. It is shown that the ambitious expansion of social entitlements outstripped the economy’s capacity to sustain it. Forced industrialisation distorted the economy through the 1960s and 1970s and caused it to lose momentum. The accumulated social capital then retarded economic reform. However, social capital did allow reforms to proceed more smoothly and with less hardship for the poor.
Reforming a Large Resource-Abundant Transition Economy: Russia
Authors: Markandya Anil. , Averchenkova Alina
Published: April 2005

This chapter examines the contribution of Russia’s rich natural resource endowment to the slow progress of economic reform. Resource abundance caused social conflict, since the benefits were unequally distributed. The process of reform increased inequality, and the presence of rents slowed down institutional reforms in key areas.
Art and Intention
Authors: Livingston Paisley
Published: April 2005

In aesthetics, the topic of intentions comes up most often in the perennial debate between intentionalists and anti-intentionalists over standards of interpretation. The underlying assumptions about the nature and functions of intentions are, however, rarely explicitly developed, even though divergent and at times tendentious premises are often relied upon in this controversy. Livingston provides a survey of contentions about the nature and status of intentions and intentionalist psychology more generally, arguing for an account that recognizes the multiple functions fulfilled by intentions in the lives of temporally situated agents who deliberate over what to do, settle on ends and means, and try to realize some of their plans. Artists’ intentions are the same sorts of attitudes that we attribute to ourselves and to others as we attempt to describe, explain, and predict our actions. As such, intentions are relevant not only to debates over the interpretation of works of art but also to a range of other basic topics in the philosophy of art, including artistic creation and authorship, the ontology of art, the nature of texts, works, versions, and life-works, and the status and nature of fiction and fictional truth. With regard to the controversy over the interpretation of art, Livingston advocates a ‘partial’ intentionalism. Intentions are never infallible, so there is a conceptual gap between the completed work and the intentions that initiated and guided its making. Yet in spite of the fallibility of intentions and of our beliefs and claims about them, intentions regularly contribute to the determination of a work’s features, including implicit meanings, the recognition of which requires the uptake of the artist’s intentional design. Partial intentionalism also finds support in the idea that at least one sort of artistic value depends on the artist’s skilful accomplishment of intentions.
Chapter 6 INTENTION AND THE INTERPRETATION OF ART
Authors: Livingston Paisley
Published: April 2005

The successful recognition of intentions is integral to the success of many interpretative projects, including those aiming at the identification of a work’s meanings. As the influential thesis of ‘the intentional fallacy’ would have it, biographical knowledge cannot replace scrutiny of pictures, poems, and other artistic artefacts and performances. Yet there is also an ‘anti-intentional fallacy’, which amounts to denying that some implicit meanings require uptake of the artist’s intentions, in cases where these aims mesh successfully with the realized artefact or performance. Livingston supports a partial, actualist intentionalism with an axiological argument and surveys claims surrounding a range of positions in the theory of art interpretation.
Regional Output Differences in International Perspective
Authors: Kanbur Ravi , Venables Anthony J.
Published: April 2005

Accurate regional estimates of output are desired as an indicator of level of development and as a variable used to explain internal migration, demand patterns, fertility and other aspects of behaviour. Explores one often-neglected aspect of regional income differences, namely, that due to price differences or regional purchasing power parities. When nominal regional income measures are adjusted for these price level differences they are termed real regional incomes. The preferred method of estimating regional purchasing power parities by detailed price comparisons is discussed for Brazil, the United States and the European Union. The empirical thrust of the chapter is an investigation of different methods for estimating regional real incomes based on PPP data for 167 countries and nominal regional incomes and other data for about 870 administrative areas at the sub-national level. Even in their present form the authors believe the real income estimates provided for the geographical units present opportunities for understanding the world economic structure.
Opening the Convergence Black Box: Measurement Problems and Demographic Aspects
Authors: Kanbur Ravi , Venables Anthony J.
Published: April 2005

The authors address the issues involved with the use of microeconomic data—household surveys—to compare the patterns of income growth among different regions instead of the commonly used aggregate data. In particular, they investigate the issues of aggregation of household income to regional income and the problem of demography. As returns to experience generally differ across regions, differences in the patterns of income growth across regions in the same time interval will differ across age groups, which means that convergence or divergence of aggregate income among regions will depend on the age structure of their population. The authors apply these concepts to the case of the states of Brazil, for which they have repeated cross sections from a rich household survey. They find that patterns of income growth vary a great deal across birth cohorts, depending on the economic returns to experience.
Adverse Geography and Differences in Welfare in Peru
Authors: Kanbur Ravi , Venables Anthony J.
Published: April 2005

In Peru, a country with an astonishing variety of different ecological areas, with 84 different climate zones and landscapes, with rainforests, high mountain ranges and dry deserts, the geographical context may not be all that matters, but it could be very significant in explaining regional variations in income and poverty. The major question the authors try to answer is: what role do geographic variables, both natural and man-made, play in explaining per capita expenditure differentials across regions within Peru? How have these influences changed over time, through what channels have they been transmitted, and has access to private and public assets compensated for the effects of an adverse geography?
Reforms, Remoteness, and Risk in Africa: Understanding Inequality and Poverty during the 1990s
Authors: Kanbur Ravi , Venables Anthony J.
Published: April 2005

Traces the interactions between economic growth, income inequality, and consumption poverty in a sample of African countries during the 1990s. Draws on the much-improved household data sets now available in the region. Finds that experiences have varied: some countries have seen sharp falls in income poverty; others have witnessed marked increases. Economic growth has been ‘pro-poor’ in that the incomes of poor households have typically grown at similar or faster rates than average income. But the aggregate numbers hide significant and systematic distributional effects that have caused some groups and regions to be left behind.
Economic Polarization Through Trade: Trade Liberalization and Regional Growth in Mexico
Authors: Kanbur Ravi , Venables Anthony J.
Published: April 2005

Analyses the impact trade liberalization and economic integration have had on regional growth and regional disparities in Mexico over the last two decades. It is highlighted that the passage from an import substitution system to membership of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) first, and to economic integration in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) later, has been associated with greater concentration of economic activity and territorial polarization. The analysis also shows that these changes herald a period of transition between two growth models. Regional growth in the final stages of the import substitution period was mainly characterized by convergence and linked to the presence of oil and raw materials and proximity to Mexico City. Economic liberalization and regional integration in NAFTA has been related to regional divergence, a reduction of the importance of Mexico City as the main market and to the emergence of an economic system in which the endowment of skilled labour starts to play a more important role.
Spatial Inequality for Manufacturing Wages in Five African Countries
Authors: Kanbur Ravi , Venables Anthony J.
Published: April 2005

Uses data on individual earnings in manufacturing industry for five African countries in the early 1990s to test whether firms located in the capital city pay higher wages than firms located elsewhere, and whether such benefits accrue to all or only certain types of workers. Earnings equations are estimated that take into account worker characteristics (education and tenure) and relevant firm characteristics (notably size and whether foreign owned). Any location effect identified is therefore additional to appropriate control variables.
Regional Poverty and Income Inequality in Central and Eastern Europe: Evidence from the Luxembourg Income Study
Authors: Kanbur Ravi , Venables Anthony J.
Published: April 2005

The authors report levels of income inequality and poverty in four Central and Eastern European countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Russia. Unlike many previous studies that examine transition economies, they aggregate the detailed individual-level income surveys made available through the efforts of the Luxembourg Income Study at the regional level of analysis. Although national-level investigations have contributed much to our understanding of the income distribution dynamics, these studies mask intracountry variance in levels of income inequality and thus may not capture the true distribution of household income and accurately reflect individual well-being. Accordingly, the authors compute summary measures of inequality and relative poverty rates, using both local and national relative poverty lines, for the most recent waves of data available.
Epistemic Luck
Authors: Pritchard Duncan
Published: April 2005

One of the key supposed ‘platitudes’ of contemporary epistemology is the claim that knowledge excludes luck. One can see the attraction of such a claim, in that knowledge is something that one can take credit for; it is an achievement of sorts, and yet luck undermines genuine achievements. The problem, however, is that luck seems to be an all-pervasive feature of our epistemic enterprises that tempts us to think that either scepticism is true, and we don’t know very much after all, or else knowledge is compatible with knowledge after all. My claim is that we do not need to choose between these two austere alternatives, since a closer inspection of what is involved in the notion of epistemic luck reveals varieties of luck that are compatible with knowledge possession and varieties that aren’t. We can thus do justice to the intuition that knowledge is compatible with (some forms of) luck without acceding to the sceptical claim that we do not know as much as we think we do. Nevertheless, I also claim that there is a sceptical problem lurking in the background that is related to the problem of epistemic luck, though it is not best thought of in terms of the possession of knowledge.
Neo-Mooreanism
Authors: Pritchard Duncan
Published: April 2005

I contend that in so far as the contemporary debate about scepticism has formulated the sceptical problem correctly, and in so far as one is entitled to adopt epistemological externalism as part of one’s anti-sceptical strategy, one should reject both the arguments for non-closure and for attributer contextualism, and advance, instead, a version of neo-Mooreanism that turns on the so-called ‘safety’ condition on knowledge. I explore the implications of this approach for the sceptical problem, including the manner in which it needs to be distinguished from the type of response to scepticism that is associated with G. E. Moore’s famous proof of an external world. A key component of this argument in this respect is an account of the conversational rules that govern our ascriptions of knowledge that can do justice to the intuitions that motivate attributer contextualism, while also explaining why the kind of anti-sceptical assertions made by Moore are so problematic. As regards the latter, I enlist elements of Wittgenstein’s critique of Moore’s response to the sceptic from On Certainty. I conclude that what these considerations highlight is a deep and important (and also surprising) truth about the structure of reasons.
Luck
Authors: Pritchard Duncan
Published: April 2005

I offer an overview of the various claims that have been made concerning epistemic luck and present an elucidation of the concept of luck in the light of this discussion that, I argue, captures the essence of the notion. With this elucidation in mind, I then identify—with the help of Unger—several varieties of luck that might be referred to as epistemic, and that are entirely compatible with knowledge possession.
Two Varieties of Epistemic Luck
Authors: Pritchard Duncan
Published: April 2005

I examine two species of epistemic luck that I claim are not benign and explain how they feature in the main epistemological debates. The first species of epistemic luck—what I call ‘veritic’ luck—can be handled with a modest ‘relevant alternatives’ account of knowledge that is specifically defined so that it counters this type of epistemic luck. As I explain, such a theory is essentially a version of the safety-based neo-Moorean thesis that we looked at in Ch. 3. I develop this view by considering some of the main examples that are discussed in epistemology—such as Gettier examples, the ‘lottery’ puzzle, and ‘barn façade’ examples—and show how the neo-Moorean account can in each case generate the right result. Along the way the formulation of this anti-veritic-luck thesis is refined in response to potential challenges that might be presented to the view. Significantly, however, the chapter closes by arguing that there is a second species of epistemic luck—what I call ‘reflective luck’-that is epistemically problematic and that is not dealt with by the neo-Moorean account.
Cognitive Responsibility and the Epistemic Virtues
Authors: Pritchard Duncan
Published: April 2005

I argue that the notion of reflective epistemic luck raises important questions about the centrality to epistemology of a conception of justification that demands that one is able to take cognitive responsibility for one’s beliefs. I take a critical look at some of the recent ‘virtue epistemologies’ that have been put forward in the recent literature which define knowledge in terms of the epistemic virtues and cognitive faculties. More specifically, I contrast broadly externalist construals of the virtue-theoretic thesis—such as the ‘agent reliabilism’ advanced, for example, by Ernest Sosa and John Greco—with virtue epistemologies that roughly fall into the internalist camp—in particular, ‘neo-Aristotelian’ theories, such as the view defended by Linda Zagzebski. I claim that in each case a key part of the motivation for offering such a view lies in a desire to eliminate a species of epistemic luck that is thought to be left uneliminated by rival theories of knowledge. In general, I claim that externalists and internalists in epistemology often speak past one another precisely because they are concerned with these different types of epistemic luck, and that disambiguating the species of epistemic luck at issue in this debate can help us to find a way of reconciling both internalist and externalist intuitions about knowledge. I conclude by arguing that once the ambiguous role of epistemic luck in the development of these virtue epistemological theories is made explicit, then the motivation to offer a specifically virtue-theoretic theory of knowledge subsides.
Scepticism and Epistemic Luck
Authors: Pritchard Duncan
Published: April 2005

I discuss the sceptical challenge in the light of the distinction between veritic and reflective epistemic luck and argue that the inadequacy of the main anti-sceptical proposals in the contemporary literature is a result of how they only (at best) eliminate veritic luck, and thus do not engage with the problem of reflective luck at all. Crucially, however, I claim that it is the specific challenge posed by reflective luck that is central to the sceptical problem, and yet there is a fundamental sense in which this type of epistemic luck is ineliminable. I argue that it is this sceptical problem that informs the Pyrrhonian sceptical challenge of antiquity. Moreover, I further maintain that the so-called ‘metaepistemological’ sceptical challenge that features prominently in contemporary epistemological debate—as advanced, for example, by Barry Stroud and Richard Fumerton—is best understood in terms of the specific sceptical problem regarding the ineliminability of reflective luck.
EpistemicAngst
Authors: Pritchard Duncan
Published: April 2005

I discuss the difficulty posed by the ineliminability of reflective epistemic luck and offer one way of responding to this difficulty. I begin by considering Wittgenstein’s remarks on knowledge from On Certainty and consider, in particular, the specific claims he makes about the so-called ’hinge’ propositions that contextually determine the nature of epistemic evaluation. I claim that what underlies Wittgenstein’s remarks in this respect is a certain view about the ultimately groundless nature of our reason-giving practices. This way of thinking about the structure of reasons is, I argue, correlative to the thesis described here regarding the ineliminability of reflective luck. Moreover, I contend that it is our implicit philosophical recognition of this problem that gives rise to a certain kind of general anxiety about our epistemic position that I refer to as epistemic angst. This contention is further illustrated by critically evaluating John McDowell’s content externalist response to scepticism that incorporates a strongly anti-sceptical account of reasons. I close on a positive note by arguing that while there is no epistemic response available to the problem posed by reflective luck, there is a plausible pragmatic resolution to this difficulty. Indeed, I claim that an anti-sceptical thesis of this sort can be discerned from Wittgenstein’s own fragmentary remarks on scepticism, and I develop such a view in the light of Hans Reichenbach’s pragmatic response to the problem of inductive scepticism, which I maintain is cast along similar lines.
Postscript: Moral Luck
Authors: Pritchard Duncan
Published: April 2005

I outline how an analysis of epistemic luck has ramifications for the supposedly parallel debate regarding moral luck. Focusing on the two classic papers on moral luck by Thomas Nagel and Bernard Williams, I examine the arguments and examples put forward in this regard and highlight how a primarily epistemological analysis can be put into service to cast light on the corresponding moral debate. In particular, I show that these authors fail to distinguish a specifically moral problem, and that what difficulties they do highlight are parasitic on the problem of reflective epistemic luck. I conclude that there is a strong prima facie case for thinking that there is no such thing as moral luck, and that the only reason why many think that there is because they are confusing the non-existent problem of moral luck with the entirely genuine problem of reflective epistemic luck.
Consumer consumption and perception of organic products in Croatia
Authors: Radman Marija
Published: April 2005

Purpose of this paper

The market for organic products in Croatia is at the beginning of its development. There is no sufficient knowledge about organic consumers in Croatia. The objective of this paper is to gain knowledge about consumer attitudes toward organic products in the capital of Croatia.

Design/methodology/approach

The consumers’ attitudes were collected by means of a face‐to‐face survey. Attitudes, purchase frequency, supply satisfaction and beliefs about organic foods were studied with a sample of 179 consumers. The data obtained from the survey were analysed with univariate analysis, chi‐square test, ANOVA and correlation analysis.

Findings

Croatian consumers consider organically‐grown products as very healthy, of good quality and tasty. However, these products are perceived as rather expensive and of questionable appearance. Consumers are not very familiar with the supply of ecologically‐grown products in the market. Some groups of consumers have more positive attitudes toward organic products, and they exhibit an increased willingness to pay higher prices for these products. Therefore, marketing strategies for organic products should be targeted towards such groups.

Research limitations/implications

One limitation of this study is the choice of the sample. Further research is needed to discriminate between consumer groups, and to determine which segments are most appropriate for organic product marketing.

Practical implications

According to the research results an important task for the producers will be to increase consumers’ knowledge of what an organic product is and how to differentiate it in the marketplace.

Originality/value

This paper gives the first insight into buying behavior and attitudes of organic consumers in Zagreb. The results of the research could be used for planning further marketing activities.
Examining structure and process in ESOP firms
Authors: McHugh Patrick P. , Cutcher‐Gershenfeld Joel , Bridge Diane L.
Published: April 2005

Purpose

To examine the role of three employee‐owner attributes (i.e. the level of employee influence in decision making, the amount of Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) information given to employee‐owners, and the extent to which the ESOP design provides employee‐owners with equity possession) in predicting variance in managerial perceptions of ESOP firm performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey responses from management at 61 ESOP firms in the United States are analyzed. Based upon the ESOP literature, “ownership” is conceptualized as a multidimensional construct consisting of rights to influence, information, and equity. This framework is the foundation for several hypotheses linking ownership attributes and firm performance.

Findings

Utilizing hierarchical regression analysis, we found that employee influence in operational decisions and information sharing with employee‐owners has a positive impact on managerial perceptions of firm performance. Equity possession appears to be only significant when ESOP information sharing with is low.

Research limitations/implications

This is a cross‐sectional study of management respondents. Future researchers should include employees and managers, gather objective firm performance data, and refine the measures of employee influence, information sharing, and equity possession.

Practical implications

Managers interested in improving the economic performance of ESOP firms should increase opportunities for employee operational influence, as well as developing extensive ESOP communication programs. Policy makers may need to provide stronger guidance to employers regarding employee‐owner equity possession.

Originality/value

This paper furthers our understanding of the role that employee ownership attributes play in ESOP firm effectiveness.
Structural interdependence, personality, and organizational citizenship behavior
Authors: Comeau Daniel J. , Griffith Richard L.
Published: April 2005

Purpose

To experimentally determine how the interaction of an interdependent work environment and employee personality affect organizational citizenship behavior (OCB).

Design/methodology/approach

Structural interdependence, as defined by levels of task and goal interdependence, was manipulated in a laboratory setting to determine the effect on individual level OCB. Also, a regression analysis was utilized to determine whether interdependence could act as a moderator for the relationship between the personality variables agreeableness and OCB and conscientiousness and OCB.

Findings

Person‐environment interaction would suggest that the independence and personality should interact to impact levels of OCB. The results indicate a strong main effect of task interdependence on OCB and also a main effect of goal interdependence on OCB. In addition, there was also an interaction effect of task and goal interdependence. The results failed to show, however, that interdependence could act as a moderator on the relationship between agreeableness and OCB and conscientiousness and OCB.

Originality/value

Provides further research on structural characteristics of task and goal interdependence and their relationship to OCB.
Goal orientation and organizational commitment as explanatory factors of employees' mobility
Authors: Lin Shu‐chi , Chang Jung‐nung
Published: April 2005

Purpose

To provide a further examination into the explanatory factors of employees' mobility for organizations wishing to improve performance by keeping right employees judging from their goal orientation and organizational commitment.

Design/methodology/approach

The multivariate statistical methods (MANOVA) together with a longitudinal design are used to test the hypotheses generated from the theory with data gathered from two Taiwan‐based financial institutions.

Findings

Suggests that those who quit for what they perceive as upwardly mobile career moves and those who enjoy in‐house promotions both demonstrate a greater degree of positive learning goal orientation than their colleagues who remain stationary in long‐term positions with the same firm. Makes note of the inability of performance goal orientation and organizational commitment to explain employee mobility behaviors.

Research limitations/implications

Generalizability is limited due to the concentration of this longitudinal‐design study on two institutions of a single industry in Taiwan.

Practical implications

Provides a positive advice for organizations to create mechanisms and environment that can engage learning‐oriented employees as meaningful contributors in principal challenges and to use learning experiences to revitalize them and deepen their commitment.

Originality/value

This paper clarifies the influence of goal orientation and organizational commitment upon employees' mobility and identifies their relationship with findings suggesting a direct link between positive learning goal orientation and positive job performance.
A bridge over troubled water
Authors: Bonner Carole , Gollan Paul J.
Published: April 2005

Purpose

This paper aims to examine union and non‐union consultation and representative arrangements at South West Water (SWW) over a ten‐year period, from 1992 to 2002.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper attempts to fill the gap in the current research by examining the processes leading from union derecognition, non‐union employee representation (NER), to recognition of union representation using SWW as an example.

Findings

The SWW experience suggests that any representative structures within firms need to have full support of the majority of employees and to have been seen as being organic to the workplace rather than an imposed arrangement by management. Without such a bottom‐up approach, the legitimacy and respect for such arrangements will diminish, creating obstacles for developing meaningful dialogue and trust between management, staff and unions. For unions, maintaining high membership density, while no guarantee of continuing recognition, creates an environment of strong union organisation and representation at workplace level.

Originality/value

As the experience at SWW has shown, where unions have been excluded from the workplace, maintaining a presence through the representation of individual employee interests and through colonisation of NER structures has been shown to pay dividends in the long run. However, a recognition agreement is not enough on its own to secure new members and unions need to be effective and relevant to the workforce.