This dissertation is a study of appetite in Plato’s Timaeus, Republic and Phaedrus. In recent research is it often suggested that Plato considers appetite (i) to pertain to the essential needs of the body, (ii) to relate to a distinct set of objects, e.g. food or drink, and (iii) to cause behaviour aiming at sensory pleasure. Exploring how the notion of appetite, directly and indirectly, connects with Plato’s other purposes in these dialogues, this dissertation sets out to evaluate these ideas. By asking, and answering, three philosophically and interpretatively crucial questions, individually linked to the arguments of the dialogues, this thesis aims to show (i) that the relationship between appetite and the body is not a matter of survival, and that appetite is better understood in terms of excess; (ii) that appetite is multiform and cannot be defined in terms of a distinct set of objects; and (iii) that appetite, in Plato, can also pertain to non-sensory objects, such as articulated discourse. Chapter one asks what the universe can teach us about embodied life. It argues that Plato, in the Timaeus, works with an important link between the universe and the soul, and that the account of disorder, irrationality and multiformity identifying a pre-cosmic condition of the universe provides a key to understanding the excessive behaviour and condition of a soul dominated by appetite. Chapter two asks why the philosophers of the Republic’s Kallipolis return to the cave, and suggests that Plato’s notion of the noble lie provides a reasonable account of this. By exploring the Republic’s ideas of education, poetry and tradition, it argues that appetite – a multiform and appearance oriented source of motivation – is an essential part of this account. Chapter three asks why Socrates characterizes the speeches of the Phaedrus as deceptive games. It proposes that this question should be understood in the light of two distinctions: one between playful and serious discourse and one between simple and multiform. It argues that the speeches of the Phaedrus are multiform games, and suggests that appetite is the primary source of motivation of the soul addressed, personified by Phaedrus.

Obemannade flygplan med attackförmåga (UCAV) används i allt större utsträckning i konflikter idag. En av de främsta fördelarna med dessa är att det inte finns någon risk att mista en pilot, då dessa är fjärstyrda. I attacker utförda av amerikanska UCAV:er i framför allt Afghanistan och Pakistan, har collateral damage inträffat vid ett flertal tillfällen. Det innebär att civila oavsiktligt fallit offer för attacker. Enligt krigets lagar kan sådana händelser rättfärdigas av att militär nödvändighet föreligger, men det är tveksamt om det går att hävda det när man inte riskerar egna förluster. Detta innebär i så fall att collateral damage alltid är krigsbrott när det orsakats av UCAV. Då är det viktigt att det går att utkräva ansvar ur obemannade system och det finns farhågor att ansvarsförhållandena blir otydligare när det inte sitter en pilot i flygplanet som ”trycker på knappen”. Men så länge den obemannade farkosten fjärrstyrs och besluten tas av en människa går det inte att se några skillnader i möjligheten till ansvarsutkrävande från bemannade system. / The use of Unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) has seen an increasing use in modern conflicts. One of the main advantages of these is the fact that there is no risk of losing a pilot, as the aircraft are remote-controlled. The attacks carried out by U.S. UCAVs in Afghanistan and Pakistan have resultet in a number of incients with collateral damage. According to the laws of war, only military necessity can justify such incidents and it is highly doubtful if you can claim such necessity when you do not risk any loss of life yourself. This would mean that collateral damage caused by UCAVs automatically becomes a war crime. This raises the issue of accountability and wether it is possible to extract such from unmanned systems. There are fears that this would be difficult when no pilot is present in the aircraft to ”pull the trigger”. However, as long as operators remotely control the unmanned aircraft and the decision to release weapons in anger are made by humans, there are no differences to be found in terms of accountability between manned and unmanned systems.

En esta tesis doctoral pretendemos estudiar las estrategias lingüístico-semióticas de gestación e imagen de marca y, concretamente, el caso Moviline/ Movistar de la Compañía de Telecomunicaciones de Telefónica en el spot publicitario español desde su origen (1993) hasta su asentamiento social (1999). Para ello, partimos de dos perspectivas: la lingüística, en la que estudiamos la marca como nombre propio y la semiótica, que frente a la anterior, afirma que el nombre propio es una marca con significado. Tras justificar dicha orientación semiótica, emerge nuestra propuesta de trabajo centrada en dos discursos en los que el significado de la marca será estudiado como una necesidad y como valor: el discurso de Moviline y el discurso de Movistar, analizados cronológicamente a través de las diferentes campañas publicitarias. Finalmente, tras este periplo semiótico, llegamos a la conclusión de que la marca es un signo esencial para la personalidad de la gran empresa moderna. / In this Doctorate Thesis we want study the Linguistics-Semiotics gestation and brand´s image strategy and, particulary, the Moviline/ Movistar case of the Telefónica Telecommunications Company in the spanish spot since his origin (1993) until his social securing (1999). For it, star of two perspectives: the Linguistics, where study brand like proper name and the Semiotics, where, on the contrary, proper name has a meaning. After this Semiotics justification, leaves our work with two speechs where the brand meaning will be study like a necessity and value: the Moviline speech and the Movistar speech, analysed chronologically in several branding campaigns. Finally, after this Semiotics way, our conclusión is brand is a essential sign for the modern company personality

Pour Simone Weil, le malheur est « quelque chose de spécifique, irréductible à toute autre chose, comme les sons, dont rien ne peut donner aucune idée à un sourd-muet ». Il s’apparente à un sacrement, à un rite sacré susceptible de rapprocher l’homme du divin. Et si la pensée weilienne se révèle non-conformiste pour aborder la figure du malheur, c’est parce qu’elle ne se limite pas à une tradition unique, mais trouve écho tant dans la religion chrétienne et le Nouveau Testament que dans la philosophie grecque de l’antiquité – principalement le stoïcisme et le platonisme – et dans certains textes orientaux tels que la Bhagavad-Gîtâ et le Tao Te King. Par un singulier amalgame de ces influences, Weil donne naissance à une méthode spirituelle dont une des étapes fondamentales est le malheur, thème très fécond pour dénouer et affronter le dialogue entre spiritualité et contemporanéité. Parce que cette méthode ne peut pleinement être appréhendée que sur la frontière de l’athéisme et de la croyance religieuse, approfondir ses implications permet d’interroger les traces du sacré dans les civilisations occidentales. Retracer les étapes de son développement permet également de sonder le rapport qu’entretiennent les hommes avec le malheur, ainsi que de porter un regard sensible sur une époque où l’actualité fait souvent état des malheureux alors que le malheur d’autrui semble être une réalité à fuir. / For Simone Weil, a calamity is “something specific that cannot be reduced to anything else, just as sounds are inconceivable for a deaf-mute.“ It resembles a sacrament, a sacred rite bringing man closer to the divine. Weil’s thinking with regard to the notion of calamity appears nonconformist because it does not limit itself to a single tradition, but finds echoes simultaneously in the Christian religion and the New Testament, in ancient Greek philosophy - mainly Stoicism and Platonism - and in certain eastern texts such as the Bhagavad-Gita and the Tao Te King. By a strange combination of these influences, Weil gives birth to a spiritual method of which one of the fundamental stages is “calamity”, a very fertile ground for opening up and coming to terms with the dialogue between spirituality and contemporaneousness. Because this method can be completely understood only at the boundary between atheism and religious faith, examining its implications allows for questioning the traces of the sacred in Western civilizations. Retracing the stages of its development also allows for reflecting on the relationship between man and calamity or catastrophy, permitting as well a measured consideration of an epoch when current events often bring to the fore the calamitous fate of others as a reality to be avoided at all costs.

The environmental crisis threatens the fundamental values of the political liberal tradition. As the autonomy, the security and the prosperity of persons and peoples are jeopardized by political inaction, the legitimacy of the liberal constitutional order is compromised. Because of important collective action problems, the democratic processes are unfit to address the present crisis and protect adequately the natural environment. Two institutional solutions deemed capable of preserving the legitimacy of the functional domination at the heart of social order are analyzed. The first is the constitutionalization of a right to an adequate natural environment, which purports to circumvent the paralysis of legislative power. The second is the declaration of a limited state of emergency and the use of exceptional powers, which purports to circumvent the paralysis of both legislative and judiciary powers. Despite their legitimacy, the diligent application of these political solutions remains improbable. / La dégradation de l’environnement naturel menace les valeurs fondamentales de la tradition libérale que sont l’autonomie, la sécurité et la prospérité des personnes et des peuples. À ce titre, la légitimité morale de l’ordre constitutionnel libéral et la légitimité morale de l’autorité politique qui le représente sont toutes deux compromises. Or, les mécanismes démocratiques apparaissent pour de nombreuses raisons inaptes à assurer une protection suffisante de l’environnement naturel. Pour rétablir la légitimité des rapports de commandement et d’obéissance qui fondent l’ordre social, deux solutions institutionnelles sont analysées. La première consiste à constitutionnaliser un droit à un environnement naturel de qualité pour dépasser la paralysie du pouvoir législatif. La seconde consiste à déclarer un état d’urgence limité et à recourir aux pouvoirs d’exception, de manière à dépasser l’impotence législative et l’impotence judiciaire. En dépit de leur légitimité, la mise en œuvre de ces solutions politiques demeure improbable.

Magistro baigiamajame darbe išanalizuoti ligoninių tarptautiniai akreditavimo modeliai, jų tinkamumas Lietuvai. Iškeltos akreditavimo vykdymo ir valdymo problemos bei pateikti pasiūlymai, kaip šias problemas spręsti. Teorinėje dalyje teoriniu aspektu tiriamas akreditavimo reikalingumas, Lietuvos dabartinė situacija. Išanalizuoti tarptautiniai akreditavimo modeliai, jų privalumai ir trūkumai, įvertinti visų modelių principai, geriausiai derantys Lietuvos situacijai. Empiriniame tyrime nagrinėjamas gydytojų požiūris į Lietuvos akreditavimo sistemą. / Master's thesis analyzes the international hospital accreditation models and their suitability for Lithuania. Issues of implementation and management of accreditation are being put forward and addressed. In the theoretical part of a thesis a need of accreditation and a current situation in Lithuania is examined by highlighting its theoretical implications. Models of international accreditation, their principal advantages and limitations for application in Lithuania are set forth. Lithuania's doctors notions on accreditation are investigated in an empirical study.

隨著全球電子商務的蓬勃發展，為在資訊流通與資料保護之間取得平衡，跨境資訊流動議題在國際經貿整合中往往也成為各國談判的焦點之一。其中，TPP中各國更進一步地處理「當地設立伺服器」議題，並提案將以「必要性測試」作為各國施行該措施之前提，本文遂就該測試在相關措施下之運作進行探討，並針對我國未來制度上與國際接軌之方向提出建議。 本文透過文獻分析法，歸納出必要性測試的評估過程中有「替代性措施對政策目標之貢獻程度」、「政策目標或價值之重要性」、「對國際貿易之限制性」幾個重要因素，另外在針對澳洲措施的分析中，有司法管轄權、技術、國際間合作狀況與行政成本，需納入考量之因素。然而，我國法制中尚未有更具體的管制措施，而經貿協議中僅止於承認彼此之資訊流通管制規範。未來或可參考澳洲之做法，同時由前歸納之因素評估該作法之必要性。 / The issue of trans-border data flow has been treated as one of those significant trade liberalization topics while global electronic commerce continues to surge and countries are striving to build common ground on the balance between data flow as well as data protection. Among these efforts of trade integration, “necessity test” was proposed when the members within TPP go further to negotiate whether the regulation of “localization data center” should be banned or not. In this article, we will conduct analysis toward how will the test work with potentially disputing measures and provide suggestions for Taiwan’s legislation to be geared to international treaties and standards. Through documentary analysis, factors evaluated against possible alternative measures when exercising necessity tests are summed up as contribution made by the compliance measure to the enforcement of the law or regulation at issue, the importance of the common interests or values protected by that law or regulation, and the accompanying impact of the law or regulation on imports or exports. Furthermore, as what has been shown by analyzing the Australian measure, we concluded that jurisdiction, techniques, international cooperation and administrative costs should also be taken into account. However, due to the lack of more practical measures and the topic in Taiwan’s concluded trade agreements is still in its infancy, I suggested that related authority can take the Australia’s measure as an example on basis of the above-mentioned factors.

This thesis explores reasons and disagreement in ethics, and their connection to personal identity. I begin by arguing that reasons are open; what gives them direction is how they feature in my life and weigh with me. Of course, this does not tell us what reasons are available to a person when they act. In this connection I argue against Bernard Williams’ internal reasons thesis, showing that there are occasions when we will want to say someone has a reason to act even though they are unable to see it. Continuing with Williams, I explore moral necessity, drawing also on the works of Winch, Rhees and Cordner, arguing that Williams too readily conflates psychological with ethical limits. In particular, the possibility of recanting what we took to be necessary should inform our view of moral necessity, since it can show that I had misconstrued the nature of the limits I took myself to have reached. Following this use of recantation, I explore narrative in detail, arguing that my narrative is partly constitutive of who I am. My agency is therefore interpretive. This has ramifications for thinkers such as Christine Korsgaard and Jonathan Dancy, whose work I explore in two excursuses. In different ways, both fail to appreciate the significance of our interpretive identities.

Jakub Mihálik: Consciousness in Nature. A Russellian Approach Abstract: This thesis attempts to provide a philosophical answer to the question of how phenomenal consciousness, or experience, can exist in the physical world, i.e. in the world as it is described by science. The thesis has three parts: In the first part (chapter 1) I explicate the concept of phenomenal consciousness and contrast it with other concepts of consciousness common in the literature. Moreover, I suggest that the project pursued in this thesis can be naturally viewed as a part of the more general project of trying to find a stereoscopic view of man, taken by Wilfrid Sellars to be a crucial task for contemporary philosophy. In the second part of the thesis (chapters 2 to 4) I offer a detailed evaluation of the attempts at a materialist reduction of consciousness. While in chapter 2 I explore and critique the approach of apriori physicalism (Dennett, Lewis, Rey, etc.), in chapters 3 and 4, I focus on the more recent doctrine of a posteriori physicalism and especially its most prominent variety called the phenomenal concept strategy (Loar, Papineau, Levin, Schroer, etc.). One problem with a posteriori physicalism is that, as Nida-Rümelin, Goff and others argue, the view cannot make sense of the plausible thesis that our phenomenal...

The therapeutic privilege is a defence in terms of which a doctor may withhold information from a patient if disclosure of such information could harm the patient. This study explores the defence of therapeutic privilege and provides a critical evaluation. A comparative investigation is undertaken, while arguments springing from a variety of disciplines are also incorporated. A number of submissions are made for limiting the ambit of the defence. The main submission is that the therapeutic privilege should comply with all the requirements of the defence of necessity. In addition, it should contain some of the safeguards afforded to the patient by the requirements of the defence of negotiorum gestio so that therapeutic privilege is out of the question if medical treatment is administered against the patient's will, or the doctor has reason to believe (or knows) that the patient will refuse to undergo an intended intervention once properly informed. / Jurisprudence / L.L.M. (Jurisprudence)