In his landmark work World Poverty and Human Rights, Thomas Pogge offers a novel approach to understanding the nature and extent of the obligations that citizens of wealthy states owe to their less fortunate counterparts in poor states. Pogge argues that the wealthy have weighty obligations to aid the global poor because the wealthy coercively impose institutions on the poor that leave their human rights, particularly their subsistence rights avoidably unfulfilled. Thus, Pogge claims that the wealthy states' obligations to the poor are ultimately generated by their negative duties, that is, their duties to refrain from harming. In this essay, I argue that Pogge cannot successfully appeal to negative duties in way that would appease his critics because his notion of a negative duty is seriously indeterminate, so much so as to compromise his ability to plausibly appeal to it.

This study investigated three francophone adolescent girls� experiences with singing. A qualitative, narrative research approach (Bogdan & Biklen, 2003; Murray, 2003) was used to increase understanding about the benefits of singing, with a particular interest in exploring singing as a potentially positive means for adolescent minority-culture girls to successfully negotiate multiple aspects of identity, that is, adolescence, gender, and culture. Semi-structured interviews provided an opportunity for the participants to share their experiences, and describe what it is like for them to sing. Data were analyzed with The Listening Guide (Gilligan, Spencer, Weinberg, & Bertsch, 2003), a relational analysis responsive to the narrative and authentic voices of participants, and used to generate �I� poems and identify themes. Three ways of singing were identified � private informal, social informal, public formal � as well as three themes, evoked with the metaphors of: Rhythm (singing and experiences of identity), Harmony (singing and relationships), and Melody (singing, wellbeing, and strength). Findings confirm and extend the small but growing research literature on the psychology of singing, and have implications for those interested in working with youth using a strength-based perspective focused on positive youth development (Larson, 2000).

När man inom filosofihistorien diskuterat frågan om djuret, har utgångspunkten ofta varit en negativ kontrast till det mänskliga. Medan människan tillskrivits förmågor som medvetenhet, rationalitet och förmåga till tal och språk, har djuret framställts som något som brister i dessa egenskaper. Dock har det uppkommit nya teorier om djuret som skiljer sig från en sådan metafysisk tradition . Peter Singer lyfter i sin bok, Praktisk Etik, att medvetande och självmedvetandeargument som syftat till att tillskriva människan en särställning gentemot djuret inte längre kan vidmakthållas. Vi har snarare skäl att tro det omvända. Jacques Derrida är likt Singer intresserad av att ändra synen på djuret som en brist i relation till det mänskliga men Derrida föreslår en radikalare lösning. Vi måste enligt Derrida dekonstruera (”bryta ner”) det antropocentriska, metafysiska subjektet - och de strukturer som inbegrips i det - för att se hur dess innehåll har fått människan att bruka våld mot djuret. Även om Derrida och Singer skiljer sig när det gäller att problematisera den metafysiska distinktionen mellan människa och djur. tar man avstamp från samma punkt, nämligen från Jeremy Benthams lidandebegrepp. / When discussing the issue of the animal within the history of philosophy, the aspect has often been somewhat of a negative contrast to what is humane. Whilst the human race has been attributed with abilities such as consciousness, rationality and the ability to speak, the animal has been described as something that lacks these abilities. However, new theories concerning the animal have arisen, theories that differentiate from such metaphysical tradition. In Praktisk Etik, Peter Singer raises an argument claiming that consciousness and self-consciousness concerning the matter of attributing humans with an exceptional position towards the animals, no longer can be admitted as valid. We more likely have the reason to believe the opposite. Jacques Derrida is like Singer interested in changing the attitude towards the animal as a flaw in relation to what is humane, but Derrida proposes a more radical solution. According to Derrida, we have to deconstruct the anthropocentric, metaphysical subject – and the structures that embodies this – to be able to see how its content has made the human being maltreat the animal. Although Derrida and Singer separate in their opinions concerning the problematizing of the metaphysical distinction between the human being and the animal, they take off from the same point of view, namely from Jeremy Bentham’s concept of suffering. / Nicklas Lindgren

This thesis aims to investigate the role of domestic technology in daily life. It focuses on the impact of household technologies upon women&rsquo / s lives and attempts to address the questions of how women could create an agency through technology to transform their lives and how a technological appliance could act to empower women. Of all household technologies, Singer sewing machine was chosen owing to its representative nature. Accordingly, the thesis provides a brief history of Singer Company in order to describe the major aspects of both the Singer Company and the sewing machine technology. It is argued that sewing machine technology became a convenient tool for women to transform their lives both economically and socially. The testimonies of the women interviewed for this thesis show that their technological skills were a significant part of their identity. Furthermore, middle-class Turkish women used this technology to meet middle class standards whenever they and their families aspired to.

Tiriamojo darbo tikslas - išanalizuoti gyvūnų teises filosofinių ir socialinių diskursų kontekste, pagrindžiant jas kaip antropocentrinės tradicijos kritikos išraišką. Tyrimo eigoje paaiškėjo, kad gyvūnų teisių teorinę koncepciją galima skirti į dvi kryptis: gyvūnų gerovė ir gyvūnų teisės. Gyvūnų gerovės kryptis reikalauja humaniškesnio elgesio su gyvūnais praktikos, tuo tarpu gyvūnų teisių ideologija reikalauja gyvūnams prigimtinių teisių: į gyvybę ir į laisvę. Praktinis šių koncepcijų įgyvendinimas globaliu mastu prasidėjo tik prieš kelis šimtmečius ir šiandiena tebėra aktualus. Vis didėjantis vegetarų, judėjimų už gyvūnų teises pasaulyje skaičius rodo efektyvią tokių tarptautinių organizacijų kaip PETA prevencinę ir švietėjišką misiją kelti žmonių sąmoningumą ir ieškoti gyvūnų išnaudojimo problemų sprendimo būdų. Deja, mūsų šalyje dar trūksta ir pilietinių iniciatyvų, ir valstybinių institucijų noro spręsti šias problemas. Todėl visuomenė vis dar skeptiškai vertina norą gyvūnams suteikti kokias nors teises, nes įsisenėjusi antropocentrinė pasaulio tvarka kai homo sapiens traktuodamas save kaip didžiausią vertybę ir iškeldamas virš visų kitų būtybių pavertė jas savo interesų tenkinimo šaltiniu. Todėl pagarba ne-žmogaus gyvybei, t.y. pripažinus gyvūno pagrindines prigimtines teises yra suspenduojamas žmogaus veiklos laukas ir gyvūnų eksploatacija trukusi ištisus amžius pripažįstama kaip neteisinga ir nemorali. / The purpose of this work is to analyze the rights of animals in the context of philosophical and sociological discussions and discourses, justifying these rights as an aspect of traditional anthropocentric critique. Research divides the theoretical concept of the rights of animals into two aspects: the “welfare of animals” and the “rights of animals”. The “welfare of animals” requires humane treatment of animals while the “rights of animals” are endowed at birth – to live and to be free. The practice of these two aspects globally started just a few centuries ago and is still relevant today. An increase in the number of vegetarians and the number of animal rights groups show the effectiveness of organizations such as PETA in their mission to educate, prevent animal cruelty, increase awareness, and to search for solutions against animal exploitation. Unfortunately, in our country there is still of shortage of initiative from citizens and willingness from government institutions to resolve animal exploitation issues. Society for the most part is still both skeptical and uncaring if animals have rights because of an ingrained anthropocentric hierarchical view where Homo sapiens esteem themselves with the highest value and raise themselves above other creatures rendering them merely as a resource to fulfill their needs. The honoring of all species with equal value would result in acknowledging animal rights endowed at birth. This in turn must call for a cessation of animal... [to full text]

Despite most educated people now accepting Darwinian explanations for human physical evolution, many of these same people remain reluctant to accept similar accounts of human behavioural or cognitive evolution. Leftists in particular often assume that our evolutionary history now has little bearing on modern human social behaviour, and that cultural processes have taken over from the biological imperatives at work elsewhere in nature. The leftist view of human nature still largely reflects that of Karl Marx, who believed that our nature is moulded solely by prevailing social and cultural conditions, and that, moreover, our nature can be completely changed by totally changing society. Ethical philosopher Peter Singer challenges this leftist view, arguing that the left must replace its non-Darwinian view of an infinitely malleable human nature with the more accurate scientific account now made possible by modern Darwinian evolutionary science. Darwinism, Singer suggests, could then be used as a source of new ideas and new approaches that could revive and revitalise the egalitarian left. This thesis defends and develops Singer’s arguments for a Darwinian left. It shows that much modern leftist opposition to evolutionary theory is misguided, and that Darwinism does not necessarily have the egregious political implications so often assumed by the egalitarian left – even in such controversial areas as possible ‘biological’ differences between the sexes or between different human populations.

The Atiyah-Singer index theorem, the Euler number, and the Hirzebruch signature are derived via the supersymmetric path integral. Concisely, the supersymmetric path integral is a combination of a bosonic and a femionic path integral. The action in the supersymmetric path integral includes here bosonic, fermionic- and isospin fields (backgroundfields), where the cross terms in the Lagrangian are nicely eliminated due to scaling of the fields and using techniques from spontaneous breaking of supersymmetry (that give rise to a mechanism, analogous to the Higgs-mechanism, but here regarding the so called superparticles instead).  Thus, the supersymmetric path integral is a product of three pathintegrals over the three given fields, respectively, that can be evaluated exactly by means of Gaussian integrals. The closely related Witten index is a measure of the failure of spontaneous breaking of supersymmetry. In addition, the basic concepts of supersymmetry breaking are reviewed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 357-367 ).

Orientador: Prof. Walter Menon / Dissertaçao (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Humanas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Filosofia. Defesa: Curitiba, 02/08/2017 / Inclui referências : f. 128-131 / Resumo: Analisamos neste trabalho a nova abordagem que Peter Singer faz de temas éticos, com ênfase na ética prática, a partir da crítica que este filósofo faz ao que ele chama de "ética da sacralidade da vida". A expressão quer nominar uma maneira de pensar a ética, a qual se fundamenta em uma concepção de valor incondicionado da vida humana, concepção esta, por sua vez, oriunda das raízes judaico-cristãs de nossa civilização, e baseada na noção de "especismo", conceito-chave para se entender o pensamento do autor. Este conceito é analisado e criticado, de forma a possibilitar uma compreensão da posição de Singer em rediscutir a matriz antropocêntrica da ética, criando condições para, por um lado, incluir os animais não-humanos no âmbito das preocupações éticas e, por outro, extrair as consequências para a elaboração de novos referenciais para tratar temas éticos, tanto os tratados no âmbito da bioética, como extrapolando essa área. Palavras-chave: Ética Prática, bioética, utilitarismo, especismo, sacralidade da vida, eutanásia, aborto, suicídio. / Abstract: We analyze in this work the new approach that Peter Singer makes of ethical themes, with an emphasis on practical ethics, from the criticism that this philosopher makes to what he calls the "ethics of the sacredness of life". The expression wants to nominate a way of thinking ethics, which is based on a conception of unconditioned value of human life, which in turn comes from the Judeo-Christian roots of our civilization, and based on the notion of "speciesism", a keyword for understanding the author's thinking. This concept is analyzed and criticized in order to allow an understanding of Singer's position in rediscussing the anthropocentric matrix of ethics, creating the conditions for, on the one hand, to include nonhuman animals in the context of ethical concerns and, on the other hand, to extract the consequences for the elaboration of new references to deal with ethical issues, both in the field of bioethics, and in extrapolating this area. Keywords: Practical Ethics, bioethics, utilitarianism, speciesism, sacredness of life, euthanasia, abortion, suicide.

abstract: The purpose of this research paper is to discuss John Carter's Cantata, the musical development of this composition, and provide a brief history of this African American musician and composer. Presently, there exists very little research regarding Carter's life and compositions. From a musician's perspective, this paper discusses the challenges of singing and performing the Cantata for future performers and provides a reference for their preparation. This project also examines John Carter's musical style and analyzes the structure of the Cantata. African-American folk songs were an inspiration to Carter's compositions, especially this particular work. As an African-American, his life and background played a role in his inspiration of composition. With borrowed music, he reveals a basic truth about this period of American history; how the lives of slaves influenced in the development of this particular genre. Additionally, John Carter's style of composition is examined, including the application of jazz and modal scales in his Cantata. Performance practice is examined for both the singer and pianist in a way that best represents the composer's original and unique intent. From vocal safety to breath control, a singer may find several challenges when performing this eclectic piece. This paper provides a guide for singers. A brief overview of the pianist's role in the Cantata is also included. Characteristic words of the African-American vernacular found in Carter's Cantata are briefly discussed and identified (i.e. "them" vs. "dem"). It is essential that any performer, both beginning and advanced, should have a proper understanding of the concepts that Carter had so carefully crafted. This paper endeavors to provide a deeper sense of understanding to what Carter had intended for both the performer and the listener. / Dissertation/Thesis / D.M.A. Music 2012