A bug's life: change and transformation in early modern China

Chanting wasps and shape-shifting worms were all in a day's work for sixteenth-century Chinese naturalists such as Li Shizhen (1518-1593). In an effort to understand the metamorphoses of both nature and the human body, he and other early modern Chinese scholars looked towards tiny creatures like roundworms, lice and demon bugs. For them, such animals could reveal the most intimate secrets of the universe.     

Against the moral Turing test: accountable design and the moral reasoning of autonomous systems

This paper argues against the moral Turing test (MTT) as a framework for evaluating the moral performance of autonomous systems. Though the term has been carefully introduced, considered, and cautioned about in previous discussions (Allen et al. in J Exp Theor Artif Intell 12(3):251–261, 2000; Allen and Wallach 2009), it has lingered on as a touchstone for developing computational approaches to moral reasoning (Gerdes and Øhrstrøm in J Inf Commun Ethics Soc 13(2):98–109, 2015). While these efforts have not led to the detailed development of an MTT, they nonetheless retain the idea to discuss what kinds of action and reasoning should be demanded of autonomous systems. We explore the flawed basis of an MTT in imitation, even one based on scenarios of morally accountable actions. MTT-based evaluations are vulnerable to deception, inadequate reasoning, and inferior moral performance vis a vis a system’s capabilities. We propose verification—which demands the design of transparent, accountable processes of reasoning that reliably prefigure the performance of autonomous systems—serves as a superior framework for both designer and system alike. As autonomous social robots in particular take on an increasing range of critical roles within society, we conclude that verification offers an essential, albeit challenging, moral measure of their design and performance.     

服务企业顾客信任及其驱动因素探析

顾客信任是企业成功开展关系营销的关键。在深入分析顾客信任内涵的基础上,探讨了影响顾客信任的直接因素和间接因素,并提出了在当前信任消费经济背景下的服务企业开展信任营销的具体对策,旨在为服务企业提供具有指导意义的借鉴。     

高速成长企业的内部信任发展及其与控制的关系

企业的成长往往伴随着组织规模的扩张,而组织规模的急剧扩张会导致组织内部信任的稀释。为弥补与组织规模扩张相伴随的信任的不足,组织会试图加强各种正式制度的控制,而各种正式控制的增加又往往导致更严重的不信任状态,这是一种组织成长的信任悖论。本文利用心理学、社会学和经济学的研究成果,对信任的概念进行了辨析,剖析了关于信任建立的几种不同理论,在此基础上,对组织内信任与控制的关系进行分析,认为信任与控制既存在着替代关系,也存在着互补关系,并进而提出了一个组织内信任关系发展的动态模型。     

Technical change and the industrial district: The role of interfirm relations in the growth and transformation of ceramic tile production in Italy

This paper considers two aspects of technical change in the ceramic tile industry in Italy: firstly, the process of invention, adoption and diffusion of new techniques in the industry; secondly, the impact of forces of a technical nature in shaping the industrial structure.The process of technical change is examined in the light of the interrelationships between firms and their proximity. These are crucial elements characterizing an “industrial district”, whose boundaries go beyond the industry defined on a product basis. The industrial district is adopted as unit of analysis of the process of technical change. Moreover, economic, social and institutional features are considered. In this context the historical developments of new techniques are discussed in terms of the constraints to the established position of the firm at a particular time.Among the determinants of the ceramic tile industrial structure, economies of scale have had a minor role. The pattern of vertical disintegration we observe in the industry is - instead - closely related to the technical developments in the industry through the effects of technical change on the product and process specialization of the production units operating in the industrial district.     

The local impact of global climate change: reporting on landscape transformation and threatened identity in the English regional newspaper press

This paper contributes to extant understandings of media representations of climate change by examining the role of the English regional newspaper press in the transformation and dissemination of climate change discourse. Unlike previous accounts, this paper contends that such newspapers shape public understandings of climate change in ways that have yet to be adequately charted. With this in mind, this paper examines the ways in which global climate change is translated into a locally relevant phenomenon. That is, it focuses on its "domestication." Although we acknowledge that there are a number of ways in which this process occurs, specific attention is drawn to stories that highlight the destruction of local landscape features, the transformation of important habitats, and the arrival of "alien" species. The broader significance of such stories is considered in relation to long-standing debates concerning the importance of landscape to notions of national and regional identity.     

真与善的协调:爱因斯坦的榜样

当今世界几乎每个人都在倾听科学技术前进的脚步声.然而却有两种极端的回应,一部分人欢呼,而另一部分人诅咒.有些欢呼者似乎把科学技术看作了"菩萨",而有些诅咒者又好象把科学技术视为"魔鬼".有些人担心科学会在一片欢呼声中失落,而有些人又为科学无限制的发展忧虑.对待科学的这两种截然相反的态度,根源于科学是否带给人类幸福问题上的分歧.因为有一种伦理学的"善"的概念是由幸福定义的,所以深入的理论讨论必然要追溯到真与善的关系.也就是说.科学与幸福的问题可以转换为科学理性与道德理想的关系问题进行讨论.     

The categorical imperative and the ethics of trust

Trust can be understood as a precondition for a well-functioning society or as a way to handle complexities of living in a risk society, but also as a fundamental aspect of human morality. Interactions on the Internet pose some new challenges to issues of trust, especially connected to disembodiedness. Mistrust may be an important obstacle to Internet use, which is problematic as the Internet becomes a significant arena for political, social and commercial activities necessary for full participation in a liberal democracy. The Categorical Imperative lifts up trust as a fundamental component of human ethical virtues – first of all, because deception and coercion, the antitheses of trust, cannot be universalized. Mistrust is, according to Kant, a natural component of human nature, as we are social beings dependent on recognition by others but also prone to deceiving others. Only in true friendships can this tendency be overcome and give room for unconditional trust. Still we can argue that Kant must hold that trustworthy behaviour as well as trust in others is obligatory, as expressions of respect for humanity. The Kantian approach integrates political and ethical aspects of trust, showing that protecting the external activities of citizens is required in order to act morally. This means that security measures, combined with specific regulations are important preconditions for building online trust, providing an environment enabling people to act morally and for trust-based relationships.     

基于信任的企业学习和创新能力分析

在经济全球化背景下,企业的竞争力取决于其学习和创新能力的不断提升,而在这种能力的提升中,起关键作用的是信息和知识的交流和扩散。信任是信息交流和知识扩散的粘合剂和催化剂,而正向的企业文化则是信任建立和维持的制度和文化保障。本文通过分析264份企业问卷,得出了类似结论。     

The impact of trust and changes in trust: A national comparison of individual adoptions of information and communication technologies and related phenomenon

Trust has been shown to play an important role in the adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) on an individual and firm level, but has received relatively little attention on a national level. In this paper we examine the impact of generalized trust, as measured by the World Value Survey, on the adoption of ICT products and related phenomena (e.g., such issues as Telecommuting and services such as E-Government Readiness), at a national level, while controlling for a nation's wealth. Because national trust levels having changed over time, we also examine how the rate of change in trust has impacted the adoption of ICT and ICT related phenomenon. Our findings provide strong empirical support for the argument that trust impacts national level adoption. The results are robust as we consider multiple variables and data sources. We also show that changes in trust rates are generally associated with corresponding changes in ICT adoptions.     

科学活动中真与善的价值融合

真与善是科学的两种固有属性。在科学活动中,要将真与善两种价值融合起来。科学活动中真与善的融合就是科学文化和人文文化的融合,科学文化追求真理,人文文化追求终极关怀。在实现两者融合的过程中,我们要加强科技工作者的道德意识,完善科技伦理规范,加强科技立法。     

传统产业高技术化过程的替代性逻辑——以车用柴油机技术进步为例

作为转变经济发展方式的重要组成部分,传统产业转型升级的一个基本途径是将高技术成果引入传统产业,即实现传统产业的高技术化.我国学术与政策主流对这一问题的基本观点是以高新技术改造传统产业,通过信息化手段实现装备升级.本文以车用柴油机工业过去四十年的技术进步为例,说明上述主流观点的片面性.本文认为,与被动地等待装备升级相比,自主的产品开发使传统产业的技术进步具有了充分的内生性特征和渐进性特征,并因此成为传统产业高技术化的主要方式和关键环节.基于这一理论立场,文章最后归纳了我国传统产业高技术化面临的形势及相关政策启示.     

科学中信任的基础

在当代认识论中,信任在科学中的作用,已经不存在实质性的争议。问题只在于:这种在科学中对他人的信任应该建立在先验原则基础上,还是经验基础上?本文正是通过对这个问题的探讨以求揭示科学中信任问题的实质。     

Black and white transparency: contradictions of a moral metaphor

Transparency has evolved from an individual, dangerous power in Plato to a desirable, collective property in the contemporary world. This paper intends to give a brief account of this long and somehow surprising path and extract some interesting consequences for economic and political activities, as well as for information technologies. Six literary masterpieces are used to highlight the contradictions and dangers entailed by the abuse of the fascinating metaphor of transparency. In the end, what is usually intended when demanding transparency from a corporation, a firm or a state is more (or more accessible) information about it, i.e., understandable and abundant black and white data. This means reporting, picturing, producing material, becoming apparent, which is precisely the contrary of being transparent. We don’t want to look through, but to look directly at. The question, then, is not transparency, but opacity: what do we need and want to see, and how is this going to be produced?     

Manager communication and workplace trust: Understanding manager and employee perceptions in the e-world

Today's business environment is populated with individuals who are digitally connected to clients, contractors, managers, and employees. Traditionally, the ways and behaviors of managers had developed and thrived within face-to-face work environments, but as computer-mediated technologies continue to change the boundaries of the business community, permit alternative worksites to increase, and the traditional workday to disappear, the role of the manager has changed. This article focuses on the communication behaviors between managers and their employees, and how these behaviors have changed as digital communication methods have become mainstream within organizations today. The variables of interest are manager communication and workplace trust. The intended outcome is to uncover the expectations that have yet to be agreed upon within the manager–employee e-relationship.     

Beyond the skin bag: on the moral responsibility of extended agencies

The growing prominence of computers in contemporary life, often seemingly with minds of their own, invites rethinking the question of moral responsibility. If the moral responsibility for an act lies with the subject that carried it out, it follows that different concepts of the subject generate different views of moral responsibility. Some recent theorists have argued that actions are produced by composite, fluid subjects understood as extended agencies (cyborgs, actor networks). This view of the subject contrasts with methodological individualism: the idea that actions are produced only by human individuals. This essay compares two views of responsibility: moral individualism (the ethical twin of methodological individualism), and joint responsibility (associated with extended agency theory). It develops a view of what joint responsibility might look like, and considers the advantages it might bring relative to moral individualism as well as the objections that are sure to be raised against it.