Formulations of children＇s rights rest on assumptions about the nature of childhood yet conceptions of childhood are not stable across time and space. Such conceptions can be understood as placing different emphases ...Formulations of children＇s rights rest on assumptions about the nature of childhood yet conceptions of childhood are not stable across time and space. Such conceptions can be understood as placing different emphases among three different factors： the child as subservient to parents and ancestors （Child 1）, as a young person requiring special protection and having characteristics distinct from adults （Child 2） and as a novice （Child 3）. Different social arrangements place relatively different emphases on these three factors in their overall conceptions of childhood. Adopting the distinction between Will and Interest rights （Archard 2002）, the paper considers how an emphasis on Child 1, 2 or 3 presupposes and demands a distinctive consideration of children＇s rights. The argument concludes with a reflection on how children＇s rights might be construed if the nature of adulthood is problematised alongside that of childhood. In this case, capabilities （as means to enable functionings） may prove a more fruitful concept than rights （as actual or possible existential conditions）.展开更多
This article presents four (4) additions to a book on the brain’s OS published by SciRP in 2015 [1]. It is a kind of appendix to the book. Some familiarity with the earlier book is presupposed. The book itself propos...This article presents four (4) additions to a book on the brain’s OS published by SciRP in 2015 [1]. It is a kind of appendix to the book. Some familiarity with the earlier book is presupposed. The book itself proposes a complete physical and mathematical blueprint of the brain’s OS. A first addition to the book (see Chapters 5 to 10 below) concerns the relation between the afore-mentioned blueprint and the more than 2000-year-old so-called fundamental laws of thought of logic and philosophy, which came to be viewed as being three (3) in number, namely the laws of 1) Identity, 2) Contradiction, and 3) the Excluded Middle. The blueprint and the laws cannot both be the final foundation of the brain’s OS. The design of the present paper is to interpret the laws in strictly mathematical terms in light of the blueprint. This addition constitutes the bulk of the present article. Chapters 5 to 8 set the stage. Chapters 9 and 10 present a detailed mathematical analysis of the laws. A second addition to the book (Chapter 11) concerns the distinction between the laws and the axioms of the brain’s OS. Laws are part of physics. Axioms are part of mathematics. Since the theory of the brain’s OS involves both physics and mathematics, it exhibits both laws and axioms. A third addition (Chapter 12) to the book involves an additional flavor of digitality in the brain’s OS. In the book, there are five (5). But brain chemistry requires a sixth. It will be called Existence Digitality. A fourth addition (Chapter 13) concerns reflections on the role of imagination in theories of physics in light of the ignorance of deeper causes. Chapters 1 to 4 present preliminary matter, for the most part a brief survey of general concepts derived from what is in the book [1]. Some historical notes are gathered at the end in Chapter 14.展开更多
文摘Formulations of children＇s rights rest on assumptions about the nature of childhood yet conceptions of childhood are not stable across time and space. Such conceptions can be understood as placing different emphases among three different factors： the child as subservient to parents and ancestors （Child 1）, as a young person requiring special protection and having characteristics distinct from adults （Child 2） and as a novice （Child 3）. Different social arrangements place relatively different emphases on these three factors in their overall conceptions of childhood. Adopting the distinction between Will and Interest rights （Archard 2002）, the paper considers how an emphasis on Child 1, 2 or 3 presupposes and demands a distinctive consideration of children＇s rights. The argument concludes with a reflection on how children＇s rights might be construed if the nature of adulthood is problematised alongside that of childhood. In this case, capabilities （as means to enable functionings） may prove a more fruitful concept than rights （as actual or possible existential conditions）.
文摘This article presents four (4) additions to a book on the brain’s OS published by SciRP in 2015 [1]. It is a kind of appendix to the book. Some familiarity with the earlier book is presupposed. The book itself proposes a complete physical and mathematical blueprint of the brain’s OS. A first addition to the book (see Chapters 5 to 10 below) concerns the relation between the afore-mentioned blueprint and the more than 2000-year-old so-called fundamental laws of thought of logic and philosophy, which came to be viewed as being three (3) in number, namely the laws of 1) Identity, 2) Contradiction, and 3) the Excluded Middle. The blueprint and the laws cannot both be the final foundation of the brain’s OS. The design of the present paper is to interpret the laws in strictly mathematical terms in light of the blueprint. This addition constitutes the bulk of the present article. Chapters 5 to 8 set the stage. Chapters 9 and 10 present a detailed mathematical analysis of the laws. A second addition to the book (Chapter 11) concerns the distinction between the laws and the axioms of the brain’s OS. Laws are part of physics. Axioms are part of mathematics. Since the theory of the brain’s OS involves both physics and mathematics, it exhibits both laws and axioms. A third addition (Chapter 12) to the book involves an additional flavor of digitality in the brain’s OS. In the book, there are five (5). But brain chemistry requires a sixth. It will be called Existence Digitality. A fourth addition (Chapter 13) concerns reflections on the role of imagination in theories of physics in light of the ignorance of deeper causes. Chapters 1 to 4 present preliminary matter, for the most part a brief survey of general concepts derived from what is in the book [1]. Some historical notes are gathered at the end in Chapter 14.
