Dlittle30

LATEST ARTICLES ( 866 )

• Asian Conference on the Philosophy of the Social Sciences

  

  photo: Tianjin, ChinaA group of philosophers of social science convened in Tianjin, China, at Nankai University in June to consider some of the ways that the... Read more

  Posted on 09 June 2019 SOCIETY

• Auditing FEMA

  

  Crucial to improving an organization's performance is being able to obtain honest and detailed assessments of its functioning, in normal times and in... Read more

  Posted on 09 June 2019 SOCIETY

• The 737 MAX Disaster as an Organizational Failure

  

  The topic of the organizational causes of technology failure comes up frequently in Understanding Society. The tragic crashes of two Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in... Read more

  Posted on 25 May 2019 SOCIETY

• A Plan for Philosophy of Social Science Circa 1976

  

  image: Imre LakatosMy Ph.D. dissertation in philosophy was written between 1974 and 1977 and was accepted in 1977. The topic was Marx's theory of science as... Read more

  Posted on 13 May 2019 SOCIETY

• My Program of Research, Circa 1976

  

  image: philosopher at workMy Ph.D. dissertation in philosophy was written between 1974 and 1977 and was accepted in 1977. The topic was Marx's theory of... Read more

  Posted on 11 May 2019 SOCIETY

• Theorizing About Organizations

  

  The fields of organizational studies and organizational sociology originated in the early twentieth century but flourished in the post-war period. This makes a... Read more

  Posted on 01 May 2019 SOCIETY

• Retelling US History

  

  images: Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln (from Jill Lepore, These Truths)People who mostly learned American history through their high school education... Read more

  Posted on 18 April 2019 SOCIETY

• Organizations and Dysfunction

  

  A recurring theme in recent months in Understanding Society is organizational dysfunction and the organizational causes of technology failure. Read more

  Posted on 03 April 2019 SOCIETY

• Ethical Disasters

  

  Many examples of technical disasters have been provided in Understanding Society, along with efforts to understand the systemic dysfunctions that contributed... Read more

  Posted on 01 April 2019 SOCIETY

• Development Ethnography and the Life of the Poor

  

  Indian economists V. K. Ramachandran and Madhura Swaminathan have edited a highly interesting volume, Telling the Truth, Taking Sides: Essays for N. Read more

  Posted on 01 April 2019 SOCIETY

• Guest Post: VK Ramachandran on Details of Life as a Day Laborer in India

  

  [V. K. Ramachandran was a Professor of Economics at the Indian Statistical Institute, and is at present vice chairman of the State Planning Board of the state o... Read more

  Posted on 28 March 2019 SOCIETY

• Social Ontology of Government

  

  I am currently writing a book on the topic of the "social ontology of government". My goal is to provide a short treatment of the social mechanisms and... Read more

  Posted on 28 March 2019 SOCIETY

• Regulatory Failure and the 737 MAX Disasters

  

  The recent crashes of two Boeing 737 MAX aircraft raise questions about the safety certification process through which this modified airframe was certified for... Read more

  Posted on 27 March 2019 SOCIETY

• Nuclear Power Plant Siting Decisions

  

  Readers may be skeptical about the practical importance of the topic of nuclear power plant siting decisions, since very few new nuclear plants have been... Read more

  Posted on 25 March 2019 SOCIETY

• Philosophy of Technology?

  

  Is there such a thing as “philosophy of technology”? Is there a “philosophy of cooking” or a “philosophy of architecture”? All of these are practical... Read more

  Posted on 21 March 2019 SOCIETY

• Conflicts of Interest

  

  The possibility or likelihood of conflict of interest is present in virtually all professions and occupations. We expect a researcher, a physician, or a... Read more

  Posted on 12 March 2019 SOCIETY

• The Morandi Bridge Collapse and Regulatory Capture

  

  Lower image: Eugenio Ceroni and Luca Cozzi, Ponte Morandi - Autopsia di una strageA recurring topic in Understanding Society is the question of the... Read more

  Posted on 06 March 2019 SOCIETY

• Skilled Bodily Capacities

  When philosophers think of action they generally have in mind a combination of intentionality and simple motor movements. "John flips the switch to turn on the... Read more

  Posted on 01 March 2019 SOCIETY

• Bodily Cognition

  

  Traditional cognitive science has been largely organized around the idea of the brain as a computing device and cognitive systems as functionally organized... Read more

  Posted on 23 February 2019 SOCIETY

• Marx's Ideas About Government

  

  Marx had something of a theory of politics and somewhat less of a theory of government. The slogan “the capitalist state serves as the managing committee of... Read more

  Posted on 20 February 2019 SOCIETY