1,720,954 research outputs found
Biotechnology, Human Dignity, and the Limits of Enhancement in African Ethics
No full textAdvancements in biotechnology such as genetic engineering, cognitive enhancements, and
neuroprosthetics unceasingly provoke global discussions on the future of humanity. In relation
to these innovations, there exist two categories of thinkers whose views often shape ethical
considerations. The first is the category of transhumanists, who completely endorse
biotechnological breakthroughs, regarding them as essential measures for transcending the
natural limitations of humans. The second category is that of African ethicists, who are
committed to raising questions as to the moral implications of biotechnology-aided
enhancements. Hinged on African communal values, particularly human integrity, human
dignity, and social harmony, this paper seeks to explore the ethical limits of human
enchantment. Precisely, the paper is aimed at determining whether the augmentation of human
capabilities through biotechnology aligns with African moral values which stress balance,
sacredness of human life, and relational personhood. Adopting a philosophical and qualitative
methodology, as well as conceptual clarification, normative reasoning, analysis, and evaluation
of relevant African philosophical texts, bioethical arguments, and transhumanist literature, the
paper critically considers African communitarian ethics and enhancement-driven frameworks,
with the aim of revealing the areas of convergence and tension. Themes such as moral status,
identity, and socio-cultural implications of enhanced beings in African societies are given
special attention. The ultimate argument of this paper is that while therapeutic applications of
biotechnology may resonate with the African quest to restore human dignity and promote
communal well-being, radical enhancements are at risk of distorting the moral fabric of African
life. Aiming to contextualise global bioethical discourse by situating it in African traditions,
the paper contributes to the growing body of literature. It concludes by proposing an ethically
grounded framework for biotechnological innovation; one that does not disrespect African
notions of personhood and collective flourishing
Decolonisation as a Pathway to African Philosophy
Full text linkThis paper examines decolonisation as a foundational pathway to the emergence and development of African philosophy. It argues that decolonisation should not be conceived merely as the achievement of political independence, but rather as a
comprehensive and ongoing process involving economic, cultural, psychological, and epistemic liberation. By clarifying the concepts of colonisation and decolonisation, the study situates African decolonisation within its historical context and critically analyses its rationale, causes, effects, and persistent challenges. Special attention is given to neocolonialism and internal colonialism as significant impediments to genuine African self-determination. Drawing on the works of Frantz
Fanon, Kwame Nkrumah, Walter Rodney, Kwasi Wiredu, Paulin Hountondji, Henry Odera Oruka, John Mbiti, and other prominent scholars, the paper demonstrates that colonial domination extended beyond political and economic control to the sphere of knowledge production and philosophical expression. It contends that African philosophy can only develop authentically within a decolonised intellectual framework that affirms African rationality, conceptual autonomy, and lived cultural experience, while remaining open to critical intercultural engagement. The paper concludes that decolonisation is not a completed historical event but a continuing philosophical imperative essential for Africa’s intellectual freedom and meaningful participation in global philosophical discourse
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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