Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Humanity'

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras/Inglês e Literatura Correspondente.
Made available in DSpace on 2012-10-20T17:59:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0
A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo principal examinar a relação entre narrador e personagens em dois dos filmes de Stanley Kubrick: 2001: Uma Odisséia no Espaço e Laranja Mecânica. As abordagens diferentes em termos de narração, que são mostrados na análise de ambos os filmes, requerem uma discussão teórica sobre ponto-de-vista, que será baseada principalmente no trabalho de Gérard Genette, Edward Branigan, Seymour Chatman e Sarah Kozloff. Os dois elementos narrativas presentes nos filmes serão analisados junto a sua relação com os personagens. Desta forma, pretende-se que esta pesquisa constitua uma contribuição para as áreas de estudos em literatura e cinema.

This thesis is a discussion of my ideas, struggles and outcomes experienced during the making of my two bodies of work, Devices and Relics. These two bodies of work explore fleeting moments, the intrinsic values of labor and imagination with reference to sedentary living and labor in contemporary American society.

I designed the costumes for Ragtime by Terrance McNally in the McLeod Theatre, Fall Semester 2013 for my thesis production. The musical Ragtime documents the beginning of a century in America where life is full of new possibilities- a time when immigrants are pouring into "the promised land" and the culture and face of American society is changing daily. This musical grips at the heart and soul of the audience because of the messages it instills about hope, possibility, and change at a time when almost anything seems possible. It centers on the lives of one White Anglo Saxon family, the courtship of a high class African American man and his fiancée who dies in the pursuit of justice, and the struggle of a socialist immigrant who wants to make a life suitable for his daughter and himself. I chose to reflect the differences among or across these three groups of people to heighten the message presented in the script. Chapter 1 describes my research and analysis of the musical including initial design ideas and character analysis. Chapters 2 through 4 focus on the process from design, to build, to production. Chapter 5 culminates in my evaluation with self reflection and comments from my committee on the production and process. The Appendices includes character plot, construction and execution paperwork, renderings and production photos.

This document will chronicle the design work of Kevin Dudley at the University of Iowa from August 2013 through the spring of 2016. The images included in this document are representative of the design work for realized productions, large and small scale, and selected explorations in course work. The work represented here includes: drafting, paint elevations, and sketches (both hand and digital). This document will stand as a record my design process and final product used to explore our humanity through theatrical design.

In the opening pages of his work, Dog Years; A Memoir, Mark Doty explains: Love for a wordless creature, once it takes hold, is an enchantment, and the enchanted speak, famously, in private mutterings, cryptic riddles, or gibberish. This is why I shouldn't be writing anything about the two dogs that have been such presences for sixteen years of my life. How on earth could I stand at the requisite distance to say anything that might matter? (1) In this thesis I argue that Doty, among other respected contemporary writers, is saying something that matters when he writes of his relationship with his dogs. Such words and ideas matter much in the genre of creative nonfiction and particularly memoir, they matter as models of narrative craft, and they matter as works that examine the nature of personal trauma in narrative and the importance of connections to the natural world in the healing process. "Lessons in Humanity: A Memoir" appears as a creative work examining the nature of trauma and healing in memoir. The narrative addresses childhood trauma and the effects it has on our adult lives, the recovery from marital abuse between a husband and wife, the impact of a severe health crisis, and the importance of connections to the natural world, particularly dogs, in the healing process.

Shaftesbury believed that the height of virtue was impartial love for all of humanity. But Shaftesbury also harboured grave doubts about our ability to develop such an expansive love. In The Moralists, Shaftesbury addressed this problem. I show that while it may appear on the surface that The Moralists solves the difficulty, it in fact remains unresolved. Shaftesbury may not have been able to reconcile his view of the content of virtue with his view of our motivational psychology.

This article describes the issues of technology impact on our lives. It stresses effect on you all those hours you spend staring at your smartphone, tablet, or computer and what you can do about it.
Дана стаття описує питання впливу технологій на наше життя. У ній підкреслюється ефект на вас тих годин, які ви витрачаєте, дивлячись на ваш смартфон, планшет або комп'ютер, і що ви можете зробити з цим.

Nowadays, economics and ecology became more Global problem over the world, which showing the relationship of Humanity and Ecology which start being a big problem to not using efficiently which bring us to necessity of scarcity ecology, that I will explain in topic about. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/31707

Theological anthropology is charged with providing an understanding of the human. But theological anthropology can exclude people who are cognitively impaired because it has historically upheld reason as the image of God. Recent theology of intellectual disability has bypassed this difficulty by emphasising relationality as the image of God. This approach, however, has the unfortunate consequence that it excludes people with severe low functioning autism, who do not relate to others as persons but as objects. This thesis aims to articulate a theological anthropology which is inclusive of people with severe autism. Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder, the main characteristic of which is difficulty in social interaction. An examination of the Genesis creation story reveals both that God is relational and that human beings were created to live in relationship with God and other humans. This raises the theological question of how we may understand people with severe autism as human persons. Through an investigation of the significance of the incarnation I argue that the best basis for an inclusive anthropology, not dependent on any characteristic or ability, is the vicarious humanity of Christ. This is because Jesus Christ is the only human being who is without sin and the only true image of God. He is therefore able to gift others with both humanity and personhood. The work of the incarnation is completed by the atonement and resurrection. The work of the cross overcomes death and provides the basis for the eschatological healing of autism. This healing is actualised in the resurrection of the dead, when all that was proleptically true of the humanity of autistics will be fully realised. My christological, inclusive theological anthropology provides a strong basis for upholding the dignity and value of all people with severe autism.

History, critical and technical analysis (focused on narrative mechanisms and structural dynamics) of Science Fiction and Artificial Intelligence in the literary genre with the particular stress on two main authors Isaac Asimov and Philip K. Dick.

In five studies, the effects of ingroup’s status on the automatic evaluations of humanity was explored. The Go/No-go association task was used. In Studies 1 and 2, the relation between Northern Italians (higher status group) and Southern Italians (lower status group) was examined. In Study 3, it was manipulated the status of the Italian ingroup and the American outgroup: in two conditions, either attributes of Italian superiority or attributes of American superiority were made salient. In Study 4, the status of minimal groups was manipulated. In Study 5, results of previous studies were replied, using different stimuli. In all the studies, the higher status ingroup was more associated with humanity than the lower status outgroup, that was even dehumanized. In contrast, a privileged human status was not accorded to ingroup in the lower status condition. The effects of infrahumanization and dehumanization seem to be moderated by ingroup’s status.

Fokus för avhandlingen, Att uttrycka det mänskliga: narrativ etik i Nuruddin Farah’s trilogier, är de nio romaner publicerade mellan 1979 och 2011 som tillsammans utgör Nuruddin Farah’s tre trilogier: ”Variations on the Theme of an African Dictatorship,” bestående av Sweet and Sour Milk (1979), Sardines (1981), Close Sesame (1983); “Blood in the Sun,” bestående av Maps (1986), Gifts (1993), Secrets (1998); samt “Past Imperfect,” bestående av Links (2003), Knots (2007), Crossbones (2011). Tematiska och stilistiska skillnader till trots så är dessa trilogier och romaner märkbart sammanhängande i sitt fokus. De är inte bara tydligt förankrade i en somalisk verklighet som spänner över mer än tre decennier – en resa som inbegriper landets skifte från kommunisitstyre, via diktatur, till inbördeskrig, och 2010-talets version med islamistiskt styre och pirater som härjar kustregionen – men dessa romaner pekar genomgående bortom sin tydliga socio-politiska kontext mot djupt etiska, tid- och rumsoberoende frågeställningar: Hur förhåller sig individen till kollektivet? Vilket etiskt ansvar har jaget för den andre? Vad utgör grunden för människans gemensamma varande? Hur bevara sin mänsklighet under omänskliga levnadsförhållanden? Hur göra motstånd i en diktatur utan att bli en del i det maskineri av våld och tyranni man söker bekämpa? Trots det tydligt etiska anslaget så har dessa trilogier nästan uteslutande lästs utifrån sina politiska implikationer. Utan att undervärdera decennier av rikt och varierande kritiskt mottagande så har denna tendens till politiska läsningar ofta genererat förvånansvärt entydiga läsningar av verk kända för sin mångtydighet och komplexitet. Avhandlingen avser därför att påvisa djupet och bredden i Farah’s gestaltningar genom att tydligt belysa hur det etiska gestaltar sig på flera nivåer – tematiskt, berättartekniskt, i mötet mellan läsare och text, samt i föreställningar om författarens moraliska ansvar. Därutöver diskuteras även de etiska dimensionerna av litteraturkritik: vad innebär en etiskt hållen läsemetodik? Arbetets unika bidrag kan formuleras i fyra steg. För det första utgör avhandlingen det ända kända arbete – utöver Fiona F. Moola’s Reading Nuruddin Farah: The Individual, the Novel, and the Idea of Home (2014) – som inbegriper Farah’s alla trilogier, vilket möjliggör mer långtgående och genomgripande analyser än vad som hittills publicerats. Avhandlingens fokus på den senaste trilogin fyller dessutom en viktig lucka i det kritiska mottagandet av Farah’s romaner eftersom väldigt lite publicerats utöver recensioner. Förutom nya läsningar av Farah så utgör min emfas på det etiska i Farah’s etisk-politiska skrivande ett viktigt bidrag till det vidare fält av (afrikansk) (postkolonial) litteraturkritik där man ofta betonat det politiska över det etiska, snarare än att läst dessa två som oskiljaktiga entiteter. Trots att anledningarna till politiska läsningar av Farah’s trilogier kan härledas såväl till verkens starkt politiska nerv som författarens egna uttalanden i intervjuer och artiklar, så pekar privilegieringen av det politiska framför det etiska på en mer generell tendens inom postkolonial kritik att inrymma det etiska under det politiska. Trots att kopplingen mellan fiktion, politik och författaransvar inte kan avfärdas, hävdar jag i denna avhandling att ett ensidigt politisk angreppssätt hotar att såväl underskatta komplexiteten i romanernas gestaltningar, som att reducera konceptuellt vad författare som Farah faktiskt åstadkommer. För det andra så vidgar avhandlingen befintlig forskning kring det etiska i Farah’s romaner genom att inte endast fokusera på tematik och berättartekniska grepp, men också diskutera läsandet och skrivandet – det som i avhandlingen beskrivs som fyra sammanlänkande ”ethical moments of the told, the telling, the act of writing, the act of reading.” Utan att undervärdera tidgare kritiska läsningar så tycks många diskussioner kring Farah’s trilogier fokusera författarens centralitet på ett vis som emellanåt tar fokus från i övrigt tankeväckande läsningar av tematik och narrativa strategier. Min högst textcentrerade utgångspunkt visar som kontrast att läsningen av Farah’s trilogier genererar spörsmål som kräver ett mer holistiskt perspektiv, inte minst tydliga diskussioner kring den etiska dialog som uppstår i mötet mellan läsare och text. Förutom att bidra till befintlig forskning på Farah’s författarskap, så bidrar avhandlingens holistiska inställning till narrativ etik med fem sammanlänkade perspektiv till det vidare fältet av etisk litteraturkritik. Dels beror detta på det faktum att en sådan modell förutsätter användandet av multipla tolkningsmodeller; i mitt fall kontinental filosofi, postkolonial teori, samt narratologiska teorier kring läsande och mottagande. Denna interdisciplinära modell för narrativ etik är dock inte begränsad till min specifika sammansättning utan kan fungera som modell även för andra litteraturforskare, med alternativa kombinationer av tänkare och teoretiker. Till sist; trots att det inte varit ett uttalat mål från projektets början så har arbetet med det etiska i Farah’s trilogier generarat många funderingar kring den egna läsningen som efterhand lett till formulering av nya narratologiska perspektiv. Här utgör mötet mellan text och läsare en central del i avhandlingen. Genom att betona de etiska elementen i mötet mellan text och läsare närmar jag mig spörsmål som i förlängningen kan ses som byggstenar i en mera etiskt hållen läsemetodik. I stället för att tolka ”störande” element som exempel på estetiska brister, alternativt brister i författarens moraliska ansvarstagande (!) så menar jag att de aspekter som irriterar läsaren, försvårar eller rent av omöjliggör förståelse mycket väl kan vara de ting i texten som tvingar läsaren till en mera engagerad och därmed etiskt mer välgrundad läsning. Att läsa textens ”krux” i termer av ”ethical resource” utgör ett viktigt bidrag till såväl litteratur-filosofisk som narratologisk litteraturforskning, eftersom man ofta hamnat i endera värderande samtal kring ”god litteratur” eller i resonemang kring vilka narrativa element/strategier som väcker läsarens engagemang, empati, etc – och vilka som inte gör det.
This study explores the multiple ethical dimensions of the nine novels published between 1979 and 2011 that together constitute Nuruddin Farah’s three trilogies Variations on the Theme of an African Dictatorship, including Sweet and Sour Milk (1979), Sardines (1981), and Close Sesame (1983); Blood in the Sun, including Maps (1986), Gifts (1993), and Secrets (1998); and Past Imperfect, including Links (2003), Knots (2007), and Crossbones (2011). For all that separate these trilogies and novels thematically and stylistically, they are remarkably consistent in their enquiry. While firmly rooted in the geo-political particulars of Somalia, these novels stage human experience in ways that cut across time and place, inviting the reader to ponder a plethora of questions of profoundly ethical import: How can one remain human in the face of extreme adversities? How can one resist oppression in all its forms without becoming a perpetrator of that which one seeks to resist? What role may violence or non-violence have in seeking to see justice done? How far does responsibility for the other reach? How may dehumanizing forces be resisted in ways that preserve and even restore human dignity? By privileging the ethical in Farah’s ethico-political writing, the study draws attention to voices and perspectives that have gone unnoticed in previous readings, where political perspectives have dominated. Not only does a sustained analytical focus on how human dignity is valued, protected, preserved and even restored call for re-assessments of concepts such as ‘freedom,’ ‘resistance,’ and ‘moral responsibility.’ but the thesis’ highly text-centered approach has in the process of writing proved that Farah’s trilogies generate questions that demand a fuller exploration than what has hitherto been possible with a more limited emphasis on themes and narrative strategies. The use of a model in which five ‘ethical moments’ are explored thus allows for more extensive conclusions to be drawn, both regarding the ethics emerging in the trilogies themselves (‘ethics of the told,’ ‘ethics of telling’ and ‘ethics of writing’), in reading practices and critical reception (‘ethics of reading’), and my own research practice (‘ethics of method’). Ultimately, the study’s explorations of themes, narrative strategies, author’s responsibilities and critical response elucidate how Farah’s trilogies escape any narrow definition of what (African) (postcolonial) literature is or should be. By privileging the ethical trajectory – without losing sight of the strong political impetus of Farah’s writing – significant stories and perspectives surface that are no less political in their outlook than more conventional readings of “resistance writing.” By drawing on continental philosophy (Lévinas, Cavarero and Butler), narrative theory and postcolonial studies, this study brings fresh perspectives to bear on both familiar and less well-known material, while also contributing to new methodological frameworks within narrative ethics and new theoretical perspectives within narrative theory, not least as reflected in the final chapter’s discussion of imaginative challenges.

This experimental study examined whether a humanitarian and a dominant interviewing style, respectively, had any causal effect on 146 interviewees’ memory performance, as well as the interviewees’ psychological well-being. Independent-samples t-tests showed that participants interviewed in a humanitarian style reported a larger amount of information altogether, including, as defined, more peripheral and central information, compared to those interviewed in a dominant style. The amount of false reported information was statistically invariable regardless of interviewing style. A mixed between-within analysis of variance showed an interaction effect between the interviewing style and the interviewees’ anxiety level before and after interview, thus, partly supporting the hypothesis that a humanitarian interviewing style promotes greater psychological well-being among interviewees. Factors influencing the results are discussed, including the main implications, which are that a humanitarian interviewing style promotes rapport building and provides the interviewees with adequate time to find retrieval paths and cues to memories.

The essay consists of three chapters. Chapter One first deals with the hierarchy in Cranford and within the ladies´ community. The basis of rank is then developed. The second part of Chapter One explores what behaviour and manners are considered “genteel” or “vulgar”. In Chapter Two, the Cranford views on gentility are put to the test and in Chapter Three the views on hierarchy.

This Thesis reconsiders the prospects for an approach to global justice centring on the proposal that every human being should possess a certain bundle of goods, which would include certain members of a distinctive category: the category of capabilities. My overall aim is to present a clarified and well-developed framework, within which such claims can be made. To do this, I visit a number of regions of normative and metanormative theorising. I begin by introducing the motivations for the capability approach, and clarifying some of its most distinctive features. Next, I focus on Martha Nussbaum's version of the approach, and identify several problems therein. The most important concerns epistemology, and especially the challenges that constructivist theories pose. The middle part of the Thesis presents an alternative, based on the work of John McDowell, which I argue has superior prospects. Then, I turn to two further problems: that of making sense of the universalistic aspirations of cosmopolitanism, and that of integrating the microscopic prescriptions of ethics with the macroscopic analyses of political philosophy. Using the Aristotelian interpretation of its core framework that I have developed, I conclude that the capability approach can provide compelling answers to important questions about global justice.

This thesis brings the concept of humanitarianism sharply into focus within the discourse of international political theory. Existing literature examines humanitarianism obliquely, via debates on military humanitarian intervention or human rights, resulting in an impoverished account of a vital idea. Meanwhile, a vibrant discussion among professional humanitarians has recently questioned the nature of their endeavour, along lines that clearly fit the remit of international political theory. Bringing together these two discussions in the course of its critical analysis, the thesis argues that humanitarianism should be conceptualised as a political context in which we articulate, negotiate and defend our understandings of common humanity. Central to this politics are the ways in which we react to and conceptualise human suffering, through humanitarian crises that are often "crises of humanity". In sparking concern and mobilising responses to suffering, the affective underpinnings of the humanitarian impulse create a complex and shifting backdrop to extensions of solidarity and humanitarian action. At the heart of this action is the idea of rescue, a crucial "presumptive occasion" of our moral life. But an important part of humanitarian action consists in the efforts to institutionalise the humanitarian impulse. In this sense human rights and projects of global justice represent important crystallisations of humanitarian concern, yet neither can fully capture the more contingent workings of the humanitarian impulse. What emerges is an understanding of humanitarianism as a broad discussion, central to the identity of contemporary liberal international political theory, but with a scope best gleaned not from cosmopolitan accounts, but from a more fluid internationalist tradition of thought. The thesis concludes that the importance of this theoretical approach will be borne out by the complex and far-reaching practical challenges that humanitarianism is set to confront over coming decades, not least the "crisis of humanity" threatened by climate change.

This thesis is a study of international 'core crimes', namely, crimes against humanity, genocide, war crimes, and crimes against peace. The aim of this work is to demonstrate that all these crimes share striking similarities, not only in respect of their qualifying elements, but also as regards the legal regime of individual responsibility attached to them. While focusing on these similar features, this thesis will highlight the defects of the rules applicable to genocide, war crimes and crimes against peace respectively, defects which might ultimately impede effective punishment of these particular crimes. In order to avoid such a risk, it is here submitted that, in fact, all these crimes should be considered as crimes against humanity. Such a re-qualification, it is argued, would indeed have the advantage of securing appropriate prosecution for these most heinous crimes thanks to the wider scope of application of the concept of 'crimes against humanity'. The purpose of this work is certainly not to erase the existence of different international crimes from the legal sphere, as it does not presuppose that the definitions of international crimes are malleable, not that the notion of 'crimes against humanity' is a stretchable one. Rather, it is merely to re-qualify the 'core crimes' against international law as 'crimes against humanity', notion which would then encompass a wider array of offences, all of which overlap considerably. This proposal is based on the assumption that prosecutions for international crimes have remained much too rare, and that, accordingly change and improvement are necessary. The re-qualification of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against peace as crimes against humanity could be a first step towards a better respect of international legal norms.

This thesis analyzes the three texts forming the so-called „Fantastic trilogy‟ by Tommaso Landolfi: La pietra lunare (1939), Racconto d’autunno (1947) and Cancroregina (1950), in the light of the cultural and historical environment in which they were produced. I argue that these novellas incorporate and obliquely problematize specific tensions of the period running from Racial Laws (1938) and the Pact of Steel (1939) to post-war reconstruction. Building on recent scholarship on the subversive role of the Fantastic, the study provides a more comprehensive view of Landolfi‟s early production and challenges accepted views on his Fantastic as exclusively ironical, intellectual and free-play. This thesis also investigates the sources through which Landolfi delineates this oblique form of socio-political critique. Whereas scholarship in the past has widely recognized that Landolfi draws inspiration from nineteenth-century French, Russian and German classics in the genre of Gothic and Fantastic fiction, this contribution draws attention to the way Landolfi negotiates this traditional repertoire through input from both Italy‟s „high‟ literary tradition (Dante, Leopardi, Manzoni, D‟Annunzio), Italian folklore and other non-literary sources (i.e. occultism and psychiatry). This thesis considers Landolfi‟s work from fresh angles, applying recent Anglophone theoretical frameworks (including theories on post-humanism, on the subversive role of the Fantastic and political readings of Gothic fiction) to his writing and probing his portrayals of dynamics and tensions that continue to challenge us today. Additionally, it makes use of the anthropological notion of „liminality‟ to underline the intrinsic thematic, textual and narrative ambiguity of the three novellas. I claim that the texts‟ liminality – involving slippery entities, settings, situations and narrative modalities that do not fit any precise category – voices the cultural and political instability of the decade under analysis. The study makes a deeper, and more nuanced, contribution to the literature on Landolfi, reflecting upon the author‟s strategies for problematizing contemporary historical and cultural issues by means of a fiction only apparently detached from reality.

This paper emphasizes the central role of the Formula of Humanity in Kantian ethics. It focuses mostly on Kant’s Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, with hypotheses being tested on Kant’s Metaphysics of Morals as well. It starts with an analysis of the argument Kant offers for the Formula of Humanity in Groundwork II , explicating the meaning of this formula and its distinction from the Formula of the Universal Law. It further develops on comparing all the formulations of the categorical imperative, and it argues that not all formulations are equivalent. It concludes that the categorical imperative is exhausted by the Formula of Humanity, insofar as the latter generates all Kantian duties.

With smart machines taking over each time more tasks, there is a risk of a future without relevant field for human action. In the 19th Century, the Arts and Crafts movement proposed a reaction against the alienation generated by industrial machines. Today, following the spirit of Arts and Crafts, this project intends to pose a reaction against the aesthetics of Artificial Intelligence by embracing human-crafted methods. Furthermore, to tell a complete story of humanizing experiences, the production and use of the vehicle are focused on human interaction; in the first case as a bespoke process and in the second as a vehicle interior that fosters human interaction. With Rolls-Royce Bespoke Design as collaborator for this thesis, the project has been branded after them, taking advantage of the company's hand-crafted approach as a positive value with humanistic potential. The main inspiration consisted of a reinterpretation of traditional artisan methods in order to design a vehicle with novel attributes. In contrast to the common practice of vehicle design where the generation of geometry rules the latter selection of materials and production process, for this project the early inspiration from hand-crafted methods dictated material and form, which could result in limitations during the form finding process, but which could also trigger unexpected results. At the same time, the simulation of the bespoke process with a relevant individual playing the role of the product's user had a major influence on the final outcome. The final result is a vehicle in which the main design focus lies on the interior, although the exterior had to be developed to some extent to provide a frame for development of the inside. The main design contribution is the proposal of structural elements with an aesthetic intention which was dictated by material properties and authenticity. As a story, the project intends to question the increasing presence of Artificial Intelligence and what could be an appropriate scenario for its usage (i.e. autonomous drive algorithms enabling human interaction inside the vehicle). So with the goal of providing humanizing experiences for makers and users of the product, even overlapping the role of makers and users during the bespoke process, the project tells a story of humanization through craftsmanship and dialogue.

My thesis explores the political significance of memorialisation after mass violence through an empirical study of the sites and rituals dedicated to remembering the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. My aim is to contribute to debates about the relationships between memory, identity, trauma and politics. I also seek to expose the dynamics of memory in a volatile political context. Increasingly, there is interest in how memory might contribute to political transformation after conflict or repression. However memorials are also typically regarded as an instrument for political elites to impose their visions of the past. I consider the politics of memorialisation at a time when the effects of violence and its memory cast shadows over Rwanda and the surrounding region.

Our civilization is built on plastic. Plastic literally pass through our hands all day. The amount of plastic that we meet every day, not the end. Plastic has become an epidemic. But where does all this plastic? A small part is recycled, goes to landfills, and a large part falls into the water. Plastic trash can be found everywhere — on land, at sea and even deep on the ocean floor. Planet pollution waste plastic turns into a real ecological disaster.

This thesis examines predictive modelling from the legal perspective. Predictive modelling is a technology based on applied statistics, mathematics, machine learning and artificial intelligence that uses algorithms to analyse big data collections, and identify patterns that are invisible to human beings. The accumulated knowledge is incorporated into computer models, which are then used to identify and predict human activity in new circumstances, allowing for the manipulation of human behaviour. Predictive models use big data to represent people. Big data is a term used to describe the large amounts of data produced in the digital environment. It is growing rapidly due mainly to the fact that individuals are spending an increasing portion of their lives within the on-line environment, spurred by the internet and social media. As individuals make use of the on-line environment, they part with information about themselves. This information may concern their actions but may also reveal their personality traits. Predictive modelling is a powerful tool, which private companies are increasingly using to identify business risks and opportunities. They are incorporated into on-line commercial decision-making systems, determining, among other things, the music people listen to, the news feeds they receive, the content people see and whether they will be granted credit. This results in a number of potential harms to the individual, especially in relation to personal autonomy. This thesis examines the harms resulting from predictive modelling, some of which are recognized by traditional law. Using the European legal context as a point of departure, this study ascertains to what extent legal regimes address the use of predictive models and the threats to personal autonomy. In particular, it analyses Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) adopted by the European Union (EU). Considering the shortcomings of traditional legal instruments, a strategy entitled ‘empowerment’ is suggested. It comprises components of a legal and technical nature, aimed at levelling the playing field between companies and individuals in the commercial setting. Is there a way to strengthen humanity as predictive modelling continues to develop?

Dehumanization has been the target of many theoretical interpretations (see e.g., Bandura, 1999; Bar-Tal, 1989; Opotow, 1989; Struch, & Schwartz, 1989), however, only in recent years, Social Psychology empirically investigated these phenomena (see, e.g., Goff, Eberhardt, Williams, & Jackson, 2008; Haslam, 2006; Leyens, Demoulin, Vaes, Gaunt, & Paladino, 2007). Considering different concepts and theorization of humanity, such as secondary emotions vs. primary emotions (Leyens, Demoulin, Vaes, Gaunt, & Paladino, 2007), uniquely human vs. non-uniquely human traits (Capozza, Trifiletti, Vezzali, & Favara, 2012; Haslam, Loughnan, Kashima, & Bain, 2008), mind attributions (Gray, Gray, & Wegner, 2007), objectification (Fredrickson, & Roberts, 1997), research provided a huge amount of evidences that humanity attributions represent a relevant dimension in intergroup relations. In particular, it has been demonstrated that individuals tend to ascribe a full human status to the ingroup rather than to the outgroup. As a consequence, outgroups are perceived as not fully human. Along with processes and mechanisms leading to humanity denial, recently, research has been interested in investigating negative consequences of dehumanization. Empirical evidences showed that perceiving other groups as not fully human produces detrimental outcomes, such as violence justification (Goff et al., 2008), inhibition of pro-social behaviors (see, e.g., Carella & Vaes, 2006), increased prejudice (Hodson & Costello, 2007). Despite the significant results achieved in the study of humanity attributions, some critical points still remain little investigated. The aim of the present research program is, indeed, to disentangle the role of humanity perceptions in three critical domains: violent behaviors, intergroup contact, and health contexts. In particular, the current work is organized in three separate parts in which we conducted two studies to investigate new potential consequences of humanity denial. The first part has been dedicated in investigating the role of dehumanization in violence domain. Two studies were conducted in order to test whether humanity denial would have affected perceptions of threat and violent tendencies toward the outgroup, represented by Moroccans immigrants. In the first study we hypothesized that the attribution of a lower human status and the association between outgroup and animality would have increased the perception that the outgroup is threatening and ready to harm. To test our hypothesis, we administer two measure of humanity, namely attributions of traits (uniquely human vs. non-uniquely human) and a computerize task that assessed the mental associations between Moroccans with humanity and animality. Perceptions of threat were measured by adopting a sequential priming technique, namely the “Weapon Task”, in which participants had to discriminate, as quickly as possible, weapons from tools after the presentation of outgroup faces (vs. ingroup faces). Results confirmed our hypotheses: faster categorizations of weapons preceded by outgroup primes were influenced by the attributions of non-uniquely human traits to Moroccans and by their association with animal concepts. In the second study we extended our findings by testing the effects of humanity denial on violent tendencies against the outgroup, in particular considering the moderator role of executive functions. In Study 2a we proposed that humanity denial would have been related to increased violence toward Moroccans only for participants with less efficient executive functions. Moreover, we hypothesized that, for participants with effective executive functions, dehumanization would have not affect aggressive behaviors. In this study, participants completed a SC-IAT to assess Moroccans humanity, a Stroop test to measure executive functions, and a simulated shooting task, an adaption of the “Weapon Task” used in the previous study, in which participants had to shoot armed targets, namely faces followed by a weapon, and not to shoot unarmed targets (faces followed by a tool). Results confirmed our hypothesis. We found that, when cognitive control is high, it is possible to inhibit the tendency to be violent toward a dehumanized outgroup. Conversely, when people do not have an efficient control of their behavior, dehumanization could affect their negative reaction against the outgroup. In Study 2b we manipulated executive functions by creating two experimental conditions: high vs. low depletion. In high depletion condition, participants completed a Stroop test consisting in incompatible and neutral trials; in low depletion condition, a Stroop test with compatible and neutral trials was administered. Similarly with the previous study, participants executed a humanity SC-IAT and the shooter task. We hypothesized that humanity denial would have influenced shooting behaviors against Moroccans only in high depletion condition. Results did not corroborate our predictions. In fact, the manipulation did not affect the efficiency of participants’ executive functions. The second part of the thesis was dedicated to the study of the causal link between humanity attributions and intergroup contact (Allport, 1954). In the first study we manipulated humanity perceptions in order to investigate whether they would have affected motivation to seek contact with outgroup, namely Moroccans Immigrants. In the second study, we tested the inverse relation, that is, whether contact would have enhanced humanity attributions to the outgroup. In Study 1, outgroup humanity was manipulated by a subliminal priming technique (Goff et al., 2008). In humanization condition, Moroccan outgroup was linked to human concepts and uniquely human characteristics; in dehumanization condition, instead, outgroup was linked with animal concepts and non-uniquely human characteristics. After manipulation, participants completed the “manikin task” an approach/avoidance task we adapted to reflect contact tendencies. Participants, according to instructions, had to, by moving the manikin, approach or avoid outgroup related stimuli. We hypothesized that participants would have shown more contact tendencies, namely faster approaching, in humanization condition compared with dehumanization condition. Moreover, we predicted faster approach latencies than avoid latencies in only in humanization condition. Results supported the second hypothesis. Humanity manipulation did not affect approach and avoidance latencies while outgroup humanization enhanced approach tendencies more than avoidant behaviors. In Study 2 we manipulated contact tendencies by employing a modified version of the “manikin task”. In contact condition participants were trained to approach repeatedly outgroup related stimuli (faces of Moroccans) while, in control condition, participants executed the same task considering neutral stimuli (pieces of furniture). Outgroup humanity was assessed by using uniquely human and non-uniquely human traits. We hypothesized that contact condition would have increased humanity of Moroccans, compared to control condition. Hypothesis was fully supported. As predicted, contact promoted Moroccan humanization compared to the other condition. We also found a mediation effect of trust in the relation between condition and humanity. Finally, in the third part we investigated the effects of humanity perceptions in health contexts. In a study, conducted with hospital nurses, we found that the denial of a full human status to patients served as a strategy to cope with stress. Moreover, findings showed the moderator role of affective organizational commitment and affective commitment to patients. Only high committed, both with hospital and with patients, nurses deny humanity to patients in order to decrease job related stress. In the last study, we investigated attributions of humanity and their consequences in practitioners working with mentally impaired persons. First, we found that individuals with mental disabilities were perceived as not fully human. This latter result was obtained considering different aspects of humanity, namely attribution of uniquely human traits and emotions. Second, we provide first evidences that the denial of a full human status influences behavioral tendencies. In fact, the attribution of uniquely human emotions to mentally disabled was positively correlated to approaching behaviors, measured with SC-IAT. Moreover, attitudes did not affect behavioral tendencies
Dall’inizio degli anni 2000 è cresciuto l’interesse degli psicologi sociali per lo studio di una particolare forma di pregiudizio: la negazione di umanità ad altri gruppi o persone. Numerose ricerche hanno mostrato come le persone tendano ad attribuire maggiore umanità al proprio gruppo (ingroup) che all’outgroup. Questo fenomeno è stato dimostrato considerando diversi aspetti dell’umanità come, ad esempio, tratti (es., moralità) ed emozioni (es., orgoglio) unicamente umani, diversi rapporti intergruppi e diversi paradigmi sperimentali. Recentemente il campo di indagine è stato esteso anche alle conseguenze dell’infraumanizzazione. In questa direzione si è trovato che l’infraumanizzazione può portare a conseguenze negative come, ad esempio, l’inibizione delle intenzioni e dei comportamenti di aiuto, la riduzione dell’empatia, l’aumento della discriminazione. Nonostante esista un’ampia letteratura che ha documentato le conseguenze della negazione di una piena umanità all’outgroup, rimangono problemi poco indagati. In questo lavoro, organizzato in tre sezioni, si sono studiati: Sezione 1) gli effetti delle attribuzioni di umanità sui comportamenti violenti ai danni dell’outgroup; Sezione 2) gli effetti delle attribuzioni di umanità sulle tendenze a cercare il contatto con l’outgroup; Sezione 3) le conseguenze della deumanizzazione in ambito socio-sanitario. Nella prima sezione si sono testati gli effetti della deumanizzazione sulla percezione dell’outgroup come disposto alla violenza e sui comportamenti violenti nei suoi confronti (come outgroup si sono considerati gli immigrati marocchini). Nel primo studio si è indagato se le attribuzioni di umanità influenzassero la percezione dell’outgroup come pericoloso. Attraverso misure esplicite (attribuzione di tratti unicamente umani e tratti non unicamente umani) e misure implicite (Go/No-go Association Test, GNAT) è stata misurata l’attribuzione di umanità dell’outgroup. La percezione di pericolosità è stata misurata con una tecnica di priming sequenziale, il “Weapon Task” in cui i partecipanti dovevano discriminare armi da oggetti di uso comune, premendo tasti diversi, dopo la presentazione di volti di Italiani o volti di Marocchini (stimoli prime). Dai risultati è emerso che i volti marocchini, rispetto ai volti italiani, facilitavano il riconoscimento delle armi (“Weapon Bias”). Inoltre, è stato osservato come questo bias dipendesse dalla deumanizzazione dell’outgroup (associazione dei marocchini all’animalità e attribuzione ad essi di tratti non unicamente umani). L’obbiettivo del secondo studio era di indagare la relazione fra deumanizzazione e tendenze comportamentali violente considerando, in particolare, l’effetto moderatore delle funzioni esecutive. L’ipotesi dello studio era che la deumanizzazione dei Marocchini portasse a comportamenti violenti solo per i partecipanti con minor controllo del loro comportamento. Lo studio comprendeva tre prove al computer: a) uno SC-IAT (Single Category Association Task) per misurare le attribuzioni di umanità ai marocchini; b) un compito Stroop per misurare le funzioni esecutive; c) uno “Shooting Task”, una versione modificata del “Weapon Bias Task” in cui i partecipanti dovevano simulare un comportamento di difesa sparando a dei target armati, ossia i volti seguiti dalle immagini di armi. I target potevano essere membri dell’ingroup (Italiani) o membri dell’outgroup (Marocchini). I risultati hanno confermato l’ipotesi: più l’outgroup era associato all’animalità più rapidamente i partecipanti sparavano a target marocchini armati, rispetto a target italiani armati. Come ipotizzato, questo effetto è stato osservato solo nei partecipanti con funzioni esecutive poco efficienti, ossia nei partecipanti con un punteggio più elevato al compito Stroop. Viceversa, nel caso dei partecipanti con un adeguato controllo del proprio comportamento, ossia con bassa interferenza Stroop, la relazione tra deumanizzazione e tendenze violente non è stata confermata. Per indagare ulteriormente il ruolo delle funzioni esecutive nella relazione fra attribuzioni di umanità e violenza è stato condotto un terzo studio in cui le funzioni esecutive sono state manipolate. In una condizione, di basso carico cognitivo, i partecipanti completavano un test Stroop in cui erano presenti solo stimoli compatibili e stimoli neutri (stringa di lettere “X”). Nella seconda condizione, di alto carico cognitivo, ai partecipanti era somministrato un test Stroop con stimoli incompatibili e stimoli neutri. Al termine della manipolazione i partecipanti svolgevano lo “Shooter Task”. Le percezioni di umanità venivano misurate attraverso lo SC-IAT, somministrato prima della manipolazione. I risultati non hanno mostrato effetti significativi della manipolazione. Sono proposte altre strategie di manipolazione del controllo esecutivo. Nella seconda sezione sono stati realizzati due studi per testare la relazione tra contatto intergruppi e attribuzioni di umanità. Nel primo studio si indagava se l’umanizzazione dell’outgroup avrebbe portato ad una maggiore disponibilità ad incontrare i suoi membri. Le percezioni di umanità erano manipolate attraverso una prova di priming subliminale: a seconda della condizione, l’outgroup (immigrati marocchini) veniva associato all’umanità (condizione di umanizzazione) o all’animalità (condizione di deumanizzazione). Per misurare la tendenza alla disponibilità al contatto, si utilizzava una tecnica implicita il “Manikin Task” in cui i partecipanti dovevano avvicinare o allontare, a seconda delle istruzioni, una figura umana (un manichino) da stimoli relativi all’outgroup. Si ipotizzava che nella condizione di umanizzazione i partecipanti sarebbero stati più rapidi nell’avvicinarsi all’outgroup e più lenti nell’allontanarsi da esso, rispetto alla condizione di deumanizzazione. Si ipotizzava anche che nella condizione di umanizzazione, ma non in quella di deumanizzazione, i tempi di avvicinamento sarebbero stati più rapidi di quelli di allontanamento. I risultati hanno confermato la seconda ipotesi. Nella condizione di umanizzazione i rispondenti sono stati più rapidi nell’avvicinarsi, che nell’allontanarsi, dai nomi marocchini. Nel secondo studio si è indagato il processo opposto, ossia se il contatto avrebbe migliorato le percezioni di umanità dell’outgroup. In questa ricerca si è manipolato il contatto nei confronti dell’outgroup attraverso il “Manikin Task”. Diversamente dallo studio precedente, i partecipanti svolgevano solo il blocco in cui era chiesto di avvicinarsi all’outgroup (volti di marocchini). Inoltre, è stata prevista una condizione di controllo in cui i volti di membri dell’outgroup erano sostituiti con immagini di mobili (stimoli neutri). Si ipotizzava che, nella condizione di contatto, i partecipanti avrebbero percepito l’outgroup più umano rispetto alla condizione di controllo. I risultati hanno confermato le ipotesi. I partecipanti nella condizione di contatto hanno attribuito una maggiore umanità all’outgroup rispetto alla condizione di controllo. Inoltre, è stato trovato un effetto mediatore della fiducia. Nella terza sezione, sono stati realizzati studi per indagare gli effetti della deumanizzazione in ambito sanitario e centri di assistenza. Nel primo studio, correlazionale, si è indagato se le attribuzioni di umanità fossero utilizzate come strategia per affrontare lo stress nei contesti sanitari. È stato somministrato un questionario a personale ospedaliero (infermiere) in cui erano incluse misure di umanità, misure self-report del livello di stress (sintomi psicofisici) e variabili organizzative, ossia impegno affettivo nei confronti dell’ospedale e impegno affetivo nei confronti del paziente. Si ipotizzava che la negazione di una piena umanità ai pazienti sarebbe stata utilizzata come strategia per ridurre lo stress; si ipotizzava, inoltre, un effetto moderatore dell’impegno affettivo verso l’ospedale e verso i pazienti. I risultati hanno confermato entrambe le ipotesi: la negazione di piena umanità ai pazienti era associata a minore percezione di stress e, inoltre, questo effetto era moderato dall’impegno: solo per i rispondenti con alti livelli di impegno affettivo, verso l’ospedale o verso i pazienti, l’attribuzione di minore umanità era associata a minori livelli di stress. Viceversa, le attribuzioni di umanità non erano utilizzate come strategia di coping dal personale con un basso impegno affettivo. Nel secondo (Studio 2a e 2b) si sono studiate le percezioni di umanità relative a persone con disabilità mentale e le conseguenze di tali percezioni. Nella prima parte del secondo studio è stato trovato come ai disabili mentali sia negata una piena umanità; questo fenomeno è stato osservato considerando diverse misure di umanità (tratti ed emozioni). Nello studio 2b si sono misurate le attribuzioni di umanità a persone con disabilità mentale e si è testato se tali attribuzioni fossero correlate con tendenze di approach/avoidance, misurate a livello implicito attraverso lo SC-IAT. La ricerca è stata condotta con operatori che lavoravano in una struttura di assistenza per i disabili. Dai risultati è emersa che la tendenza ad avvicinare i disabili non è correlata con l’atteggiamento, ma con le percezioni di umanità: quanto maggiore l’attribuzione di emozioni unicamente umane tanto maggiore l’avvicinamento

The argument presented in this paper is that during the Shoah the Nazis were attempting to further enforce the understanding that humanity is essentially self-destructive or superfluous. Several writings are examined more closely to support this argument: Emil Fackenheim's To Mend the World: Foundations of Future Jewish Thought (section IV), Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism (Part 3) and, finally, Giorgio Agamben's "Homo Sacer": Bare Life and Sovereign Power (Part 3). Each of these author's writings are used as a focus for a discussion of the self-destructive tendencies that are a part of Nazism in its relationship to: Law, the Idea of Man and Ideology. An effort is made during the discussion of these topics to arrive at an appreciation of the extremely alarming extent to which the Nazis had enforced the creation of a society that was wholly self-destructive. This argument concerning the Nazi understanding of humanity also recognizes the creation of a society that is wholly self-destructive as an underlying threat that continues to pose an ongoing danger to the post-Shoah world. The recognition of this threat unfortunately demonstrates the relevance of the Nazi understanding of humanity to this world (a relevance which at the outset may not have been apparent). Amongst the challenges this poses is that as the creation of a wholly self-destructive society further intensifies the possibility for philosophy increasingly disappears. In the concluding chapter, reference is again made to the writings of Fackenheim, Arendt and Agamben. These writings are referred to as part of a discussion of resistance to the threat of creating a post-Shoah world that develops into a society that is wholly self-destructive. Also included in this discussion is the importance of this type of resistance to the possibility for philosophy in this world.