Architectural Solutions for Mobile RFID Services on Internet of Things

Mobile RFID services for the Internet of Things can be created by using RFID as an enabling technology in mobile devices. Humans, devices, and things are the content providers and users of these services. Mobile RFID services can be either provided on mobile devices as stand-alone services or combined with end-to-end systems. When different service solution scenarios are considered, there are more than one possible architectural solution in the network, mobile, and back-end server areas. Combining the solutions wisely by applying the software architecture and engineering principles, a combined solution can be formulated for certain application specific use cases. This thesis illustrates these ideas. It also shows how generally the solutions can be used in real world use case scenarios. A case study is used to add further evidence.

Harmful algae in the planktonic food web of the Baltic Sea

This study deals with algal species occurring commonly in the Baltic Sea: haptophyte Prymnesium parvum, dinoflagellates Dinophysis acuminata, D. norvegica and D. rotundata, and cyanobacterium Nodularia spumigena. The hypotheses are connected to the toxicity of the species, to the factors determining toxicity, to the consequences of toxicity and to the transfer of toxins in the aquatic food web. Since the Baltic Sea is severely eutrophicated, the fast-growing haptophytes have potential in causing toxic blooms. In our studies, the toxicity (as haemolytic activity) of the haptophyte P. parvum was highest under phosphorus-limited conditions, but the cells were toxic also under nitrogen limitation and under nutrient-balanced growth conditions. The cellular nutrient ratios were tightly related to the toxicity. The stoichiometric flexibility for cellular phosphorus quota was higher than for nitrogen, and nitrogen limitation led to decreased biomass. Negative allelopathic effects on another algae (Rhodomonas salina) could be observed already at low P. parvum cell densities, whereas immediate lysis of R. salina cells occurred at P. parvum cell densities corresponding to natural blooms. Release of dissolved organic carbon from the R. salina cells was measured within 30 minutes, and an increase in bacterial number and biomass was measured within 23 h. Because of the allelopathic effect, formation of a P. parvum bloom may accelerate after a critical cell density is reached and the competing species are eliminated. A P. parvum bloom indirectly stimulates bacterial growth, and alters the functioning of the planktonic food web by increasing the carbon transfer through the microbial loop. Our results were the first reports on DSP toxins in Dinophysis cells in the Gulf of Finland and on PTX-2 in the Baltic Sea. Cellular toxin contents in Dinophysis spp. ranged from 0.2 to 149 pg DTX-1 cell-1 and from 1.6 to 19.9 pg PTX-2 cell-1 in the Gulf of Finland. D. norvegica was found mainly around the thermocline (max. 200 cells L-1), whereas D. acuminata was found in the whole mixed layer (max. 7 280 cells L-1). Toxins in the sediment trap corresponded to 1 % of DTX-1 and 0.01 % PTX-2 of the DSP pool in the suspended matter. This indicates that the majority of the DSP toxins does not enter the benthic community, but is either decomposed in the water column, or transferred to higher trophic levels in the planktonic food chain. We found that nodularin, produced by Nodularia spumigena, was transferred to the copepod Eurytemora affinis through three pathways: by grazing on filaments of small Nodularia, directly from the dissolved pool, and through the microbial food web by copepods grazing on ciliates, dinoflagellates and heterotrophic nanoflagellates. The estimated proportion of the microbial food web in nodularin transfer was 22-45 % and 71-76 % in our two experiments, respectively. This highlights the potential role of the microbial food web in the transfer of toxins in the planktonic food web.

The One and The Many : In the works of Heraclitus, Parmenides and Lao Zi

This paper concentrates on Heraclitus, Parmenides and Lao Zi. The focus is on their ideas on change and whether the world is essentially One or if it is composed of many entities. In the first chapter I go over some general tendences in Greek and Chinese philosophy. The differences in the cultural background have an influence in the ways philosophy is made, but the paper aims to show that two questions can be brought up when comparing the philosophies of Heraclitus, Parmenides and Lao Zi. The questions are; is the world essentially One or Many? Is change real and if it is, what is the nature of it and how does it take place? For Heraclitus change is real, and as will be shown later in the chapter, quite essential for the sustainability of the world-order (kosmos). The key-concept in the case of Heraclitus is Logos. Heraclitus uses Logos in several senses, most well known relating to his element-theory. But another important feature of the Logos, the content of real wisdom, is to be able to regard everything as one. This does not mean that world is essentially one for Heraclitus in the ontological sense, but that we should see the underlying unity of multiple phenomena. Heraclitus regards this as hen panta: All from One, One from All. I characterize Heraclitus as epistemic monist and an ontological pluralist. It is plausible that the views of Heraclitus on change were the focus of Parmenides’ severe criticism. Parmenides held the view that the world is essentially one and that to see it as consisting of many entities was the error of mortals, i.e. the common man and his philosophical predecessors. For Parmenides what-is, can be approached by two routes; The Way of Truth (Aletheia) and The Way of Seeming (Doxa). Aletheia essentially sees the world as one, where even time is an illusion. In Doxa Parmenides is giving an explanation of the world seen as consisting of many entities and this is his contribution to the line of thought of his predecessors. It should be noted that a strong emphasis is given to the Aletheia, whereas the world-view given is in Doxa is only probable. I go on to describe Parmenides as ontological monist, who gives some plausibility to pluralistic views. In the work of Lao Zi world can be seen as One or as consisting of Many entities. In my interpretation, Lao Zi uses Dao in two different senses; Dao is the totality of things or the order in change. The wu-aspect (seeing-without-form) attends the world as one, whereas the you-aspect attends the world of many entities. In wu-aspect, Dao refers to the totality of things, when in you-aspect Dao is the order or law in change. There are two insights in Lao Zi regarding the relationship between wu- and- you-apects; in ch.1 it is stated that they are two separate aspects in seeing the world, the other chapters regarding that you comes from wu. This naturally brings in the question whether the One is the peak of seeing the world as many. In other words, is there a way from pluralism to monism. All these considerations make it probable that the work attributed to Lao Zi has been added new material or is a compilation of oral sayings. In the end of the paper I will go on to give some insights on how Logos and Dao can be compared in a relevant manner. I also compare Parmenides holistic monism to Lao Zi’s Dao as nameless totality (i.e. in its wu-aspect). I briefly touch the issues of Heidegger and the future of comparative philosophy.

Consumers and the conceptual and practical appropriation of functional foods

Taking the appropriation of objects as a theoretical starting point, this study makes a distinction between a conceptual and practical level of adopting new objects and products in everyday life. The study applies the concept of appropriation in social food research and examines consumers appropriation of functional foods, i.e., foods developed to improve health and well-being or reduce the risk of disease beyond the usual nutritional effects of foods. The study uses the concept of appropriation to understand the adoption and the process of making functional foods our own . First, the study focuses on the conceptual appropriation by analysing consumers interpretations and opinions on functional foods. Second, it analyses the use of functional foods and examines the role of sociodemographic and food- and health-related background factors in the use of functional foods. Both quantitative and qualitative data were used in the study. Altogether 1210 Finns representative of the population took part in a survey carried out in 2002 as computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI). The survey examined the acceptability and use of functional foods in Finland. In 2004, eight focus group discussions were organised for 45 users and non-users of cholesterol-lowering spreads. The qualitative study focused on consumers interpretative perspectives on healthy eating and functional foods. The findings are reported in four original articles and a summary article. The results show that the appropriation of functional foods is a multifaceted phenomenon. The conceptual appropriation is related to consumers interpretations of functional foods in the context of healthy foods and healthy eating; their trust in the products, their manufacturers, research and control; and the relationship of functional foods and the ideal of natural foods. The analysis of the practical appropriation of four different types of foods marketed as functional showed that there are sociodemographic differences between users and non-users of the products, but more importantly, the differences are related to consumers food- and health-related views and practices. Consumers ways of appropriating functional foods in the conceptual and practical sense take shape in a complex web of ideas and everyday practices concerning food, health and eating as a whole. The results also indicate that the conceptual and practical appropriation are not necessarily uniform or coherent processes. Consumers interpret healthy eating and functional foods from a variety of perspectives and there is a multiplicity of rationales of using functional foods. Appropriation embraces many opposing dimensions simultaneously: good experiences and doubts, approval and criticism, expectations and things taken for granted.

Encounters with the Virtual : The Experience of Art In Gilles Deleuze's Philosophy

My thesis concerns the notion of existence as an encounter, as developed in the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze (1925 1995). What this denotes is a critical stance towards a major current in Western philosophical tradition which Deleuze nominates as representational thinking. Such thinking strives to provide a stable ground for identities by appealing to transcendent structures behind the apparent reality and explaining the manifest diversity of the given by such notions as essence, idea, God, or totality of the world. In contrast to this, Deleuze states that abstractions such as these do not explain anything, but rather that they need to be explained. Yet, Deleuze does not appeal merely to the given. He sees that one must posit a genetic element that accounts for experience, and this element must not be naïvely traced from the empirical. Deleuze nominates his philosophy as transcendental empiricism and he seeks to bring together the approaches of both empiricism and transcendental philosophy. In chapter one I look into the motivations of Deleuze s transcendental empiricism and analyse it as an encounter between Deleuze s readings of David Hume and Immanuel Kant. This encounter regards, first of all, the question of subjectivity and results in a conception of identity as non-essential process. A pre-given concept of identity does not explain the nature of things, but the concept itself must be explained. From this point of view, the process of individualisation must become the central concern. In chapter two I discuss Deleuze s concept of the affect as the basis of identity and his affiliation with the theories of Gilbert Simondon and Jakob von Uexküll. From this basis develops a morphogenetic theory of individuation-as-process. In analysing such a process of individuation, the modal category of the virtual becomes of great value, being an open, indeterminate charge of potentiality. As the virtual concerns becoming or the continuous process of actualisation, then time, rather than space, will be the privileged field of consideration. Chapter three is devoted to the discussion of the temporal aspect of the virtual and difference-without-identity. The essentially temporal process of subjectification results in a conception of the subject as composition: an assemblage of heterogeneous elements. Therefore art and aesthetic experience is valued by Deleuze because they disclose the construct-like nature of subjectivity in the sensations they produce. Through the domain of the aesthetic the subject is immersed in the network of affectivity that is the material diversity of the world. Chapter four addresses a phenomenon displaying this diversified indentity: the simulacrum an identity that is not grounded in an essence. Developed on the basis of the simulacrum, a theory of identity as assemblage emerges in chapter five. As the problematic of simulacra concerns perhaps foremost the artistic presentation, I shall look into the identity of a work of art as assemblage. To take an example of a concrete artistic practice and to remain within the problematic of the simulacrum, I shall finally address the question of reproduction particularly in the case recorded music and its identity regarding the work of art. In conclusion, I propose that by overturning its initial representational schema, phonographic music addresses its own medium and turns it into an inscription of difference, exposing the listener to an encounter with the virtual.

The Freudian unconscious in the context of the cognitive orientation

For decades psychoanalysis was the discipline studying the unconscious, and other branches of study lacked competence to take a stand on the issues concerning the unconscious. From 1980s onwards intense study of the unconscious has been taken place in the scope of cognitive orientation. Thus, nowadays it is talked about both pyschoanalytic and cognitive unconscious. The aim of this thesis is to integrate psychoanalytic and cognitive views. When the "Freudian" conception of the unconscious is considered, there are four entangled issues: 1) what is the unconscious like, 2) how does the unconsciuos give rise to psychic disorders 3) why and how certain contents are missing from consciousness (repression of contents), 4) the emergence of those contents (becoming conscious of the repressed). The conventional psychoanalytic answer to the first question - and "the cornerstone of psychoanalysis" - is "the unconscious is mental". The issues 2)-4) depend radically on the answer given to the 1): "psychoanalytic" conceptualizations on them rest on the "cornerstone". That ground was challended in study I: it was argued that it has never been clear what does it mean that the unconscious is mental. Thus, it was stated that in the current state of art psychoanalysis should drop out the ephitet "mental" before the term unconscious. That claim creates a pressure to reappraise the convential "psychoanalytic" answers to the other questions, and that reappraisal was the aim of studies II and III. In study II the question 2) is approached in terms of implicit knowledge. Study III focuses on mechanisms, which determine which contents appear in the scope of consciousness, and also cause missing of contents from there (the questions 3) and 4)). In the core of study III there are distinctions concerning the processess occuring in the levels of the brain, consciousness, self-consciousness, and narrative self-consciousness. Studies I-III set "psychoanalytic" topics in the frames of cognitive view. The picture emerging from those studies is not especially useful for a clinican (psychotherapist). Studies IV and V focused that issue. Study IV is a rather serious critique toward neuropsychoanalysis. In it it was claimed that repressive functions of conscious states are in the core of clinical psychoanalysis, and functions in general cannot be reduced to neurophysiological terminology. Thus, the limits of neuropsychoanalysis are more strict than it has been realized: crucial clinical issues remain outside its scope. In study V it was focused on the confusing state of things that although unconscious fantasies do not exist, the idea on them has been an important conceptual tool for clinicans. When put in a larger context, the aim of study V is similar to that of study IV: to determine the relation between psychotherapists' and neuroscientists' terminologies. Studies III, IV and V apply the philosopher Daniel Dennett's model on different levels of explanation.

Effects of turbidity on feeding and distribution of fish

In aquatic systems, the ability of both the predator and prey to detect each other may be impaired by turbidity. This could lead to significant changes in the trophic interactions in the food web of lakes. Most fish use their vision for predation and the location of prey can be highly influenced by light level and clarity of the water environment. Turbidity is an optical property of water that causes light to be scattered and absorbed by particles and molecules. Turbidity is highly variable in lakes, due to seasonal changes in suspended sediments, algal blooms and wind-driven suspension of sediments especially in shallow waters. There is evidence that human activity has increased erosion leading to increased turbidity in aquatic systems. Turbidity could also play a significant role in distribution of fish. Turbidity could act as a cover for small fish and reduce predation risk. Diel horizontal migration by fish is common in shallow lakes and is considered as consequences of either optimal foraging behaviour for food or as a trade-off between foraging and predator avoidance. In turbid lakes, diel horizontal migration patterns could differ since turbidity can act as a refuge itself and affect the predator-prey interactions. Laboratory experiments were conducted with perch (Perca fluviatilis L.) and white bream (Abramis björkna (L.)) to clarify the effects of turbidity on their feeding. Additionally to clarify the effects of turbidity on predator preying on different types of prey, pikeperch larvae (Sander lucioperca (L.)), Daphnia pulex (Leydig), Sida crystallina (O.F. Müller), and Chaoborus flavicans (Meigen) were used as prey in different experiments. To clarify the role of turbidity in distribution and diel horizontal migration of perch, roach (Rutilus rutilus (L.)) and white bream, field studies were conducted in shallow turbid lakes. A clear and a turbid shallow lake were compared to investigate distribution of perch and roach in these two lakes in a 15-year study period. Feeding efficiency of perch and white bream was not significantly affected with increasing clay turbidity up to 50 NTU. The perch experiments with pikeperch larvae suggested that clay turbidity could act as a refuge especially at turbidity levels higher than 50 NTU. Perch experiments with different prey types suggested that pikeperch larvae probably use turbidity as a refuge better compared to Daphnia. Increase in turbidity probably has stronger affect on perch predating on plant-attached prey. The main findings of the thesis show that turbidity can play a significant role in distribution of fish. Perch and roach could use turbidity as refuge when macrophytes disappear while small perch may also use high turbidity as refuge when macrophytes are present. Floating-leaved macrophytes are probably good refuges for small fish in clay-turbid lakes and provide a certain level of turbidity and not too complex structure for refuge. The results give light to the predator-prey interactions in turbid environments. Turbidity of water should be taken in to account when studying the diel horizontal migrations and distribution of fish in shallow lakes.

The Organisation of Policy Meets the Commercialisation of Sex - Global Linkages, Policies, Technologies

During recent years the commercialisation of sex has increased and intensified both locally and globally. This thesis explores the commercialisation of bodies, sex and sexualities, particularly the sex trade, and the impact of rapidly evolving information and communication technologies on this globalising trade. The main focus of this work is on the policies, discourses and policy developments in the area especially in the Finnish context. The study is based on multidisciplinary theoretical sources through which the framework of multiple linkages relevant to the commercialisation of sex is conceptualised. The sex trade functions through a web of intersecting linkages of a substantive, economic, organisational, temporal, spatial, cultural, technological, as well as of legislative and policy nature. This framework of linkages forms the basis for the analysis of the main empirical data, namely qualitative interviews with thirty key managers and professionals, who are responsible for the preparation and implementation of policies on commercial sex. In addition, the thesis addresses the policies and policy practices on the sex trade through the analysis of national and international policy instruments. In addition to analysing the processes of the commercialisation of sex and its effects, the study also discusses their further implications for organisational policy-making, research, and society more generally. The thesis thus seeks to contribute to practice, research and theory on gender, management and organisations.

Trafficking in human beings and Foucauldian biopower : A case study in the expansion of the human rights phenomenon

Trafficking in human beings has become one of the most talked about criminal concerns of the 21st century. But this is not all that it has become. Trafficking has also been declared as one of the most pressing human rights issues of our time. In this sense, it has become a part of the expansion of the human rights phenomenon. Although it is easy to see that the crime of trafficking violates several of the human rights of its victims, it is still, in its essence, a fairly conventional although particularly heinous and often transnational crime, consisting of acts between private actors, and lacking, therefore, the vertical effect associated traditionally with human rights violations. This thesis asks, then, why, and how, has the anti-trafficking campaign been translated in human rights language. And even more fundamentally: in light of the critical, theoretical studies surrounding the expansion of the human rights phenomenon, especially that of Costas Douzinas, who has declared that we have come to the end of human rights as a consequence of the expansion and bureaucratization of the phenomenon, can human rights actually bring salvation to the victims of trafficking? The thesis demonstrates that the translation process of the anti-trafficking campaign into human rights language has been a complicated process involving various actors, including scholars, feminist NGOs, local activists and global human rights NGOs. It has also been driven by a complicated web of interests, the most prevalent one the sincere will to help the victims having become entangled with other aims, such as political, economical, and structural goals. As a consequence of its fragmented background, the human rights approach to trafficking seeks still its final form, consisting of several different claims. After an assessment of these claims from a legal perspective, this thesis concludes that the approach is most relevant regarding the mistreatment of victims of trafficking in the hands of state authorities. It seems to be quite common that authorities have trouble identifying the victims of trafficking, which means that the rights granted to themin international and national documents are not realized in practice, but victims of trafficking are systematically deported as illegal immigrants. It is argued that in order to understand the measures of the authorities, and to assess the usefulness of human rights, it is necessary to adopt a Foucauldian perspective and to observe the measures as biopolitical defence mechanisms. From a biopolitical perspective, the victims of trafficking can be seen as a threat to the population a threat that must be eliminated either by assimilating them to the main population with the help of disciplinary techniques, or by excluding them completely from the society. This biopolitical aim is accomplished through an impenetrable net of seemingly insignificant practices and discourses that not even the participants are aware of. As a result of these practices and discourses, trafficking victims only very few of fit the myth of the perfect victim, produced by biopolitical discourses become invisible and therefore subject to deportation as (risky) illegal immigrants, turning them into bare life in the Agambenian sense, represented by the homo sacer, who cannot be sacrificed, yet does not enjoy the protection of the society and its laws. It is argued, following Jacques Rancière and Slavoj i ek, that human rights can, through their universality and formal equality, provide bare life the tools to formulate political claims and therefore utilize their politicization through their exclusion to return to the sphere of power and politics. Even though human rights have inevitably become entangled with biopolitical practices, they are still perhaps the most efficient way to challenge biopower. Human rights have not, therefore, become useless for the victims of trafficking, but they must be conceived as a universal tool to formulate political claims and challenge power .In the case of trafficking this means that human rights must be utilized to constantly renegotiate the borders of the problematic concept of victim of trafficking created by international instruments, policies and discourses, including those that are sincerely aimed to provide help for the victims.

Turun linna kerrottuna ja kertovana tilana

The Turku castle, founded c. 1300, has changed over the centuries from a medieval defensive structure into a Renaissance palace and from a derelict jailhouse in the late 19th century into a prime example of the Medieval built heritage in Finland. Today, it is first and foremost a monument to the Medieval and Renaissance heyday of the castle. This is apparent in the architectural forms that have been carefully restored and reconstructed. It also becomes clear in all kinds of narratives, both visual (like the set of miniatures about the different stages of the construction of the castle) and textual (as during the guided tours). For the first time in the architectural history of the Turku castle, the Medieval, the Renaissance, the Modern, and the Present as architecturally constructed or reconstructed spaces can all be visited within the same hour. As a result, the monumental Turku castle may even be deemed anachronistic or inauthentic. In this study I look at the ways in which the Turku castle is, indeed, anachronistic and inauthentic. My main objective, however, is to find ways in which the anachronisms and inauthenticities are overcome in a positive way. I base my analysis of the Turku castle on three theoretical standpoints. First, I am studying the castle as space, described by Michel de Certeau as a practiced place (de Certeau 2002). Second, I am approaching the numerous narrative aspects of the castle following Paul Ricoeur s analysis of narrative as a threefold mimetic process (Ricoeur 1990). From these two theoretical settings I have summoned the concept of narrative space. The life and work at the castle are based on expectations and understandings of the historical surroundings. My third theoretical choice is to study this applied knowledge of the place as the management of blocks of knowledge in communication (Robert de Beaugrande 1980). Combining the theoretical starting points of space and narrative , I am approaching the castle as if it were an evolving set of narratives, narrated in space but also through space. Seeing e.g. the restoration teams of the mid-20th century and the present day tour guides as creative narrators, I am looking beyond the dilemma of the anachronistic spaces. What transpires is an inter-connected web of texts and spaces, tangible and intangible narratives. My analytical key to these narrative relationships is the threefold mimetic process of pre-figuration, con-figuration, and re-figuration, inspired by the writings of Paul Ricoeur (1990). This way, the past can be seen as a pool of endless possibilities to emplot place, time, and action into a narrative space. The narratives convey images of the past that may be contested by other images, and the power to narrate in the first place can be challenged and re-distributed.

"Kyllähän täällä tehdään kaikenlaista laidasta laitaan..." : Nuorten työpajatoiminta ja oppiminen työpajoilla työharjoittelijoiden kokemana

Workshops can be seen as a one kind of occupational model in the field of the social employing. The objective of social employing is to support the employment of those persons who are in a weak labour market position and to maintain their ability to function. The objectives of the workshops, which are offering work experience and learning of life management, maintain the same goal as social employment. Workshop services in Finland are relatively little scientifically studied in spite of their fairly long history. The workshop as a concept is still quite sparsely defined and also an unknown occupational model to the large part of people. The starting point for this study was to clarify what the workshops are like, what the services are like and how learning can be seen from the point of view of the workshop services. The objective of this study was to analyse how the apprentices experience the workshop services as well as learning in the workshops and thus describe how the workshops are shaped at the youth workshops. According to earlier studies the apprentices have experienced the workshops as useful periods in their lives and also they believe that other people in society appreciate the experience that apprentices have been received from the workshops. This study can be described as a qualitative study. Its methodological foundation is in phenomenology and especially in existential phenomenology. The research material consisted of seven individual interviews and two group interviews. In the group interviews five apprentices were those who had also participated in the individual interviews and one apprentice who did not participate. The interviewees' ages were between 17-22 years. The interviews were carried out as semi-structured interviews. The method which was utilised in the analysis of the research material is developed by Juha Perttula (2000). This analyse method is based on existential phenomenology. The apprentices considered that significant experiences in the workshop services were the entry to the workshop, the form of activity of the workshop, workshop community, the achieving of life management and work experience, the understanding of the significance of the education and the planning of the future. Regarding to learning the attitude, on-the-job learning, the importance of the mentors, the new information and new skills achieved were significant experiences at the workshop for the apprentices. The apprentices' experiences reflect well the achievement of the objectives which are set for the workshop services. Results of this study are also compatible to the results of earlier studies of apprentices' positive experience of the workshop services. The results can be utilised in developing the workshop services to offer more versatile experiences than before and to improve learning conditions on the workshops. The arranging of the on-the-job learning and the significance of the actions of mentors should also be noticed.

Demokratiaa luokkahuoneessa : Toimintatutkimus kolmasluokkalaisten osallistamisesta päätöksentekoon

The crucial questions that define democracy relate to its depth and width: who can participate in decision making and what kind of things can be commonly decided? Theories deeper than representative democracy emphasize discussion, in which by evaluating justifications it is possible to achieve consensus in ideal situation. The aim of my research is to develop tools for promoting the participation of third graders in decision making in the classroom. In addition I study the development of depth and width of democracy in the classroom, the development of skills and competencies in the decision making and the challenges of the project. My research method is participative action research. I collected my data between October 2007 and March 2008. I used videos and observation diaries as my primary data. Additional data consisted of the interviews of the students, the conversations between the adults and the material produced by the teacher. Since we discussed the matters students had highlighted in specific lessons, my analysis proceeds according to these lessons constructing a general view of the process. The width and depth of classroom democracy are difficult to define. Though the system we had created enabled third graders to discuss matters they found important the participation was unequal: some of the students couldn’t among other things give justifications for their opinions. This poses challenges for models that emphasize deliberation since these theories presuppose that everyone has concordant competencies. But then again only critical citizens who are able to make justifications and to evaluate them are able to oppose indoctrination. This makes teaching these competencies justified. Different decision making procedures define the classroom democracy. Deliberation doesn’t necessarily provide deeper information about the preferences of the participants than mere voting. But then again voting doesn’t express the reasons which support one’s preferences. Structured conversation can equalize the time used for every participant’s opinions, but doesn’t solve the challenge of unequal competencies. Children’s suggestion box diversified the possibilities to participate, and also the silent ones used it during the research. The asymmetry in deliberation might also be caused by the social structure of the students. Teacher’s directing and participation encouraging role in deliberation was significant. Diversifying the participation by different roles could equalize the asymmetry in participation.

The Catholic Internet discussion on cloning : A study in cognitive rhetoric

This work combines the cognitive theory of folk-theoretical thought with the classical Aristotelian theory of artistic proof in rhetoric. The first half of the work discusses the common ground shared by the elements of artistic proof (logos, pathos, ethos) and the elements of folk-theoretical thought (naïve physics, folk biology, folk psychology, naïve sociology). Combining rhetoric with the cognitive theory of folk-theoretical thought creates a new point of view for argumentation analysis. The logos of an argument can be understood as the inferential relations established between the different parts of an argument. Consequently, within this study the analysis of logos is to be viewed as the analysis of the inferential folk-theoretical elements that make the suggested factual states-of-things appear plausible within given argumentative structures. The pathos of an argumentative structure can be understood as determining the quality of the argumentation in question in the sense that emotive elements play a great part in what can be called a distinction between good and deceptive rhetoric. In the context of this study the analysis of pathos is to be viewed as the analysis of the emotive content of argumentative structures and of whether they aim at facilitating surface- or deep cognitive elaboration of the suggested matters. The ethos of an argumentative structure means both the speaker-presentation and audience-construct that can be discerned within a body of argumentation. In the context of this study, the analysis of ethos is to be understood as the analysis of mutually manifest cognitive environments in the context of argumentation. The theory is used to analyse Catholic Internet discussion concerning cloning. The discussion is divided into six themes: Human Dignity, Sacred Family, Exploitation / Dehumanisation, Playing God, Monsters and Horror Scenarios and Ensoulment. Each theme is analysed for both the rhetorical and the cognitive elements that can be seen creating persuasive force within the argumentative structures presented. It is apparent that the Catholic voices on the Internet extensively oppose cloning. The voices utilise rhetoric that is aggressive and pejorative more often than not. Furthermore, deceptive rhetoric (in the sense presented above) plays a great part in argumentative structures of the Catholic voices. The theory of folk-theoretical thought can be seen as a useful tool for analysing the possible reasons why the Catholic speakers think about cloning and choose to present cloning in their argumentation as they do. The logos utilized in the argumentative structures presented can usually be viewed as based on folk-theoretical inference concerning biology and psychology. The structures of pathos utilized generally appear to aim at generating fear appeal in the assumed audiences, often incorporating counter-intuitive elements. The ethos utilised in the arguments generally revolves around Christian mythology and issues of social responsibility. These structures can also be viewed from the point of view of folk psychology and naïve sociological assumptions.