Interpersonal understanding and theory of mind

En populär idé inom dagens filosofiska och psykologiska forskning om interpersonlig förståelse, är idén att vi använder en kognitiv funktion (eller metod) för att förstå andra människor, en så kallad ”theory of mind” funktion. Denna idé förekommer inom ett brett vetenskapligt fält så som inom evolutionspsykologi, inom teorier om barns utveckling, inom teorier om autism, samt inom emotionsfilosofi och moralfilosofi. Avsikten i denna studie är att se närmare på vissa inflytelserika filosofiska och psykologiska teorier om interpersonlig förståelse, teorier som också har en stark koppling till empirisk forskning. I arbetet hävdar Gustafsson att teorierna ifråga avspeglar vissa klassiska, filosofiskt problematiska, antaganden. Dessa antaganden präglar teorierna ifråga samt påverkar hur de empiriska undersökningarna byggs upp och hur resultat tolkas.

Climate Change and Ethics of Geoengineering -- Implications Of Climate Emergency Ethics

Global climate change and intentional climate modification, i.e. geoengineering include various ethical problems which are entangled as a complex ensemble of questions regarding the future of the biosphere. The possibilities of catastrophic effects of climate change which are also called “climate emergency” have led to the emergence of the idea of modifying the atmospheric conditions in the form of geoengineering. The novel issue of weather ethics is a subdivision of climate ethics, and it is interested in ethical and political questions surrounding weather and climate control and modification in a restricted spatio-temporal scale. The objective of geoengineering is to counterbalance the adverse effects of climate change and its diverse corollaries in various ways on a large scale. The claim of this dissertation is that there are ethical justifications to claim that currently large-scale interventions to the climate system are ethically questionable. The justification to pursue geoengineering on the basis of considering its pros and cons, is inadequate. Moral judgement can still be elaborated in cases where decisions have to be made urgently and the selection of desirable choices is severely limited. The changes needed to avoid severe negative impacts of climate change requires commitment to mitigation as well as social changes because technical solutions cannot address the issue of climate change altogether. The quantitative emphasis of consumerism should shift to qualitative focus on the aspiration for simplicity in order to a move towards the objective of the continuation of the existence of humankind and a flourishing, vital biosphere.