I hälsans spelrum : lek på vårdandets scen

With caring science as its foundation and by means of the perioperative dialogue, the intended contribution and overall aim of this present thesis is to describe what play is and could be in the caring reality, an ideal model. The perioperative dialogue is the nurse anaesthetists’ pre-, intra- and post-operative dialogues with the children they care for in connection with anesthesia. The thesis is composed according to Schopenhauer’s notion that the road to science presupposes the world seen as performances, and has an all-pervading hermeneutic approach. The performances of the thesis are: the performance of all performances, the empirical performance, the transcendental performance and the universal performance. The performance of all performances originates in the theoretical perspective of the thesis and describes what play and its characteristics are. This performance is realized through the hermeneutic interpretation of the etymology and original meaning of the word play along with texts from caring science, philosophy, anthropology and the history of religion. The empirical performance originates in four empirical studies where caring is organized as a perioperative dialogue. In study I, the material was collected with the help of participating observations and semi-structured interviews, in study II, with the help of the critical incident method and in study III, with the help of conversation interviews. In study IV, play develops into a clinical caring science research method. The research participants consist of children with special needs, children with a pronounced fear of anaesthesia, parents of children with severe autism and nurse anaesthetists. The empirical performance relates in what way play manifests in a perioperative child context by interpreting the results from the empiric in the light of the characteristics of play. The transcendental performance is enacted in the playhouse of health and presents a picture of the essence of play, the playing. In the playhouse of health, the light, winged movement of play is actualized when what was previously too difficult, too heavy and pinioned instead is as easy as anything. The eye of love and compassion knows the art of deciphering the secret script where the Other’s holiness resides, even if mere glimpses of it appear. The universal performance depicts three caring acts where the entrance consists of entering play, the ideal of which is realized in the unmasked openness face to face, that which protects the playing human being against encroachment and an unwanted audience. In the second caring act, entering play plays on to the finely-tuned interplay between human beings in the winged play of beauty and dignity. In the third caring act, the world’s deepest plays are staged on the stage of caring, in the sense that the innermost being of each individual, the universal will joins in and allows individuals to live as playing human beings who are at home with themselves and the world. The captivating, graceful and friendly play works from within itself, as long as it illumined by the light of claritas can play undisturbed on the stage of caring where it – like an unclouded mirror of its own ideal watches over children’s health.

Open Environmental Information Upon Disclosure Request in China: The Paradox of Legal Mobilization

Taking a realist view that law is one form of politics, this dissertation studies the roles of citizens and organizations in mobilizing the law to request government agencies to disclose environmental information in China, and during this process, how the socio-legal field interacts with the political-legal sphere, and what changes have been brought about during their interactions. This work takes a socio-legal approach and applies methodologies of social science and legal analysis. It aims to understand the paradox of why and how citizens and entities have been invoking the law to access environmental information despite the fact that various obstacles exist and the effectiveness of the new mechanism of environmental information disclosure still remains low. The study is largely based on the 28 cases and eight surveys of environmental information disclosure requests collected by the author. The cases and surveys analysed in this dissertation all occurred between May 2008, when the OGI Regulations and the OEI Measures came into effect, and August 2012 when the case collection was completed. The findings of this study have shown that by invoking the rules of law made by the authorities to demand government agencies disclosing environmental information, the public, including citizens, organizations, law firms, and the media, have strategically created a repercussive pressure upon the authorities to act according to the law. While it is a top-down process that has established the mechanism of open government information in China, it is indeed the bottom-up activism of the public that makes it work. Citizens and organizations’ use of legal tactics to push government agencies to disclose environmental information have formed not only an end of accessing the information but more a means of making government agencies accountable to their legal obligations. Law has thus played a pivotal role in enabling citizen participation in the political process. Against the current situation in China that political campaigns, or politicization, from general election to collective actions, especially contentious actions, are still restrained or even repressed by the government, legal mobilization, or judicialization, that citizens and organizations use legal tactics to demand their rights and push government agencies to enforce the law, become de facto an alternative of political participation. During this process, legal actions have helped to strengthen the civil society, make government agencies act according to law, push back the political boundaries, and induce changes in the relationship between the state and the public. In the field of environmental information disclosure, citizens and organizations have formed a bottom-up social activism, though limited in scope, using the language of law, creating progressive social, legal and political changes. This study emphasizes that it is partial and incomplete to understand China’s transition only from the top-down policy-making and government administration; it is also important to observe it from the bottom-up perspective that in a realistic view law can be part of politics and legal mobilization, even when utterly apolitical, can help to achieve political aims as well. This study of legal mobilization in the field of environmental information disclosure also helps us to better understand the function of law: law is not only a tool for the authorities to regulate and control, but inevitably also a weapon for the public to demand government agencies to work towards their obligations stipulated by the laws issued by themselves.

Service paradox in a product oriented company: A service business development case

The master´s thesis had three aims; to develop a service portfolio, to support the management of services through the developed portfolio, and evaluate effects of service differentiation strategy on the future selection of services. The product oriented case company in service paradox is Hilti (Suomi) Oy, which is entering systematic service management era, supported by the late strategic change. Low return on service business investments is referred as service paradox. The project was carried out as a case study, where the primary information source was twenty-one conducted interviews. The theory part focuses on marketing logics, service strategies, and categorization of services. The empirical part contributes in solving the aim related research questions. As a result of the case study a service portfolio was created, next further steps in service management were suggested, and the effect on selection of services by service differentiation strategy was evaluated. The main goal of creating service portfolio contributes to systematic management of services, which required revising at the case company.

Standing before a sentence : Moore’s paradox and a perspective from within language

Med avstamp i ett satsbegrepp som inspirerats av Ludwig Wittgenstein, där sats och kontext betraktas som internt förbundna och där den verkliga användningen av en sats är central för dess mening, visar avhandlingen hur filosofers olika uppfattning om den filosofiska terminologins roll och möjligheter har följder för deras sätt att uppfatta och behandla filosofiska frågeställningar. Moores paradox fungerar som testfall. Denna kända filosofiska frågeställning har diskuterats sedan 1940-talet och kretsar kring hävdandet av satsen ”Jag tror att det regnar och det regnar inte”. Problemet är att det vore märkligt för en talare att hävda satsen om sig själv: det verkar finnas ett logiskt hinder för att hävda en sats även om den är välformad, kunde vara sann och inte på ett entydigt sätt innehåller en kontradiktion. Moores paradox behandlas genom att granska några lösningsförslag (framförda av bl.a. G.E. Moore, J. L. Austin, J. Searle) och de uppfattningar om språket som de förutsätter. Genom att kontrastera dessa med ett användarperspektiv där språkets användning i meningsfulla sammanhang förväntas spela en central roll i behandlingen av paradoxen visar författaren hur också den intellektuella kontext inom vilken en filosof betraktar paradoxen spelar en avgörande roll för vilka mått som krävs för att upplösa den. Istället för att föreslå en egen lösning presenteras en behandling av paradoxen genom en diskussion och utredning av de grundvillkor som leder till att den uppstår. Här intar satsbegreppet en central plats. Avhandlingen är författad inom traditionen efter den senare Wittgenstein (närmare bestämt den gren som ansluter sig till en s.k. terapeutisk filosofisyn) men går i dialog med filosofiskt arbete som ligger utanför traditionen. Författaren strävar både till att medla mellan, sammanföra och särskilja olika temata som behandlats på ett sätt inom traditionen och på andra sätt utanför den och använder sig här av metaforen att filosofera inifrån i kontrast till utanför språket. Avhandlingens huvudsakliga bidrag är till metafilosofin genom dess fokus på filosofins metod. ------------------------------------------------------------ Mooren paradoksi on tunnettu filosofinen ongelma, josta on keskusteltu 1940-luvulta alkaen. Paradoksin keskeisenä osana esiintyy väitelause ”Uskon, että ulkona sataa, mutta ulkona ei sada”. Ongelman lähtökohta on, että olisi merkillistä jos puhuja esittäisi lauseen itseään koskevana väitteenä: väite näyttää olevan loogisesti mahdoton esittää, vaikka se on hyvinmuodostettu, mahdollisesti tosi, eikä yksiselitteisellä tavalla sisällä kontradiktiota. Tässä väitöskirjassa Mooren paradoksi esiintyy esimerkkinä filosofisesta ongelmasta, jossa mm. lausekäsitteellä on keskeinen rooli ja jonka avulla voidaan muodostella ns. kielensisäinen filosofinen näkökulma. Mooren paradoksia käsitellään tarkastelemalla muutamia ratkaisuehdotuksia (mm. G.E. Mooren, J.L. Austinin, J. Searlen esittämät) ja niitä kielikäsityksiä joita nämä ratkaisuehdotukset edellyttävät. Asettamalla vastakkain ratkaisuehdotukset ja käyttäjänäkymä, jossa kielenkäyttö mielekkäissä konteksteissa asetetaan keskeiseen asemaan paradoksin käsittelyssä, kirjoittaja osoittaa miten myös paradoksin filosofisen tarkastelun intellektuaalinen konteksti on hyväksyttävien toimenpiteiden löytämisen kannalta ratkaisevaa. Uuden ratkaisun sijaan kirjoittaja ehdottaa paradoksin terapeuttista käsittelyä: keskustelua ja selontekoa niistä perusehdoista, jotka johtavat sen syntyyn. Tässä käsittelyssä lausekäsite on keskipisteenä – erityisesti Ludwig Wittgensteinin inspiroima lausekäsitys, jossa lauseen mielekkyyden kannalta sen todellinen käyttö mielekkäässä kontekstissa on ratkaiseva tekijä. Väitöskirja liittyy myöhäisiwittgensteinilaiseen perinteeseen, johon kuuluu ns. terapeuttinen filosofiankäsitys, mutta teos keskustelee myös tradition ulkopuolisten ajattelijoiden kanssa yrittäen yhdistää, sovitella ja myös eritellä teemoja, joita käsitellään yhdellä tavalla tradition sisällä ja toisella tavalla sen ulkopuolella. Väitöskirjan pääasiallinen panos sijoittuu metafilosofiaan, koska sen mielenkiinnon kohteena ovat erityisesti filosofian menetelmät.

Online Anonymity and the Kantian Publicity Principle: Can the Internet Solve the Paradox of Tyranny?

Immanuel Kant’s publicity maxim states that other-regarding actions are wrong if their maxim is not compatible with their being made public. This has the effect of forbidding dissent or rebellion against tyranny, since rebels cannot make their intentions and plans public. However, new internet technologies offer public speech from behind the “shield” of anonymity, allowing dissent to be public but preventing reprisals from tyrants. This thesis examines not only this possibility, but the value of internet-based discursive spaces for politics, their viability as a mode for political communication, and their implications for Classical and Enlightenment approaches to politics and intellectual virtue. Anonymous internet communications favour logos-based reasoning and discourse, which, in the liberal-democratic tradition, is preferable to phronesis and its attendant elitism and chauvinism. These technologies can open new vistas for liberal-democratic politics.

Ernst Schroeder and Zermelo’s Anticipation of Russell’s Paradox

Ernst Zermelo presented an argument showing that there is no set of all sets that are members of themselves in a letter to Edmund Husserl on April 16th of 1902, and so just barely anticipated the same contradiction in Betrand Russell’s letter to Frege from June 16th of that year. This paper traces the origins of Zermelo’s paradox in Husserl’s criticisms of a peculiar argument in Ernst Schroeder’s 1890 Algebra der Logik. Frege had also criticized that argument in his 1985 “A Critical Elucidation of Some Points in E. Schroeder Vorlesungen über die Algebra der Logik”, but did not see the paradox that Zermelo found. Alonzo Church, in “Schroeder’s Anticipation of the Simple Theory of Types” from 1939, cricized Frege’s treatment of Schroeder’s views, but did not identify the connection with Russell’s paradox.

Compositional data and Simpson's paradox

Simpson's paradox, also known as amalgamation or aggregation paradox, appears when dealing with proportions. Proportions are by construction parts of a whole, which can be interpreted as compositions assuming they only carry relative information. The Aitchison inner product space structure of the simplex, the sample space of compositions, explains the appearance of the paradox, given that amalgamation is a nonlinear operation within that structure. Here we propose to use balances, which are specific elements of this structure, to analyse situations where the paradox might appear. With the proposed approach we obtain that the centre of the tables analysed is a natural way to compare them, which avoids by construction the possibility of a paradox. Key words: Aitchison geometry, geometric mean, orthogonal projection

Institutional Personal Learning Environments – Paradise or Paradox? A Digital Literacies Perspective

This was my keynote presentation at Computer Supported Education (CSEDU) 2012, in Porto. It looks at the importance of digital literacies and how VLEs do not support their developmeng and looks at iPLEs as an alternative.

Fronts from complex two-dimensional dispersal kernels: theory and application to Reid's paradox

Bimodal dispersal probability distributions with characteristic distances differing by several orders of magnitude have been derived and favorably compared to observations by Nathan [Nature (London) 418, 409 (2002)]. For such bimodal kernels, we show that two-dimensional molecular dynamics computer simulations are unable to yield accurate front speeds. Analytically, the usual continuous-space random walks (CSRWs) are applied to two dimensions. We also introduce discrete-space random walks and use them to check the CSRW results (because of the inefficiency of the numerical simulations). The physical results reported are shown to predict front speeds high enough to possibly explain Reid's paradox of rapid tree migration. We also show that, for a time-ordered evolution equation, fronts are always slower in two dimensions than in one dimension and that this difference is important both for unimodal and for bimodal kernels

The design process paradox : traditional design processes vs. eco-design processes

The Brundtland Report (WCED, 1987) best known for its popularisation of the concept of sustainable development, also made recommendations for a new approach to design and production, setting out terms for: ‘a production system that respects... the ecological base’ and ‘a technological system that searches continuously for new solutions’. The industrial production, consumption and waste treatment of products today causes a large amount of various environmental burdens. The development and design of new products with reduced environmental impact is one of the new challenges towards a more sustainable society and is therefore an important task in the near future.

Participation of future pharmacists in a professional development certificate scheme; the paradox of personal identity

The white paper ‘Pharmacy in England’ advocates establishing a new pharmacy regulator, building leadership and integrating undergraduate education.[1] Students must morph into competent pharmacists with the skills, expertise and confidence to lead the profession to 2020 and beyond.[2] One way individuals are encouraged to ‘professionalise’ is through participation in personal/professional development schemes. The British Pharmaceutical Students’ Association (BPSA) and the College of Pharmacy Practice have operated a professional development certificate (PDC) scheme since 2001. The scheme rewards students with a joint certificate for evidence of participation in five accredited activities in one academic year. Although the scheme is relevant to development of students, less than 2% of BPSA members take part annually. We wanted to understand the reasons for the low uptake. Our primary objectives were to examine the portrayal of the scheme and to investigate what it signifies to individuals. We describe our attempts to apply social marketing techniques[3] to the PDC, and we use ‘logical levels of change’[4] to highlight a paradox with personal identity.