| 1. |
- Ratkić, Adrian
(författare)
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Avvikelsens konst : metod och analogiskt tänkande
- 2004
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- I denna avhandling presenteras en fallstudie vars studieobjekt är dialogseminariemetoden tillämpad inom forskarprogrammet KTH Advanced Programmein Reflective Practice. Dialogseminariemetoden kan ses som ett sätt att iscensätta dialog genom en systematiserad och disciplinerad procedur.Metoden utvecklades i Bo Göranzons och Maria Hammaréns samarbete med företaget Combitech Systems, mellan 1996 och 1999, i syfte att underlätta reflektion kring erfarenhetsgrundad kunskap. Sedan dess har metoden tillämpats i en rad andra situationer och i olika syften.Varför är just denna metod värd att studera? Enligt min mening löper många trådar från forskningsområdet yrkeskunnande och teknologis nu tjugoåriga metodutveckling ihop i dialogseminariemetoden. Inte minst uttrycker metoden en genomtänkt hållning i frågan om vad som förbinder litteratur, filosofi, idéhistoria och konst med yrkeskunnande och vetenskap.Denna hållning uttrycks i sättet att föra dialog; olika teman utforskas i samtalet genom associativa förbindelser, utvikningar och avvikelser. Detta kallas för analogiskt tänkande, till skillnad från tänkande som bygger på induktion eller deduktion. Att tänka analogiskt innebär att reflektera kring likheter och skillnader mellan olika företeelser. Analogiskt tänkande dominerar i omdöme och handling och är av stor betydelse i bland annat utvecklingsprojekt,inom konstnärligt arbete, all slags problemlösning, samt de faser i forskningsarbetet som kräver uppfinningsrikedom och fantasi.Dialogseminariemetoden utgör ett exempel på det som filosofen Tore Nordenstam kallar ”tillämpad humaniora”, och min beskrivning av hur metoden använts vid KTH kan ses som ett inlägg i den offentliga diskussionenom humanioras plats inom högre utbildningen.
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| 2. |
- Oakes, Benjamin Donald
(författare)
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Risk Analysis of Intentional Electromagnetic Interference on Critical Infrastructures
- 2017
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Our modern society depends on the functioning and interplay of a wealth of infrastructures. Practicallyall of these infrastructures are in some form or another, dependent on electrical and electronicsystems. The majority of modern infrastructure is dependent on electric power and controlled bySupervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. Electronic systems are sensitive toelectromagnetic interference and at the same time, sources of electromagnetic interference are becomingmore readily available on the market.This means that certain important electronic infrastructure could be exposed to the risk of intentionalelectromagnetic interference (IEMI). Therefore, and also due to the complex nature of electronicinfrastructure, a comprehensive risk assessment methodology is needed. A game-theoretic approachfor quantitative risk assessment of the recently recognised threat of intentional electromagneticinterference on critical infrastructures is presented. The thesis bridges the gap between thefields of IEMI and risk analysis and lays a foundation for further development within this multidisciplinaryfield.In paper I, the probability distribution function of the electric field strength from a continuouswave source is estimated in complex building structures. Probability distribution functions arecombined for small and large scale fluctuations.In paper II, a structured risk assessment framework is presented for identifying and quantifyingthe risk of IEMI on a distribution network infrastructure. The dimensions and components of riskare dissected and a suitable definition of risk is formulated.In paper III, an operational model is formulated to optimise the operation of a wireless networkunder the course of a coordinated jamming attack. The model captures the time dimension andillustrates how the network operator must dynamically control the network so as to reduce the totalnetwork operational cost.
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| 3. |
- Abebe, Henok Girma, 1988-
(författare)
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The Rationality and Moral Acceptability of Vision Zero Goal and Its Interventions
- 2021
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This licentiate thesis discusses moral issues associated with road safety work, with a particular emphasis on the Vision Zero (VZ) goal and its interventions. The licentiate thesis contains three articles and an introduction that briefly discusses issues and arguments presented in the articles.The first article, identifies, systematically categorizes and evaluates arguments against VZ. Moral, operational, and rationality related criticisms against the adoption and implementation of VZ are identified and discussed. The second article in this thesis seeks to reconcile the methods of Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) and VZ in road safety decision making. CBA has been and still is a major decision making tool in road transport and traffic safety work. However, proponents of VZ question the use of CBA in road safety and transport decision making on methodological and ethical grounds. In this paper, we locate the philosophical roots of the conflicting views promoted by proponents of CBA and VZ. Then we try to identify ways through which the two methods can be made compatible.The third and final paper uses VZ as a normative framework to explore and analyse the Addis Ababa road safety work. The aim of the paper is twofold. First, the paper seeks to examine how road safety problems are actually understood by those responsible for road safety at the local level. To this end, government policy documents, reports and other relevant sources where consulted to identify how road safety problems are framed, who is assigned responsibility for addressing road safety problems and through what interventions. Second, the paper aims to examine road safety work in the city from a normative point of view, i.e., what is the best, or most adequate, way of framing the problem, and who should be given the responsibility for addressing the problem and by what measures. It is argued that enhancing road safety in the city requires adopting a broader view of causes of road safety problems, and emphasizing the responsibility of actors that shape the design and operation of the traffic system and the safety of its components.
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| 4. |
- Ahlin, Jesper
(författare)
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Personal Autonomy and Informed Consent : Conceptual and Normative Analyses
- 2017
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This licentiate thesis is comprised of a “kappa” and two articles. The kappa includes an account of personal autonomy and informed consent, an explanation of how the concepts and articles relate to each other, and a summary in Swedish.Article 1 treats one problem with the argument that a patient’s consent to treatment is valid only if it is authentic, i.e., if it is “genuine,” “truly her own,” “not out of character,” or similar. As interventions with a patient’s life and liberties must be justified, the argument presupposes that the authenticity of desires can be reliably determined. If the status of a desire in terms of authenticity cannot be reliably determined, discarding the desire-holder’s treatment decision on the basis that it is inauthentic is morally unjustified. In the article, I argue that no theory of authenticity that is present in the relevant literature can render reliably observable consequences. Therefore, the concept of authenticity, as it is understood in those theories, should not be part of informed consent practices.Article 2 discusses the problem of what it is to consent or refuse voluntarily. In it, I argue that voluntariness should be more narrowly understood than what is common. My main point is that a conceptualization of voluntariness should be agent-centered, i.e., take into account the agent’s view of her actions. Among other things, I argue that an action is non-voluntary only if the agent thinks of it as such when being coerced. This notion, which at first look may seem uncontroversial, entails the counterintuitive conclusion that an action can be voluntary although the agent has been manipulated or coerced into doing it. In defense of the notion, I argue that if the agent’s point of view is not considered accordingly, describing her actions as non-voluntary can be alien to how she leads her life. There are other moral concepts available to describe what is wrong with manipulation and coercion, i.e., to make sense of the counterintuitive conclusion. Voluntariness should be reserved to fewer cases than what is commonly assumed.
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| 5. |
- Baard, Patrik, 1981-
(författare)
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Sustainable Goals : Feasible Paths to Desirable Long-Term Futures
- 2014
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The general aim of this licentiate thesis is to analyze the framework in which long-term goals are set and subsequently achieved. It is often claimed that goals should be realistic, meaning that they should be adjusted to known abilities. This thesis will argue that this might be very difficult in areas related to sustainable development and climate change adaptation, and that goals that are, to an acceptable degree, unrealistic, can have important functions.Essay I discusses long-term goal setting. When there is a great temporal discrepancy between the point in time of setting and achieving a goal, many uncertainties have to be considered. The surrounding world and the agent’s abilities and values might change. This is an ontological uncertainty. We often form beliefs regarding how abilities and values might change, but this belief is always uncertain. This is an epistemological uncertainty. A form of goal called cautiously utopian goals is proposed, which incorporate such uncertainties, but enables goal setting with long time-frames.Essay II discusses the issue of goals intended to reduce great risks. We cannot expect an agent to do something that lies beyond this agent’s abilities, as exemplified in the principle ‘ought implies can’. Adjusting goals to what we currently, with a high degree of certainty know could be done is difficult. If not including an estimation of how abilities can change, important performance-enhancing functions of goals might be lost. It is argued that very ambitious goals should be set. This is partly due to the great magnitude and likelihood of unwanted consequences and partly due to the difficulty of delineating what lies in agents’ capacity to manage complex risks.Essay III discusses a decision-facilitating tool Sustainability Analysis to be used by Swedish municipal planners. One sub-part of the tool, Goal Conflict Analysis, can be used to identify how the consequences of a planned adaptation measure will affect other long-term municipal goals. Identified goal conflicts can then be used in order to determine whether the conflicts are acceptable, or whether a different adaptation measure should be worked out. The paper discusses a workshop in a Swedish municipality in which the tool has been tested.
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| 6. |
- Bülow, William, 1986-
(författare)
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Ethics of Imprisonment : Essays in Criminal Justice Ethics
- 2014
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This licentiate thesis consists of three essays which all concern the ethics of imprisonment and what constitutes an ethically defensible treatment of criminal offenders.Paper 1 defends the claim that prisoners have a right to privacy. I argue that the right to privacy is important because of its connection to moral agency. For that reasons is the protection of inmates’ right to privacy also warranted by different established philosophical theories about the justification of legal punishment. I discuss the practical implications of this argument. Ultimately I argue the invasion of privacy should be minimized to the greatest extent possible without compromising other important values and rights to safety and security. In defending this position, I argue that respect for inmates’ privacy should be part of the objective of creating and upholding a secure environment to better effect in the long run.Paper 2 discusses whether the collateral harm of imprisonment to the close family members and children of prison inmates may give rise to special moral obligations towards them. Several collateral harms, including decreased psychological wellbeing, financial costs, loss of economic opportunities, and intrusion and control over their private lives, are identified. Two competing perspectives in moral philosophy are applied in order to assess whether the harms are permissible. The first is consequentialist and the second is deontological, and it is argued that both of them fails and therefore it is hard to defend the position that allowing for these harms would be morally permissible, even for the sake of the overall aims of incarceration. Instead, it is argued that these harms imply that imprisonment should only be used as a last resort. Where it is necessary, imprisonment should give rise to special moral obligations towards families of prisoners. Using the notion of residual obligation, these obligations are defended, categorized and clarified.Paper 3 evaluates electronic monitoring (EM) from an ethical perspective and discusses whether it could be a promising alternative to imprisonment as a criminal sanction for a series of criminal offenses. EM evaluated from an ethical perspective as six initial ethical challenges are addressed and discussed. It is argued that since EM is developing as a technology and a punitive means, it is urgent to discuss its ethical implications and incorporate moral values into its design and development.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Erdeniz, Robert, 1981-
(författare)
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Military Operations Planning and Methodology : Thoughts on military problem-solving
- 2017
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis discusses military operations planning and methodology by reviewing two of NATO’s planning documents, i.e. the ‘Allied Joint Doctrine for Operational-Level Planning’ (AJP 5) and the ‘Comprehensive Operations Planning Directive’ (COPD), and defends the following claim.Parts of the description of NATO’s Operational-Level Planning Process (OLPP), as described in the AJP 5 and the COPD, is methodologically inconsistent (contradictory), due to epistemic and practical implications of methodology.As such, the thesis discusses three topics: approaches to Operational Art, planning heuristics and implications of methodology. The thesis also intertwines military operations planning, methodology and military problem-solving.This thesis consists of two published papers and an introduction. The introduction explains and further discusses operations planning as well as terms and concepts stated within the two papers.Paper I focuses on the AJP 5 and discusses the methodological distinction between two approaches within Operational Art, denoted the ‘Design’ and the ‘Systemic’ approach. The distinction between these approaches is vague and paper I states one epistemic and one practical implication of methodology.Paper II focuses on the COPD and discusses two specific planning heuristics. The first relates to the Systemic approach and the second heuristic relates to the third approach denoted the ‘Causalist’ approach within Operational Art. A methodological contradiction exists between these specific heuristics and paper II states one epistemic and three practical implications of methodology.Briefly, this thesis implies that parts of NATO’s description of the OLPP suffers from a methodological contradiction. Hence, a suggestion is to revise parts of the AJP 5 and the COPD. The thesis also suggest the development of a “NATO handbook of methodology” to better explain methodological implications on military operations planning and the “how to” of military problem-solving.
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| 9. |
- Hugo, Karin, 1969-
(författare)
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Genmodifierade livsmedel och kommunikativ etik : En analys av etisk oenighet i debatten om genmodifierade livsmedel
- 2005
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the Swedish debate regarding genetically modified food products. What does the moral disagreements within this debate entail? In which way would it be possible to obtain and maintain a true dialogue? Is consensus a plausible or even a desirable goal? Can communicative ethics contribute? These questions are analysed in this research project.The project focuses on three themes of the debate on genetically modified food 1990-2000 in Sweden. The first theme is in relation to the concepts: natural and unnatural. Within the debate on genetically modified food, there have been various wide ranging arguments on whether or not genetic modification is natural or unnatural. The second theme concerns the concepts of risk and benefit. Safety questions and possible risks and benefits have been subjects of discussion and debate for a long time. This analysis highlights the way risks or benefits are valued. What does it mean if something is a risk? The third theme concerns the argumentations regarding democracy, mostlyin relation to labelling discussions. Democracy is used to describe freedom of choice, another argumentation focuses on the right to be a part of the decision making process.The last part of the thesis discusses the question whether communicative ethics can contribute to obtain dialogue between various parties, and whether consensus is possible or even a desirable as a goal. How would this function in a debate where there is an ethical disagreement based on divergent ethical standpoints?
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| 10. |
- Jerkert, Jesper
(författare)
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Philosophical Issues in Medical Intervention Research
- 2015
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The thesis consists of an introduction and two papers. In the introduction a brief historical survey of empirical investigations into the effectiveness of medicinal interventions is given. Also, the main ideas of the EBM (evidence-based medicine) movement are presented. Both included papers can be viewed as investigations into the reasonableness of EBM and its hierarchies of evidence.Paper I: Typically, in a clinical trial patients with specified symptoms are given either of two or more predetermined treatments. Health endpoints in these groups are then compared using statistical methods. Concerns have been raised, not least from adherents of so-called alternative medicine, that clinical trials do not offer reliable evidence for some types of treatment, in particular for highly individualized treatments, for example traditional homeopathy. It is argued that such concerns are unfounded. There are two minimal conditions related to the nature of the treatments that must be fulfilled for evaluability in a clinical trial, namely (1) the proper distinction of the two treatment groups and (2) the elimination of confounding variables or variations. These are delineated, and a few misunderstandings are corrected. It is concluded that the conditions do not preclude the testing of alternative medicine, whether individualized or not.Paper II: Traditionally, mechanistic reasoning has been assigned a negligible role in standard EBM literature, although some recent authors have argued for an upgrading. Even so, mechanistic reasoning that has received attention has almost exclusively been positive -- both in an epistemic sense of claiming that there is a mechanistic chain and in a health-related sense of there being claimed benefits for the patient. Negative mechanistic reasoning has been neglected, both in the epistemic and in the health-related sense. I distinguish three main types of negative mechanistic reasoning and subsume them under a new definition of mechanistic reasoning in the context of assessing medical interventions. Although this definition is wider than a previous suggestion in the literature, there are still other instances of reasoning that concern mechanisms but do not (and should not) count as mechanistic reasoning. One of the three distinguished types, which is negative only in the health-related sense, has a corresponding positive counterpart, whereas the other two, which are epistemically negative, do not have such counterparts, at least not that are particularly interesting as evidence. Accounting for negative mechanistic reasoning in EBM is therefore partly different from accounting for positive mechanistic reasoning. Each negative type corresponds to a range of evidential strengths, and it is argued that there are differences with respect to the typical strengths. The variety of negative mechanistic reasoning should be acknowledged in EBM, and presents a serious challenge to proponents of so-called medical hierarchies of evidence.
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