Tom Sorell - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Tom Sorell

Research paper thumbnail of Commentary on Jecker

Journal of Medical Ethics, Nov 24, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of Review of Anita Ho, Live Like Nobody is Watching: Relational Autonomy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Health Monitoring

Criminal law and philosophy, Mar 1, 2024

Research paper thumbnail of Hobbes's Persuasive Civil Science

The Philosophical Quarterly, Jul 1, 1990

Hobbes wrote about politics at a time of great political controversy in England, and he intended ... more Hobbes wrote about politics at a time of great political controversy in England, and he intended his treatises to have an effect on public opinion and behaviour. In the dedication to The Elements of Law, the earliest of his full-scale works, he claimed that 'it would be an incomparable ...

Research paper thumbnail of The Bankers and the ‘Nameless Virtue’

Please refer to published version for the most recent bibliographic citation information. If a pu... more Please refer to published version for the most recent bibliographic citation information. If a published version is known of, the repository item page linked to above, will contain details on accessing it.

Research paper thumbnail of Private emergencies and institutions

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Oct 8, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Freedom Within Limits

Research paper thumbnail of Poverty, Exclusion and the Design of Microfinance Institutions

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Oct 11, 2017

Description of the approach (aims, delivery, budget etc) ADIE, covering the region of Hainaut-Nor... more Description of the approach (aims, delivery, budget etc) ADIE, covering the region of Hainaut-Nord Pas-de-Calais in France, provides a valuable example which is particularly relevant to Brandenburg, in relation to the recommendation to improve the financing endowment for start-up support from unemployment. The French organisation, ADIE (Association Pour le Droit a l´Initiative Economique), which was established in the early 1990s, operates almost 100 local agencies and around 300 contact offices in all regions of France, of which Hainaut in northern France is one. ADIE is probably the biggest and most experienced supplier of micro-loans in Europe. ADIE offers a host of different products for micro entrepreneurs. First of all, there are micro-loans of up to EUR 5 000 which are accompanied by access to mentors. The aim is to finance the establishment, or development, of a micro business, usually in the retail and/or services sector. The interest rate is currently 7% with monthly repayments, plus a 'solidarity contribution' of 2% to 3% which is channelled into a type of mutual guarantee fund. Guarantees, which are only used, in the very rare case when debtors deliberately refuse to effect repayment, are also requested from friends, neighbours, etc.

Research paper thumbnail of Hobbes's scheme of the sciences

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Jan 26, 1996

Research paper thumbnail of 6. Paris

Oxford University Press eBooks, Jan 18, 2001

Research paper thumbnail of Hobbes’s Reputation in Anglo-American Philosophy

Research paper thumbnail of Knowledge, the Self, and Internalism

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Jul 11, 2005

Research paper thumbnail of Liberalism with Hobbesian sobriety

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Oct 8, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Liberal Democratic Regulation and Technological Advance

Oxford University Press eBooks, Dec 5, 2016

This chapter considers an array of new technologies developed for bulk collection and data analys... more This chapter considers an array of new technologies developed for bulk collection and data analysis that are sometimes connected by critics with mass surveillance. While the use of such technologies can be compatible with democratic principles, the NSA’s system of bulk collection has been likened to that practised by the Stasi in the former German Democratic Republic. Drawing on Pettit’s concept of domination, we dispute the comparison, conceding nevertheless that bulk collection carries risks of intrusion, error, and damage to trust. Allowing that some surveillance is bound to be secret, we insist that secrecy must be limited, and subject to democratic oversight. Even if NSA-type surveillance is not a modern reincarnation of Stasi oppression failures of oversight make it objectionable from the perspective of democratic theory. More generally, surveillance technologies interfere with individual autonomy, which liberal democratic states are committed to protecting, whether the agent making use of them is a state or private company.

Research paper thumbnail of Knowledge (Scientia)

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Jan 5, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of What's wrong with exorbitant interest rates on microloans?

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Aug 5, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Scientia in Early Modern Philosophy

Research paper thumbnail of Ethical values and social care robots for older people: an international qualitative study

Ethics and Information Technology, Dec 8, 2016

Values such as respect for autonomy, safety, enablement, independence, privacy and social connect... more Values such as respect for autonomy, safety, enablement, independence, privacy and social connectedness should be reflected in the design of social robots. The same values should affect the process by which robots are introduced into the homes of older people to support independent living. These values may, however, be in tension. We explored what potential users thought about these values, and how the tensions between them could be resolved. With the help of partners in the ACCOMPANY project, 21 focus groups (123 participants) were convened in France, the Netherlands and the UK. These groups consisted of: (i) older people, (ii) informal carers and (iii) formal carers of older people. The participants were asked to discuss scenarios in which there is a conflict between older people and others over how a robot should be used, these conflicts reflecting tensions between values. Participants favoured compromise, persuasion and negotiation as a means of reaching agreement. Roles and related rolenorms for the robot were thought relevant to resolving tensions, as were hypothetical agreements between users and robot-providers before the robot is introduced into the home. Participants' understanding of each of the valuesautonomy, safety, enablement, independence, privacy and social connectedness-is reported. Participants tended to agree that autonomy often has priority over the other values, with the exception in certain cases of safety. The second part of the paper discusses how the values could be incorporated into the design of social robots and operationalised in line with the views expressed by the participants.

Research paper thumbnail of Scientism

Routledge eBooks, Jul 4, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of DELIVERABLE 6.6 A tentative proposal for an ethical framework

Research paper thumbnail of Conscious Experience and the Mind

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Jul 11, 2005

Research paper thumbnail of Commentary on Jecker

Journal of Medical Ethics, Nov 24, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of Review of Anita Ho, Live Like Nobody is Watching: Relational Autonomy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Health Monitoring

Criminal law and philosophy, Mar 1, 2024

Research paper thumbnail of Hobbes's Persuasive Civil Science

The Philosophical Quarterly, Jul 1, 1990

Hobbes wrote about politics at a time of great political controversy in England, and he intended ... more Hobbes wrote about politics at a time of great political controversy in England, and he intended his treatises to have an effect on public opinion and behaviour. In the dedication to The Elements of Law, the earliest of his full-scale works, he claimed that 'it would be an incomparable ...

Research paper thumbnail of The Bankers and the ‘Nameless Virtue’

Please refer to published version for the most recent bibliographic citation information. If a pu... more Please refer to published version for the most recent bibliographic citation information. If a published version is known of, the repository item page linked to above, will contain details on accessing it.

Research paper thumbnail of Private emergencies and institutions

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Oct 8, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Freedom Within Limits

Research paper thumbnail of Poverty, Exclusion and the Design of Microfinance Institutions

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Oct 11, 2017

Description of the approach (aims, delivery, budget etc) ADIE, covering the region of Hainaut-Nor... more Description of the approach (aims, delivery, budget etc) ADIE, covering the region of Hainaut-Nord Pas-de-Calais in France, provides a valuable example which is particularly relevant to Brandenburg, in relation to the recommendation to improve the financing endowment for start-up support from unemployment. The French organisation, ADIE (Association Pour le Droit a l´Initiative Economique), which was established in the early 1990s, operates almost 100 local agencies and around 300 contact offices in all regions of France, of which Hainaut in northern France is one. ADIE is probably the biggest and most experienced supplier of micro-loans in Europe. ADIE offers a host of different products for micro entrepreneurs. First of all, there are micro-loans of up to EUR 5 000 which are accompanied by access to mentors. The aim is to finance the establishment, or development, of a micro business, usually in the retail and/or services sector. The interest rate is currently 7% with monthly repayments, plus a 'solidarity contribution' of 2% to 3% which is channelled into a type of mutual guarantee fund. Guarantees, which are only used, in the very rare case when debtors deliberately refuse to effect repayment, are also requested from friends, neighbours, etc.

Research paper thumbnail of Hobbes's scheme of the sciences

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Jan 26, 1996

Research paper thumbnail of 6. Paris

Oxford University Press eBooks, Jan 18, 2001

Research paper thumbnail of Hobbes’s Reputation in Anglo-American Philosophy

Research paper thumbnail of Knowledge, the Self, and Internalism

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Jul 11, 2005

Research paper thumbnail of Liberalism with Hobbesian sobriety

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Oct 8, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Liberal Democratic Regulation and Technological Advance

Oxford University Press eBooks, Dec 5, 2016

This chapter considers an array of new technologies developed for bulk collection and data analys... more This chapter considers an array of new technologies developed for bulk collection and data analysis that are sometimes connected by critics with mass surveillance. While the use of such technologies can be compatible with democratic principles, the NSA’s system of bulk collection has been likened to that practised by the Stasi in the former German Democratic Republic. Drawing on Pettit’s concept of domination, we dispute the comparison, conceding nevertheless that bulk collection carries risks of intrusion, error, and damage to trust. Allowing that some surveillance is bound to be secret, we insist that secrecy must be limited, and subject to democratic oversight. Even if NSA-type surveillance is not a modern reincarnation of Stasi oppression failures of oversight make it objectionable from the perspective of democratic theory. More generally, surveillance technologies interfere with individual autonomy, which liberal democratic states are committed to protecting, whether the agent making use of them is a state or private company.

Research paper thumbnail of Knowledge (Scientia)

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Jan 5, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of What's wrong with exorbitant interest rates on microloans?

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Aug 5, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Scientia in Early Modern Philosophy

Research paper thumbnail of Ethical values and social care robots for older people: an international qualitative study

Ethics and Information Technology, Dec 8, 2016

Values such as respect for autonomy, safety, enablement, independence, privacy and social connect... more Values such as respect for autonomy, safety, enablement, independence, privacy and social connectedness should be reflected in the design of social robots. The same values should affect the process by which robots are introduced into the homes of older people to support independent living. These values may, however, be in tension. We explored what potential users thought about these values, and how the tensions between them could be resolved. With the help of partners in the ACCOMPANY project, 21 focus groups (123 participants) were convened in France, the Netherlands and the UK. These groups consisted of: (i) older people, (ii) informal carers and (iii) formal carers of older people. The participants were asked to discuss scenarios in which there is a conflict between older people and others over how a robot should be used, these conflicts reflecting tensions between values. Participants favoured compromise, persuasion and negotiation as a means of reaching agreement. Roles and related rolenorms for the robot were thought relevant to resolving tensions, as were hypothetical agreements between users and robot-providers before the robot is introduced into the home. Participants' understanding of each of the valuesautonomy, safety, enablement, independence, privacy and social connectedness-is reported. Participants tended to agree that autonomy often has priority over the other values, with the exception in certain cases of safety. The second part of the paper discusses how the values could be incorporated into the design of social robots and operationalised in line with the views expressed by the participants.

Research paper thumbnail of Scientism

Routledge eBooks, Jul 4, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of DELIVERABLE 6.6 A tentative proposal for an ethical framework

Research paper thumbnail of Conscious Experience and the Mind

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Jul 11, 2005