The Fourth Revolution: Philosophical Foundations and Technological Implications

This article introduces this special issue of Knowledge, Technology and Policy. It also explains why Luciano Floridi’s Philosophy of Technology is chosen as the topic of the special issue.     

The effects of the Yazıköy‐epicentre Burdur earthquake (12 May 1971) on the residents of the village

The majority of the population in Turkey lives with the risk of earthquakes. The public is affected deeply by earthquakes socially, economically and psychologically. This study aims to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of the survivors of the 1971 Burdur earthquake and its sociocultural effects. A total of 76 individuals took part in the study. The data for the research were collected through participant interviews with the use of the semi‐structured interview form. Findings indicate that the participants are not sufficiently knowledgeable about earthquakes, that their knowledge is not based on scientific grounds, that their attitudes towards earthquakes reflect fatalistic and local cultural elements, and that their socio‐economic status plays an important role in their perspectives on earthquakes. The findings of this study are thought to form a basis for researchers for future study.     

ATTITUDES OF JUVENILES IN CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS TOWARD NON-PERSONAL VISITORS

This study investigates the effects of non-personal visitors (mainly university students studying sociology and psychology) upon the residents of Juvenile Correctional Institutions. The subjects of this study were 95 Saudi males (average age; 15.85 years) enrolled in Riyad's Juvenile Correctional Institution. A sentence completion questionnaire (ASCQ) was developed by the researcher to elicit attitudes of the subjects toward the non-personal visitors. The analysis of the data indicated that most of the subjects were in favour of the continuation of the visits, and were happy to talk to the visitors. Only a very small percentage of subjects expressed negative attitudes towards the visitors. It seems that the visits are thus an opportunity to provide the inmates with new role models.     

Counterfactuals vs. conditional probabilities: A critical analysis of the counterfactual theory of information

Cohen and Meskin 2006 Cohen, Jonathan and Meskin, Aaron. 2006. An Objective Counterfactual Theory of Information. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 84: 333–352. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] recently offered a counterfactual theory of information to replace the standard probabilistic theory of information. They claim that the counterfactual theory fares better than the standard account on three grounds: first, it provides a better framework for explaining information flow properties; second, it requires a less expensive ontology; and third, because it does not refer to doxastic states of the information-receiving organism, it provides an objective basis. In this paper, I show that none of these is really an advantage. Moreover, the counterfactual theory fails to satisfy one of the basic properties of information flow, namely the Conjunction principle. Thus, I conclude, there is no reason to give up the standard probabilistic theory for the counterfactual theory of information.