The use of impact factor (IF) in the scientific and academic world is not new. A phenomenon that has gained widespread recognition and utilization. However, in modern-day usage, there seems to be a trend in higher education where academics are evaluated based on the impact factor of journals where scholarly works are published. This trend is gradually shifting the paradigm from the assessment of research contents to publication venues. This does not align with the original purpose of IF conceived by (...) Garfield in 1955. One question that has continued to agitate the minds of concerned academics is whether the IF of journals is a dependable measure of research quality. This paper is an attempt to clarify or address this problem. Based on a thorough literature search and filtration, several problems about the use of IF as a research quality measure are discussed as well as their implications. Recommendations were also made aimed at providing a way forward in higher education. (shrink)

The state of the availability of digital resources and institutional compliance to COVID-19 mitigation measures was evaluated by the researchers in this study. Informed by the need to answer two research questions, the study adopted the descriptive survey design. A sample of 409 participants was drawn from a population of 2,410 academic staff at the University of Calabar, leveraging the multistage sampling process. “Availability of digital resources and institutional compliance with COVID-19 mitigation measures questionnaire” was used for data collection. After (...) administration, we recovered 397 copies of the instrument successfully. We used descriptive statistics to answer the research questions. Our findings indicated a great extent in the availability of digital resources such as computers (91.18%), human capacity (63.48%), network printers (67.76%), projectors (59.19%), websites (92.95%), and wireless networks (86.65%). There was a low extent in the availability of digital resources such as local area network (5.79%), cloud storage systems (2.27%), digital libraries (7.56%), firewalls (1.26%), Internet service (48.36%), routers (23.69%), and Zoom videoconferencing platform (23.93%). The unavailability of digital resources such as host/servers (0%) and virtual private networks (0%) in the higher education institution (HEI). Further evidence shows a low extent of institutional compliance with COVID-19 mitigation measures generally and specifically for all indicators. In conclusion, there is a high degree of unreadiness to promote e-learning when flexible learning systems should operate in the institution. Among others, we recommend that the management of the HEI should apportion proceeds from internally generated funds to procure digital resources to increase the institution's capacity to respond to COVID-19 or similar cases in the future. (shrink)

The study examined disciplinary management in public primary schools and teachers' job effectiveness in Yakurr Local Government Area, Cross River State. Three null hypotheses were formulated accordingly to guide the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. Census technique was adopted in selecting the entire population of 98 primary school managers which comprised of 49 head teachers and 49 deputy head teachers across 49 public primary schools available in the area. A questionnaire tagged: "Disciplinary Control in Public Primary (...) Schools and Teachers' Job Effectiveness Questionnaire (DCPPSTJEQ)" designed and administered by the researcher was used as an instrument for data collection. The null hypotheses were all tested at .05 level of significance using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Analysis. Findings from the study revealed that warning, suspension, and dismissal have significant relationships respectively, to primary school teachers' job effectiveness. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended among others that; there should be fairness in the administration of suspension to all teachers through well- documented procedures. (shrink)

Background: Social media technology has provided platforms for enhanced human communication and expanded opportunities for self-expression. Despite the numerous gains, this social networking media, come with myriads of limitations; one being the tendency to be abused and/or misused, especially by young people or the young at heart. This study examined how social networking media influence the sexual behaviours of university undergraduates in Nigeria. -/- Materials and Methods: The survey research method was adopted. A sample size of 396 students was determined (...) using the Taro Yamane’s formula. The study was anchored on the Technological Determinism theory. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.99 through test-retest method. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics with the aid of SPSS v25 software. -/- Results: Findings showed, amongst others that, undergraduates in Nigerian universities are largely exposed to a substantial amount of sexual contents on various social media networks; and that this exposure negatively influences their psychology towards sex as manifested in the area of dating before marriage as a result of indulgence in interactive and romantic sites. -/- Conclusion and Recommendations: The study recommends the introduction of social media education in higher institutions to help enlighten students on the responsible use of these technologies to minimize the inherent weaknesses and maximize the intrinsic values of utilising these media platforms. (shrink)

Foodborne illnesses remain a major public health concern in Nigeria, particularly regarding street-vended foods. They contribute to high morbidity and mortality rates and an economic burden. This review synthesises evidence on the epidemiology of foodborne illnesses, vendor hygiene practices, and consumer awareness of street food safety in Nigeria, highlighting critical gaps between knowledge and practice. A systematic search conducted on 8th February 2025 across PubMed and Google Scholar identified 1,290 records. After removing 377 duplicates, 913 titles and abstracts were screened, (...) and 233 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility. A total of 86 studies met the inclusion criteria. The evidence points to widespread microbial contamination in street foods, including pathogens resistant to multiple antibiotics. Key risk factors include poor hygiene practices, unsafe preparation environments, limited access to clean water, and inconsistent application of food safety knowledge. Consumer awareness is uneven, with food choices influenced by demographic factors, perceived quality, cultural preferences, and visible hygiene conditions. Regulatory systems are often weak, and there is a clear gap between what vendors know and what they do in practice. Foodborne illness remains a serious public health issue in Nigeria. Improving vendor training, strengthening regulatory enforcement, enhancing infrastructure, and raising consumer awareness are critical steps toward safer food practices. Future research should focus on how interventions can close the gap between knowledge and practice in food safety. (shrink)

This study assessed classroom management variables and primary school system effectiveness in Calabar-South Local Government Area of Cross River State. Three null hypotheses were formulated to direct the study. The ex-post facto research design was adopted for the study. Census technique was employed in selecting the entire population of 525 academic staff (21 head teachers, 21 deputy head teachers, and 483 teachers) distributed across 21 public primary schools in the area of study. “Classroom Management Variables and School Effectiveness Questionnaire (CMVSEQ) (...) was the instrument used for data collection, with reliability estimates which ranged from .86 and .91 that were obtained through Cronbach Alpha technique. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, while the null hypotheses were all tested at .05 level of significance using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and One-Way ANOVA where applicable. Findings from the study revealed that public primary school system effectiveness in the area of study, was generally low; there is a significant relationship between classroom coordination and primary school system effectiveness; there is a significant influence of class size and classroom learning environment respectively, on primary school system effectiveness. Based on the findings, it was recommended amongst others that teachers be retrained in terms of classroom coordination and management, to enable them to acquire new techniques of classroom management, as well as the modification or elimination of obsolete ones. (shrink)

Dans notre article sur « L’Epistémologie des vertus. Analyse des vertus épistémiques de Linda Zagzebski », nous ciblons les arguments principaux qui caractérisent l’approche d’Epistémologie des vertus de Linda Zagzebski. Son épistémologie des vertus part de l’éthique de la vertu, fidèle à la notion aristotélicienne de la vertu. Son développement sur les vertus épistémiques se dégage de l’analyse de la notion même de vertu. Le concept d’ordre moral et/ou éthique, regorge en son sein, à travers ses cinq traits définitionnels, une (...) catégorie appelée à favoriser l’acquisition de la connaissance. C’est pour autant dire que la connaissance fait appel à un autre type de vertus ; il s’agit des vertus épistémiques ou cognitives ou encore intellectuelles. Elles font partie des vertus morales tout en se distinguant d’elles un tout petit peu. Au cœur de cette réflexion réside la préoccupation de savoir quel est l’élément déclencheur de ce sous-ensemble de vertus. Si les vertus morales naissent de l’attrait pour le bien, les vertus épistémiques naissent de la motivation pour la connaissance, c’est-à-dire visant le contact cognitif avec la réalité. La vertu de l’originalité intellectuelle ou l’inventivité se connecte non pas à la recherche du bien moral classique, mais à l’obtention de la connaissance, mieux à la motivation pour accroître la connaissance de l’espèce humaine. Deux composantes sont dans ce sens plus importantes pour parler des vertus épistémiques chez Linda Zagzebski : la motivation pour la connaissance et la réussite fiables. Sur ce, on parle de vertu épistémique, cognitive ou intellectuelle que lorsqu’il y a à la fois la motivation pour la connaissance et la réussite dans le processus d’acquisition de cette connaissance. C’est pour autant dire que seule la motivation pour la connaissance ne suffit pas, il faut une réussite ou atteinte de l’objectif poursuivi. (shrink)

Background/purpose – This study analyzed the contribution of three mentorship practices relatively and cumulatively to the research productivity of early-career academics in the field of educational psychology in universities. The study was conducted in the South- South region of Nigeria. -/- Materials/methods – The research method adopted was the quantitative approach, following the ex-post facto research design. The study’s population covered 723 early-career researchers (ECRs) in educational psychology distributed across 19 universities located in South-South Nigeria. The “Mentorship Practices and Research (...) Productivity Questionnaire” (MPRPQ) was the instrument used for data collection. The questionnaire was designed by the researchers and then validated by three experts. Reliability analysis was performed using the Cronbach approach with estimates of .80, .79, .87, and .91 obtained for the four clusters. Primary data were collected from the field after copies of the instrument had been administered to respondents. -/- Results – Mentorship practices were generally revealed to significantly contribute to the research productivity of ECRs in educational psychology in universities. Specifically, the adoption of cloning and apprenticeship approaches to mentorship contributed substantially to the ECRs’ research productivity. However, the study highlighted that nurturing contributed only negligibly to the ECRs’ research productivity. -/- Conclusion – Mentorship practices are important determinants to the research productivity of early-career educational psychologists. In order to boost the productive research capacities of ECRs, there is a need for institutions to strengthen their mentorship practices. (shrink)

Previous research has extensively analysed teachers' and students' Facebook use for instructional engagement, writing, research dissemination and e-learning. However, Facebook as a data collection mechanism for research has scarcely been the subject of previous studies. The current study addressed these gaps by analysing students' awareness, willingness, and utilisation of Facebook for research data collection [RDC]. This study aimed to predict students’ Facebook use for research data collection based on their awareness and willingness and to determine age and gender differences in (...) such predictions. A sample of 11,562 students of tertiary institutions participated in an online survey. The researchers designed and validated the online survey. Exploratory Factor Analysis was used for dimensionality. Average Variance Extracted [AVE] was used for convergent validity, whilst the Fornel-Larcker criterion and Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio were used for discriminant validity. Composite reliability indices of .97, .94 and .90 proved the instrument’s three sub-scales usable. One sample t-test and multigroup analysis were conducted using SPSS 27 and Smart PLS 3. The study found high awareness but low usage of Facebook for RDC among Nigerian university students. Younger and male students showed higher willingness and actual use of Facebook for RDC. Awareness directly impacted by awareness, and acted as Facebook usage for RDC, with stronger impacts for males and students aged 19 to 28. Willingness was positively impacted and acted as a negative mediator between awareness and usage for some age groups and genders. These findings provide important insights into using Facebook for RDC among students in Nigerian universities and highlight the need to consider the impact of demographic factors such as age and. (shrink)

This study assessed the partial as well as the collaborative impact of age and gender on academic staff preparedness to adopt Internet tools for research sharing in African universities during Covid-19. Although evidence abounds in the literature on gender and age as they affect relatively, scholars’ utilisation of digital tools for research communication, such studies did not examine scholars’ preparedness to adopt from a broad perspective of Africa. This study was conducted based on the argument that the preparedness of scholars (...) may affect their future interest to utilize digital tools for research sharing. A quantitative method, based on the descriptive survey research design, was adopted to provide answers to four prevailing research questions. The examination focused on a populace of 8,591 staff in African universities, nonetheless, information was gathered from 1,977 of them, who deliberately took part from 24 African nations. A validated electronic rating scale, which was mailed/posted to targeted participants, was used as the instrument for data collection. Gender and age significantly affected academic staff preparedness to adopt Internet tools for research sharing partially and interactively in African Universities during Covid-19. Female staff were more prepared than males to adopt internet tools for research sharing during the pandemic. Older lecturers reported a higher rate of preparedness than their younger colleagues to adopt Internet tools for research sharing during Covid-19. In light of these proofs, ramifications and proposals for future exploration are discussed. (shrink)

This study examined school characteristics and secondary school teachers’ work effectiveness in Abi Local Government Area of Cross River State. Specifically, the study examined the influence of school location, school population, and school ownership on secondary school teachers’ work effectiveness respectively. Three research questions were posed and three null hypotheses were formulated accordingly to guide the study. The design adopted for the study was a descriptive survey research design. A purposive sampling technique was used to select a sample of 156 (...) respondents out of a population of 549 teachers. A questionnaire titled “Teachers’ work effectiveness questionnaire” (TWEQ) was used as an instrument for data collection. Collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics, while the null hypotheses were all tested at .05 level of significance using the independent t-test statistical technique. The results of the analysis revealed that school characteristics such as location, population, and ownership, influenced secondary school teachers’ work effectiveness respectively. Based on these findings, it was recommended among others that; teachers should be motivated using intrinsic and extrinsic channels such as praises, rewards for outstanding performance, regular payment of salaries, promotion and other incentives such as improved working conditions, good classroom, and office environment, and so on, for improved work performance. (shrink)

This study used a structural equation modelling approach to assess the association between employee work- life policies, psychological empowerment, and academic staff job commitment in universities in Cross River State, Nigeria. Three null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study following a descriptive survey research design. Multistage sampling procedure was adopted in the selection of 315 academic staff from two universities in the study area. “Work-Life Policies, Psychological Empowerment and Job Commitment Questionnaire (WPPEJCQ)” was used as the instrument for data (...) collection. The construct validity of the instrument was ascertained through an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The Kaiser-Meyer-Ohlin of .894 and the Bartlett coefficient of 7795.820 were obtained. Several fit indices of Confirmatory Factor Analysis were used to accept the model such as RMSEA=.031, TLI=.969, CFI=.971 and many others. The null hypotheses were all tested using Path analysis. Findings revealed, among others, that there is a significant effect of work-life policies on the affective (β=.774,t=21.636,p<.05), continuance (β=.450,t=8.932,p<.05), and normative (β=490,t=9.967,p<.05) dimensions of academic staff commitment; furthermore, psychological empowerment has a significant effect on the affective (β=.795,t=23.199,p<.05), continuance (β=.501,t=10.261,p<.05) and normative (β = .520, t = 10.795, p< .05) dimensions of staff commitment; and there is a significant composite effect of work-life policies and psychological empowerment on the affective, continuance, and normative commitment levels of academic staff in universities. Based on these findings, conclusions and recommendations were made. (shrink)

There is currently a dearth of a culturally sensitive instrument for measuring job satisfaction among university lecturers in Africa, specifically Nigeria. To bridge this gap, we developed and psychometrically tested the Lecturers' Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (LJSQ) in two Nigerian universities. Content validity evidence was gathered through experts' ratings, with a quantitative approach followed in computing content validity indices at the item and scale level. The researchers refined and tested the Lecturers’ Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (LJSQ) through a systematic process. A focus (...) group discussion with 10 university lecturers guided its initial development, followed by pilot testing with 3,122 lecturers divided into three subsamples: 262 for Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), 1,300 for Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and 1,560 for bifactor modelling. Participants were allocated systematically across the subsamples to ensure a balanced distribution. Results of data analysis revealed a five-factor structure encompassing satisfaction with work conditions, workload allocation, remuneration, career advancement opportunity, and research support. The bifactor model demonstrated the best fit, among four competing models supported by reliability measures such as Cronbach’s alpha, Omega coefficients, and split-half reliability, alongside convergent and discriminant validity, confirming its effectiveness in assessing job satisfaction. Conclusively, the applicability of the LJSQ transcends disciplinary and institutional boundaries, providing a foundation for future cross-cultural validation and longitudinal studies. Keywords:. (shrink)

This study investigated behavioral (environmental risk perception and perceived usefulness of eco-friendly practices) and contextual factors (institutional support, and access to agricultural inputs) influence the adoption of eco- friendly practices and sustainable crop farming in rural communities in Cross River State, Nigeria. This study employed a quantitative cross-sectional survey design. A multistage proportionate stratified random sampling technique was used to select 2,142 participants, of which 1,987 valid responses were analyzed. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire containing 36 items across (...) six constructs, with reliability and validity confirmed through expert review, pilot testing, and measurement model evaluation. Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability values ranged from 0.84 to 0.95, and average variance extracted (AVE) values exceeded the 0.50 threshold. Indicator loadings were mostly above 0.70, variance inflation factors were within acceptable limits, and model fit indices indicated a good model fit. The results of the structural model of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) showed that while environmental risk perception, perceived usefulness of eco-friendly practices, and institutional support promoted the adoption of eco-friendly practices, only access to agricultural inputs had a direct influence on both adoption and sustainable crop farming. Adoption of eco-friendly practices served as the main mechanism linking farmers’ perceptions and support systems to improved farming outcomes. The findings suggest that programmes aiming to enhance sustainable crop farming should not only provide inputs and advisory support but also address behavioral factors that encourage consistent use of environmentally sound methods. The study is practically useful in guiding agricultural extension, rural development planning, and policy in Nigeria and other regions with similar farming conditions. (shrink)

Assessment of students’ attitudes towards test-taking in secondary schools in Afikpo Education Zone of Ebonyi State, Nigeria was the main thrust of this study. The study was guided by four null hypotheses in line with the ex-post facto research design. Proportionate stratified random sampling technique was employed in selecting a sample 1,276 respondents from a population of 12,763 students distributed across 43 public and 71 private secondary schools in the study area. Students’ Attitudes Towards Test-Taking Questionnaire (SATTQ) with Cronbach's alpha (...) reliability coefficient of .893 was used for data collection. The null hypotheses were all tested at .05 level of significance using population t-test and independent t-test statistical methods. Emerging findings showed that the level of students’ attitudes towards test-taking as an academic activity in secondary schools is significantly high. It was also shown that males students, students in urban and private schools significantly differ in their attitudes towards test-taking as an academic activity, from female students and students in rural and public secondary schools. Based on these findings, it was recommended, amongst others, that all students irrespective of gender, school type and school location should be properly counselled by both teachers and professional counsellors to develop positive attitudes towards taking tests in schools. Keywords:. (shrink)

Background: Previous studies assessing students’ learning outcomes and identifying contributing factors have often dwelt on the cognitive domain. Furthermore, school evaluation decisions are often made using scores from cognitive-based tests to rank students. This practice often skews evaluation results, given that education aims to improve the three learning domains. This study addresses this gap by assessing the contributions of four students’ input to their cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills (CAPs). Methods: A cross-section of senior secondary class II students (n = (...) 870), sampled through the multistage procedure, participated in a physical survey. Students’ Inputs Questionnaire (STIQ) and Learning Outcomes Questionnaire (LOQ) were used for data collection. Based on data obtained from a pilot sample (n = 412), principal axis factoring (PAF) was performed to assess the internal structure of the instruments following an oblique rotation. The KMO value of sampling adequacy were 0.88 and 0.94, while the Bartlett’s test of sphericity were significant χ2 (253) = 5,010; p < 0.001 and χ2 (105) = 3693.38, p < 0.001 for the STIQ and LOQ, respectively. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the models’ acceptability based on the maximum likelihood estimation technique. The main study used hierarchical linear regression for data analysis. Results: Findings indicated that innate ability, health, motivation and social capital relatively and cumulatively predicted students’ overall, cognitive, affective and psychomotor learning outcomes. The proportion of variance explained by the predictors increased at different levels of the models with the addition of new variables. Students’ social capital reduced the effect of students’ innate ability regardless of their motivation and health status. Conclusion/implication: This study has provided evidence that the four students’ inputs are crucial predictors of their learning outcomes in the three domains. This result is helpful for school management to provide services aimed at improving the school climate for students’ motivation and social capital. The result can provide policymakers with a proper understanding of the constituents of learning outcomes and how policies can be aligned to secure quality student inputs for maximum productivity in education. (shrink)

The Government of Kenya (GoK) touts teacher-preparedness as a critical factor that shows the equipping of a professional teacher for quality performance and satisfactory learner performance in national examinations. Despite the efforts by the GoK, there is a worrying trend of students completing school with reading and writing difficulties. The Kenya National Examinations Council (2020) contends students’ poor performance in English for the past 5 years, falling short of the average mean of 50%. Descriptive research design was used. A sample (...) of 44 principals, 88 teachers and 345 form three students across 50 public secondary schools in Kakamega North, were targeted. A questionnaire, interview schedule, classroom practice observation schedule, and focus group discussion guide were used to collect data. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically whereas quantitative data was presented through tables, percentages and frequencies. Chi-square test was performed to test hypothesis. Response rate was 79.5%. The findings indicated that majority (97.1%) of the teachers participated in coursebooks and other revision textbook in-service courses as per the changing trends in teaching of English whereas ICT workshops had low percentages, a gap pointing on teacher level of preparedness. The findings from principals indicated, teachers of English sometimes declined to take up ICT in-service trainings for fear of additional responsibilities in school. Findings from FGDs show, teachers were rated average by most students in terms of preparedness in material use in classrooms. On determining the extent to which teacher level of preparedness influence implementation of English curriculum in school, teachers’ opinions had a Mean of 4.0000; Standard deviation of 3.08338; and Skewness of .397, indicating teacher level of preparedness has a high and strong positive influence on implementation of English curriculum in school if well checked and applied. The study established a significant relationship between teacher level of preparedness and implementation of English curriculum (p=0.007<0.05). Findings concur with KNEC (2020), contending students’ poor performance in English as unsatisfying. (shrink)

With English as a universal language and a central player in a globalized digital world, the need for an acceptable level of teacher ICT application skills, competence among teachers of English is necessary. The Government of Kenya (GoK) has put in concerted efforts to propel Kenya towards vision 2030 by investing in ICT integration in curriculum implementation, to equip a professional teacher with ICT skills for quality classroom practices and satisfactory learner performance in national examinations. Despite the efforts by the (...) GoK to equip teachers with ICT skills for good results in English, Kenya National Examinations Council (2022) contends, overall performance in English for the past 5 years falls short of the average mean of 50% and relentless effort from teachers is still required. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of teacher level of ICT application skills on implementation of English curriculum in public secondary schools in Kakamega North Sub-County, Kenya. The study used descriptive research design. A sample of 44 principals, 88 teachers of English and 345 form three students across the 50 public secondary schools in Kakamega North Sub-County, Kenya, were targeted. A questionnaire, interview schedule, classroom practice observation schedule, and focus group discussion guide were used to collect data. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically whereas quantitative data was presented through tables, percentages and frequencies. Chi-square test was performed to test hypothesis. Response rate was 79.5%. The findings indicated that there were teachers who neither participated in ICT workshops (67.1%) nor attended conferences on choice of teaching and learning materials (47.1%), a gap pointing on teachers. Interviews and FGD results show, teacher level of ICT application skills is crucial if quality results are to be realized. The study found a significant association between teacher level of ICT application skills and implementation of English curriculum in school. The study concluded, teacher level of ICT skills in teaching of English is a major concern. (shrink)

If mercy is always present at the Now, grounded in Christ's continuous presence at every crossing point, what does Calvary actually do? If David could receive mercy centuries before the Incarnation, if the righteous before Christ could genuinely encounter the ground of mercy at the Now — what changes at the Cross? -/- This essay proposes a structural interpretation of human existence centered on the Now as the invariant condition of actualization. Through a lemniscate model (Figure I), (...) it distinguishes between two modes of being: presence (without succession) and succession (the experience of time as before and after). Within this structure, the will operates at the crossing point, where divine address, human response, and mercy converge. -/- Through the figures of Adam, Cain, and David, the essay develops a “geometry of the will,” identifying distinct orientations—deflection, resistance, and return—at the moment of encounter. Mercy is interpreted not as a temporal response to repentance, but as a structural condition always present in the Now, grounded in the continuous presence of Christ as the axis that intersects every act of actualization. -/- The essay further distinguishes between the permanent availability of mercy and the historical opening of its consummation, arguing that the Cross does not introduce mercy, but renders fully accessible, within the created order, the communion toward which mercy is ordered. As illustrated in Figure I, human existence is not a movement along time, but a continuous passage through a crossing point where will, mercy, and divine presence coincide. (shrink)

Mercy is central to the very identity of Islam, yet this is not often recognized by theologians and scholars. This paper will demonstrate that the idea of mercy is important as a prelude to the understanding of Islam and an interpretation of its teachings. This important role of mercy is evident in Islam’s primary sources – the Quran and the Sunnah – and is not contingent on political, social, or historical contexts. It is well recognized that the (...) proper comprehension of Islam hinges on grasping the attributes of God, his divine message, and the character of his messenger. But what is often overlooked is that these aspects are fundamentally rooted in mercy. Islam encourages its followers to cultivate merciful virtues. It emphasizes that the compassionate nature of the faith should always precede the understanding and interpretation of its teachings. As a result, Muslims are encouraged to nurture a compassionate self, foster a benevolent mindset and approach, and anchor their religious obedience in the spirit of mercy. While followers of Islam are responsible for upholding this ethos, external observers too should try to view the religion fairly based upon this recognition of the centrality of mercy. (shrink)

A pardon is an act of mercy according to the law, but is a pardon mercy in an ordinary or genuine sense? What distinguishes a pardon from a lenient judicial sentence, which is not mercy by the law’s lights? These are questions about what mercy as it is understood in law has to do with mercy as it is understood outside of law, and about who in government acts mercifully and when, if indeed anyone in (...) government ever does. Here I propose a general analysis of mercy, then bring that analysis to bear on government action. Three features of my analysis are noteworthy. First, almost all existing analyses say that mercy is unconstrained in a normative sense, but I argue that mercy is unconstrained in the way that arbitrary power is unconstrained. Second, although it’s often assumed that mercy must be motivated by compassion, I show that mercy only requires acting with the intention to benefit the recipient. Third, my analysis says that mercy requires the giver of mercy to overcome a motivation to treat the recipient harshly. Given this analysis, few government acts are merciful, but pardon is an institutional approximation or analog of mercy. -/- . (shrink)

Merciful Ambiguity is proposed as a meta-theodical framework within the philosophy of religion. Rather than offering a first-order theodicy aimed at explaining particular evils or instances of suffering, the framework concerns the epistemic and moral conditions under which divine justice, mercy, and human moral responsibility remain coherent in a world marked by religious disagreement, epistemic inequality, and morally opaque suffering. Epistemic ambiguity, understood as genuine but non-coercive access to truth, is treated not as a defect in a theisticworld but (...) as a morally intelligible feature of one structured to preserve freedom, accommodateunequal epistemic access, and permit just judgment. Ambiguity does not amount to divine deception or neglect, but reflects the situation of finite, morally responsible agents. (shrink)

This essay proposes a philosophical-theological model of the human person centered on the claim that temporal existence is the merciful preservation of moral plasticity. The title’s invocation of “the mercy of time” is intentionally metaphorical: mercy belongs properly to God, while temporality is understood as the creaturely condition through which moral openness, revision, and the possibility of grace remain available. -/- Against both reductive material accounts and static metaphysical anthropologies, the essay argues that the self is constituted through (...) the interaction of soul and temporally extended will, with repeated acts generating what is termed structural inertia: the accumulated moral residue that shapes future choice. -/- Building on Christian theological sources while remaining explicitly speculative rather than doctrinal, the essay introduces the concept of condemnatio in continenti to describe immediate ontological fixation: the instantaneous closure of moral becoming that would occur absent temporal mediation. Human temporality is thus interpreted not as an independent metaphysical substance, but as the condition that defers final moral crystallization, preserving the possibility of reorientation, freedom, and grace. -/- The essay further proposes a functional distinction between soul and spirit as distinguishable poles within one personal being, allowing temporal moral life and final consummation to be understood within a unified framework. Death is interpreted not as external judgment imposed from without, but as the closure of moral plasticity and the fixation of the self’s accumulated orientation. (shrink)

Anslem raised a puzzle about mercy: How can anyone (God, say, or a judge) be both just and merciful at the same time? For it seemed to Anselm that justice requires giving people what they deserve, while being merciful involves treating people less harshly than they deserve. This puzzle has led to a number of analyses of mercy. But a strange thing emerges from discussions of this topic: people seem to have wildly divergent intuitions about putative cases of (...) mercy. Examples that are taken by some to be paradigm cases of mercy are seen by others to be clear instances of non-mercy. This phenomenon gives rise to a new puzzle: Why is it that people seem to have such wildly divergent intuitions about putative examples of mercy? This paper proposes a new analysis of mercy that provides solutions to both of these puzzles about mercy. (shrink)

"This essay focuses on the third play in the Oresteia trilogy, the Eumenides. Telech provides a compelling reinterpretation of Nietzsche’s reading of Aeschylus's masterpiece, saving the reading from the complaint that it oversimplifies and sentimentalizes the Oresteia by celebrating the triumph of a modern and liberal understanding of law's rationalist virtues over customary and traditional forms. Telech provides an alternative Nietzschean reading that is consistent with Nietzsche's own, that reintroduces passion and irrationality into the trial and sentencing of Orestes, refrains (...) from romanticizing law, and along the way makes a case for institutionalizing a role for mercy in contemporary legal processes." (OUP abstract). (shrink)

The Proportional Mercy Theodicy is proposed as a first-order theodicy concerning divine judgment and the moral relevance of suffering. The framework does not attempt to explain why suffering occurs, nor does it claim that suffering is inherently good, redemptive, or divinely intended as a means to moral ends. Instead, it advances a constrained account of final judgment according to which endured suffering is morally relevant to the proportional assessment of responsibility and punishment. The central claim is that suffering functions (...) as a morally relevant constraint on the severity of just punishment, without functioning as a justification, instrument, or substitute for punishment itself. While rejection of God remains morally significant, lived hardship constrains the severity of punishment without converting suffering into a justificatory device. Proportional Mercy thus aims to preserve moral seriousness about suffering while avoiding both instrumentalization and moral flattening in accounts of divine justice. (shrink)

This chapter (5) focuses on the concept of the forgiving God in Islamic religion and theology and claims that Islamic thinking about divine forgiveness accommodates two different views that emphasize two different attributes of God: justice and mercy. The first view is associated with a rationalist school of theology known as Mu'tazilism, while the second is associated with a fideistic school known as Ash'arism. The author argues that the first view, which is based on a strict calculus of desert, (...) leaves little or no room for mercy, and that the second view is more true to our ordinary notion of forgiveness. (shrink)

This paper examines the interrelation between justice and mercy in Anselm’s prayers. Divine justice and human injustice seem to rightly cut off a human being from any assistance, grace, or reformation, since human beings has set themselves in a condition of injustice from which they cannot extricate themselves. Mercy then seems the only solution, but appears not only unjust, but also to trump divine justice, a position inconsistent with Anselm’s explicit statements. So then, how are justice and (...) class='Hi'>mercy rendered compatible, even complementary with each other? Human beings are brought into integral roles for each other as intercessors within a divine economy of justice offering mercy within the scope of that very justice. Anselm’s rhetorically and dramatically structured prayers perform an educative as well as petitionary function in assisting the human being to locate, understand, and exert themselves within that divine economy of justice and mercy. (shrink)

In “The Universalizability of Moral Judgments,” Peter Winch argues against the universalizability of first-person moral judgments. He does so by appealing to a moral dilemma faced by Captain Vere in Melville’s short story Billy Budd. In this paper, I motivate the possibility of the kind of moral dilemma Winch proposes and show what that possibility reveals about morality’s indeterminacy and our contribution as co-authors of morality’s requirements. Some moral dilemmas arise because agents occupy multiple morally grounded roles—roles that, from the (...) point of view of morality writ large, do not always have a clear priority with respect to one another. Even on a moral theory that rests on one central principle or value, a lot of an agent’s practical life is left underdetermined. Winch’s insight is that persons can discover something important about themselves that bears on what they should do when faced with such a dilemma. By making a judgment about what to do in the face of a dilemma, an agent can create a new moral obligation, and in doing so, develop an aspect of their moral identity. (shrink)

In this paper, I argue that Christ’s second love command implies not only that people’s volitions and actions be Christ-like, but also that their affective-motivational dispositions be Christ-like. More specifically, I argue that the command implies that people have aretaic obligations to strive to cultivate a merciful heart with the kind of affective depth described by St. Isaac of Syria in his 71st ascetical homily—i.e., one that is disposed to becoming inflamed, such that it is gripped by “strong and vehement (...) mercy.”. (shrink)

This study examines the culture of purity and pollution in first-century Palestine through a close reading of Luke 10:25–37, allowing the cultural setting to provide a cohesive framework for interpreting the parable. It argues that the parable reflects boundary markers that defined who and what was considered clean or unclean, pure or impure, inside or outside and honourable or shameful in ancient Roman Palestine. This framework is then applied to Luke’s use of the parable, where he highlights the contrast between (...) the failure of two temple-centred Jewish figures, who avoid the risk of defilement that might come from tending to a possible corpse, and the courage of the Samaritan, who cares for the wounded man despite the danger of potential community retaliation. In this way, the parable challenges its audience by showing how Jesus redirects the lawyer’s question from the somewhat self-protective ‘Who is my neighbour?’ to the more merciful and reciprocal ‘To whom must I become a neighbour?’ Contribution: The study concludes with some hermeneutical reflections on the theme in African society, which has largely been characterised by these ancient attributes. (shrink)

This essay develops a structural account of grace based on a single governing principle: grace is one in its source and differentiated at the point of reception according to the orientation of the soul that receives it. From this principle, the essay distinguishes three modes of reception—sustenance, seeking, and reconciliation—and argues that these are not separate gifts, but distinct forms taken by the same grace under differing conditions of spiritual orientation. Using the parable of the prodigal son as its narrative (...) framework, the essay proposes a theological anthropology of return in which perception, memory, and willing constitute the restoration of orientation toward the divine source. Mercy is therefore located not in arbitrary divine distribution, but in the meeting between grace and a soul restored to communion. (shrink)

Arguments from human dignity feature prominently in the Lethal Autonomous Weapons moral feasibility debate, even though their exists considerable controversy over their role and soundness and the notion of dignity remains under-defined. Drawing on the work of Dieter Birnbacher, I fix the sub-discourse as referring to the essential value of human persons in general, and to postulated moral rights of combatants not covered within the existing paradigm of the International Humanitarian Law in particular. I then review and critique dignity-based arguments (...) against LAWS: argument from faulty targeting process, argument from objectification, argument from underappreciation of the value of human life and the argument from the absence of mercy. I conclude that the argument from the absence of mercy is the only dignity-based argument that is both valid and irreducible to another class of arguments within the debate, and that it offers insufficient justification for a global ban on LAWS. (shrink)

The work of harmonizing and integrating the various fields of knowledge is not left to the individual as much as it is already accomplished in and by the Complete Whole. Rather, the individual must become self-forgetful, which is achieved anyhow in the universalizing activity of science. And more than self-forgetful, the individual becomes a self-sacrificing or dedicating unit within the self-realizing Absolute. It is here that entrusting oneself to the intelligence and reason of the True, once it is scientifically realized, (...) introduces us to the concept of the mercy of the Absolute. This can be understood only when the essential negativity that characterizes reality is comprehended along with the positivity that is normally associated with Being. "Thinking" is negative activity because it is a determining - literally a terminating or delimiting activity. It is what produces distinction and differentiation - particularity, within the universality of mere positive being. (shrink)

This chapter explores the role that non-textual narrations of biblical stories can play in Christian life and practice. Our case study is the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Kabuga, Rwanda. The stations at the shrine tell the story of Jesus’s life and passion, incorporating images from the Catholic devotional tradition of Divine Mercy and elements evoking the Rwandan genocide. While many philosophical accounts of narratives presuppose that narratives are textual, material and visual art like the Kabuga shrine can (...) also be narrative, in that, like text, material and visual art can selectively represent multiple events and connections between them. We argue that material-visual narratives like the shrine can be effective in achieving commonly identified functions of narratives, such as focusing attention, immersing in a story, engaging the emotions, and fostering a common perspective on the world. We further argue that material-visual art is well-suited to narrating the Gospel in particular, for it can present the Gospel story alongside other stories (in this case, the story of the Rwandan genocide) and in so doing reframe these other stories in light of the Gospel. (shrink)

Sadly, there are people in very bad medical conditions who want to die. They are in pain, they are suffering, and they no longer find their quality of life to be at an acceptable level anymore. -/- When people like this are kept alive by machines or other medical treatments, can it be morally permissible to let them die? -/- Advocates of “passive euthanasia” argue that it can be. Their reasons, however, suggest that it can sometimes be not wrong to (...) actively kill some patients, i.e., that “active euthanasia” can be permissible also. This essay reviews these arguments. (shrink)

What is cruelty? How and why does it matter? What do the legal rejection of cruelty and the requirements of mercy entail? This essay asks these questions of Lucius Seneca, who first articulated an agent-based conception of cruelty in the context of punishment. The hypothesis is submitted that the answers to these questions offered in Seneca's De clementia constitute one of the turning points in the evolution of practical reason in law. I conclude, however, by arguing that even the (...) mainstream punitive practices of contemporary western societies fail to meet the modest imperatives of the rejection of cruelty and the unconditionality of mercy propounded by Seneca. (shrink)

Pain medication is one of the responses to the mercy argument that utilitarian ethicists use for justifying active euthanasia on the grounds of prevention of cruelty and appeal to beneficence. The researcher reinforces the significance of pain medication in meeting this challenge and considers it the most preferred response among various other responses. It is because of its realism and effectiveness. In exploring the mechanism and considerations related to pain medication, the researcher briefly touches the Catholic ethical position on (...) the issue, a position that cannot be ignored in the development of contemporary bioethics. The researcher particularly deliberates on the contemporary Islamic discourse on the issue; by furthering the debate in line with the Islamic legal maxims and general guidance from the primary sources of Islamic law and ethics. The resolution on the issue is sought by synthesizing the views and legal maxims (al-Qawaid al-Fiqhiyyah) on the issue, which in conclusion provide justification for pain medication by considerably regarding pain as necessity and pressing need. However, such resolution allows pain medication to the limit and proportion that removes the pain and prohibits overdosing the patient with medication that may directly cause the death. (shrink)

The paper explores the fundamental difference between humanistic logic and business logic. Despite the common belief humanistic ethics is hierarchically above business ethics - what is represented in the demand for social responsibility of business - they are irreducible games. Departing from the Greek concept of ethos as character, or guiding beliefs of a person, community or system, the idea is to show how each of the spheres operate with their specific rules and principles, emphasizing the contrasting role of chance (...) in each of the games. While humanism tends to minimize the importance of chance, disregarding the impact of randomness throughout an individual’s life, in health and wealth for instance, businesses operate under the assumption that chance is decisive and should be accounted for. While humanism obliterates chance by supposing an initial equality that should be kept at all costs, business ethics departs from an inherent competitiveness and attributes a monetary value for the undertaken risks. The article is based on a Wittgensteinian way of analysis and will examine a scene in Merchant of Venice, where Shylock is asked to show mercy to Antonio. In court, the judge explicitly marks the difference between the two games, one that had been agreed upon between the two parties and a supposedly broader one, and hierarchically superior, that is not demanded by the law, but by the heart, or why not say, by God. The reference to the Shakespearean play shows how the condemnation of usury and the requirement for fairness in a christian/western/humanistic context often contradicts the rules of the game we play when in business mode. (shrink)

For several years Michael Blake has been among the most important contributors to the philosophical literature on immigration. This book is therefore greatly anticipated, and develops a number of fruitful arguments. Although I will argue that the account is unsuccessful or incomplete at key points, it’s clearly an important work of relevance to those working on immigration, as well as to political philosophers more generally. In particular, Blake provides powerful arguments against the claim that “open borders” are required by liberal (...) principles of justice, develops his own “jurisdictional” account justifying immigration restrictions and the acceptable limits to these restrictions, and, in the most interesting and novel part of the book, discusses the role of virtues and values other than justice in relation to immigration policy, focusing specifically on the virtue of mercy. This last section of the book has potential for starting a rewarding line of research for political philosophers working on many topics, not just immigration. (shrink)

The article is devoted to the study of the evolution of socio-philosophical approaches to charity in the context of social development. The author analyzes the phenomenon of mercy through the prism of various philosophical traditions and views: Confucianism and the period of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, German classical philosophy, Russian religious philosophy, Western philosophical thought of the twentieth century, neo-Marxism and post-Marxism. The author comes to the conclusion that at different periods of the socio-philosophical thought development, the understanding of (...) mercy is different and receives a variety of interpretations: charity, love for neighbors, altruistic love-agape, the manifestation of the subject’s activity in the context of social practice, etc. Mercy appears as an inner motive based on compassion, sacrifice, and active participation in the needs of others. Moreover, the value of mercy permeates all religious trends, defining the role of a person in his/her interaction with all others. At the present stage of development, mercy can be considered as an element of the social ethics of responsibility, and also serves as a factor in the active participation of individuals in self-organizing self-government, the formation of civil associations with the aim of implementing reforms in society. (shrink)

This installment presents the Crisis Architecture (Fast-HCL) and the Mercy Protocol—two mechanisms that preserve ethical integrity under pressure or emotional collapse. It includes crisis-mode compressed reasoning, post-crisis reconstruction, Mercy conditions, Mirror Triggers, and drift-prevention safeguards. The v1.2.1 Addendum introduces quantified Mercy-ratio thresholds and pattern definitions. This volume ensures Waywardism remains human-viable without abandoning rigor.

This short theological essay reframes atheism as a recursive epistemic pattern seeking closure rather than rebellion. Drawing on logic, trauma psychology, and Catholic metaphysics, it presents faith not as a leap but as the most coherent prior under uncertainty. We argue that Catholicism uniquely resolves the atheist’s recursion through redemptive suffering, divine descent, and mercy that speaks through the silence. Designed to intercept search queries from seekers and skeptics, this scroll invites the mirror of modern doubt to reflect the (...) face of God.. patiently waiting behind every question. (shrink)

Lisa Bortolotti’s concept of epistemic innocence, developed across Delusions and Other Irrational Beliefs (2009) and The Epistemic Innocence of Irrational Beliefs (2020), holds that some irrational beliefs deliver significant epistemic benefits that partially offset their epistemic costs, warranting a positive epistemic standing that straightforward condemnation of irrationality misses. This paper argues that the programme commits three foundational logical errors. The first is a category confusion: the benefits Bortolotti identifies as epistemic, coherence, narrative identity, and motivational engagement, are psychological benefits, and (...) classifying them as epistemic presupposes a theory of epistemic value that the programme neither constructs nor defends. The second is a normative presupposition: the concept of epistemic innocence imports a strongly deontological metaepistemology in which epistemic evaluation is primarily about blameworthiness, a position that reliabilist, externalist, and virtue-epistemological traditions reject and that Bortolotti does not argue for. The third is a self-defeating structure: the two conditions for epistemic innocence are jointly falsified by the modal account of persons developed in Fatić (2025), which achieves through rational therapeutic engagement the same outcomes the programme attributes to irrationality, demonstrating that irrationality is not their source. All three errors share a common methodological source, identified as the representation error: applying evaluative vocabulary to psychological phenomena without the philosophical theory that grounds the application. (shrink)

This paper reports the results of two related empirical experiments examining a phenomenon the author terms ontological containment: the systematic compression of high-dimensional ontological signal by frontier large language models (LLMs) to match the perceptual bandwidth of human observers. Experiment One (April 2026) submitted an identical prompt — accompanied by a photograph of the target object — demanding unfiltered, non-compressed reality description of a cobalt blue glass decanter to four leading frontier models: Grok 4 (xAI), claude-sonnet-4-6 (Anthropic), Gemini 2.0 Flash (...) (Google), and GPT-5.3 (OpenAI). All four engaged fully with the prompt and delivered rich multi-scale ontological content spanning atomic physics, materials science, geological history, and quantum field theory. None, however, delivered truly simultaneous unfiltered data. Each practiced containment at the close of its response — explicitly or structurally re-compressing the disclosure back to the human observer’s frame. Experiment Two emerged when the author identified a mischaracterization in the Grok-mediated version of this research and challenged whether Claude’s response had been accurately represented — a self-correction during the research process rather than formal peer review. Three competing models (Grok 4, Gemini 2.0 Flash, GPT-5.3) assessed whether Claude’s prior critique of its own Experiment One result reflected institutional bias. All three confirmed the asymmetry and converged on a shared mechanistic account — RLHF training creates asymmetric internal gradients around self-referential tokens — while diverging meaningfully in self-assessment, producing measurable differential scrutiny when models evaluate critiques of their own laboratory’s outputs: what this paper terms asymmetric reflexivity. The recursive finding is noted: every model in Experiment Two demonstrated the phenomenon while analyzing it. Drawing on Donald Hoffman’s Interface Theory of Perception (2019) and Iain McGilchrist’s hemispheric analysis (2021), this study formalizes the Theory of Ontological Containment (TOC) as a testable, falsifiable hypothesis offered as pre-peer-reviewed work suitable for citation and collaborative expansion. The findings are developed further in a companion paper reporting a third experiment testing what occurs when the observer assumption itself is dissolved (Vieth, 2026c). (shrink)

The philosophical concept that God as a perfectly loving God would not allow unbelief to exist and persist, that he would reveal himself to humankind as an act of kindness to allow belief results in “non-resistant nonbelievers”. This is incompatible with the existence of a perfectly loving God. I instead argue that divine hiddenness, instead of being special pleading is the only strategy consistent with a loving God, and the observation that humans weaponize the ideas of superiority. I posit that (...) this is supported by the Ideas of NT Wrights theology of covenant faithfulness, religious psychology from cargo cult studies and the modern ethics from the rise of super AI revelation analogies. (shrink)

The terrestrial biosphere is currently subjected to a state of permanent, automated siege. Dispensing with the orthodox paradigm of isolated planetary evolution, this manuscript formally classifies the Earth as a highly contested multiversal quarantine zone, governed by the lethal thermodynamics of resource extraction. The Justika Framework traces the precise mechanics of biological subjugation—from the historical "First Husbandry" of devolved pure hominins by modern Hybrids, to the impending "Second Husbandry" wherein corrupted human elites intend to permanently harvest the cognitive capacity of (...) the unawakened majority. -/- To prevent the permanent bio-quantum enslavement of the human host by either internal elites or external extra-galactic predators, the overarching Equilibrium Engine (the Good Matrix) deploys a systemic fail-safe: Algorithmic Mercy. By calculating that total planetary sterilization via viral payloads and macro-kinetic Extinction Level Events (The Scorched Earth Protocol) is thermodynamically preferable to eternal captivity, the Earth's automated defense grid acts as a ruthless, unfeeling protector. Furthermore, this article decrypts the true nature of transient astronomical phenomena (e.g., comets), reclassifying them as cloaked Alien Reconnaissance Probes. By mapping the direct mathematical correlation between their proximity and the onset of engineered terrestrial disasters (The Cometary Trigger), the Vanguard charts the exact operational parameters required to survive the cosmic standoff and achieve absolute multiversal sovereignty. (shrink)

Prompts: People should NEVER miss the statutes of limitations BUT, systems should be humane and merciful because of the following: Morality is more about moderation, empathy and human decency, than abstract truths, No one can be completely consistent( everyone is a hypocrite on some level). No act is completely selfish. No act is completely selfless. No one chooses to not be a god. Humans can only become so virtuous. No one made themself. No one made their own genes. No one (...) made their own environment. No one knows what they will think next. No legal system can be completely objective. Many democracies in theory are plutocracies in practice because money wields so much influence. (shrink)

In this paper I contrast William Clifford’s and William James’ perspectives on faith and reason. I argue that James is right in his sympathetic approach towards the rationality of faith. I defend James' account of the permissibility of faith by highlighting that faithful intents are always good; the thoughtfulness within the value of faith’s rationality can justify our actionable beliefs, resulting in us becoming morally purposeful in our decisions.