Wicked defaults: how to overcome the dark side of choice architecture. This project aims to investigate how defaults and product complexity might be used to exploit consumers in environments like private insurance where consumers are prone to making systematic errors. Defaults are used to nudge individuals into socially beneficial actions such as increasing their retirement savings and joining organ donor lists. However, in the hands of firms, defaults can also be used to exploit consumers by en ....Wicked defaults: how to overcome the dark side of choice architecture. This project aims to investigate how defaults and product complexity might be used to exploit consumers in environments like private insurance where consumers are prone to making systematic errors. Defaults are used to nudge individuals into socially beneficial actions such as increasing their retirement savings and joining organ donor lists. However, in the hands of firms, defaults can also be used to exploit consumers by encouraging choices that help the firm but disadvantage consumers. The project intends to study experimentally whether exploitation can be reduced via competition and reputation building systems based on consumer feedback.Read moreRead less
Hume's Sceptical Materialism. The early modern period is the decisive period in shaping the modern outlook, but its major figures are not well understood in Australia. This project will enable a broader and more unified understanding of the intellectual movements of the period (showing Hume to be not an intellectual outsider but someone offering a sceptical version of the radical Enlightenment) - and so will enable a better understanding of our intellectual heritage.
Science and the Shaping of Modernity, 1690-1755. It is important that we understand the values underlying our culture, and one form of such understanding is historical. The idea that science provides the standards for all forms of cognitive enquiry is an intrinsic part of modern culture, and the notions of impartiality and objectivity that it is taken to express are closely tied in with estimations of the value of our culture. The history of how this conception emerged in the early-modern period ....Science and the Shaping of Modernity, 1690-1755. It is important that we understand the values underlying our culture, and one form of such understanding is historical. The idea that science provides the standards for all forms of cognitive enquiry is an intrinsic part of modern culture, and the notions of impartiality and objectivity that it is taken to express are closely tied in with estimations of the value of our culture. The history of how this conception emerged in the early-modern period shows that there was nothing self-evident in the assimilation of cognitive values to scientific ones, however, or in the extrapolation of these to general cultural and political values. Read moreRead less
The persona of the philosopher in early modern Europe. The project aims to provide a new interpretation of the history of early modern European philosophy, organised around the key concept of the persona of the philosopher. By focusing on the shaping and reshaping of the philosophical persona - understood as a self cultivated for the purposes of conducting philosophical life and learning - the project will offer novel and fundamental insights into conflicts over the character of philosophy, its ....The persona of the philosopher in early modern Europe. The project aims to provide a new interpretation of the history of early modern European philosophy, organised around the key concept of the persona of the philosopher. By focusing on the shaping and reshaping of the philosophical persona - understood as a self cultivated for the purposes of conducting philosophical life and learning - the project will offer novel and fundamental insights into conflicts over the character of philosophy, its disciplinary borders, its relation to the new scientific enterprises of the era, and its relation to civil and religious life.Read moreRead less
Descartes' Ontology of Everyday Life. Australia has a strong international reputation in philosophy and the history of philosophy. This project will contribute to our standing in the international community of scholars and to the teaching of Australian students in the historical origins of contemporary ideas and problems. It will furthermore contribute to the growing recognition of early modern interdisciplinary studies within Australia by drawing on ideas from the history of science, early mode ....Descartes' Ontology of Everyday Life. Australia has a strong international reputation in philosophy and the history of philosophy. This project will contribute to our standing in the international community of scholars and to the teaching of Australian students in the historical origins of contemporary ideas and problems. It will furthermore contribute to the growing recognition of early modern interdisciplinary studies within Australia by drawing on ideas from the history of science, early modern philosophy, medieval philosophy and the history of early modern thought and ideas.Read moreRead less
The rise of empiricism and the attempt to produce a unified understanding of the world, 1680-1750. Empiricism is often regarded as the characterising feature of modern scientific method, and, in those approaches to psychology and the social and economic sciences that seek to model themselves on successful scientific practice in the physical and life sciences, it often acts as a model of good practice. The project examines the original form of empiricism and shows how it was able to directly enga ....The rise of empiricism and the attempt to produce a unified understanding of the world, 1680-1750. Empiricism is often regarded as the characterising feature of modern scientific method, and, in those approaches to psychology and the social and economic sciences that seek to model themselves on successful scientific practice in the physical and life sciences, it often acts as a model of good practice. The project examines the original form of empiricism and shows how it was able to directly engage questions of value in a novel and revealing way, and how its connection with 'hard' sciences was not merely to provide a methodological gloss on these, but went to the core of what scientific explanation consisted in.Read moreRead less
Young women negotiating from the margins of education and work: towards gender justice in educational and youth policies and programs. Young women who leave school early are the most economically disadvantaged young people in the labour market. We will investigate the educational, labour market, biographical and social experiences of these young women, and their inter-actions with teachers and youth service providers. We will identify trends, differences and similarities across rural and urban l ....Young women negotiating from the margins of education and work: towards gender justice in educational and youth policies and programs. Young women who leave school early are the most economically disadvantaged young people in the labour market. We will investigate the educational, labour market, biographical and social experiences of these young women, and their inter-actions with teachers and youth service providers. We will identify trends, differences and similarities across rural and urban locations and across generations, and develop a profile of factors and programs most likely to help these young women negotiate their post-school lives. The research findings will enrich gender justice and social theory and contribute to policy and program development in the education and youth services sectors.
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A history of terra nullius. The concept of 'terra nullius' has been central to debates concerning the land rights of indigenous peoples. The term, however, has been understood almost in an historical vacuum. Partly in consequence, landmark legal rulings supposedly overturning the doctrine of terra nullius have left European colonisers' justifications of their appropriation of land largely conceptually intact. The central innovation of this history will be to show that when terra nullius, prop ....A history of terra nullius. The concept of 'terra nullius' has been central to debates concerning the land rights of indigenous peoples. The term, however, has been understood almost in an historical vacuum. Partly in consequence, landmark legal rulings supposedly overturning the doctrine of terra nullius have left European colonisers' justifications of their appropriation of land largely conceptually intact. The central innovation of this history will be to show that when terra nullius, properly understood, is rejected in order to establish native title, the implications for the European tradition of property rights and human rights more generally will be profound.Read moreRead less
State formation and European expansion. There is a direct national benefit from this research. The aim of an intellectual history of colonisation is to provide an account of what Europeans engaged in expansion understood themselves to be doing. This account explores the justifications and political motivations for expansion and is accordingly of fundamental importance to contemporary legal debates over dispossession and the larger legacy of colonisation.
Isaac Newton's Temple of Solomon and his analysis of sacred architecture: An interpretation and discussion of Babson Manuscript 0434. Babson Manuscript is an important Newtonian manuscript that contains significant cross disciplinary ideas. It requires a multi-disciplinary understanding and skills for its detailed evaluation. Interpretation and analysis of this significant Newtonian manuscript will advance Newtonian scholarship and will be a valuable resource for researchers of architectural his ....Isaac Newton's Temple of Solomon and his analysis of sacred architecture: An interpretation and discussion of Babson Manuscript 0434. Babson Manuscript is an important Newtonian manuscript that contains significant cross disciplinary ideas. It requires a multi-disciplinary understanding and skills for its detailed evaluation. Interpretation and analysis of this significant Newtonian manuscript will advance Newtonian scholarship and will be a valuable resource for researchers of architectural history. This project has both academic and public outcomes. Recently there has been an increased interest in what is commonly perceived as 'ancient wisdom.' Solomon's Temple is one of the most revered ancient symbols. This project will make the history and ideas of this symbol more accessible to the publicRead moreRead less