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AbstractRecent social‐psychological research suggests that evaluators may be susceptible to subtle biases in judgment. This chapter discusses the potential intrusive influences on evaluators of a variety of social and cognitive biases and suggests ways of counteracting such biases.

ARGUMENTS FOR TOLERANCE, AND CRITICISMS OF IT, REGULARLY PRODUCE PARADOXES AND OTHER KINDS OF CONCEPTUAL DIFFICULTY. SEEK TO SHOW THAT THESE PARADOXES ARE UNNECESSARY, AND THAT THEY ARISE FROM MISCONCEPTIONS OF WHAT A THEORY OF TOLERANCE IS REQUIRED TO JUSTIFY. IMAGINED AS A "VIRTUE," TOLERANCE IS SIMPLY CONFUSED WITH OTHER CONCEPTS; UNDERSTOOD IN THE FRAMEWORK OF A THEORY OF "RIGHTS," THE ELEMENT OF CHOICE ESSENTIAL TO THE CONCEPT IS WHOLLY NEGLECTED; EXPLAINING THE CONCEPT IN TERMS OF SOME THEORY OF FALLIBILISM LEADS TO A CONFUSION OF PRAGMATIC WITH CONGNITIVE STANDARDS. MOREOVER, SUCH MISTAKEN APPROACHES OFTEN ARISE FROM AN EQUATION OF TOLERANCE WITH LIBERALISM OR PLURALISM: THE AUTHORS MAINTAIN, HOWEVER, THAT JUSTIFICATIONS OF TOLERANCE DO NOT REST ON A COMMITMENT TO ANY POLITICAL THEORY OR IDEOLOGY, BUT IMPLY ONLY A RECOGNITION OF THE POLITICAL SITUATION ITSELF.

The English school of 'socialist pluralists' of the early twentieth century pictured socialism as an order in which maximum autonomy of social and economic functions coexisted with a minimum of political functions. The 'pluralist socialists' among the Czech reformers of the 1960s, by contrast, insisted that such autonomy can be realised and sustained only in conjunction with effective political modalities. The pluralization of socialist regimes entailed for them, therefore, not 'the withering away of the state' but its invigoration as a space for contesting general ends. Such contestation was envisaged principally in terms of competition between political parties which could give expression to ideological differentiation even within the confines of socialist belief, the implication being that agreement on fundamental societal values does not pre-empt diversity over political ends.

The English school of 'socialist pluralists' of the early twentieth century pictured socialism as an order in which maximum autonomy of social & economic functions coexisted with a minimum of political functions. The 'pluralist socialists' among the Czech reformers of the 1960s, by contrast, insisted that such autonomy can be realized & sustained only in conjunction with effective political modalities. The pluralization of socialist regimes entailed for them, therefore, not 'the withering away of the state,' but its invigoration as a space for contesting general ends. Such contestation was envisaged principally in terms of competition between political parties, which could give expression to ideological differentiation even within the confines of socialist belief, the implication being that agreement on fundamental societal values does not preempt diversity over political ends. HA.

An interdisciplinary environmental assessment team from the Howard University Environmental Justice Partnership (HUEJP) conducted a site visit and assessment of the Defense Depot of Memphis, Tennessee in February of 2000. This depot was built in the late 1940's for storage of numerous chemicals and munitions. As the years progressed, many Memphis citizens have grown to believe that the activities and chemical stockpile located at this site have negatively affected the health environment of their residents. There is anecdotal evidence and documentation of numerous cancers and other illnesses in those local territories, and specifically, at the Memphis Depot site. Currently, this depot is closed and in remediation by the local government. Particularly, citizens of the Rozelle community have started a campaign to investigate any signs of exposure pathways to noted health risks. The HUEJP was contacted and asked to investigate the community concerns. Obliging to the request, we aimed to sample at three drainage sites and a residential site, talk to local citizens, and gain any additional information that would be helpful in relieving anxiety in the Rozelle community. Soil, sediment, and water samples were collected and analyzed for total organic carbon, inorganic anions, and heavy metals. These data show that for the four sites sampled, the highest concentrations of organic compounds and heavy metals were located either within a residential area or in an area with a direct transport pathway to the community. Atomic absorption analysis revealed detectable amounts of cadmium, lead and chromium metals at all sites with direct transport pathways into the residential community, with chromium concentrations being far in excess of the EPA standard limits.