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The development of any scientific theory has a certain logic. Bruno Latour formulated a theory, describing the development of science and technology. Outcomes of science are not guided by nature or “the truth”, but by a complex negotiation. It starts with ideas, which follow paths of publications and assessment. Then they are either rejected or accepted. Analysing the development of evidence‐based medicine with Latour's theory, we find two fundamental problems. First, EBM tends to standardise moral considerations. Second, EBM standardises the patient, since test populations are usually composed homogeneously. Presumptions concerning methods and morals are slid into the EBM‐methodology during its development. With Latour we should say, that the conceptions of the standard patient and standard morals have been delegated to this methodology. They are carried out strictly, and this causes the discomfort with practitioners and scientists within EBM. A solution should be sought for in redesigning trials, in a less morally charged fashion, and concerning less standardised patients.

The main focus of this chapter is to explore whether ecological utopias are capable of providing a useful contribution to our quest for an ecologically responsible future and sustainable society, and in what specific ways. I shall develop a model of ecological utopias as a distant point of orientation, or as a ‘navigational compass’. In this model ecotopias may gradually influence the course of concrete decision making in the direction of a future sustainable society. In this context, a strategic issue to be confronted by the green movement is to look for an eco-friendly view on ‘the good life’ and the ‘art of living’. The basic dimensions of a sustainable lifestyle and an utopian inspired ecological ‘art of living’ are that society's focus should be shifted from ‘having’ to ‘being’, and to find a balanced configuration of the vita activa: action, work and labour. It is also vital to find forms of hedonism which are independent of mass consumerism, to relate our material consumption to our ecological footprints in systematic ways, and to cultivate ecological virtues and moral character.

Searching for a foundation of Business and Peace, Galtung’s (2000) negative and positive peace framework is widely used and appears to be very helpful (Galtung’s and Jacobsen, 2000). Negative peace for Galtung refers to the absence of direct violence. Positive peace refers to the absence of indirect violence. In the first part of this chapter, we develop a foundation of business and peace, starting from Galtung’s negative peace concept. Eliminating violence and war leads to rediscovering the importance of Hobbes’ analysis of fear. Applied to business, Hobbes’ quote ‘Fear and I are twins’ becomes ‘Fear and business are twins’. In the second part, we use Galtung’s positive concept of harmony and cooperation to develop wisdom as the foundation of business and peace. The final part explores the specific wisdom of mercy. Not only mercy and peace are twins but also mercy and business. The conclusion will be that business and peace become twins when the mimetic desire is no longer the underlying drive of business but rather the desire for sustainability.

With building information modeling’s increasing influence, it becomes important to analyze building information model (BIM)’s impact on users’ behavior. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore BIM’s influence on users’ behavior, using the innovative philosophy of technical mediation. This philosophy implies that perceptions and actions are always, to some degree, constituted and transformed by technologies. The question in this study is how the perceptions and actions of users are mediated by BIM.

A framework developed by Dorrestijn to assess the impacts of technology is used to explore the different types of impact that BIM has on the perceptions and actions of its users. Through a literature review, this framework is used to categorize the mediating effects of BIM. Following this, expert interviews, a workshop and user interviews explore these effects in practice.

Based on Dorrestijn’s framework, it is concluded that guidance and persuasion are important mediating effects of BIM. BIM also impacts the human decision-process through coercive pressures to implement BIM and to embody BIM through acquiring skills.

With the increasing influence of BIM, analyzing its impact on users’ behavior becomes increasingly relevant. This is the first study to use the technical mediation approach to analyze this impact. In this approach, humans and technologies are seen as interacting with and co-shaping each other.