This reflection examines the context of philosophical-ethical research and its preceding and continuing particular geopolitical framework in the central zone of Central Europe in the case of the national and state revival of the Czech nation. It focuses on the work and endeavour of František Palacký and its interpretive development by Thomas Garrigue Masaryk, which resulted in the foundation of the Czechoslovak Republic. In this context, it finally outlines the significance of the dramatic Central European affairs since the turn of (...) 1989 to the Russian war on Ukraine. (shrink)

In International Relations (IR) scholarship, the epistemic communities’ framework has gained relevance for explaining the roles of experts in the context of transnational global governance. However, IR scholars have criticized the framework for descriptive reasoning. This paper aims to strengthen its explanatory power by following rules of a systematic literature review and by using Desmond’s conception of professionalism to further develop Cross’s model of epistemic community. Desmond introduced his concept of professionalism as a response to bureaucratic and market trends in (...) scientific research and Cross developed her concept of professionalism as a comprehensive reconceptualization of Haas’s original model of an epistemic community. The results confirm compatibility between the two concepts. Following the structure of Cross’s model of professionalism, individual autonomy operationalizes selection and training, collective autonomy covers the face-to-face meetings, and the service provision operationalizes the common culture. (shrink)

Po pádu totalitárních systémů, jež spočívaly na marxistické ideologii, se sociální věda začala k dialektice chovat rezervovaně, případně ji zcela vyloučila z legitimního instrumentária vědy. Studie se na pozadí vývoje a proměn dialektiky v různých sociologických koncepcích snaží odpovědět tři otázky: a) nakolik je „dialektická sociologie“ možná, b) zda nejde o redundantní termín, c) ukázat elementární principy, jimiž se „dialektické zkoumání“ sociální reality může či má řídit. V závěru ukazuje rozdílnost principů tzv. lazarsfeldovského a radikálně kritického paradigmatu v empirickém výzkumu.

Studie je věnována roz- manitým sociologizujícím, a později přímo i sociologickým způsobům, kterými v minulosti byla a dodnes je věda uchopována. Do sociologie se věda jako výzkumný předmět dostává spolu s osvícenskou ideou pokroku, na kterou v první polovině 19. století navazuje Auguste Comte. Teprve sociologie 20. století se však zbavila „historicismu", kterým byla sociologie nejen Comtova, ale samozřejmě i Marxova určována. Od 30. let minulého století se pak věda stává zvláštním sociologickým tématem, které bude s postupujícím časem nabývat na (...) síle. V samostatné části se pak prof. Petrusek věnuje fenoménem zpochybňování vědy, který spojuje s proměnami samotných našich společností. Svoji studii uzavírá zamyšlením se nad sociologickou metateorií. (shrink)

Nový příspěvek ke kritice idealistické interpretace moderní fyziky, zneužívané idealistickou filosofií a náboženskou propagandou. Stručně rekapituluje filosofii klasické fyziky a materialisticky vykládá výsledky teorie relativity a kvantové mechaniky.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore a particular philosophical underpinning for Information Systems (IS) research – critical systemic thinking (CST). Drawing upon previous work, the authors highlight the principal features of CST within the tradition of critical research and attempt to relate it to trends in the Italian school of IS research in recent years, as exemplified by the work of Claudio Ciborra but also evident in work by, e.g. Resca, Jacucci and D'Atri.Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual paper which (...) explores CST, characterised by a focus on individual uniqueness, and socially‐constructed, individual worldviews as generators of human knowing.FindingsThe paper draws on work by Heinz Klein in which he elaborated three constitutive stages in critical research: interpretive, genealogical and constructive. The authors introduce a fourth, reflective stage and discuss five categories of critical research, reflecting different perspectives on emancipation, culminating in emergent expressionism, associated with Ciborra and the Italian school more generally.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper discusses approaches to CST and how they might have practical implications in IS development. The distinction between approaches founded in logical empiricism and those founded in hermeneutic dialectics are considered and the development of critical and systems strands are discussed.Practical implicationsThe paper addresses CST as an approach to development of information systems. Such approaches enable users to explore their individually unique understandings and create a constructive dialogue with one another, which emancipates and empowers users to own and control their own development processes and hence build more productive and usable systems.Social implicationsA focus on research which is oriented towards emancipation in the tradition of critical social theory.Originality/valueThe paper draws on extensive theoretical research carried out by the authors over a period of more than ten years in CST and synthesises the practical implications. (shrink)

In clinical practice, modern medicine, especially intensive medicine, has made outstanding technological progress that has changed diagnostic and therapeutic paradigms. Nowadays, some patients for whom there were no treatments in the past not only survive but return to active life thanks to intensive medicine. However, in some cases intensive care will not help patients in a critical condition and merely prolong death. In such situations, the treatment is terminated or not extended, and the patient is allowed to die in dignity. (...) In this specific situation all intensive procedures are terminated. Palliative care is the next stage. This is a sensitive issue that should be discussed with healthcare professionals and experts from other areas of life to ensure it is communicated appropriately to patients and their relatives. (shrink)

(1) Substituting (as Solms does) forebrain for brainstem in the search for a dream “controller” is counterproductive, since a distributed system need have no single controller. (2) Evidence against episodic memory consolidation does not show that REM sleep has no role in other types of memory, contra Vertes & Eastman. (3) A generalization of Revonsuo's “threat simulation” model in reverse is more plausible and is empirically testable. [Hobson et al.; Solms; Revonsuo; Vertes & Eastman].

Depression has been widely studied by researchers from different fields, but its causes, and mechanism of action are still not clear. A difficulty emerges from the shifting from objective diagnosis or analysis to exploration of subjective feelings and experiences that influence the individuals' expression, communication and coping in facing depression. The integration of the experiential dimension of the first-person in studies on depression–and related methodological recommendations–are needed to improve the validity and generalizability of research findings. It will allow the development (...) of timely and effective actions of care. Starting from providing a summary of the literature on theoretical assumptions and considerations for the study of the mind, with particular attention to the experiential dimension of patients with depression, this contribution is aimed to provide practical suggestions for the design of research able to incorporate first- and third-person accounts. It is also aimed to review qualified phenomenological methods for the acquisition and interpretation of experiential data in patients with depression. Recognizing the first-person perspective in the study of depression is a major step toward a better understanding and treatment of this disorder. Theoretical constructs and technique suggestions that result from this review offer a valid starting point for the inclusion of the experiential dimension to common third-person research in the study of the mind. (shrink)

The earlier volume in this series dealt with two religions of Indian origin, namely, Buddhism and Jainism. The Indian religious scene, however, is characterized by not only religions which originated in India but also by religions which entered India from outside India and made their home here. Thus religious life in India has been enlivened throughout its history by the presence of religions of foreign origin on its soil almost from the very time they came into existence. This volume covers (...) three such religions—Zoraoastrianism, Judaism, and Islam. In the case of Zoraostianism, even its very beginnings are intertwined with India, as Zoroastrianism reformed a preexisting religion which had strong links to the Vedic heritage of India. This relationship took on a new dimension when a Zoroastrian community, fearing persecution in Persia after its Arab conquest, sought shelter in western India and ultimately went on to produce India’s pioneering nationalist in the figure of Dadabhai Naoroji ( 1825-1917), also known as the Grand Old Man of India. Jews found refuge in south India after the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 C.E. and have remained a part of the Indian religious scene since then, some even returning to Israel after it was founded in 1948. Islam arrived in Kerala as soon as it was founded and one of the earliest mosques in the history of Islam is found in India. Islam differs from the previously mentioned religions inasmuch as it went on to gain political hegemony over parts of the country for considerable periods of time, which meant that its impact on the religious life of the subcontinent has been greater compared to the other religions. It has also meant that Islam has existed in a religiously plural environment in India for a longer period than elsewhere in the world so that not only has Islam left a mark on India, India has also left its mark on it. Indeed all the three religions covered in this volume share this dual feature, that they have profoundly influenced Indian religious life and have also in turn been profoundly influenced by their presence in India. (shrink)

We explore psychological contracts as mechanisms by which individuals gain influence in organizations. Using two distinct research settings and longitudinal analysis, we demonstrate that ideological contracts endow individuals with increased centrality in the organization’s influence network. More generally, we propose that an important outcome of different psychological contract types may be how they affect the nature of influence in organizations.

A questionnaire is an integral component of methods determining the temperaments of dogs. From the range of questionnaires used for evaluation of a dog’s temperament, we selected C-BARQ. This particular type of questionnaire allowed us to determine the degree of agreement of evaluations of the same dog by individual members of one household. The evaluation included dogs in 29 households with a total of 71 members. The degree of agreement between ratings of individual members of the same household was determined (...) by Intraclass correlations coefficient . The correlations observed ranged between 0.53 and 0.9, depending on the category. This result is further supported by the results of other studies that showed similar perceptions of the same dog between family members. (shrink)

The earlier volume in this series dealt with two religions of Indian origin, namely, Buddhism and Jainism. The Indian religious scene, however, is characterized by not only religions which originated in India but also by religions which entered India from outside India and made their home here. Thus religious life in India has been enlivened throughout its history by the presence of religions of foreign origin on its soil almost from the very time they came into existence. This volume covers (...) three such religions—Zoraoastrianism, Judaism, and Islam. In the case of Zoraostianism, even its very beginnings are intertwined with India, as Zoroastrianism reformed a preexisting religion which had strong links to the Vedic heritage of India. This relationship took on a new dimension when a Zoroastrian community, fearing persecution in Persia after its Arab conquest, sought shelter in western India and ultimately went on to produce India’s pioneering nationalist in the figure of Dadabhai Naoroji ( 1825-1917), also known as the Grand Old Man of India. Jews found refuge in south India after the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 C.E. and have remained a part of the Indian religious scene since then, some even returning to Israel after it was founded in 1948. Islam arrived in Kerala as soon as it was founded and one of the earliest mosques in the history of Islam is found in India. Islam differs from the previously mentioned religions inasmuch as it went on to gain political hegemony over parts of the country for considerable periods of time, which meant that its impact on the religious life of the subcontinent has been greater compared to the other religions. It has also meant that Islam has existed in a religiously plural environment in India for a longer period than elsewhere in the world so that not only has Islam left a mark on India, India has also left its mark on it. Indeed all the three religions covered in this volume share this dual feature, that they have profoundly influenced Indian religious life and have also in turn been profoundly influenced by their presence in India. (shrink)

Title: Good-bye Samizdat: Twenty Years of Czechoslovak Underground WritingPublisher: Northwestern University PressISBN: 0810110105Author: Marketa Goetz-Stankiewicz Title: Traditions and Present Problems of Czech Political Culture: Czech Philosophical Studies IPublisher: Paideia PressISBN: 1565180569Author: Miloslav Bednar and Michal Vejrazka.

The theme of the church's impact on culture does not ignore, but rather rounds out the Chicago school's earlier and opposite preoccupation with the cultural-environmental factors in the development of the church. Brauer sees the socio-historical method which is identified with the Chicago school as "the first serious attempt in America to make church history a responsible scientific discipline at home in the university." These essays by faculty and alumni of Chicago Divinity School are presented chronologically and cover ancient, medieval, (...) reformation, and modern church history. Specifically, the essays cover: the use of the prefix auto- in early Christian Theology; the period of Constantine; the fourth and fifth century relation between Christianity and Judaeism; some medieval reforming critiques; the importance of the church in the rise of Moscow; a new line on the problem of the sources of conciliarism in the fifteenth century; and various reformation essays including one by J. T. McNeil, one on Anabaptism, one on religion and science in the reformation, and one on reformation humanism. The final essays include studies of Oliver Cromwell, Schleiermacher, Joseph Miloslav Hurban, and one on Harnack.--S. O. H. (shrink)

The theme of the church's impact on culture does not ignore, but rather rounds out the Chicago school's earlier and opposite preoccupation with the cultural-environmental factors in the development of the church. Brauer sees the socio-historical method which is identified with the Chicago school as "the first serious attempt in America to make church history a responsible scientific discipline at home in the university." These essays by faculty and alumni of Chicago Divinity School are presented chronologically and cover ancient, medieval, (...) reformation, and modern church history. Specifically, the essays cover: the use of the prefix auto- in early Christian Theology; the period of Constantine; the fourth and fifth century relation between Christianity and Judaeism; some medieval reforming critiques; the importance of the church in the rise of Moscow; a new line on the problem of the sources of conciliarism in the fifteenth century; and various reformation essays including one by J. T. McNeil, one on Anabaptism, one on religion and science in the reformation, and one on reformation humanism. The final essays include studies of Oliver Cromwell, Schleiermacher, Joseph Miloslav Hurban, and one on Harnack.--S. O. H. (shrink)