Much research has been done on the economic effects of self-employment, environmental conditions for entrepreneurial success, as well as attributes if the person him-/herself fits to this career path. To successfully run a business, however, is contingent on the health of the entrepreneur. In particular, small business owners (being solo self-employed without personnel) face financial uncertainties, a high workload, long working hours, and are often unable to call in sick. This study aimed at exploring the working situation considering resources (e.g., (...) autonomy), strain (e.g., dependency on contracts with clients) and health and career outcomes of small business owners. This study used a qualitative approach to comprehensively mirror the working situation. Participants who were 29 small business owners from Germany gave permission for recording expert interviews in which they reported, for example, on health complaints, recovery opportunities, obstacles and resources while running their businesses. The interviews emphasize the meaning of active actions and own responsibility for creating working conditions and enabling autonomy. Small business owners yet have to be able to use the autonomy. Besides personal preferences regarding the career path as being pulled into self-employment and not pushed by situational circumstances also marketability and flexibility played a role and explained health and career issues. Our findings underline that the social network is of utmost importance to small business owners and that social support – even or despite of being solo self-employed – is a key to sustaining health and satisfaction. As voluntariness played an essential role for selecting this specific career path those being pulled into self-employment as no other jobs are available should receive particular support through career counseling. One shortcoming of prior research is that the concrete working situation of small business owners and its impact on health and career has not adequately been taken into account. Based on work-related stress models we developed a frame model specific for the situation of small business owners which allows concrete hypotheses for further quantitative research. (shrink)

This book highlights some of the most pressing safety, ethical, legal and societal issues related to the diverse contexts in which robotic technologies apply. Focusing on the essential concept of well-being, it addresses topics that are fundamental not only for research, but also for industry and end-users, discussing the challenges in a wide variety of applications, including domestic robots, autonomous manufacturing, personal care robots and drones.

ABSTRACT Academic dishonesty has been found to be on the increase globally, affecting the quality of education, ethics of professional practices and career outcome. Substantial literature exists on the role of religious commitment in reducing academic dishonesty, but few or no studies have examined the pathways explaining this link. The present study examined whether self-efficacy mediates the relationship between RC and AD. Undergraduates of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka completed the Academic Dishonesty Scale, Religious Commitment Inventory and New General Self-Efficacy (...) Scale and also provided relevant demographic information. Results of statistical analysis indicated that RC was negatively associated with AD. Self-efficacy was also a partial mediation in the relationship between RC and AD. This implies that self-efficacy contributes to the pathways through which RC influences AD among students. Our findings suggest that consideration of students’ level of self-judgment on their ability to cope with academic demands may be an important target toward enhancing the influence of RC in reducing academic dishonest behaviors among students. (shrink)

Growing evidence suggests that natural environments – whether in outdoor or indoor settings – foster psychological health and physiological relaxation, indicated by increased wellbeing, reduced stress levels, and increased parasympathetic activity. Greater insight into differential psychological aspects modulating psychophysiological responses to nature-based relaxation videos could help understand modes of action and develop personalized relaxation interventions. We investigated heart rate variability as an indicator of autonomic regulation, specifically parasympathetic activity, in response to a 10-min video intervention in two consecutive studies as (...) well as heart rate. We hypothesized that a nature-based relaxation video elicits HRV increase and HR decrease, with response magnitude being affected by aspects of early life adversity and trait mindfulness. In Study 1, N = 60 participants watched a relaxation video intervention depicting different natural scenery. We analyzed changes in HR and respiratory sinus arrhythmia as a standard HRV measure, both based on 3-min segments from the experimental session, in multiple growth curve models. We found a decrease in HR and increase of RSA during the video intervention. Higher paternal care and lower trait mindfulness observing skills were associated with higher RSA values before but not during video exposure. In Study 2, N = 90 participants were assigned to three video conditions: natural scenery from Study 1, meditation video, or short clip from “The Lord of the Rings.” Again, HR decreased, and RSA increased during video segments, yet without expected group differences across different video types. We found higher parental care and lower parental overprotection to predict higher RSA at different times during the experiment. Interestingly, lower paternal overprotection predicted overall higher RSA. These results suggest a generic relaxation effect of video interventions on autonomic regulation that we discuss in light of different theories mapping restorative effects of natural environments. Further, psychological characteristics like aspects of early life adversity and trait mindfulness could contribute to individual differences in autonomic regulation. This study contributes to a better understanding of autonomic and psychological responses to relaxation videos. (shrink)

The New Economic Windows Series, derived from Massimo Salzano's ideas and work, incorporates material from textbooks, monographs and conference proceedings that deals with both the theoretical and applied aspects of various sub-disciplines ...

The essays in this volume present the first comprehensive account of Fichte’s reception and influence in America, highlighting philosophical issues central to thinkers in the U.S., Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico.

This paper considers the process of becoming an international public intellectual, taking the case of Maria Montessori (1870–1952), the Italian physician who became an authority on education and, u...

In proposing this reflection about the relationship between dogmatic theology and Christian spiritual experience, we want to demonstrate in this article how a great 20 th century theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar, invites the reader to enter into the reading and understanding of the historical and theological reasons that have guided some options and postures assumed, as well as to recognize the impacts caused both in the theology and in the spiritual experience and yet, more widely, in Christianity and its (...) mission. The path chosen for this study starts from one of his works, L’amour seul est digne de foi, and relies, then, in the impressive intellectual patrimony of the author, by researching in the same the transversality of the theme. We will be, in the present work, vigilant to the threat of disruptions, particularly analyze the conception and the possibility of the Christian spiritual experience by inquiring the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Holy Fathers. What is the hope delineated in this dialogue? It will be possible to infer partial conclusions from the route made. Further researches will be essential in order to reach the understanding of everything that is at stake in the search for intelligibility of the Theology and of the Christian experience itself. (shrink)

En el año 2004, la editorial Crítica de Barcelona publicó el texto de Antoni Domènech: El eclipse de la fraternidad. Una revisión republicana de la tradición socialista, que abrió un sendero conceptual amplio para pensar en la “metáfora” de la fraternidad dentro de la tradición socialista en clave republicana. Texto original, provocativo y erudito que –de una u otra manera- tuvo influencia en los trabajos de este Dossier: colegas, amigos, discípulos, y compañeros. Vaya entonces como homenaje al filósofo reciente y (...) tempranamente fallecido, Toni Domènech. (shrink)

The incommensurability thesis, as introduced by T.S. Kuhn and P.K. Feyerabend, states that incommensurable theories are conceptually incompatible theories which share a common domain of application. Such claim has often been regarded as incoherent, since it has been understood that the determination of a common domain of application at least requires a certain degree of conceptual compatibility between the theories. The purpose of this work is to contribute to the defense of the notion of local or gradual incommensurability, as proposed (...) by late Kuhn. The application of this notion would allow to render the incommensurability thesis coherent. To support this view, a typical example of incommensurability will be formally analyzed by applying the structuralist metatheory developed, among others by W. Balzer, C.U. Moulines and J.D. Sneed. The structural reconstruction of the relation between the phlogiston theory and the oxygen theory offered here will reveal that they are locally incommensurable, and will even make possible to determine the ontological reduction relation that they also exemplify. (shrink)

TEXT: D. and A. Bolles, 1996, A Grammar of the Yucatecan Mayan Language/The Expoloits of Juan Thul, The Trickster Rabbit. http://www.famsi.org/reports/96072/grammar/section42.html. GLOSSES & TRANSLATION: See the text pdf at http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~mbittner/ym.html. ONLINE UPDATE: See Bittner 2004 ‘Online Update: Quantified de se and polysynthesis’. The following table lists some basic symbols of the semantic representation language to be used.

There are major concerns about the level of personal borrowing, particularly sourced from credit cards. This paper charts the progress of an initiative to create a Responsible Lending Index (RLI) for the credit industry. The RLI proposed to voluntarily benchmark lending standards and promote best practice within the credit industry by involving suppliers of credit, customer representatives and regulators. However, despite initial support from some banks, consumer bodies and the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee, it failed to gain sufficient (...) support from financial institutions in its original format. The primary reasons for this were related to the complexity of building such a robust index and the banks trade body’s fear of exposing its members to public scrutiny. A revised alternative, the Responsible Lending Initiative, was proposed which took into account these concerns. However, the Association of Payment Clearing Service (APACS), the trade body of the credit industry, then effectively destroyed the proposal. This article describes an attempt to address the challenges in the credit card industry with the initiation of the RLI, reflected in stakeholder discourse and in the context of a wider concern expressed by the involved stakeholders in terms of the need for greater responsibility in the banking industry’s lending practices. (shrink)

Maria Robaszkiewicz fragt in ihrem Buch worin politische Kompetenz besteht, welche Fähigkeiten der Beteiligung am politischen Geschehen zugrunde liegen und wie eine politische Sphäre geschaffen werden kann, die trotz der Pluralität von Meinungen, einen Raum für politische Gemeinschaft bietet. Sie greift dabei auf Hannah Arendts Konzept des politischen Denkens zurück, das mögliche Antworten auf diese Fragen gibt. Allerdings ist die Fähigkeit des politischen Denkens den Menschen nicht gegeben, sondern muss erst durch Übungen entwickelt werden. Arendts Texte können als Beispiele (...) derartiger Übungen fungieren: Als solche bieten sie eine Einleitung der Politik als weltbildender Praxis. (shrink)

El objetivo de este trabajo fue demostrar la utilidad de los problemas de reparto para el aprendizaje de las fracciones. El enfoque de la investigación fue cuasi-experimental; los instrumentos utilizados fueron un cuestionario y una entrevista. Los resultados de la investigación demostraron que los problemas de reparto son una estrategia útil para mejorar el aprendizaje de las fracciones. Palabras clave: Fracciones, problemas de reparto, enseñanza de las matemáticas.

Los derechos sociales no han estado incorporados en las Comunidades Europeas, sino como consecuencias de la libre circulación de personas. Poco a poco a través de la política social se han ido asumiendo exigencias sociales que han desembocado en la formulación de derechos sociales denominados hoy "derechos de la solidaridad" en la Carta de Derechos Fundamentales de la Unión. No obstante, su efectividad y su justicialidad continúan siendo un interrogante y expresión del déficit de la U.E.

Most studies investigating the relationship between cultural constructs and ethical perception have focused on individual- and societal-level values without much attention to other type of cultural constructs such as social beliefs. In addition, we need to better understand how social beliefs are linked to ethical perception and the level of analysis at which social beliefs may best predict ethical perceptions. This research contributes to the cross-cultural ethical perception literature by examining the relationship of individual-level social cynicism belief, one of five (...) universally endorsed social beliefs, together with individual social dominance orientation and the perception of unethical behavior. By means of two studies, we examine these relationships across societies that significantly differ on societal-level social cynicism belief. Using 371 business students from Russia and the U.S. in Study 1 and 268 professionals from Portugal and the U.S. in Study 2, we found that individual-level social cynicism belief was positively associated with social dominance orientation. Social dominance orientation, in turn, mediated the relationship between individual social cynicism belief and the perception of unethical behavior. Although we found significant societal-level differences in social cynicism belief in both studies, the relationships between individual-level social cynicism belief, social dominance orientation, and the perception of unethical behavior were structurally equivalent across societies in both studies, suggesting that societal-level differences did not significantly affect these relationships. Implications for cross-cultural business ethics research and practice are discussed. (shrink)

Social rights have not been incorporated in the European Communities, but rather have arisen as a consecuence of the freedom of mobility for persons. Little by little through social policies certain social demands have been obtained that have become social rights. Such rights are called solidarity-rights in the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union. However, their effectiviness and legal enforceability remain a question, while revealing the extent of the social deficit in E.U.

Diese Studie der Deskription bei Franz Brentano lässt dessen Philosophie als ein «Programm der Deskription» erscheinen, das einen spezifischen Beitrag zur Gottesfrage leistet. Im Gegensatz zur scholastischen Tradition stellt er diese Frage auf sprachlicher Ebene und sucht dadurch erkenntnistheoretisch-metaphysische Engführungen zu überwinden. Er betont die deskriptive (nicht physikalische oder metaphysische) Bedeutung der Kausalität in ihrer Zeitgebundenheit und zeigt, dass die Existenz Gottes zeitlich bestimmt werden muss: Nur so ist eine sinnvolle Rede von Gott möglich. Brentanos Denken wurde in der Theologie (...) kaum wahrgenommen, aber die deskriptive Lösung des Problems von «esse et essentia», die Arten der Zeitlichkeit, die Betrachtung von Analogielehre und Univozität sind richtungsweisend. (shrink)

Die Beitrage dieses Buches knupfen an Stanley Cavells psychoanalytisch inspirierte Studien zu Literatur, Drama und Film als Beitrage zu einer Anthropologie der Endlichkeit an. Cavell interpretiert Kunstformen wie Shakespeares Tragodien, die Hollywood-Komodien der Wiederverheiratung und die Melodramen der Unbekannten Frau als experimentelle Narrative von Menschen, die mit ihrer Endlichkeit hadern. Dabei geht es um die alte philosophische Frage nach dem guten Leben, was die Analyse der Spielarten der Lebensverfehlung einschliesst. Dazu gehort etwa die Unfahigkeit, sich uber die eigenen Wunsche, Anspruche (...) und Interessen in der Beziehung zu einer anderen Person zu verstandigen, was dazu fuhrt, dass man die eigene Perspektive mit einer allgemeinen unparteiischen Sicht der Vernunft und personliches Vertrauen mit Wissen uber eine Person verwechselt, nach einer unerreichbaren Einheit strebt, die Selbststandigkeit der anderen Person als Bedrohung erlebt oder sich selbst in der Beziehung verliert. Dementgegen rekonstruiert Cavell unter dem Titel "moralischer Perfektionismus" eine philosophische und kunstlerische Tradition, die sich mit der Erfahrung einer unbefriedigenden sozialen und privaten Wirklichkeit auseinandersetzt - wobei das Genre Komodie besondere Beachtung findet. Mit Beitragen von Elisabeth Bronfen, Eike Brock, Lorenz Engell, Josef Fruchtl, David Gern, Michael Hampe, Lars Leeten, Dimitri Liebsch, Maria-Sibylla Lotter, Ludwig Nagl und Jochen Schuff. (shrink)

A fierce debate ensued after the announcement in 1913 in the U.S.A. that all rights and ownership of radium-bearing ores found on public land would be reserved by the government. At stake was the State monopolization of radium that pitted powerful industrialists with radium claims, mainly in the Colorado area, against the Bureau of Mines and prestigious physicians who wished to reserve radium for medical uses. This article describes the strategies of one of the biggest U.S. radium industries that dominated (...) the radium market, created huge customer bases, and legitimized their role within the scientific community. In contrast to the European “radium situation,” radium extraction, production, and marketing in the United States was controlled by the industry; and industrial in-house research was clearly separate from that done in academic circles. The production of knowledge was ready-made in the factory and was entangled with commercial orders and advertising patterns. (shrink)

Following the September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, much support for torture interrogation of terrorists has emerged in the public forum, largely based on the “ticking bomb” scenario. Although deontological and virtue ethics provide incisive arguments against torture, they do not speak directly to scientists and government officials responsible for national security in a utilitarian framework. Drawing from criminology, organizational theory, social psychology, the historical record, and my interviews with military professionals, I assess the potential of an official (...) U.S. program of torture interrogation from a practical perspective. The central element of program design is a sound causal model relating input to output. I explore three principal models of how torture interrogation leads to truth: the animal instinct model, the cognitive failure model, and the data processing model. These models show why torture interrogation fails overall as a counterterrorist tactic. They also expose the processes that lead from a precision torture interrogation program to breakdowns in key institutions—health care, biomedical research, police, judiciary, and military. The breakdowns evolve from institutional dynamics that are independent of the original moral rationale. The counterargument, of course, is that in a society destroyed by terrorism there will be nothing to repair. That is why the actual causal mechanism of torture interrogation in curtailing terrorism must be elucidated by utilitarians rather than presumed. (shrink)

Algunos autores han intentado considerar los delirios como certezas –entendidas en el sentido de Wittgenstein– debido a las similitudes que parecen existir entre sus respectivos estatus epistemológicos. Sin embargo, dicho intento ha sido criticado con agudeza, entre otras razones, porque el contenido de los delirios choca frontalmente con el contenido de las certezas, por lo que los delirios no pueden ser comprendidos debido a los cambios en las relaciones de significado. Pero es evidente que, aunque los delirios no se puedan (...) contemplar como certezas, muchos delirios afectan de un modo u otro al sistema de certezas del paciente. Partiendo de esta base, no es descabellado pensar que dicha influencia pudiera ser también recíproca: en otras palabras, parece sumamente recomendable analizar si algunos delirios se podrían contemplar como el resultado de variaciones en certezas. En este artículo llevo a cabo dicho análisis al intentar mostrar que el origen de algunos delirios pedestres y severos puede ser hallado en lo que llamaré “ceguera a posibilidades” e “incertidumbre”, términos que he desarrollado teniendo en cuenta la obra del filósofo Ludwig Wittgenstein. (shrink)

El siguiente trabajo tiene como objetivo principal describir y analizar la percepción de Manuel Baldomero Ugarte sobre Estados Unidos. Ugarte fue literato y político, pero también fue un pensador interesado por los asuntos internacionales de América Latina. Evidencia de ello son sus propuestas integracionistas y antiimperialistas, en las cuales la presencia de Estados Unidos era evidente. Debido a lo anterior, se estima conveniente explicar qué pensó Ugarte sobre la nación norteamericana, y desde esa perspectiva, contribuir a la discusión sobre tan (...) trascendental intelectual latinoamericano. The purpose of this work is to describe and analyze the perception of Manuel Baldomero Ugarte about the United States. Ugarte was a writer and a politician, but it was also a thinker interested in the Latin America’s international affairs. Testimony of this are his integrationist and anti-imperialist proposals, in which the U.S. presence was evident. Thus, it is considered advisable to explain what he thought about the American nation, and from this perspective, to contribute to the discussion around this important Latin American intellectual. (shrink)

El art. 35 de la Constitución española de 1978 reconoce a los españoles "el deber de trabajar y el derecho al trabajo, a la libre elección de profesión u oficio, a la promoción a través del trabajo y a una remuneración suficiente para satisfacer sus necesidades y las de su familia, sin que en ningún caso pueda hacerse discriminación por razón de sexo".

Implikatura skalarna jest bardzo powszechnym typem wnioskowania pragmatycznego, które polega na uznaniu przez odbiorcę za nieprawdziwe zdań zawierających terminy bardziej informatywne niż termin użyty przez mówcę, kiedy wszystkie te terminy można umieścić na jednej skali. Pierwsza część tekstu stanowi przegląd podstawowych teoretycznych podejść do implikatur skalarnych. Druga część oferuje krótki przegląd badań empirycznych na temat rozwoju implikatur skalarnych u dzieci. Ostatnia część jest bazującą na przykładzie implikatur skalarnych próbą refleksji nad wzajemnymi stosunkami między pragmatyką teoretyczną a eksperymentalną.

I n th e inte r na l histo r y o f Zapatism o th e mos t remarka b l e featur e i s th e symbiotic proces s w hic h occur s bet w ee n th e Zapatist a gue r rilla s i n th e mountain s o f Chiapa s an d the indigenou s peopl e i n th e communities . Th e fo r me r g i v (...) e milita r y inst r uctio n t o th e latte r , w hil e sl o w ly adoptin g thei r v alue s an d ideol o g y . I n th e en d , bot h fo r m a n ew milita r y o r ganization , th e Zapatist a A r m y o f Nationa l Liberation . Thi s a r m y i s uniqu e compared wit h othe r milita r y o r ganizations , a s i t act s on ly defens i v e ly t o protec t indigenou s rights an d i t i s no t a n independenc e m o v ement , autonomou s i n it s functioning , l e gitimat e and l e gal , wit h a hig h representatio n o f w ome n ( w h o especial ly singl e ou t thi s o r ganization), mad e u p o f socia l suppo r t base s an d a traine d an d discipline d militia , strong ly suppo r ted by c i vi l societ y , h a vin g a radica l leftis t ideol o g y , w hic h remain s i n constan t rebellio n and resistanc e t o pressure s fro m th e authorities , th e M e xica n a r m y an d paramilitaries. (shrink)

Se ha procurado relacionar algunos desarrollos de la filosofía del método científico con dos grandes tradiciones en la historia de las ideas. En los últimos 100 años la filosofía de la ciencia se ha adherido sucesivamente a una u otra de estas dos posiciones básicamente opuestas. Después de Heg..

The aim of this research is to examine what impact female institutional directors on boards have on corporate performance. Previous research shows that institutional female directors cannot be considered as a homogeneous group since they represent investors who may or may not maintain business relations with the companies on whose corporate boards they sit. Thus, it is not only the effect of female institutional directors as a whole on firm value that has been analysed, but also the impact of pressure-resistant (...) female directors, who represent institutional investors that only invest in the company, and do not maintain a business relation with the firm. We hypothesize that there is a non-linear association, specifically quadratic, between institutional and pressure-resistant female directors on boards and corporate performance. Our results report that female institutional directors on boards enhance corporate performance, but when they reach a certain threshold on boards, firm value decreases. In line with female institutional directors, pressure-resistant female directors on boards also increase firm value, but only up to a certain figure, above which they have a negative impact on firm performance. These findings are consistent with an inverted U-shaped relationship between female institutional directors and pressure-resistant female directors and firm performance. (shrink)