Background The European Union aims to optimize patient protection and efficiency of health-care research by harmonizing procedures across Member States. Nonetheless, further improvements are required to increase multicenter research efficiency. We investigated IRB procedures in a large prospective European multicenter study on traumatic brain injury, aiming to inform and stimulate initiatives to improve efficiency. Methods We reviewed relevant documents regarding IRB submission and IRB approval from European neurotrauma centers participating in the Collaborative European NeuroTrauma Effectiveness Research in Traumatic Brain Injury. (...) Documents included detailed information on IRB procedures and the duration from IRB submission until approval. They were translated and analyzed to determine the level of harmonization of IRB procedures within Europe. Results From 18 countries, 66 centers provided the requested documents. The primary IRB review was conducted centrally or locally and primary IRB approval was obtained after one, two or three review rounds with a median duration of respectively 50 and 98 days until primary IRB approval. Additional IRB approval was required in 55% of countries and could increase duration to 535 days. Total duration from submission until required IRB approval was obtained was 114 days and appeared to be shorter after submission to local IRBs compared to central IRBs. Conclusion We found variation in IRB procedures between and within European countries. There were differences in submission and approval requirements, number of review rounds and total duration. Research collaborations could benefit from the implementation of more uniform legislation and regulation while acknowledging local cultural habits and moral values between countries. (shrink)

One of the main obstacles for panpsychism, the view that consciousness is fundamental and ubiquitous, is the difficulty of explaining how simple subjects could combine to form complex subjects. Known as the subject combination problem, it poses a possibly insurmountable challenge to the view. In this paper, I will assume that this challenge cannot be overcome and instead present a version of panpsychism that completely avoids talk of combination. Inspired by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’s metaphysics of monads, I will focus on (...) a relational explanation of how simple subjects could constitute complex experiences, without them having to combine in virtue of their subjectivity. I call this view _monadic panpsychism_. Additionally, my proposal will not rely on emergence and so it will circumvent problems commonly faced by emergentist accounts. As I will argue, monadic panpsychism is preferable to combinatory and emergentist panpsychism because it faces a significantly less worrisome set of objections. Apart from being unaffected by the seemingly insuperable issue of subject combination, I will demonstrate that monadic panpsychism also has tools to address other kinds of the combination problem. That alone justifies the need for a new formulation of panpsychism, one which faces unique difficulties but also offers unique solutions. (shrink)

Abstract:The prevailing anti-authorial trend in contemporary mainstream literary theory and aesthetic anti-intentionalism produces different versions of "the death of the author" concept. Conversely, different forms of intentionalism in the analytic tradition strongly defend the relevance of authorial intentions. Although I agree with classic intentionalism on some key points, I find it untenable to believe that the meaning of a literary work is wholly dependent on the intentions of its creator. Rather I consider authorial meaning as one variety of literary meaning. (...) My explanation of the part the author plays in literary understanding is consistent with Anders Pettersson's theory. (shrink)

Theories of well-being that I call “loving-the-good” claim that one intrinsically benefits if and only if one loves what is objectively good. For these views, well-being comes to be when the correct connection between world and mind obtains. Intuitively, ill-being is the opposite of well-being. I explore the resources of loving-the-good views to explain ill-being, especially whether they can do so and also meet the theoretical virtues of continuity and unity. Continuity is met when ill-being theory mirrors the well-being theory. (...) Unity is met when all instances of a phenomenon are given the same kind of explanation. I argue that, strikingly, the key insight of loving-the-good theories of well-being does not seem plausible for ill-being. A consequence is that loving-the-good theories face significant problems to meet continuity. I examine alternatives for these views to meet unity. I argue that plausible explanations of ill-being do not meet unity either. (shrink)

The essays in this volume concern the topic of legal rights, how they are related to morality, the place of rights on moral theory, and the legal recognition of rights.

Most of us spend a significant portion of our lives learning, practising, and performing a wide range of skills. Many of us also have a great amount of control over which skills we learn and develop. From choices as significant as career pursuits to those as minor as how we spend our weeknight leisure time, we exercise a great amount of agency over what we know and what we can do. In this paper we argue, using a framework first developed (...) by Carbonell (2013) that in many real-world circumstances we have moral obligations to develop some skills rather than others. (shrink)

In this paper, I argue for Fit, a prudential version of the claim that attitudes must fit their objects, the claim that there is an extra benefit when one's reactions fit their objects. I argue that Fit has surprising and powerful consequences for theories of well-being. Classic versions of the objective list theory, hedonism, desire views, and loving-the-good theories do not accommodate Fit. Suitable modifications change some of the views substantially. Modified views give reactions a robust role as sources of (...) well-being, and they accept that objects call for some attitudes but not others. I argue that objective list theories and loving-the-good theories require the most minimal changes to accommodate Fit, so we have a pro tanto reason to favor these views over alternatives. (shrink)

This study utilizing correlation, regression, confirmatory factor analyses, ANOVA, moderation and mediation analysis investigated connections of stereotypes, emotions, and sociocultural variables in a single-sample/single-group design. Prior to data processing, Georgian versions of the Stereotype Content Model questionnaires were validated through CFA. The study looked at Georgian students' attitudes to: representatives of German-speaking countries and representatives of English-speaking countries. Emotions predicted to these groups by social–structural antecedents—vitality and fear of assimilation—and stereotypes were admiration, pride, and sympathy. In addition, envy was predicted (...) for the English-speaking group. The prediction of envy is explained by moderation analysis according to which it is elicited by the interplay of warmth and competence, as well as fear of assimilation and competence. The former interaction mediates the link between social–structural antecedents to emotions. Thus, distant out-groups elicit envy as a result of their perceived vitality, fear of assimilation, warmth, and competence. Social–structural antecedents come forward to elicit emotions of envy independently as well as in interaction with stereotypes when small country representatives evaluate representatives of the influential group of English-speaking people. (shrink)

En este artículo, presentamos un sistema de lógica modal que permite representar relaciones entre conjuntos o clases de individuos definidos por una propiedad específica. Introducimos dos operadores modales, [a] y, que se utilizan respectivamente para expresar "para todo A" y "existe un A". Tanto la sintaxis como la semántica del sistema tienen dos niveles que evitan el anidamiento del operador modal. La semántica se basa en una variante de la semántica de Kripke, en donde los operadores modales se indexan sobre (...) fórmulas de lógica proposicional (“pre-fórmulas” en el trabajo). Además, presentamos un conjunto de axiomas y reglas que rigen el sistema, y demostramos que el sistema es correcto y completo con relación a los modelos de Kripke. En la sección final del artículo, discutimos posibles trabajos futuros. Consideramos la posibilidad de combinar nuestro operador modal con otras modalidades, como necesidad o conocimiento. Además, como ejemplo de la utilidad de nuestro operador modal, analizamos brevemente la fórmula de Barcan adaptada de manera conveniente dentro del marco de nuestro sistema. En resumen, proponemos la combinación de nuestro operador modal con otros como una forma más simple y compacta, aunque con un menor poder expresivo, para abordar la lógica modal cuantificada. (shrink)

The Ghirardi–Rimini–Weber (GRW) theory of spontaneous wave function collapse is known to provide a quantum theory without observers, in fact two different ones by using either the matter density ontology (GRWm) or the flash ontology (GRWf). Both theories are known to make predictions different from those of quantum mechanics, but the difference is so small that no decisive experiment can as yet be performed. While some testable deviations from quantum mechanics have long been known, we provide here something that has (...) until now been missing: a formalism that succinctly summarizes the empirical predictions of GRWm and GRWf. We call it the GRW formalism. Its structure is similar to that of the quantum formalism but involves different operators. In other words, we establish the validity of a general algorithm for directly computing the testable predictions of GRWm and GRWf. We further show that some well-defined quantities cannot be measured in a GRW world, for example the number of collapses in a system during a chosen time interval. (shrink)

In this work we summarise the concept of bisimulation, widely used both in computational sciences and in modal logic, that characterises modal structures with the same behaviour in terms of accessibility relations. Then, we offer a sketch of categorical interpretation of bisimulation between modal structures, which comprise both the structure and the valuation from a propositional language.

Pese a los esfuerzos de las últimas décadas, la poca habilitación tecnológica dentro de las escuelas rurales de México ha quedado expuesta durante el cierre de escuelas por Covid-19. Se realizó un estudio exploratorio para identificar los niveles de brecha digital de acceso experimentados por los profesores de un centro educativo en una zona rural de México y explorar las estrategias de usos de las TIC desplegadas para dar continuidad académica durante la pandemia. Se constató que aun con acceso tecnológico (...) limitado, se desarrollaron diversos usos de las TIC para el desarrollo de los procesos de enseñanza y de aprendizaje. (shrink)

In this paper, I address the grounding problem for contemporary Russellian panpsychism, or the question of how consciousness as an intrinsic nature is connected to dispositions or powers of objects. I claim that Russellian panpsychists cannot offer an adequate solution to the grounding problem and that they should reject the claim that consciousness, as an intrinsic nature, grounds the powers of objects. Instead, I argue that they should favour the identity theory of powers, where categorical and dispositional properties are identified. (...) I maintain that the identity theory serves as a better ontological basis for panpsychism since it avoids the grounding problem. Apart from that, I also argue that identity theory panpsychism is a position more parsimonious than Russellian panpsychism since it introduces fewer entities while successfully avoiding the grounding problem. Based on these considerations, I conclude that identity theory panpsychism is an option worth considering. (shrink)

Nel quadro dell’evoluzionismo darwiniano, l’articolo offre una riflessione scientifico-filosofica intorno alle dinamiche relazionali esibite dai viventi. Dopo aver riconosciuto l’estinzione come fatto ricorrente nella storia della vita e posto l’accento sul possibile ruolo umano in una prossima massiccia perdita di biodiversità, si elaborano le basi per una proposta normativa che consenta di evitare tale minaccia. L’argomentazione muove da un’indagine sulla natura profonda degli ecosistemi: in particolare si sottolinea la centralità della dimensione relazionale, e dunque della dipendenza, in quanto modalità primaria (...) della vita. Viene così ad emergere un concetto inedito di identità che, inteso nel suo specifico valore ecologico, può rappresentare per l’essere umano il punto di partenza ai fini dello sviluppo di una condotta moralmente ed ecologicamente più consapevole. (shrink)

Pure type systems arise as a generalisation of simply typed lambda calculus. The contemporary development of mathematics has renewed the interest in type theories, as they are not just the object of mere historical research, but have an active role in the development of computational science and core mathematics. It is worth exploring some of them in depth, particularly predicative Martin-Löf’s intuitionistic type theory and impredicative Coquand’s calculus of constructions. The logical and philosophical differences and similarities between them will be (...) studied, showing the relationship between these type theories and other fields of logic. (shrink)

Russell's involuted path in the development of his theory of logical types from 1903 to 1910-13 is examined and explained in terms of the development in his early philosophy of the notion of a logical subject vis-a-vis the problem of the one and many; i.e., the problem for russell, first, of a class-as-one as a logical subject as opposed to a class as many, and, secondly, of a propositional function as a single and separate logical subject as opposed to existing (...) only in the many propositions that are its values. (shrink)

Bohmian mechanics is a theory about point particles moving along trajectories. It has the property that in a world governed by Bohmian mechanics, observers see the same statistics for experimental results as predicted by quantum mechanics. Bohmian mechanics thus provides an explanation of quantum mechanics. Moreover, the Bohmian trajectories are defined in a non-conspiratorial way by a few simple laws.

In this work we study the functions, which are the polynomials of conditional algebra. The notion of conditional algebra is based on the procedural semantics of the conditional operator “if A then B else C” – one of the most usable operators of programming languages.

Journal Name: Philologus Issue: Ahead of print.

This paper is an attempt to analyse the concept of literary autonomy, to explore its various manifestations in previous and current theories of literary studies and literary aesthetics, and to fit it into a broad outlook of literature's specificity and uniqueness. It defends the idea of literature's separate identity, however, not at the expense of breaking free of the concept of meaning in the strict sense, seeking special literary value in the independence of aesthetic value from other values, or in (...) the claim that literature has no purpose outside of itself, and then argues that such position need not be confounded with reductionism. (shrink)