The Austrian School's conventional theory of the firm is based on an attempt to synthesize Coase's concept of the firm as a centrally planned hierarchy with the Austrian theory of entrepreneurship and monetary calculation. This paper is a critique of that program as well as an attempt to outline the alternative theory of the firm, one based on the synthesis of the contractual agency theory of the firm with the same Austrian arguments about entrepreneurship and calculation. The firm in this (...) paper is defined as a nexus of various markets for goods as well as for labor and managerial services rather than as a hierarchy or “organization.” Both the neoclassical and Austrian critiques of the latter concept are utilized to prove that a clear distinction between the market and the firm cannot be established. That distinction is based on the misunderstanding of the firm's dynamics as exclusively tied to the managing/transaction costs ratio as well as on the mischaracterization of inter-firm relations as commanding ones. On the other hand, the central planning view of the firm is equally at odds with the key Mises's argument that rational economic planning is impossible in the absence of market prices. If this is so, the firm, as understood in a Coasian paradigm, would not have any reason to exist, or any reason to contribute positively to economic efficiency, because it would simply represent a centrally planned “island of incalculability” in a wider market setting. Since the firm is a nexus of various markets, its operation is contrary to the Coaseian assumptions led by the price signals. Only insofar as the internal firm's operation is driven by the price signals can the firm be efficient. (shrink)

Epistemicists claim that if it is vague whether p, it is unknowable whether p. Some contest this on epistemic grounds: vague intuitions about vague matters need not fully preclude knowledge, if those intuitions are response-dependent in some special sense of enabling vague knowledge. This paper defends the epistemicist principle that vagueness entails ignorance against such objections. I argue that not only is response-dependence an implausible characterization of actual vague matters, its mere possibility poses no threat to epistemicism and is properly (...) accounted for by the epistemicist’s own principles. (shrink)

This article examines Schopenhauer’s influence on Nietzsche’s work. It considers how Nietzsche adopted some of his central ideas from Schopenhauer, how he exploited some of Schopenhauer’s positions to suit his own purposes, and how he developed some of his ideas as alternatives to Schopenhauerian positions. Nietzsche’s first published book, The Birth of Tragedy, is based on a Schopenhauerian metaphysical framework. Schopenhauer’s principle of individuation applicable to the world of representations is the key element in Nietzsche’s concept of the Apollonian and (...) Schopenhauer’s principle of the undifferentiated nature of ultimate reality of the will is the key element in Nietzsche’s concept of the Dionysian. (shrink)

The article Shtogrin I.P. «Historiographical research framework UkrainianVatican relations 1919 – 1921 years» examines the state of scientific development in domestic and foreign historiography research problems of mutual relations of the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the Vatican during the 1919 – 1921 years have been analysed in the context of international recognition of Ukrainian statehood and Eastern plans Holy See.

This book is a colorful journey into the fascinatingly diverse world of interneurons, an important class of highly heterogeneous cells found in all cortical neuronal networks. Interneurons are known to play key roles in many brain functions, from sensory processing to neuronal oscillations linked to learning and memory. The central aim of the volume is to provide new insights into the striking degree of cellular diversity found in interneuronal microcircuits. The book discusses the history of research into interneuronal variability, the (...) developmental origins of interneuronal diversity, the functional roles of heterogeneity in neuronal circuits, contemporary interneuronal classification systems, and the genetic and homeostatic mechanisms that shape the degree of cell to cell variability within interneuronal populations. It elaborates on new ideas about interneuronal diversity that rest upon theoretical and experimental results, with arguments touching upon evolution, animal behavior, and the mathematical theory of small world networks. This engaging volume is invaluable to neuroscientists and others interested in how neuronal newtworks function; electrical engineers, computational modelers, and physicists interested in neuronal network theory; neurologists and psychiatrists working on mechanisms of neurological and psychiatric disorders; and students and trainees in all of these fields. (shrink)

V 6 kapitolách knihy je vysvětlen význam pokrokové vědy při budování socialismu, vylíčeno je postavení vědy za kapitalismu a její závislost na buržoasní ideologii, pozůstatky kapitalistické minulosti v naší současné vědě, boj s nimi, její úkoly a plánování. úloha kritiky a sebekritiky v naší vědě a úspěchy, jichž naše nová věda v boji se starým dosahuje.

In this work, we propose a meaningful extension of description logics for non-monotonic reasoning. We introduce \, a logic allowing for the representation of and reasoning about both typical class-membership and typical instances of a relation. We propose a preferential semantics for \ in terms of partially-ordered DL interpretations which intuitively captures the notions of typicality we are interested in. We define a tableau-based algorithm for checking \ knowledge-base consistency that always terminates and we show that it is sound and (...) complete w.r.t. our preferential semantics. The general framework we here propose can serve as the foundation for further exploration of non-monotonic reasoning in description logics and similarly structured logics. (shrink)

Nos encaminamos hacia una era trans y poshumana en la que la vida humana será un puro intercambio de información. El hombre se deshace de su ser condicionado, de su facticidad, que, sin embargo, lo hace ser precisamente lo que es. (Han 2021 93).

El artículo propone un esbozo del programa teórico de la izquierda progresista del siglo XXI a partir de la lectura de los autores contemporáneos que tendrían mayor influencia en los líderes políticos iberoamericanos de esta corriente. Para ello, examina el escenario histórico político tras el fin de las utopías y del mito revolucionario, y luego describe los problemas teóricos que dotarían de contenido lo que el autor denomina una «revuelta posneoliberal».

The central contention of theories of deliberative democracy is that deliberative arrangements should encourage the support of interests that are general to all. Democratic theorists have also suggested that the natural environment will be a likely beneficiary following public deliberation, given the inherent rationality in supporting interests that will lead to the long-term survival of the planet. This paper addresses the question of general environmental interests through two case studies in Australian local government and argues there are at least three (...) factors that affect the ability of notionally deliberative arrangements to deliver outcomes that appear favourable to the natural environment. (shrink)

If we are to believe the proponents of the Theory of Practice and of Rational Choice, the gap between these two paradigmatic approaches cannot be bridged. They rely on ontological premises, theories of motivations and causal models that stand too far apart. In this article, I argue that this theoretical antinomy loses much of its edge when we take as objects of sociological investigation processes of historical change, that is, when we try to specify in theoretical terms how and in (...) which conditions historical actors enact and endorse shifts in patterns of relations as well as shifts in the symbolic and cognitive categories that make these relations significant. I substantiate this argument in light of the distinction between two temporalities of historical change: first, the long waves of gradual change and, second, the short waves of moments of breaks and ruptures. Along the way, I develop an argument about the conditions of emergence of self-limiting norms and the centrality of epistemic beliefs in situations of high disruption. (shrink)

Recent anti-governmental social movements in countries of former Yugoslavia have awakened the spirit of contention which had been dormant for almost two decades. The overwhelming economic deprivation, accompanied by the massive violation of basic human rights of the citizens, urged the challengers to take the streets.This paper is focused on comparison of two movements, the “Citizens for Macedonia” movement in the Republic of Macedonia and the “Bosnian Spring” in Bosnia and Herzegovina, highlighting the role and influence of movements on the (...) occurrence of policy outputs which articulated claims put forward by social movement organizations as well as other movement actors in the two respective countries. The analysis will be conducted taking into consideration specific social movement related variables like forms/types of claims-making and repertoires of action, as well as wider political process factors such as repression by state actors, and the attitude of allies and opponents of the movements.Regarding the methodological approach, we will apply a mixed comparative research design, with variation both on side of the independent and the dependent variables. Since the outcomes of the movements are already tangible, we will also apply elements of process tracing methodology, reconstructing the events as much as possible. My primary data collection tools encompass in-depth interviews with four specific categories of interviewees as well as thorough document analysis referring to the policy outputs. (shrink)

From its start philosophy sought principles or values by which any action could be considered good or evil. The situation in a civil court is much simpler. The judge has before him an already worked-out criminal code, and since an evil action has already been settled, it is easy to determine the appropriate punishment. But we are here not interested in the punishment nor can we assume in advance the existence of some sort of book of laws. We are rather (...) concerned with discovering the principles by which we can judge others and estabHsh appropriate laws. In all this, moreover, there are subtle and gross differences between men, but for moral behaviour it is essential that human freedom and universality remain preserved in every good purpose whether that be security, reform, improvement, or the enrichment of life. (shrink)

Originally published in Czechoslovakia just prior to Prague Spring in 1968, this collection of three essays on the political and philosophical thought of Montaigne, Voltaire, and Holbach examines the relationships between social life and ideological categories, and economics and the development of ideas.

In this article we give some elements of the debate between the liberationist, decolonialist and deconstructivist currents around the problem of Eurocentrism. In the first place, we identify some of the contributions of Jacques Derrida's thought to this debate from his reading of three representative authors of European thought: Husserl, Hegel and Heidegger. Secondly, we give some elements on the way in which certain forms of decolonialism and liberationism conceive not only their difference with Eurocentrism, but also the difference between (...) European thinkers to whom they feel linked and this same Eurocentrism. Finally, in the third place, we briefly review two versions of deconstructivism that seem able to dialogue despite the distance, two versions of wandering between Latin America and Europe. (shrink)

Because research involving human subjects exposes people to risk not always for their own potential benefit, the question arises as to how best ensure that: research participants are protected and benefited according to the highest ethical standards, while, on the other hand, researchers are protected and free to do research that will produce clinical advances for both research participants and society as a whole.The balancing of the risk to research participants versus the benefits derived from the research is performed in (...) many counrries by a system for the protection of human research participants that is laid out in national laws and regulations. In the United States, this system is based on principles emanating from the Nuremberg Code, the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki,and the report of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. (shrink)

This article examines the contributions made towards eugenic thought in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by Havelock Ellis . Ellis was a significant social reformer who worked on the problems of sexuality from a scientific–naturalist secular perspective. In the later phases of his work, after he had completed much of his writing on sexuality, Ellis concentrated on issues of feminism and eugenics—problems he thought were interlinked. In this paper, I integrate his ideas about these subjects, and consider the (...) ways in which Ellis and other liberal social reformers created a ‘eugenic subject’ in order to frame their arguments about social problems. (shrink)

Este artigo discute a relação entre filosofia da ciência e filosofia da educação a partir do texto de John Dewey Unity of Science as a Social Problem. Dewey propõe que o problema da unidade da ciência seja trabalhado de um ponto de vista não apenas epistemológico, mas também social. Isso é porque nosso entendimento sobre a ciência influencia a educação. A proposta de Dewey é discutida em relação às considerações de filósofos da ciência recentes, como Peter Galison e Paul Feyerabend, (...) de que a ciência não deve ser concebida como um todo unificado. (shrink)

This Special Issue brings a selection of peer-reviewed papers that were presented at the 12th Principia International Symposium: Models and Modeling in the Sciences, Florianópolis, Brazil, online, August 2021. In this preface, the chair and the secretary of the organizing committee comment the symposium's context and briefly present the issue.

Otto Neurath and John Dewey share the understanding that science must have a prominent role in democratic social reform. This is a common aim that brought logical empiricism and pragmatism together in the first half of the 20th century, but there are differences between the two stances. On the one hand, Neurath sees a limitation of scientific knowledge, considering that it cannot determine decisions to be taken in the course of social reform. Such decisions, in the logical empiricist view, are (...) a matter of politics. On the other hand, Dewey sees a continuity among all forms of inquiry and, therefore, the conclusions of valuational inquiry are analogous in their epistemic claims to the conclusions in factual (natural or social inquiry). This paper investigates the divergence and concludes that pragmatist continuity of inquiry is set in a psychological context that disregards a difference in objectivity between factual and valuational inquiry. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to review Foucault´s problematization of method within the framework of his conception of philosophy as a critical diagnostic activity of the present. First, we will reconstruct the way in which the philosopher problematizes the critique as a diagnostic activity and focuses repeatedly on archival work on thediscourse of the human sciences. Then, we will focus on the archaeological problematization of method and what we call "archaeological echoes of genealogy". Therefore, we will show the way (...) in which the problematization of thehuman sciences as knowledge enables a form of criticism articulated by the concern to diagnose the present. Forthis reason, we will focus on the displacement introduced by Foucault`s perspective from the normative question about the cognitive objectivity of the human sciences towards an ontological-political critique. Mode of criticism that, concerned with diagnosing the present, we characterize as an archeo-genealogy of the forms of objectification. (shrink)

El propósito de este trabajo es analizar la crítica foucaultianade la gubernamentalidad liberal como marco de racionalidad de la biopolítica. Particularmente, colocaremos el foco de la lectura en la problematización que Foucault despliega respecto de la formación de la economía política en tanto saber estratégico de la racionalidad liberal. Por ello, en el primer apartado, nos detendremos en la grilla de la gubernamentalidad como herramienta que la permite a Foucault elaborar una arqueo-genealogía de las formas de objetivación. Luego, dirigiremos la (...) lectura hacia la arqueo-genealogía de las formas de objetivación inmanentes a la constitución del discurso de la economía política en tanto saber estratégico de la gubernamentalidad liberal. (shrink)