What does socially responsible investing (SRI) accomplish for investors and for society? Proponents of SRI claim that the practiceyields competitive portfolio returns for investors, while at the same time achieving better outcomes for society at large. Skepticsview SRI as ineffective at best and ill-conceived marketing hype at worst. My objective in this paper is to apply mainstream finance research findings to the question of whether SRI may be expected to lead to superior social outcomes. I conclude that under the perfectmarkets (...) assumptions underlying most finance theory, SRI will not affect social outcomes. However, given well documented imperfections in equity markets, the claim that SRI “makes a difference” to society is a reasonable one that is consistent with current theoretical and empirical research in finance. (shrink)

The neoclassical paradigm assumes that shareholders'' utility is solely a function of their wealth, and prescribes that management should act in a manner consistent with share price maximization. The stakeholder view also assumes that shareholders'' utility derives from wealth, but prescribes that managers must balance the shareholder wealth maximization objective against the rights of other constituencies. Thus, while neoclassicists and stakeholder theorists have different prescriptives for management behavior, their definitions of the shareholders'' interest are consistent — shareholders are self-interested economic (...) agents whose utility is best served by share price maximization. However, if shareholders are other-interested, and attack importance to ethical and moral values, then both the neoclassical and stakeholder view derive from invalid assumptions. In this paper, I present evidence that much shareholder behavior is ethically motivated. As a result, the basis for both the neoclassical and the stakeholder view are weakened. (shrink)

In the mid-1990s, global labour standards emerged as a new and important are of concern for socially responsible investors, especially with respect to investments in the "problematic" footwear, apparel, and toy industries. In this paper, I elucidate the primary areas of concern for investors and discuss a framework for evaluating firms'' labor standards performance. In addition, I argue that today''s sweatshop debates follow closely those of centuries ago, with the standard economic defense of low wage manufacturing on the one hand, (...) and the activists'' protests against poor conditions and wages on the other. An examination of this historical context reveals a promising middle ground in this ongoing debate. (shrink)

One of the most often explored, repeatedly interpreted, and recognized again and again as a valuable achievement of Kant’s philosophy, is his transcendental philosophy, a new methodological approach that – as Kant believed – will allow philosophy (metaphysics) to enter upon a secure path of science. In this paper, I explore Nicolai Hartmann’s reinterpretation and development of this methodology in both the historical and systematic context of his thought. First, I will deal with the Neo-Kantian’s understanding of the transcendental method (...) as a starting point of Hartmann’s own understanding of it. Then I will analyze in detail his only paper devoted entirely to the problem of the method, (Hartmann, 1912), to present how he understands the necessary development of this methodology. I will claim that despite the fact that Hartmann – following Kant – never denied that the real essence of philosophy is the transcendental method, he tried to show that this methodus philosophandi cannot be reduced to the Neo-Kantian’s understanding of it. He argued that the core of all true philosophical and scientific research is the transcendental method, but only insofar as it is accompanied by two other methods that are needed to complete it: descriptive and dialectical method. I will close by presenting the relations between these three methods. (shrink)

Practical reasoning as an important form of argumentation in politics has received limited research attention in critical discourse studies despite the proposal of an analytical model. Focusing on argument development surrounding events related to the extradition bill crisis of Hong Kong, this paper analyzes 48 editorials published in the South China Morning Post during the crisis period adopting Fairclough’s model. A number of recurrent themes have been identified in the corpus in association with the four argument components within the model (...) – Claims, Goals, Values and Circumstances – which may increase understanding of the social contexts of the extradition bill crisis. It is further argued that, although Fairclough’s model may not capture the arguments in individual editorials comprehensively, the model can be usefully applied to analyze a collection of interrelated editorials to reveal more insights about an ongoing political crisis. (shrink)

Open peer commentary on the article “Neurodialectics: A Proposal for Philosophy of Cognitive and Social Sciences” by Nicolas Zaslawski. Abstract: In this commentary I maintain that in order to improve the dialectical approaches of cognition by using the Hegelian concept of the dialectical process it is necessary to take into account Hartmann’s ontology of processual being.

Hans Wagner (1917–2000), using the achievements of German transcendental philosophy, gives a transcendental argument for the idea of human dignity. He claims that to ground the validity of human thinking and all its products (e.g. culture), we must accept the validity of the idea of human dignity. The structure of my paper is as follows: First, I consider what it means to give a transcendental justification of something. I reconstruct the neo-Kantian’s understanding of transcendental method. Then I argue that Wagner’s (...) idea of human dignity as a foundation of every ethics and law is nothing other than a fruitful interpretation and continuation, perhaps only making explicit Kant’s main ethical ideas. To make this more clear I present the relation between Kant’s ethics and the material ethics of values and, following Wagner, I argue that grounding ethics on the idea of self-determination of human will does not necessarily lead to formalism in the form in which it was criticised by the representatives of the material ethics of values. Finally, I reconstruct Wagner’s argument for the claim that the idea of human dignity is a transcendental condition for the possibility of ethics and law in general. (shrink)

Si l’histoire des idées exige de prendre en compte la relation entre les pensées et les actes, la philosophie, dès lors qu’elle porte ses recherches sur le domaine pratique, esquisse les mouvements d’une narration, et justifie pleinement cet usage des symboles, ou des métaphores. Les narrations permettraient une « présentation indirecte » des concepts pratiques, des connaissances, mais aussi des méconnaissances. Les narrations, reprises de civilisations en civilisations, produisent des objets transhistoriques qui permettent de comparer les époques, les principes civilisationnels, (...) sans séparer les acteurs historiques de leurs pensées, sans séparer les idées de leur contexte. (shrink)

Explicit and implicit values of polish grandmothers and their granddaughters The authors tried to determine if and to what extent maternal granddaughters share the explicit and implicit values of their grandmothers. 80 grandmothers-granddaughter dyads were surveyed using Schwartz' SVS and Mudyń's RN-02, an instrument assigned to identify "ontological orientations". The results indicate that: 1) grandmothers differ significantly from granddaughters in all ontological orientations, especially in Theoretical and Religious orientation, 2) they differ also in personal values, except for Universalism and Power, (...) 3) regression analysis revealed two decisive factors which determine convergence of ontological orientations and values in grandmother-granddaughter dyads, i.e. and level of education and attitudes toward religion. It may mean that these are the two important transmitters of world view as well as personal values. (shrink)

The article proposes the hypothesis that the letters known as direct witnesses to the work of the council of Nicea are indeed false: that is, they are letters written after the episcopate of Athanasius. The political-ecclesial situation of Alexandria in the years 373-378 appears to be that described in the two letters and the only one possible, in my opinion, that corresponds to their tone and content. For this reason, their contents should not be considered a valid source for our (...) knowledge of the themes discussed at the council. (shrink)

La thèse de l'article est que Constantin aurait invité les évêques à Nicée pour fêter son jubilé. L'arianisme ne pouvait en être la raison, car à la fin de 324 l'empereur le considérait une chose de peu d'importance, même si scandaleuse. En tant que Pontifex Maximus, il était aussi responsable pour établir le calendrier des fêtes de la nouvelle religion et était tenu de conserver les formules sacrées. Les chrétiens n'avaient pas réussi jusqu'alors à se mettre d'accord sur la date (...) de la Pâque; Constantin voulait donc la faire établir. Il semble en fait que lui seul désirait un symbole de foi signé par tous; jusqu'alors chaque église locale avait le sien propre. Pour établir la date de la Pâque, garantir la paix dans l'Eglise et produire un credo, Constantin envoya son conseiller ecclésiastique, Ossio di Cordova, en mission en Orient. Celui-ci échoua et le credo formulé à Antioche était si radicalement anti-arien qu'il devait paraître assez monarchien, vu qu'à Nicée il n'en fut pas question. A Nicée, donc, les évêques, avant de célébrer le jubilé, durent solutionner toutes ces questions. Le credo établi s'y est présenté comme un compromis assez artificiel entre les tendances antiochiennes et alexandrines. Comme tel malgré la signature de l'empereur, il ne fut accepté par aucune eglise locale. Celles-çi continuèrent pendant des décennies à formuler de nouveaux symboles, jusqu'à ce que Athanase d'Alexandrie commenca à oeuvrer po. (shrink)

Emmanuel Lévinas interprète une page talmudique en affirmant que la persécution ne peut être traduite dans une autre langue que celle de la victime. Si l’éthique lévinassienne laisse comprendre pourquoi la traduction de la parole douloureuse des persécutés redoublerait la dévalorisation de la parole singulière de ces victimes déjà induite par la persécution, elle semble aussi se fonder, en l’occurrence, sur une conception de la traduction qui mériterait peut-être d’être élargie à partir des réflexions de Walter Benjamin ; prise en (...) compte qui permettrait alors de penser une traduction de la persécution qui ne dévalorise pas la parole singulière des victimes et qui ne les enferme pas dans une douleur intransmissible. (shrink)

The role of titles in perception of visual art is a topic of interesting discussions that brings together artists, curators, and researchers. Titles provide contextual cues and guide perception. They can be particularly useful when paintings include semantic violations that make them challenging for viewers, especially viewers lacking expert knowledge. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of titles and semantic violations on eye movements. A total of 127 participants without expertise in visual art viewed 40 paintings (...) with and without semantic violations in one of three conditions: untitled, consistent titles and inconsistent titles. After each painting was viewed participants also rated liking and understanding. Our results suggest that titles affect the way paintings are viewed: both titled conditions were associated with shorter first fixation duration, longer saccade durations, and amplitudes and higher dynamic entropy than the untitled conditions. Titles were fixated on more frequently when presented alongside paintings with semantic violations than paintings without violations, and the percentage of fixations to titles was particularly high in the case of paintings with double inconsistencies. Also, we found that semantic violations attracted attention early on, whereas titles received attention later and inconsistencies in titles were processed even later. Finally, semantic violations were associated with higher dynamic entropy than paintings without violations. Our results demonstrate the importance of titles for processing of artworks, especially artworks that present a challenge for the viewers. (shrink)

Niniejszy esej stanowi piąty rozdział tomu The Realm of Spirit kończącego cykl The Realms of Being. Podstawą przekładu jest pierwsze wydanie dzieła: George Santayana, The Realms of Being (London: Constable and Co., Ltd., Toronto: The Macmillan Company, 1940), 67–89. -/- This essay is the fifth chapter of The Realm of Spirit volume concluding The Realms of Being series. The translation is based on the first edition of the work: George Santayana, The Realms of Being (London: Constable and Co., Ltd., Toronto: (...) The Macmillan Company, 1940), 67-89. (shrink)

The pandemic caused by the new coronavirus has sparked discussions among health professionals about the role of food and nutrition in the infectious condition caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus in different population groups. Malnutrition, including obesity, may reflect more severe outcomes in the physiopathology of infection and systemic responses caused by COVID-19. The present work aims to make considerations directed to the nutritionist about the susceptibility of COVID-19 in individuals submitted to malnutrition, highlighting possible outcomes of the disease and the (...) importance of nutritional care in maintaining the health of these patients. Therefore, maintaining a good nutritional status of these patients, combined with an adequate level of micronutrients will not guarantee protection against infection caused by COVID-19, however, it is essential to minimize the risks of worsening this disease. (shrink)

BackgroundThe aim of this study is to compare depression and loneliness among adult siblings of people on the autism spectrum, adult siblings of normotypic individuals, and adults raised alone. In recent years, an increasing interest in the perspective of siblings of children diagnosed with autism has been observed, with studies among this population particularly concerned with the developmental trajectories of children and adolescents at “high risk” for ASD, rarely focusing on their mental well-being.MethodsThe respondents filled out: the survey on sociodemographic (...) data designed by the authors, Beck Depression Inventory II, and De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale.ResultsA rise in BDI and an increase in the DJGLS score were predicted by having a sibling diagnosed with ASD. Those effects were independent of subjects’ sex, educational status, place of residence, or a number of siblings.ConclusionThe results underline a fundamental need for the development of mental hygiene programs for families where children with autism spectrum are accompanied by healthy siblings. (shrink)

En six courts chapitres et une centaine de pages, Régine Pietra, elle-même philosophe, « brosse le portrait », comme elle aime à le dire, d'une douzaine de « femmes philosophes » de l'Antiquité, depuis Théano, la pythagoricienne (VIe siècle avant J.C.), jusqu'à Hypatie, martyre du paganisme, au début du Ve après J.C., et elle en cite brièvement plus d'une vingtaine d'autres, au fil de ses évocations. Elle se défend prudemment et sagement d'écrire une histoire des « femmes philosophes...

En six courts chapitres et une centaine de pages, Régine Pietra, elle-même philosophe, « brosse le portrait », comme elle aime à le dire, d'une douzaine de « femmes philosophes » de l'Antiquité, depuis Théano, la pythagoricienne (VIe siècle avant J.C.), jusqu'à Hypatie, martyre du paganisme, au début du Ve après J.C., et elle en cite brièvement plus d'une vingtaine d'autres, au fil de ses évocations. Elle se défend prudemment et sagement d'écrire une histoire des « femmes philosophes...