Hannah Arendts leidenschaftliches Denken offenbart sich in ihrem Werk u.a. durch die häufige Nennung emotionaler Phänomene wie Wut, Liebe, Mut oder Mitleid. Bislang wurde diese affektive Argumentationsebene jedoch nicht systematisch untersucht. Héla Hecker argumentiert dafür, dass Arendt Gefühle und Affekte nicht als per se apolitisch, sondern als welteröffnende bzw. -verschließende Artikulationen einer grundsätzlich menschlichen Berührbarkeit bewertet. Das Politische ist der Bereich, in dem diese Berührbarkeit als conditio humana frei und geschützt gelebt werden kann. Gleichzeitig bürgt die Fähigkeit, sich (...) vom Anderen und von der Welt berühren zu lassen, für die Möglichkeit von Freiheit und Neubeginn. (shrink)

The Political in Hannah Arendt’s view is a realm of relationships, a certain connection between people and the world, as well as between individuals and their peers. In my paper, I explore how emotional phenomena can be meaningfully inserted into the political space: How do affects shape this specific web of human relation- ships? When do they become destructive? How can they provide worldly inspiration for the establishment of a political value system? By analyzing Hannah Arendt’s implicit affect theory, I (...) argue that human affectability has a prominent role in her thinking. To illuminate linkages between affects and the Political, I high- light six main characteristics inherent to the latter. I further demonstrate how we can integrate emotional phenomena into the Political in the Arendtian sense by protecting both human affectability and the political realm itself. (shrink)

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an area of great interest, yet little is known about how CSR is perceived and practiced in the professional sport industry. This study employs a mixed-methods approach, including a survey, and a qualitative content analysis of responses to open-ended questions, to explore how professional sport executives define CSR, and what priorities teams have regarding their CSR activities. Findings from this study indicate that sport executives placed different emphases on elements of CSR including a focus on (...) philanthropic activities and ethical behaviors. The data suggest that professional sport executives view CSR as a strategic imperative for their business. Sport executives indicated that a number of factors influenced the practice of their CSR including: philanthropy (altruistic giving), an emphasis on the local community, partnerships, and ethical concerns. We also examine important organizational variables for sport (winning, revenues, and team value) and highlight their relationship with reported CSR involvement. We discuss the implications of the findings and propose recommendations for both theory and practice. (shrink)

The present contribution argues that transitive reasoning, as exemplified in paradigms of linear order construction in mental space, is associated with spatial effects. Starting from robust findings from the early 70s, research so far has widely discussed the symbolic distance effect. This effect shows that after studying pairs of relations, e.g., “A > B,” “B > C,” and “D > E,” participants are more correct, and faster in correct responding, the wider the “distance” between two elements within the chain A (...) > B > C > D > E. The SDE has often been given spatial interpretations, but alternatively, non-spatial models of the effect are also viable on the empirical basis so far, which means the question about spatial contributions to the construction of analog representations of rank orders is still open. We suggest here that laterality effects can add the necessary additional information to support the idea of spatial processes. We introduce anchoring effects in terms of showing response advantages for congruent versus incongruent pairings of presentation location on a screen on the one hand, and the hypothetical spatial arrangement of the order in mental space, on the other hand. We report pertinent findings and discuss anchoring paradigms with respect to their internal validity as well as their being rooted in basic mechanisms of trained reading/writing direction. (shrink)

We evaluate the relationship between the appointment of women to CEO or Chair positions and firm performance, and shed light on the differences between family and nonfamily firms. By using a propensity score matching approach on a sample of 394 French firms over the period 2001–2010, we find major discordances between women’s leadership style and family business expectations relative to firm performance, as measured by return on assets and Tobin’s q. Notably, our results support the conjecture that family firms, which (...) are more conducive to transformational leadership, offer women a more appropriate climate for exercising the function of Chair than that of CEO. In contrast, women CEOs perform better in nonfamily firms. Our findings move away from the predominant focus on barriers and stereotypes images about the female leadership and support the contingency theory of leadership, which states that the effectiveness of a leadership style depends on the organization and culture in which leaders operate, and on task-related positions. (shrink)

This article discusses some of the results of an action based-research project developed in 2007 and 2008. We dedicated ourselves to the experience of installing “small children communities with thoughts of their own” in a rural public school, and in early childhood education classrooms in El Bolsón and Bariloche, both located in the province of Río Negro which lies in the Argentinean Patagonia region. This article presents our considerations about the temporal dimension prevailing in the spaces and mechanisms used when (...) “philosophizing” with small children: a temporal dimension answering more to the aionic character of time more than to the chronological one in the act of thinking; of a thinking built as a joint result of the whole group, in which the corporal manifestations during the process of expressing their thoughts are quite evident. During this project we could also confirm the efficiency of the mechanisms used: weekly encounters of 40 or 50 minutes, the circle, the use of a microphone or other symbolic ways used for the distribution of speech, attentive listening, respect for the words of others, a climate of confidence, the offering of any type of proposition or question without the fear of being mocked, and focusing the discussion on an interesting theme for all. In this way, the experience was also one of democratic dialogue and collective thought building; a way to create something “in common” for the group in question, allowing for the construction of cultural referents of their own, and allowing for better knowledge of themselves and of others. We initiate this article by discussing some of the proposals expressed in the virtual dialogue between D. Kennedy and W. Kohan which appeared in the previous volume of this revue. (shrink)

People can support abstract reasoning by using mental models with spatial simulations. Such models are employed when people represent elements in terms of ordered dimensions (e.g. who is oldest, Tom, Dick, or Harry). We test and find that the process of forming and using such mental models can influence the liking of its elements (e.g. Tom, Dick, or Harry). The presumed internal structure of such models (linear-transitive array of elements), generates variations in processing ease (fluency) when using the model in (...) working memory (see the Symbolic Distance Effect, SDE). Specifically, processing of pairs where elements have larger distances along the order should be easier compared to pairs with smaller distances. Elements from easier pairs should be liked more than elements from difficult pairs (fluency being hedonically positive). Experiment 1 shows that unfamiliar ideographs are liked more when at wider distances and therefore easier to process. Experiment 2 replicates this effect with non-words. Experiment 3 rules out a non-spatial explanation of the effect while Experiments 4 offers a high-powered replication. Experiment 5 shows that the spatial effect spontaneously emerges after learning, even without a task that explicitly focuses on fluency. Experiment 6 employed a shorter array, but yielded no significant results. (shrink)

Contrasting two standard models of corporate responsibility—the so-called “collectivist” and “individualist” model—this essay proposes a third option, namely, a discursive conception of responsibility and examines whether and how this conception can be applied to the corporate level. It does so by taking a careful look at one of the preconditions of individual discursive responsibility, i.e. discursive practical reason, and discussing how corporate agents can meet this precondition. Building on this new concept, the essay also offers a novel approach to justifying (...) corporate responsibility by referring to an argument advanced by Rainer Forst stating that a fundamental human right to justification is the normative core of any kind of responsibility and combining it, in a second step, with an argument recently proposed by Philip Pettit and Christian List showing the impossibility of forming consistent group attitudes and beliefs as a function of the attitudes and beliefs of individual group members. Finally, this essay outlines certain preliminary conclusions about the incorporation of responsibility in a corporate context. (shrink)

Discounted utility theory and its generalizations use discount functions for weighting utilities of outcomes received in different time periods. We propose a new simple test of convexity–concavity of discount function. This test can be used with any utility function and any preferences over risky lotteries. The data from a controlled laboratory experiment show that about one third of experimental subjects reveal a concave discount function and another one third of subjects reveal a convex discount function.

For each vertex of a simple polygon P an integer valued weight is given. We consider the path p1, p2, ..., pk in P which is created according to the following strategy: p1 is a designated start vertex s and pi+1 is obtained by choosing the vertex with smallest weight among all vertices visible from pi and different from p1, p2, ..., pi. If there is no such vertex the path is finished. This path is called geometric lexicographic dead end (...) path. We shall prove the problem of determining whether a distinguished vertex t of P is on the geometric lexicographic dead end path or not to be P-complete. (shrink)

We consider the problem of quadrilaterizing an orthogonal polygon P, that is to decompose P into nonoverlapping convex quadrangles without adding new vertices. In this paper we present a CREW-algorithm for this problem which runs in O time using Θ processors if the rectangle decomposition of P is given, and Θ processors if not. Furthermore we will show that the latter result is optimal if the polygon is allowed to contain holes.

We show that given a simple Polygon P it is NP-hard to determine the smallest α ∈ [0, π] such that P can be illuminated by α-vertexlights, if we place exactly one α-vertexlight in each vertex of P.

D. T. Lee and A. K. Lin [2] proved that VERTEX-GUARDING and POINT-GUARDING are NP-hard for simple polygons. We prove that those problems are NP-hard for ortho-polygons, too.

First we give an overview about variants of visibility and related problems. Then we prove that some guarding and covering problems are NP-hard for ortho-polygons with holes, using a so-called vertex cover technique.

This paper deals with Keynes’s distinction between entrepreneurship and speculation, regarding business people in general and especially investors’ behaviour. Based on Keynes’s thoughts about financial markets, it analyses how different motivations influence the decision-making process of investors and its consequences for stock markets and the real economy and clarifies that Keynes’s considerations are still useful for understanding contemporary developments and risks in the financial system. Furthermore, it points out that Keynes’s theories and policy recommendations should be understood in the context (...) of his moral considerations, especially relating to individual responsibility of investors. Finally, Keynes’s moral thoughts can be taken as a foundation for a contemporary approach to investors’ responsibility. (shrink)

Conventional economic theory assumes that agents should be consistent across decisions. However, it is often observed that experimental subjects fail to report consistent preferences. So far, these inconsistencies are almost always examined singly. We thus wonder whether the more inconsistent individuals in one task are also more inconsistent in other tasks. We propose an experiment in which subjects are asked to report their preferences over risky bets so as to obtain, for each subject, three measures of inconsistencies: classical preference reversals, (...) framing effects and preference instability. In line with previous experimental findings, subjects are largely inconsistent according to each of these three measures and there are considerable individual differences. The main result is that we find no correlation among these three measures of inconsistency. (shrink)

L’édition intégrale de Marx-Engels est un projet du siècle. L’universalité et le holisme de la pensée de Marx et d’Engels se reflètent dans MEGA 2 de différentes manières : par les principes éditoriaux d’exhaustivité, de reproduction fidèle du texte, de présentation du développement du texte et par le commentaire historico-critique complet. L’histoire de l’édition des œuvres de Marx et Engels et de leur réception, en particulier en RDA, reflète la tension entre la tâche de légitimation du mouvement socialiste et communiste (...) et la connaissance scientifique de l’œuvre. Une édition peut être académique et exempte d’idéologie, mais une interprétation suivra toujours des motifs politiques. (shrink)

Afirma la autora que la enseñanza/aprendizaje actual no prepara para hacerse cargo de la complejidad creciente del entorno ni a su carácter más agresivo y más competitivo; y recupera la especificidad liberadora de la educación, hoy enmarcada dentro de un esquema mecanicista. Es alarmante constatar –señala- que el quehacer educacional está tanto y más escolarizado que el de las añejas escuelas de comienzos de siglo. Necesitamos recuperar la educación en perspectiva holista y considerar que toda acción educativa involucra sujetos creadores (...) y proactivos Propone aprender a moverse en el mundo de la incertidumbre. (shrink)

Cet article se penche sur les rapports entre les politiques de réparation et la perception du temps après un crime de masse. Il cherche à démontrer que les mesures réparatrices prises parfois dans le but de rétablir la justice et le dialogue entre les groupes agissent sur la perception du temps. Elles sont dotées d’un pouvoir de reformulation qui vient modifier la mise en récit du passé, et donc sa perception. Elles contribuent notamment à faire le récit des responsabilités et (...) celui de la souffrance des victimes.Pour le montrer, l’article s’appuie sur un cas, celui des réparations ouest-allemandes destinées à Israël et à la Claims Conference entre 1945 et 1980. Cette période relativement longue permet d’observer un changement dans les modes de réparation : la RFA eut d’abord recours au droit civil, puis au droit pénal, et enfin aux symboles. Chacun de ces modes reformula à sa manière l’histoire des crimes et changea par conséquent la perception du passé qui ne cessa d’évoluer au fil du temps, en intégrant au fur et à mesure davantage le point de vue de la victime. (shrink)

This book takes an interdisciplinary, transnational and cross-cultural approach to reflect on, critically examine, and challenge the surprisingly robust practice of making art after death in an artist's name, through the lenses of scholars from the fields of art history, economics and law, as well as practicing artists. Works of art conceived as multiples, such as sculptures, etchings, prints, photographs and conceptual art, can be - and often are - remade from original models and plans long after the artist has (...) passed. Recent sales have suggested a growing market embrace of posthumous works, contemporaneous with questioning on the part of art history. Legal norms seem unready for this surge in posthumous production and are beset by conflict across jurisdictions. Non-Western approaches to posthumous art, from Chinese emulations of non-living artists to Native American performances, take into account rituals of generational passage and emotional aspects foreign to Western ideas. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, the art market, art law, art management, museum studies, and economics. (shrink)