The collection Guarigioni, rinascite, metamorfosi is part of Sandro Barbera’s project to compile two volumes containing updated versions of his most incisive essays on Goethe and Schopenhauer. Unfortunately, his untimely passing left us preparatory material, but no drafts of new work. In his introduction, Stefano Busellato explains that the initial project had to be shelved in favor of a collection of essays that, to Barbera’s mind, were all but ready for publication. Four essays, each marking a major (...) step in his thought, have been added to his original selection.One of this collection’s many strengths is the wide range of themes that Barbera’s shrewd analysis explores in works by Goethe, Schopenhauer, and... (shrink)

Sandro Barbera and Giuliano Campioni’s book, Il genio tiranno (The Tyrant Genius), relates Nietzsche’s philosophy to the thought of Richard Wagner, Arthur Schopenhauer, Jacob Burckhardt, Ernest Renan, and Robert Musil by focusing particularly on the figure of the “genius,” of which each chapter considers a different sense or aspect.The first chapter deals with the relationship between the genius and the city. Wagner treated the city as the locus of decline and the annihilation of the subject, referring particularly to (...) the accelerated rhythms of cities like Paris and how they thus become home to décadents and corrupted modern life. Through the artistic experience of Bayreuth, therefore, Wagner aimed to redeem .. (shrink)

The standard rationality hypothesis implies that behaviour can be represented as the maximization of a suitably restricted utility function. This hypothesis lies at the heart of a large body of recent work in economics, of course, but also in political science, ethics, and other major branches of social sciences. Though the utility maximization hypothesis is venerable, it remains an area of active research. Moreover, some fundamental conceptual problems remain unresolved, or at best have resolutions that are too recent to have (...) achieved widespread understanding among social scientists. The main purpose of the Handbook of Utility Theory is to make recent developments in the area more accessible. The editors selected a number of specific topics, and invited contributions from researchers whose work had come to their attention. Therefore, the list of topics and contributions is largely the editors' responsibility. Each contributor's chapter has been refereed, and revised according to the referees' remarks. This is the first volume of a two volume set, with the second volume focusing on extensions of utility theory. (shrink)

This paper investigates the link between the consumer perception that a company is socially oriented and the consumer intention to buy products marketed by that company. We suggest that this link exists when at least two conditions prevail: (1) the products sold by that company comply with ethical and social requirements; (2) the company has an acknowledged commitment to protect consumer rights and interests. To test these hypotheses, we conducted a survey among the clients of retail chains offering Fair Trade (...) products. The results show that socially oriented companies can successfully leverage their reputation to market products with high symbolic values. (shrink)

The aim of the paper is resurrecting the “Demarcation Problem”, which was considered dead in a paper written by Larry Laudan in 1983. I will go through the analysis of Imre Lakatos’ thought, which represents the most mature synthesis between the fallibilism of science and the rationality of the demarcation attitude. Lakatos’ philosophical trick is directed to acknowledge the inclinations of the contemporary philosophers, to grasp the best they can offer, and to propose a more suitable philosophy of science. He (...) follows the middle path between dogmatism and skepticism: the favorite position in order to safeguard the phenomena suggesting a rational unity of the science in an “anarchic” historical period. (shrink)

En el presente trabajo intento demostrar que existe una relación de necesidad epistémica entre prueba y verdad. Esto quiere decir que no es posible, en el proceso, ni creer justificadamente ni aceptar que está probado que p si, por información pública pero extraprocesal, el juez sabe que p es falso. Con todo, ello es así bajo ciertas condiciones, a saber: en primer lugar, que se trate de un proceso penal legítimo en términos de Estado de derecho; y en segundo lugar, (...) que por verdad se entienda correspondencia entre enunciado y mundo. Esa es la tesis principal y se desarrolla en esta segunda parte de la investigación. Pero tiene apoyo en algunas tesis secundarias, ya analizadas en la primera parte del trabajo, publicada también en este volumen. (shrink)

En el presente trabajo intento demostrar que, dadas ciertas condiciones, puede haber una relación de necesidad epistémica entre prueba y verdad. Esa es la tesis principal, desarrollada en la segunda parte de la investigación y publicada también en este volumen. Pero tiene apoyo en algunas tesis secundarias, que son expuestas y fundamentadas aquí, en esta primera parte. Las más relevantes son: no es correcto interpretar la fórmula de Tarski como una definición sofisticada de la noción correspondentista de verdad; la verdad, (...) en discursos teóricos, es un parámetro objetivo y alcanzable, en función del cual, siquiera provisoriamente y con base en razones, pueden ser dirimidas disputas de justificación; existe una conexión conceptual entre verdad y justicia retributiva; aunque usualmente esto no se explicite, la relación que interesa es entre prueba legítima y verdad; verdad no equivale a justificación; prueba equivale a justificación; justificaciones epistémicas pueden colapsar frente a la verdad. (shrink)

Åsa Burman has recently introduced the important notion of telic power and differentiated it from deontic power in an attempt to build a bridge between ideal and non-ideal social ontology. We find Burman’s project promising but we argue that more is to be done to make it entirely successful. First, there is a palpable tension between Burman’s claim that telic power can be ontologically independent of deontic power and her examples, which suggest that these forms of power share the same (...) basis. Second, it is not completely clear how telic power helps non-ideal social ontologists explain oppression, since Burman thinks that both forms of power are transparent to social agents. We offer solutions to both problems. First, we question the thesis that telic power can exist without deontic power. Burman contends that this is possible because some social roles involving telic power can exist independently of institutions, which are––in her opinion––the source of deontic power. Against Burman, we suggest that all social roles involve deontic power, whether or not they are institutional. Second, we argue that while the exercise of deontic power requires a mutual recognition of the social roles of the interacting agents and, therefore, an acceptance of the associated norms, the exercise of telic power does not require acceptance of the relevant norms. This is why invoking telic power is useful in explaining how oppression and injustice can arise. Lastly, we suggest that the relation between teleological normativity and telic power has not been fully clarified by Burman and requires a deeper analysis. (shrink)

We largely agree with Grimwade et al ’s1 conclusion that challenge trial participants may ethically be paid, including for risk. Here, we add further arguments, clarify some points from the perspective of economics and indicate areas where economists can support the development of a framework for ethically justifiable payment. Our arguments apply to carefully constructed and monitored controlled human infection model trials that have been appropriately reviewed and approved. Participants in medical studies perform a service. Outside the domain of research (...) participation, there is nearly universal agreement that workers providing a service should be compensated fairly, and that work involving more discomfort and risk should be compensated more generously. Accordingly, labour regulations impose floors, not caps on compensation. Caps, even if intended to protect against undue inducement, also raise concerns about illegal price-fixing that disadvantages workers. Such limits on payment for egg donors have successfully been challenged in court.i Moreover, caps on compensation may harm everyone at risk of infection, not just potential participants. Insufficient compensation may impede the recruitment of enough suitable subjects, for example, when representativeness of the subject sample is required. Delays in vaccine development not only prolong disruption of social, educational and economic activity but also lead to excess infections and deaths. Unlike paid CHIM participants, individuals exposed to such infection do not accept it voluntarily, are not compensated for it, and are unlikely to receive the level of medical supervision afforded to closely monitored CHIM participants. Payment caps can lead to attempts to circumvent the regulation. For example, many countries …. (shrink)

I discuss two competing theories of the progressive: the theory proposed in Parsons (1980, 1985, 1989, 1990) and the theory proposed in Landman (1992). These theories differ in more than one way. Landman regards the progressive as an intentional operator, while Parsons doesn't. Moreover, Landman and Parsons disagree on what uninflected predicates denote. For Landman, cross the street has in its denotation complete events of crossing the street; the aspectual contribution of English simple past (perfective aspect) is the identity function. (...) For Parsons, both complete and incomplete events of crossing the street can be in the denotation of the base VP; perfective aspect restricts its denotation to the events that culminate. I present a version of ParsonÕs theory that avoids the problems raised by Landman, in particular the problem posed for Parsons by creation verbs. The repaired version and Landman's theory still differ in the way they analyze uninflected verbs. The repaired version and Landman's theory still differ in the way they analyze uninflected predicates. I present evidence from Slavic languages that both theories are needed. Finally, I discuss some evidence that may favor one or the other approach to the semantics of the English progressive. (shrink)

Research indicates that religious values and ethical behavior are closely associated, yet, at a firm level, the processes by which this association occurs are poorly understood. Family firms are known to exhibit values-based behavior, which in turn can lead to specific firm-level outcomes. It is also known that one’s family is an important incubator, enabler, and perpetuator of religious values across successive generations. Our study examines the experiences of a single, multigenerational business family that successfully enacted their religious values in (...) their business. Drawing upon intergenerational solidarity and values-based leadership theory, and by way of an interpretive, qualitative analysis, we find that the family’s religious values enhanced their cohesion and were manifested in their leadership style, which, in turn, led to outcomes for the business. Our findings highlight the processes that underlie the relationship between religious values and organizational outcomes in family firms and offer insights into the role of solidarity in values-based leadership. (shrink)

According to the theoretical framework relating hypnosis to attention, baseline attentional functioning in highly hypnotizable individuals should be more efficient than in low hypnotizable individuals. However, previous studies did not find differences in Stroop-like tasks in which the measure indicative of the Stroop interference effect was based on response latencies. This study was designed to determine whether subjects with different levels of hypnotic susceptibility show differences in baseline attentional functioning. To assess this hypothesis, high, medium, and low hypnotizable subjects performed (...) a Stroop task designed to evaluate accuracy performance, before being subjected to hypnotic induction. Results showed that the Stroop interference effect was smaller in high hypnotizable subjects than in low hypnotizable subjects, whereas it was not different between high, and medium hypnotizable subjects. This outcome supports the notion that baseline attentional functioning is related to hypnotic susceptibility. (shrink)

Resumen En este texto se intenta mostrar que la radicalización de la tesis expresada por Platón en el libro X de la República no permite "apreciar" el valor que el filósofo ateniense sabe que posee la poesía, pues ella podría ser un medio para el ejercicio reflexivo si se sirve de la sobriedad que la filosofía propone. Para realizar esta tarea es menester trazar tres puntos sobre los cuales gira este texto: primero, se ubica al lector en la discusión entre (...) poesía y filosofía para comprender el contexto de la crisis entre estos dos factores de la educación en la antigüedad griega; segundo, se aborda la crítica establecida en el libro X sobre la falta de rigor que muestran los poetas en la búsqueda del conocimiento; finalmente se vislumbra o abre una posibilidad interpretativa acerca del interés que puede tener la proposición de una "poesía filosófica" en la obra de Platón.The following text will try to show that radicalization of the thesis expressed by Plato in the book X does not allow "to "estímate" the value that the Athenian philo-sopher knows that poetry possesses, since poetry might be a means for the reflexive exercise if it takes advantage of the sobriety that philosophy proposes. To carry out this task it is necessary to define three points on which this paper will be about: first, the author will inform the reader about the old discussion among poetry and philosophy to understand the context of the crisis between these two forms of teaching; Second, criticism established in the book X on the lack of rigor in the search of knowledge that poets have will be addressed. Finally, the paper glimpses or opens an interpretive possibility about the interest that the proposition of a "philosophical poetry" can have in Plato's work. (shrink)

In this paper we propose a semantic analysis of sentences of the form "In fiction x, p" based on this picture of context. We argue that the derived contexts for sentences in the scope of "In fiction X" are determined by three factors: what the beliefs of the author are taken to be, the conventions established for the fiction, and a defeasible presumption of reliability of the narrator. We develop a formal implementation based on the notion of a system of (...) spheres centered on a set of worlds. (edited). (shrink)

Smartphones abrangem várias funcionalidades – telefonia, e-mails, dispositivo de áudio e vídeo, interação por meio de aplicativos – que têm operado transformações nas formas como os sujeitos se movimentam, aprendem e habitam os centros urbanos. Inscrita no referencial dos Estudos Culturais, este artigo é resultado de uma pesquisa exploratória que problematiza os usos de smartphones e certos deslocamentos no entendimento sobre aprendizagem. Assim, dois movimentos de investigação se interligam, sendo o primeiro uma exposição sobre a emergência de smartphones, e o (...) segundo um exame das relações entre os sujeitos e um tipo de mobilidade operada por smartphones. Os resultados indicam um tipo de aprendizagem diante das telas ao estilo móvel, ensinando formas de ser sujeito na sociedade contemporânea. (shrink)

English summary: The relationship between Jean-Paul Sartre and the left in France and Europe has always been a tense one. This work examines the integration of the figure of Trotsky and his ideas into the broad range of Sartre's discourse and traces its importance for the development of an independent intellectual course with respect to philosophy and politics. German description: Die Beziehung zwischen Jean-Paul Sartre und der Linken in Frankreich und Europa gestaltete sich stets spannungsreich. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird (...) die Integration der Figur und der Ideen Trotzkis in die diskursive Klaviatur Sartres in Augenschein genommen und deren Bedeutung fur die Entwicklung eines unabhangigen intellektuellen Kurses in philosophischer wie politischer Hinsicht nachgezeichnet. (shrink)

This book reexamines the birth of quantum mechanics, in particular examining the development of crucial and original insights of Bohr. In particular, it gives a detailed study of the development and the interpretation given to Bohr's Principle of Correspondence. It also describes the role that this principle played in guiding Bohr's research over the critical period from 1920 to 1927.

Scholarly research largely converges on the argument that trust is of paramount importance to drive economic agents toward mutually satisfactory, fair, and ethically compliant behaviors. There is, however, little agreement on the meaning of trust, whose conceptualizations differ with respect to actors, relationships, behaviors, and contexts. At present, we know much better what trust does than what trust is. In this article, we present an extensive review and analysis of the most prominent articles on trust in market relationships. Using computer-aided (...) content analysis and network analysis methods, we identify key, recurring dimensions that guided the conceptualization of trust in past research, and show how trust can be developed as a multifaceted and layered construct. Our results are an important contribution to a convergence of research toward a shared and common view of the meaning of trust. This process is important to ensure the body of trust research’s internal theoretical consistency, and to provide reliable and common principles for the management of business relationships – a context in which opportunism and imperfect information may induce economic actors to cheat and stray from fair and ethically compliant behaviors. (shrink)

Scholarly research largely converges on the argument that trust is of paramount importance to drive economic agents toward mutually satisfactory, fair, and ethically compliant behaviors. There is, however, little agreement on the meaning of trust, whose conceptualizations differ with respect to actors, relationships, behaviors, and contexts. At present, we know much better what trust does than what trust is. In this article, we present an extensive review and analysis of the most prominent articles on trust in market relationships. Using computer-aided (...) content analysis and network analysis methods, we identify key, recurring dimensions that guided the conceptualization of trust in past research, and show how trust can be developed as a multifaceted and layered construct. Our results are an important contribution to a convergence of research toward a shared and common view of the meaning of trust. This process is important to ensure the body of trust research's internal theoretical consistency, and to provide reliable and common principles for the management of business relationships — a context in which opportunism and imperfect information may induce economic actors to cheat and stray from fair and ethically compliant behaviors. (shrink)

: We investigate the role played by bodily self-perception and social self-presentation in addiction to massively multiplayer online role-playing games. In this paper we will develop the hypothesis that, at least in some cases, the habit of role-playing can be interpreted as a response to gamers’ need to explore a different bodily self-identity. Players tend to become deeply involved in this kind of game, especially in the character identity creation process. Participants might see and seek reflections of their desired selves (...) in their avatars. We suggest that in some cases gaming can be considered an addiction associated with self-perception, social acceptance, and body-image distortion. We explore how the phenomenological duality of body can be useful for analyzing the creation of game identities preferred by players. On the basis of this analysis, we sketch some therapeutic suggestions, combining aspect from two specific therapies: Internet Addiction-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Body Image Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. We hope these suggested approaches will be of value to gaming addiction specialists. Keywords: MMORPGs; Leib/Körper; Bodily Self-perception; Game Identity; Addiction L’abitudine ai giochi di ruolo in rete multigiocatore di massa : una analisi fenomenologica della percezione corporea di sé nella dipendenza da gioco Riassunto: Intendiamo indagare il ruolo svolto dalla percezione corporea di sé e dalla autopresentazione sociale nella dipendenza da gioco di ruolo in rete multigiocatore di massa. In questo lavoro illustreremo l’ipotesi per cui, quantomeno in alcuni casi, la disposizione al gioco di ruolo può essere interpretata come risposta al bisogno dei giocatori di esplorare una diversa identità corporea di sé. Chi partecipa a questo tipo di gioco tende a un coinvolgimento profondo, specialmente nel processo di creazione dell’identità caratteristica. I partecipanti possono vedere e cercare riflessi dei loro sé desiderati nei loro avatar. Noi suggeriamo che in alcuni casi il gioco può essere considerato una dipendenza associata alla percezione di sé, alla accettazione sociale e alla distorsione della immagine corporea. Esploreremo come la dualità fenomenologica tra corpo vissuto e corpo possa essere utile per analizzare la creazione delle identità di gioco preferite dai giocatori. Su questa base offriremo alcuni suggerimenti terapeutici, combinando aspetti tratti da due terapie specifiche: la Internet Addiction-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy e la Body Image Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Auspichiamo che questi approcci possano essere validi per chi lavora nel campo della dipendenza da gioco. Parole chiave: MMORPGs; Leib/Körper; Percezione corporea di sé; Identità di gioco; Dipendenza. (shrink)