The energy domain is still dominated by equilibrium models that underestimate both the dangers and opportunities related to climate change. In reality, climate and energy systems contain tipping points, feedback loops, and exponential developments. This paper describes how to create realistic energy transition management models: quantitative models that can discover profitable pathways from fossil fuels to renewable energy. We review the literature regarding agent-based economics, disruptive innovation, and transition management and determine the following requirements. Actors must be detailed, heterogeneous, interacting, (...) learning, and strategizing. Technology should be represented as a detailed and heterogeneous portfolio that can develop in a bottom-up manner, using endogenous feedback loops. Assumptions about discount rates and the social cost of carbon should be configurable. The model should contain interactions between the global, national, local, and individual level. A review of modelling techniques shows that equilibrium models are unsuitable and that system dynamics and discrete event simulation are too limited. The agent-based approach is found to be uniquely suited for the complex adaptive sociotechnical systems that must be modelled. But the choice for agent-based models does not mean a rejection of other approaches because they can be accommodated within the agent-based framework. We conclude with practical guidelines. (shrink)

Strict finitism is the position that only those natural numbers exist that we can represent in practice. Michael Dummett, in a paper called Wang's Paradox, famously tried to show that strict finitism is an incoherent position. By using the Sorites paradox, he claimed that certain predicates the strict finitist is committed to are incoherent. More recently, Ofra Magidor objected to Dummett's claims, arguing that Dummett fails to show the incoherence of strict finitism. In this paper, I shall investigate whether Magidor (...) is successful in preventing Dummett from proving the incoherence of strict finitism. Though not all the counterarguments Magidor presents are successful, she does in the end manage to corner Dummett. There remains an opportunity for Dummett to insist on the incoherence of strict finitism, but this is a very small opening. The final conclusion of this paper is that Dummett cannot logically prove the incoherence of strict finitism, even though a limited chance for success remains. (shrink)

We investigate how conventional asset managers account for environmental, social, and governance factors in their investment process. We do so on the basis of an international survey among fund managers. We find that many conventional managers integrate responsible investing in their investment process. Furthermore, we find that ESG information in particular is being used for red flagging and to manage risk. We find that many conventional fund managers have already adopted features of responsible investing in the investment process. Furthermore, we (...) argue and show that ESG investing is highly similar to fundamental investing. We also reveal that there is a substantial difference in the ways in which U.S. and European asset managers view ESG. (shrink)

The problem of the time of a killing is often cited as providing grounds for rejecting the action identification thesis favoured by Anscombe and Davidson. In this paper I make three claims. First, I claim that this problem is a threat to the action identification thesis because of two assumptions the thesis makes: since the thesis takes actions to be a kind of doings, it has to assume that agents’ doings last as long as their actions and vice versa. Second, (...) I claim that not making both of these assumptions necessarily leads to another problem, the problem of the acting dead. This means that any theory of action has to choose its poison and face either one of these unresolved problems. Third, I claim that the solution to the problem of the time of a killing can be found by heeding linguistic arguments that ‘kill’ cannot mean ‘cause to die,’ as is commonly assumed, but instead has to have a more complex meaning. I discuss an alternative, more complex proposal and show how it allows us to keep the action identification thesis, fits colloquial usage of ‘kill’ and deals with the problem of the time of a killing. (shrink)

Artefacts can influence our actions in several ways. They can be instruments, enabling and facilitating actions, where their presence affects the number and quality of the options for action available to us. They can also influence our actions in a morally more salient way, where their presence changes the likelihood that we will actually perform certain actions. Both kinds of influences are closely related, yet accounts of how they work have been developed largely independently, within different conceptual frameworks and for (...) different purposes. In this paper I account for both kinds of influences within a single framework. Specifically, I develop a descriptive account of how the presence of artefacts affects what we actually do, which is based on a framework commonly used for normative investigations into how the presence of artefacts affects what we can do. This account describes the influence of artefacts on what we actually do in terms of the way facts about those artefacts alter our reasons for action. In developing this account, I will build on Dancy’s (2000a) account of practical reasoning. I will compare my account with two alternatives, those of Latour and Verbeek, and show how my account suggests a specification of their respective key concepts of prescription and invitation. Furthermore, I argue that my account helps us in analysing why the presence of artefacts sometimes fails to influence our actions, contrary to designer expectations or intentions. (shrink)

The human enhancement debate typically centres on moral issues regarding changes in human nature, not on the means for these changes. We argue that one cannot grasp what is morally salient about human enhancement without understanding how technologies affect human action and practical reasoning. We present a minimalist conception of human agents as bounded practical reasoners. Then, we categorise different effects of technologies on our possibilities for action and our evaluation of these possibilities. For each, we discuss whether enhancement technologies (...) have morally salient effects; which technologies show these effects; and whether these differ significantly from those of other, non-enhancement technologies. We conclude that enhancement technologies are morally salient in several respects, that not all enhancement technologies share all those morally salient respects, and that continuities with traditional technologies may be found in all morally salient respects. (shrink)

We investigate how conventional asset managers account for environmental, social, and governance factors in their investment process. We do so on the basis of an international survey among fund managers. We find that many conventional managers integrate responsible investing in their investment process. Furthermore, we find that ESG information in particular is being used for red flagging and to manage risk. We find that many conventional fund managers have already adopted features of responsible investing in the investment process. Furthermore, we (...) argue and show that ESG investing is highly similar to fundamental investing. We also reveal that there is a substantial difference in the ways in which U.S. and European asset managers view ESG. (shrink)

After the corporate scandals at the beginning of the new millennium, corporate governance codes were drafted and implemented in national laws and regulations. Unfortunately, due to an ongoing supply of new financial scandals and societal deceptions, our society increasingly distrusts executive directors, non-executive directors and supervisory board members, as they often appeared to play a significant role in these scandals. Nonexecutive directors (NEDs) and supervisory directors (SDs) are often accused of having overlooked the important issues in their supervising role or (...) having failed to intervene in company decision making. Previous research has shown that many NEDs and SDs operate on the basis of their own unwritten rules, which may very well be different from those of their colleagues. In this article we examine whether and how a code of conduct or code of ethics might help to further clarify how NEDs/SDs should act. We also investigated the views of NEDs/SDs themselves. It appears that current corporate governance codes are not sufficient to guide directors on behavioral aspects of their supervisory role. This article shows that a code of conduct could provide this guidance to NEDs/SDs on several issues. First, a code of conduct would compel the Supervisory Board to reflect on its own values. Second, it would compel NEDs/SDs to verbalize their unwritten rules. The results may be applied internationally and could have relevance to the experience of executive directors in addition. This article may serve as a discussion document for other jurisdictions in addition. (shrink)

Using emotional film clips is one of the most popular and effective methods of emotion elicitation. The main goal of the present study was to develop and test the effectiveness of a new and comprehensive set of emotional film excerpts. Fifty film experts were asked to remember specific film scenes that elicited fear, anger, sadness, disgust, amusement, tenderness, as well as emotionally neutral scenes. For each emotion, the 10 most frequently mentioned scenes were selected and cut into film clips. Next, (...) 364 participants viewed the film clips in individual laboratory sessions and rated each film on multiple dimensions. Results showed that the film clips were effective with regard to several criteria such as emotional discreteness, arousal, positive and negative affect. Finally, ranking scores were computed for 24 classification criteria: Subjective arousal, positive and negative affect (derived from the PANAS; Watson & Tellegen, 1988), a positive and a negative affect scores derived from the Differential Emotions Scale (DES; Izard et al., 1974), six emotional discreteness scores (for anger, disgust, sadness, fear, amusement and tenderness), and 15 “mixed feelings” scores assessing the effectiveness of each film excerpt to produce blends of specific emotions. In addition, a number of emotionally neutral film clips were also validated. The database and editing instructions to construct the film clips have been made freely available in a website. (shrink)

Review of Ulrich Lehner's Kant's Vorsehungskonzept auk diem Hintergrund der Deutschen Schulphilosophie und Theologie.

The publication of a new ethics code for the American Psychological Association (1992), new guidelines (Committee on Ethical Guidelines for Forensic Psychologists, 1991), and two new versions of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (the MMPI-2, Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989; and the MMPI-A, Butcher et al., 1992) provide an opportunity to review ethical aspects of forensic assessment. Seven major issues-appropriate graduate training, competence in the use of standardized tests, using tests that fit the task, using tests that (...) fit the individual, administering tests correctly, using computers appropriately in forensic assessment, and assessing and reporting factors that may affect the meaning of test findings - are discussed. The revision of the MMPI is used to illustrate some of these issues. (shrink)

Interpreting VTA dopamine activity as a facilitator of affective engagement fits Depue & Collins's agency dimension of extraverted personality and also Watson's and Tellegen's (1985) engagement dimension of state mood. Serotonin, by turning down the gain on dopaminergic affective engagement, would permit already prepotent responses or habits to prevail against the behavior-switching incentive-simulation-driven temptations of the moment facilitated by fickle VTA DA. Intelligent switching between openly responsive affective engagement and constraint by long-term plans, goals, or values presumably involves environment-sensitive (...) balancing of these neuromodulators, such as socially dominant primates may show. (shrink)

Brazilian spiritistic religions have developed along elaborate historical and cultural trajectories with spirit mediumship as a central feature of ritual practice in Candomblé, Umbanda, Kardecismo, and similar groups. In these studies, several Brazilian spiritistic practitioners who worked as mediums were interviewed and, in some cases, tested with psychological measures for dissociation using the Dissociative Experiences Scale, for absorption using the Tellegen Absorption Scale, and for sexual orientation using the Kinsey Scale. Few significant gender differences were noted in these measures. (...) In two cases, psychophysiological measures were employed including electroencephalography, heart rate, skin conductance, and electromyography. In general, the research participants scored highly on measures of dissociation while scoring in the average range on absorption (using U.S. norms). The psychophysiological results indicated that for the two spiritistic practitioners investigated overall peripheral autonomic nervous system activation was negatively associated with sympathetic cortical level deactivation. The data suggested a psychophysiological incongruence between the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system functioning on the part of the two practitioners. However, the two variables were positively associated and congruent in data obtained from a control subject. Interview data identified five ways in which mediums received their "call to heal," visions, dreams, and unexpected incorporations being the most frequent factors cited. One medium who engages in surgical procedures was observed; tissues were collected from ten clients and were found to be consistent with the site of the surgery. In conclusion, it is apparent that mediumship is a complex phenomenon, one deserving of further investigation by anthropologists, psychologists, and sociologists interested in human consciousness, in indigenous health care, and in the psychophysiology of practitioners who claim to work under the direction of spirit entities. (shrink)

Straipsnyje aptariami gimnazijas baigiančių jaunuolių tolesnio gyvenimo pasirinkimų ir studijų regioninėse aukštosiose mokyklose motyvacijos sociologinio tyrimo rezulta­tai. Gilinamasi, su kuo artimiausias gyvenimo perspektyvas sieja Pietvakarių Lietuvos regiono III–IV gimnazijos klasių mokiniai: kiek jas sieja su studijų, darbo, kitų veik­lų pasirinkimu, kokie motyvai lemia studijų vietos ir studijų programos pasirinkimą, ypač regioninėse aukštosiose mokyklose. Tyrimo rezultatai atskleidė, kad studijų vietos pasirinkimui įtakos turi studijų proceso kokybė, mokymosi sąlygos (kokybės aspek­tas), gyvenimo sąlygos ir pragyvenimo išlaidos, studijų kaina (finansinis aspektas), atsiliepimai apie instituciją (...) (įvaizdžio aspektas). Rinktis studijų programą labiausiai motyvuoja galimybė studijuoti norimą specialybę, geras švietimo įstaigos įvaizdis, ge­ros mokymosi sąlygos, pažangumo lygmuo. Studijų Pietvakarių Lietuvos regioninėse aukštosiose mokyklose motyvai siejami su galimybe rinktis norimą studijų programą, artumu, geromis mokymosi sąlygomis. (shrink)