The tsunami effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting many aspects of scientific activities. Multidisciplinary experimental studies with international collaborators are hindered by the closing of the national borders, logistic issues due to lockdown, quarantine restrictions, and social distancing requirements. The full impact of this crisis on science is not clear yet, but the above-mentioned issues have most certainly restrained academic research activities. Sharing innovative solutions between researchers is in high demand in this situation. The aim of this paper is (...) to share our successful practice of using web-based communication and remote control software for real-time long-distance control of brain stimulation. This solution may guide and encourage researchers to cope with restrictions and has the potential to help expanding international collaborations by lowering travel time and costs. (shrink)

Summary The critique of C. H. Ratschow and Knud E. Løgstrup against the existential theology of Bultmann serves as starting point for asking the question about the possibility of thinking metaphysically within theology. Various forms of critique of metaphysics are mentioned, in particular the one of Jürgen Habermas, who’s characterisation of Martin Luther’s theology as „fideistic“ is rejected. After a short presentation of the concept of time in Luther’s De servo aritrio the creation philosophy of Løgstrup is presented as a (...) plausible theological metaphysics. (shrink)

Drawing upon the literature on action research and case-study research, this paper discusses similarities and differences between these two forms of research practice. The paper also highlights some of the criticisms and challenges action researchers face. It suggests ways in which action researchers may enhance the discussability of action research by: (a) increasing the transparency of their research processes, (b) declaring the intellectual frameworks brought into action research projects, (c) discussing transferability of findings, and (d) defining accumulation of results. This (...) may require an extension to scientific discourse. In particular, the paper suggests that action researchers could change the ways in which action research results are reported to increase their reach among a wider audience. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Scientia propter quid nobis—The Epistemic Independence of Metaphysics and Theology in the Quaestio de cognitione Dei attributed to Duns Scotus by Wouter GorisClaus A. AndersenGORIS, Wouter. Scientia propter quid nobis—The Epistemic Independence of Metaphysics and Theology in the Quaestio de cognitione Dei attributed to Duns Scotus. Münster: Aschendorff, 2022. viii + 296 pp. Paper, € 49.00The central claim of Wouter Goris's new book is that the Quaestio de (...) cognitione Dei traditionally (both in one late medieval manuscript and in some modern scholarship) attributed to John Duns Scotus not only is inauthentic but in fact represents an early reaction against Scotus's teaching on the scientific nature of metaphysics. The Quaestio in particular explores Scotus's distinction between a science "in itself" and one "for us" and, going beyond Scotus's own doctrine, shows how this distinction is applicable to metaphysics.The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 offers a critical edition of the Quaestio de cognitione Dei, which has hitherto been available in a plain transcription published by C. R. S. Harris in 1927. Harris's text was based on a single manuscript from the fifteenth century (Oxford, Merton College, Ms. 90); Goris bases his edition on a manuscript from the early fourteenth century (Assisi, Biblioteca Comunale, Ms. 172), one that does not attribute the text to Scotus. Goris highlights that the text has significant parallels in the prologue of John of Reading's Scriptum on the first book of the Sentences; there is presently not sufficient evidence for claiming that Reading is the author of the De cognitione Dei, but it does seem clear that either Reading or some other Franciscan friar relying on Reading's Scriptum authored the text between 1316 and 1325. The Quaestio itself consists of two articles. Two appendices to the edition document longer passages from Reading's Scriptum.Part 2 investigates the use of the distinction between a science in itself and one for us in Duns Scotus and some of the early Scotists. Scotus's doctrine developed over time. At Oxford Scotus taught that theology in se is about the divine essence in its particularity; theology for us is about the most perfect concept of God attainable for human beings by natural means, that is, the concept "infinite being." It falls to metaphysics to prove that there is such a kind of being. At Paris Scotus rather taught that both theology in se and theology for us are about the divine essence in its [End Page 549] particularity. The implication is that a strictly demonstrative science about God is possible for human beings in this present life, a knowledge of God that is completely independent of metaphysics. Goris argues that this shift in the view of theology explains the absence of Scotus's famous "twin doctrines" of the univocal concept of being and of being as the first adequate object of the intellect from his theological epistemology of the Parisian period. Not too surprisingly, in the wake of Scotus we find several authors grappling with the relationship between theology and metaphysics. The positions investigated by Goris vary considerably. Richard of Conington distinguishes between human metaphysical knowledge of being and God's own metaphysical knowledge of being; the latter represents a more perfect knowledge of both God himself and creatures as included under the concept of being. Francis of Marchia employs a distinction between a general metaphysics (about being as being) and a special metaphysics (about divine being), but on the level of science for us the special part of metaphysics is subordinated to the general one. Nicolas Bonetus, by contrast, advocates a sharp distinction between metaphysical knowledge of being and natural theology; he structures his metaphysics as a purely ontological discipline and treats natural theology as a separate science; Goris sees this reorganization as Bonetus's most decisive contribution to the history of metaphysics.Part 3 analyzes the fundamental doctrines defended in the Quaestio de cognitione Dei and compares them with those of Scotus and John of Reading. The first article of the Quaestio introduces two important distinctions, the first of which is between metaphysics in itself and metaphysics for us; these two... (shrink)

_English summary_ This article investigates the impact of moral statistics on suicide in Denmark in the 19. century. Championed as a new European social science, moral statistics was able to reveal statistical regularity on social and moral issues – such as suicide. Statistics proved, firstly, that Denmark experienced one of the highest suicide rates in Europe. Secondly, as demonstrated in 1846 by the Danish physician C. J. Kayser, statistics uncovered that suicides over time occurred regularly in the case of frequency, (...) gender distribution, method of self-killing etc.. This new knowledge encouraged Danish statisticians and physicians to look for societal causes rather than the former theological focus on individual sin. The statistical representations of suicide paved the way for two different interpretations of suicide in the second half of the 19. century, one of which linked suicide rates to the evils of modernisation and secularisation of society, emphasizing drunkenness, alcoholism, and moral decline as causes of suicide. Another, less prevalent, explanation stressed the social and economic inequality of industrialisation as the cause of rising suicide rates. ‘The moral explanation’ prevailed and the official statistical reports as well as newspaper articles was clearly affected by the idea that the rising suicide rates of the 19. century reflected an attack on core values of bourgeois society; moral, sobriety and religion. This way suicide statistics was embedded in a broader social representation reflecting a fear of breakdown of traditional values in modern society. (shrink)

Safety assessment of technologies and interventions is often underdetermined by evidence. For example, scientists have collected evidence concerning genetically modified plants for decades. This evidence was used to ground opposing safety protocols for “stacked genetically modified” plants, in which two or more genetically modified plants are combined. Evidence based policy would thus be rendered more effective by an approach that accounts for underdetermination. Douglas (2012) proposes an explanatory approach, based on the criteria of transparency, empirical competence, internal consistency of explanations, (...) and predictive potency. However, sometimes multiple explanations can satisfy these criteria. We propose an additional criterion based on converse abduction, where explanations are selected on the basis of ontological background assumptions as well as by evidence. We then apply our proposed scheme to the case of the regulation of stacked genetically modified plants. We discuss the implications and suggest follow-up work concerning the generalizability of the approach. (shrink)

La période 1890-1950 a été marquée en France par la crainte de la dépopulation et une obsession à propos du taux de natalité décroissant. C’est dans ce contexte qu’un groupe de militants s’est lancé dans une lutte contre les avortements, politisant cette question, tentant de modifier la loi et d’accentuer la répression policière pour en réduire le nombre. Ce sujet a depuis longtemps attiré l’attention de spécialistes de l’histoire du genre et de la sexualité, qui ont montré l’intervention de...

In “Principled Compromise and the Abortion Controversy” Simon C. May argues that we do not have a principled moral reason to compromise. While I seek to understand how more precisely we are to understand this suggestion, I also object to it: I argue that we have a principled moral reason to accept democratic decisions that we disagree with, and that this can only be so if disagreement can change what the all things considered right political position is. But if this (...) is so, then also a principled moral reason to compromise is possible. I suggest that there is a class of procedures, including compromise, voting, expert delegation, and coin flip, such that when we disagree about what justice requires, we have a principled moral reason to engage in one of these procedures. (shrink)

(No abstract is available for this citation).

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Title Index to Daoist CollectionsPoul AndersenTitle Index to Daoist Collections. By Louis Komjathy. Cambridge, MA: Three Pines Press, 2002. Pp. ii + 216.Title Index to Daoist Collections by Louis Komjathy provides a combined index to the titles of the works contained in seven of the most important collections of Daoist texts. In addition to the Ming dynasty Daoist Canon of the Zhengtong reign period, Zhengtong daozang—first printed in (...) 1444-1445, with a supplement printed in 1607—the collections include the Daoist manuscripts found in Dunhuang (published by Ōfuchi Ninji in 1979), Daozang jiyao (1906), Daozang jinghua lu (1922), Daozang jinghua (1963) (volume titles only), Zangwai daoshu (1992-1995), and Qigong yangsheng congshu (1990).Part 1 of the book consists of separate Chinese-character indexes to the book titles in each of these collections, arranged in the order of their appearance in the respective collections and with reference to their sequential numbering, volume number, and starting-page number in one edition of the collection (pp. 29-107). Part 2 is a combined pinyin index to all of these titles (as well as to abbreviated versions of some titles), arranged alphabetically and cross-referenced with the character indexes (pp. 109-211). In addition, the book contains two appendixes: (1) a Chinese-character index to the titles of the texts included in the sixteen volumes of the above-mentioned Daozang jinghua that happened to be available to the author, [End Page 407] according to whom the complete collection (of 107 volumes) is not to be found in any major North American library, and (2) a Chinese-character index to the book titles in the Daozang xubian, a collection of twenty-three internal alchemy works published by Min Yide in 1834 (pp. 213-216). The titles contained in these appendixes are not included in the pinyin index.The book is beautifully produced and conveniently organized, and it will no doubt prove to be a useful reference tool for students involved in the study of Daoism based on primary sources. Apart from the Zhengtong daozang, none of the collections have been indexed with a proper numbering system before, and the fact that they are provided here with a combined index has the advantage of allowing the researcher to get an immediate overview of the available versions of any text that is included in these collections. It should be noticed, however, that the usefulness of the combined index is somewhat reduced by the lack of a consistent analysis of the individual titles of texts in terms of their most significant parts, and the absence of systematically sound choices concerning what abbreviated versions of the titles to include in the index. In this respect, the present book remains infinitely inferior to the existing standard concordance to the titles of the Zhengtong daozang, published by Kristofer Schipper in 1975 and included as a supplement volume in the most widely used sixty-volume reprint of the Canon (issued in Taiwan in 1977). As noted by the author of the present book, this concordance has the advantage over the earlier Harvard-Yenching Index from 1935 in that it lists the titles of the Daozang under every possible character. The inclusion of abbreviated versions of titles in the present index clearly is intended to make up for the absence of this kind of systematic indexing. It is equally clear, however, that this measure does not completely resolve the problem, and that consequently the present book in no way supersedes the earlier index as far as the basic Ming dynasty Canon (representing some 40 percent of the totality of Chinese-character indexes in the book) is concerned. A couple of random spot checks using abbreviated titles brought this out to this reviewer.The book is a reference tool—that is, not for systematic reading—so in order to put it to a test I chose to look up a couple of titles with which I have recently been concerned in the course of my research on Daoism. The first was the Wucheng fu (shang)jing, one of the key texts of the early Lingbao tradition (promulgated around 400 C.E.). The result was disappointing, as the combined... (shrink)

Objectives: Clinical trials in humans in Germany—as in many other countries—must be approved by local research ethics committees . The current study has been designed to document and evaluate decisions of chairpersons of RECs in the problematic field of non-therapeutic research with minors. The authors’ purpose was to examine whether non-therapeutic research was acceptable for chairpersons at all, and whether there was certainty on how to decide in research trials involving more than minimal risk.Design: In a questionnaire, REC chairpersons had (...) to evaluate five different scenarios with non-therapeutic research. The scenarios described realistic potential research projects with minors, involving increasing levels of risk for the research participants. The chairpersons had to decide whether the respective projects should be approved.Methods: A total of 49 German REC chairpersons were sent questionnaires; 29 questionnaires were returned. The main measurements were approval or rejection of research scenarios.Results: Chairpersons of German RECs generally tend to accept non-therapeutic research with minors if the apparent risk for the participating children is low. If the risk is clearly higher than “minimal”, the chairpersons’ decisions differ widely.Conclusion: The fact that there seem to be different attitudes of chairpersons to non-therapeutic research with minors is problematic from an ethical point of view. It suggests a general uncertainty about the standards of protection for minor research participants in Germany. Therefore, further ethical and legal regulation of non-therapeutic research with minors in Germany seems necessary. (shrink)

Research ethics committees (RECs) have played a crucial role in expediting the review of research protocols amidst the COVID‐19 pandemic. To improve their performance and identify areas of enhancement, a multicentric study was conducted in India by the Forum for Ethical Review Committees in the Asian and Western Pacific Region (FERCAP). The study aimed to evaluate the preparedness of Indian RECs during the COVID‐19 outbreak while conducting protocol reviews and comprehend the challenges they encountered. After obtaining ethics committee approval, a (...) cross‐sectional observational study was conducted using two validated questionnaires, one for REC member secretaries/chairpersons and another for REC members. The questionnaires consisted of 13 multiple‐choice questions, 10 yes or no questions, and 2 open‐ended questions each. The study was distributed to multiple RECs. A total of 109/200 participants, including 13 REC member secretaries, 12 chairpersons and 84 REC members from a total of 34 REC's, consented to participate in the study. During the COVID‐19 pandemic, 23/25 (92%) of the RECs conducted online meetings. The most common challenges faced by RECs included risk‐benefit analysis (12/25 RECs), review of informed consent (12/25 RECs), and protocols involving vulnerable populations (10/25 RECs). 65% of the REC members reported the need for ethics review training, and 66/84 REC members agreed or strongly agreed that RECs require training in COVID‐19 protocol review. Additionally, 62/84 REC members agreed or strongly agreed that central/joint RECs should review multicenter COVID‐19 protocols. RECs in India encountered difficulties while reviewing risk‐benefit analyses, informed consent documents (ICDs), and COVID‐19 protocols and they suggested providing training on these topics. (shrink)

Ethics researchers have scrutinized ethical business problems, which have been demonstrated through the actions of managers at Enron, WorldCom, and Arthur Andersen, among others. In response to these business transgressions, the US government has implemented the Sarbanes–Oxley Act to shore up businesses’ ethics infrastructures. However, universities, too, struggle with ethics problems. These include NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) violations, discrimination issues, sexual harassment, endowment admits, plagiarism, and research funding manipulation. Despite these problems, we have little knowledge regarding universities’ ethics (...) infrastructures and codes of conduct, and insignificant empirical research on academic ethics issues (Kelley & Chang, Journal of Higher Education, under review, 2006; Morgan & Korschgen, College Student Journal, Sept., 2001). This lack of knowledge exists despite the critical role universities play in shaping the moral behavior of future generations (Langlais, The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 13:B11, 2006; Woo, BizEd, May/June:22–27, 2003). In this paper, we conduct exploratory research to identify the elements of universities ethics’ infrastructures. From our research, we develop an understanding of the ethics policies and infrastructure elements in place at a representative group of universities. We compare these infrastructures to those in business as well as across Carnegie Classifications. We then conclude with recommendations for developing university ethics infrastructures and suggestions for future research. (shrink)

Søren Kierkegaard’s (1813-1855) works have as their starting point, aside from a couple of newspaper articles published around the middle of the decade of the 1830s, a literary review of a novel written by a contemporary of his who was to achieve international fame still in life, viz. the writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875). Notwithstanding, I argue that what was meant to be a literary review hides a vigorous anticipation of a problem that was meant to interest Kierkegaard throughout (...) his entire production, that is, the problem of nihilism. In this sense, the present article is based on a reading of both Andersen’s novel as well as Kierkegaard’s review, which leads me to explore the more profound connotations of Kierkegaard’s critique of the former also in terms of the context these works were produced. In sum, my argument is that both Andersen and Kierkegaard were dealing with the first signs of the arrival of nihilism in Denmark. (shrink)

This paper attempts a philosophically rigorous interpretation of H.C. Andersen’s tales. Through a radically conceived sentimentality – the unmediated juxtaposition of the abjection of things, conceived as a paradoxical “desire for desire” having no place in the world, with a cruel, apathetic gaze – Andersen challenges the existence of the soul or subjectivity as what, by combining the theoretical gaze with contemplative pleasure, grants coherence to experience. Thus undermining not only Romantic self-reflection, and its suturing of philosophy to (...) criticism, but Plato’s erotic psychology, Andersen inaugurates a new philosophical literature: a writing for children cultivating an openness. (shrink)

(1996). The historical lessons of human rights: In search of a new approach. The European Legacy: Vol. 1, Fourth International Conference of the International Society for the study of European Ideas, pp. 498-503.

This paper will discuss Hans‐George Gadamer’s ‘The Enigma of Health’ Chapter 2, ‘Apologia for the Art of Healing’s (1965). In this chapter, Gadamer defends the art of healing as essentially an ability to reproduce and re‐establish the health of an ill person. He considers modern medicine’s progressive reliance on technology as mechanical rather than an art of healing. In support of this concept, I will also refer to Gadamer’s Chapter 6, ‘Between Nature and Art’ and briefly to Beardsworth’s ‘Practices of (...) Procrastination’. First, I will discuss the above works showing how the authors make their arguments and what conclusions they draw, and then I will relate these arguments and conclusions to nursing, gerontological nursing in particular. (shrink)

(1996). The Conradian inheritance in the African novel. The European Legacy: Vol. 1, Fourth International Conference of the International Society for the study of European Ideas, pp. 101-108.

It is a commonly raised argument against thefamily resemblance account of concepts that, on thisaccount, there is no limit to a concept's extension.An account of family resemblance which attempts toprovide a solution to this problem by including bothsimilarity among instances and dissimilarity tonon-instances has been developed by the philosopher ofscience Thomas Kuhn. Similar solutions have beenhinted at in the literature on family resemblanceconcepts, but the solution has never received adetailed investigation. I shall provide areconstruction of Kuhn's theory and argue that (...) hissolution necessitates a developmental perspective withbuilds on both the transmission of taxonomies betweengenerations and a progressive development throughhistory. (shrink)