The main roles of libraries are developing and providing access to collections of cultural heritage. While the specific policies necessary to accomplish these roles may vary across different types of libraries, these institutions have at their core a dual role in preserving and supporting access to documents illustrating an era of knowledge and culture. Libraries are thus significant institutions in the process of learning, but also in that of remembering and forgetting at a social level. This article provides an overview (...) of the structure and organization of the public library system in the last two decades of the Communist regime in Romania. As part of a larger information history project, the research discusses the characteristics of this system created to support mass education and the ways in which public libraries also became institutions of memory in Communist Romania. The description of the library system structure is enriched by an overview of the professional training available for librarians and descriptions of the main library services related to access to collections and memories. The analysis of archival materials and oral history interviews with librarians document how these services were implemented and delve into the challenges encountered. Partial access to knowledge and information was a core part of the offered library services. As a consequence, services that were part of the Communist library system could be a source of long-term memory impairment at the social level. (shrink)

ObjectivePhysical and mental well-being are threatened by climate change. Since hospitals in high-income countries contribute significantly to climate change through their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the medical ethics imperative of ‘do no harm’ imposes a responsibility on hospitals to decarbonise. We investigated hospital stakeholders’ perceptions of hospitals’ GHG emissions sources and the sense of responsibility for reducing GHG emissions in a hospital.MethodsWe conducted 29 semistructured qualitative expert interviews at one of Germany’s largest hospitals, Heidelberg University Hospital. Five patients, 12 clinical (...) and 12 administrative employees on different levels were selected using purposive maximum variation sampling. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using the framework approach.ResultsConcerning GHG emissions, hospital stakeholders perceived energy and waste as most relevant emission sources followed by mobility. Climate change mitigation in general was considered as important. However, in their role as patients or employees, hospital stakeholders felt less responsible for climate change mitigation. They saw providing best possible medical care to be the top priority in hospitals and were often concerned that patients’ health could be jeopardised by climate change mitigation measures.ConclusionPerceptions of most important emission sources did not coincide with those in literature, highlighting the need to inform stakeholders, for instance, about pharmaceuticals as important emission source. A frequently perceived conflict between reducing emissions and providing high-quality medical care could be eased, if reducing emissions would not only be justified as a contribution to mitigation, but also as a contribution to preventing ill health—a basic principle of medical ethics. (shrink)

A capoeira ou capoeiragem é uma expressão cultural brasileira que mistura jogo, esporte, arte marcial, cultura popular, tradição, dança e música. Desenvolvida no Brasil por descendentes de escravos africanos, a capoeira é caracterizada por golpes e movimentos ágeis e complexos, utilizando primariamente chutes e rasteiras, além de joelhadas e cabeçadas, cotoveladas, acrobacias aéreas ou em solo. Praticantes da capoeira aprendem não apenas a lutar e jogar, mas também a tocar os instrumentos típicos e cantar. Assim, os discentes do 6º ano (...) de uma escola estadual da cidade de Itabuna—BA, os quais apresentavam dificuldades para ler e escrever. Entretanto, nas aulas de capoeira, os alunos se mostravam mais motivados para ler. Então, surgiu o problema que norteou essa pesquisa, a saber: como o jogo de capoeira vem sendo trabalhado, para estimular a melhoria da aprendizagem em leitura dos alunos, do 6ºano, em um colégio estadual, na cidade de Itabuna – BA? Portanto, o objetivo geral desse artigo é analisar de que maneira o mestre usa o jogo da capoeira, como ferramenta motivacional, nas práticas pedagógicas, para a melhoria da aprendizagem da leitura, entre os alunos do 6º ano, do ensino fundamental II. Desse modo, a utilização de estratégias de leitura, partindo da diversidade dos gêneros textuais, de modo lúdico, através da capoeira, no processo de ensino-aprendizagem, é um assunto que é discutido nessa pesquisa, pois esta se justifica pela necessidade de contribuir para uma melhora do processo de ensino e aprendizagem, partindo de pressupostos presentes na BNCC. Palavras-chave: Capoeira, Fomento à Leitura, Gêneros Textuais, Lúdico. (shrink)

In An Introduction to Probability Theory and its Applications, W. Feller established a way of ending the St. Petersburg paradox by the introduction of an entrance fee, and provided it for the case in which the game is played with a fair coin. A natural generalization of his method is to establish the entrance fee for the case in which the probability of heads is θ. The deduction of those fees is the main result of Section 2. We then propose (...) a Bayesian approach to the problem. When the probability of heads is θ the expected gain of the St. Petersburg game is finite, therefore there is no paradox. However, if one takes θ as a random variable assuming values in the paradox may hold, which is counter-intuitive. In Section 3 we determine necessary conditions for the absence of paradox in the Bayesian approach and in Section 4 we establish the entrance fee for the case in which θ is uniformly distributed in, for in this case there is a paradox. (shrink)

Resumen:La obra capital de Phillip Mainländer se compone de seis capítulos (Analítica de la facultad cognoscitiva, Física, Estética, Ética, Política, Metafísica) y un Anexo (Crítica de las doctrinas de Kant y Schopenhauer). Seis capítulos y un anexo que hacen gala de la intempestividad de su autor. De esa cualidad presente en pocos pensadores y que condiciona la valoración de su obra al paso del tiempo. De esa cualidad que permite pensar más allá de los límites que impone la época. Curiosamente (...) un pensador del siglo XIX ilumina los tiempos que corren. Unos tiempos signados por prácticas ecocidas y sus derivaciones ecosuicidas (Baquedano: 37-38), y cuyas primeras manifestaciones físicas sobre la naturaleza comenzaron, llamativamente, en dicho momento, a saber, en 1784 cuando James Watt patentó su máquina de vapor. (shrink)

This thesis aims to study the origins of interiority from an externalist perspective. The process by which self-knowledge is formed is considered in relation to the development of the first-person perspective. From a first-person perspective, one is capable of self-referring and knowing one's own mental and physical states. Self-consciousness and self-knowledge are discussed in relation to Descartes' idea of first-person authority. The Cartesian idea contends that the first-person perspective has privileged and non-empirical access to one's own mental state. On the (...) contrary, externalism's central thesis contends that the content of one's own mental state originates from interactions with the environment, thus, there is no privileged access of one's own mental state. Thus, the externalist's thesis puts into question the Cartesian idea of privileged epistemic access of the first person. The perceptual externalism of Davidson, for example, proposes a triadic solution to the origins of self-knowledge. Davidson's thesis is presented as reconciling self-knowledge and the basic externalist ideas. Two externalist models on the origins of self-knowledge are further discussed: 1) ecological models proposing a development of a sense of self as a function of interactions with the environment; 2) the psychological model of Winnicott proposing that the developing sense of self arises from the triadic relation between self, others, and transitional object(s). We defend the thesis that Winnicott's model is the most apt at describing the Davidsonian externalist model of the origins of self-knowledge. (shrink)

We investigated the effect of culture, moral discourse, and motivation to engage in prosocial behavior on benefactors’ positive affect. Participants from three cultures responded to scenarios in which they could perform small acts of kindness for different targets. A stronger relationship between agentic and obligated motivation to perform acts of kindness, as well as between obligated motivation and positive affect, was observed for participants from Japan, and for individuals with higher endorsement of the Community Ethic. Agentic motivation to engage in (...) prosocial behavior was related to benefactors’ positive affect, regardless of relationship type. (shrink)

Defeasibility, most generally speaking, means that given some set of conditions A, something else B will hold, unless or until defeating conditions C apply. While the term was introduced into philosophy by legal philosopher H.L.A. Hart in 1949, today, the concept of defeasibility is employed in many different areas of philosophy. This volume for the first time brings together contributions on defeasibility from epistemology , legal philosophy and ethics and the philosophy of action . The volume ends with an extensive (...) bibliography. (shrink)

Promoting interpersonal helping among coworkers is an important aim for any organisation that cares about employee well-being. Drawing on guilt aversion hypothesis, this research focuses on the power of social expectations in promoting prosocial behaviour among employees and investigates the role of anticipated guilt for failing to meet coworkers’ expectations. In two preregistered studies, the effect of beneficiary expectation on benefactors’ anticipated guilt and intention to help was investigated. In Study 1, Japanese participants (n = 284) recalled a situation when (...) they helped a coworker spontaneously, and evaluated perceived beneficiary expectation to receive help, as well as anticipated guilt for not helping. Beneficiary expectation positively predicted anticipated guilt, and the effect was stronger when the beneficiary was a same-status colleague, and when interpersonal helping frequency in the organisation was low. Study 2 (n = 499) employed vignettes and manipulated beneficiary expectation. A mediational model revealed that beneficiary expectation leads to more anticipated guilt for not helping, which, in turn, increases employees’ intention to help. Together, these studies show that employees are sensitive to their coworkers’ expectations, and guilt-averse; therefore, interpersonal helping among employees may be promoted by establishing legitimate expectations of prosociality in the workplace. (shrink)

Book reviews RIBEIRO, Claudio de Oliveira. Religião, Democracia e Direitos Humanos : Presença pública inter-religiosa no fortalecimento da democracia e na defesa dos direitos humanos no Brasil. São Paulo: Reflexão, 2016. 159p. ISBN 978.85.8088.194-3.

This article argues that the abundance of Greek figures and scenarios in Kittler’s recent work points to a shift in his oeuvre, which, however, does not represent a radical break with his ‘hardware studies’. At the turn of the 21st century, Kittler champions an emphatic notion of culture as a necessary supplement to science and technology. This conceptual marriage mediates grand historical narratives of cultural identity. Specifically, Kittler’s texts provide us with narratives of Greek origin which serve to re-capture collective (...) identities in the age of globalization. On the explicit level, this identity is predominantly European, but the search has national components as well. With his turn to culture, the organizing trope of 19th-century German nationalism, Kittler has also embraced the legacy of German philhellenism, which articulated national identities through the theme of ‘elective affinity’. Kittler’s Greece occupies the very structural place it had in 19th-century German philhellenism: It stands in for both the foundation of European civilization and its virtual better self, a realm of sensual culture untainted by modern capitalism and Empire. Most of the figures inhabiting this realm are familiar from 19th-century discourse as well, but these discursive loops are fueled by contemporary feedback. Kittler’s Greek narratives have developed out of postwar academic discourses and connect to other post-unification Greek fantasies. (shrink)

From the viewpoint of Political Theory, digital technology presents both risks and opportunities for the democratic public sphere. Public discourse is now more complex and fragmented than ever before. Against this background, this paper uses the metaphor of a “communicative universe” to analyze the latest structural change of the public sphere. It emphasizes the significance of achieving a balance between different actors and powers in contemporary political discourse. Patterns in media communication can not only be identified but also influenced and (...) constructed in ways that support the democratic functionality of political discourses. (shrink)

Livro: DAWSON, Christopher. A divisão da cristandade : Da reforma protestante à era do iluminismo. São Paulo: É Realizações Editora, 2014.

This article explores various scenes of shame, raising the questions of what shame discloses about the self and how this self-disclosure takes place. Thereby, the common idea that shame discloses the self’s debasement will be challenged. The dramatic dialectics of showing and hiding display a much more ambiguous, dynamic self-image as result of an interactive evaluation of oneself by oneself and others. Seeing oneself seen contributes to the sense of who one becomes. From being absorbed in what one does, one (...) might suddenly become self-aware, shift viewpoints and feel pressed to put on masks. In putting on a mask, one relates to oneself in distancing oneself from oneself. In being at once a moral agent and a performing actor with an audience and norms in mind, one embodies and transcends the social roles one takes. In addition to the feeling of shame, in which the self finds itself passively reflected, the self’s active reflections on its shame are to be taken into account. As examples from Milan Kundera, Shakespeare’s King Lear, a line from Kingsley Amis, a speech by Vaclav Havel and Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments indicate, self-presentation in the public and the private sphere is a complex hermeneutical process with surprising twists. (shrink)

Las explicaciones causalistas de Polo son compatibles con los actuales paradigmas de la biología teórica. Los procesos epigenéticos (entendidos como actualizaciones de la potencia vital de los organismos vivos) y los procesos evolutivos pueden ser explicados si se entiende a las praxis vitales como concausalidades morfotélicas, porque la causa formal en concausalidad con el fin es susceptible de ampliación formal. Así, la causa final es responsable de promover indefinidamente la morfogénesis de causas formales intracósmicas. En la unidad de orden del (...) universo ocurre una multitud de especies vivas, cuya diferencia es jerárquica. Todos los vivientes están finalizados por su especie, con excepción del ser humano. El hombre es un ser singular: la perfección del hombre es inherente a cada hombre. (shrink)

Este artigo tem como tema o estudo da natureza do homem em Kant a partir do caso do estrangeiro e o conceito de hospitalidade. O direito cosmopolítico está fundado no direito à hospitalidade, mas este tem assimetrias e limites, o que contraria um tratamento igualitário previsto por Kant no âmbito da lei jurídica e da lei moral. O cosmopolitismo dá aos povos de nações ou de repúblicas distintas o mesmo direito de propriedade comum sobre a superfície da terra. O estrangeiro (...) tem o direito de receber um tratamento hospitaleiro sem que para isso lhe seja imputado um dever ou que haja um direito de hóspede que baseie essa exigência. Por outro lado, aquele a quem é solicitada acolhida pode recusar o estrangeiro, e tem como única limitação a essa recusa o fato de ela vir a ser causa da morte do solicitante, diz Kant no Terceiro Artigo de À Paz Perpétua....The present paper examines the human nature in Kant under the case of the strange and the hospitality concept. The cosmopolitan law is based on the right of an universal hospitality, but it has asymmetries and limits, that contradict the egalitarian treatment, stated by Kant, every men should receive whether in the extent of the moral or the civil law. Kant’s cosmopolitanism predicts to every men on earth, no matter if they are from distinct nations or states, an original common possession of the surface of the earth. Also, a stranger has the right to be welcome, and for this right there is no correspondent duty. On the other hand, one, to whom a stranger may request hospitality, can refuse it, and the unique limit Kant articulates, on Third Definitive Article for A Perpetual Peace, is if the refuse means his destruction. (shrink)