Der Quantenphysiker Herbert Pietschmann beschaftigt sich seit Jahrzehnten mit dem Phanomen Kommunikation. Der Kommunikationswissenschaftler Erich Hamberger setzt sich seit langem mit der Frage der Adaptierung erkenntnistheoretischer Einsichten der Quantentheorie fur die Geistes- und Biowissenschaften auseinander. 2003 begegnen sich die beiden - und staunen uber die "verschrankten Erkenntnisinteressen". 2006 bestreiten sie eine erste gemeinsame universitare Lehrveranstaltung. 2011 folgt Das Phanomen Kommunikation transdisziplinar betrachtet. Aus ihrer Zusammenarbeit ist dieses Buch entstanden. Naturwissenschaft arbeitet auf der Grundlage des mechanistischen Denkrahmens. Die bisher (...) einzige Ausnahme ist die Quantenphysik. Weder Leben noch Kommunikation ist mittels des mechanistischen Denkrahmens zu verstehen. Auch der Denkrahmen der Quantenphysik reicht dazu nicht aus. Der Bedarf nach adaquatem Denken im Bereich der Kommunikation kann durch quantenphysikalisches Denken NICHT befriedigt werden, jedoch kann dadurch ein Weg aufgezeigt werden, wie ein adaquater Denkrahmen zu gestalten ist. (shrink)

This thought-provoking book discusses the concept of progress in economics and investigates whether any advance has been made in its different spheres of research. The authors look back at the history, successes and failures of their respective fields and thoroughly examine the notion of progress from an epistemological and methodological perspective. The idea of progress is particularly significant as the authors regard it as an essentially contested concept which can be defined in many ways – theoretically or empirically; locally or (...) globally; or as encouraging or impeding the existence of other research traditions. The authors discuss the idea that for progress to make any sense there must be an accumulation of knowledge built up over time rather than the replacement of ideas by each successive generation. Accordingly, they are not concerned with estimating the price of progress, reminiscing in the past, or assessing what has been lost. Instead they apply the complex mechanisms and machinery of the discipline to sub-fields such as normative economics, monetary economics, trade and location theory, Austrian economics and classical economics to critically assess whether progress has been made in these areas of research. -/- Bringing together authoritative and wide-ranging contributions by leading scholars, this book will challenge and engage those interested in philosophy, economic methodology and the history of economic thought. It will also appeal to economists in general who are interested in the advancement of their profession. (shrink)

Bisimulations, behavioral equivalence and logical equivalence are investigated for stochastic image-coalgebras that interpret coalgebraic logic which is defined in terms of predicate liftings. We investigate the conditions for the functor under which these notions of equivalence are related by discussing congruences for the underlying stochastic relation. It is demonstrated that logics as diverse as continuous time stochastic logic and general modal logics can be usefully approached through coalgebraic methods.

We propose a probabilistic interpretation of Propositional Dynamic Logic (PDL). We show that logical and behavioral equivalence are equivalent over general measurable spaces. This is done first for the fragment of straight line programs and then extended to cater for the nondeterministic nature of choice and iteration, expanded to PDL as a whole. Bisimilarity is also discussed and shown to be equivalent to logical and behavioral equivalence, provided the base spaces are Polish spaces. We adapt techniques from coalgebraic stochastic logic (...) and point out some connections to Souslin's operation A from descriptive set theory. This leads to a discussion of complete stochastic Kripke models and model completion, which permits an adequate treatment of the test operator. (shrink)

From time to time medical ethicists bemoan the loss of a religious perspective in medical ethics. The discipline had its origins in the thinking of explicitly religious thinkers such as Paul Ramsey and Joseph Fletcher. Furthermore, many of those who contributed to the early development of the discipline had training in theology. One thinks of Daniel Callahan, Richard McCormick, Albert Jonsen, Sam. Banks. As the discipline becomes more and more self-reflective, with attention being paid to methodological and conditional concerns, it (...) is only natural that the roots are due for a reexamination. The time has therefore come for some reassessment. The first steps here are taken in the form of a dialogue between the coauthors to clarify authentic contributions and weed out unauthentic ones. (shrink)

We generalize stochastic Kripke models and Markov transition systems to stochastic right coalgebras. These are coalgebras for a functor with as an endofunctor on the category of analytic spaces, and is the subprobability functor. The modal operators are generalized through predicate liftings which are set-valued natural transformations involving the functor. Two states are equivalent iff they cannot be separated by a formula. This equivalence relation is used to construct a cospan for logical equivalent coalgebras under a separation condition for the (...) set of predicate liftings. Consequently, behavioral and logical equivalence are really the same. From the cospan we construct a span. The central argument is a selection argument giving us the dynamics of a mediating coalgebra from the domains of the cospan. This construction is used to establish that behavioral equivalent coalgebras are bisimilar, yielding the equivalence of all three characterizations of a coalgebra’s behavior as in the case of Kripke models or Markov transition systems. (shrink)

What insights does comparative biology provide for furthering scienti¿ c understanding of the evolution of dynamic coordination? Our discussions covered three major themes: (a) the fundamental unity in functional aspects of neurons, neural circuits, and neural computations across the animal kingdom; (b) brain organization –behavior relationships across animal taxa; and (c) the need for broadly comparative studies of the relationship of neural structures, neural functions, and behavioral coordination. Below we present an overview of neural machinery and computations that are shared (...) by all nervous systems across the animal kingdom, and the related fact that there really are no “simple” relationships in coordination between nervous systems and the behavior they produce. The simplest relationships seen in living organisms are already fairly complex by computational standards. These realizations led us to think about ways that brain similarities and differences could be used to produce new insights into complex brain–behavior phenomena (including a critical appraisal of the roles of cortical and noncortical structures in mammalian behavior), and to think brieÀy about how future studies could best exploit comparative methods to elucidate better general principles underlying the neural mechanisms associated with behavioral coordination. In our view, it is unlikely that the intricacies interrelating neural and behavioral coordination are due to one particular manifestation (such as neural oscillation or the possession of a six-layered cortex). Instead of considering the human cortex to be the standard against which all things are measured (and thus something to crow about), both broad and focused comparative studies on behavioral similarities and differences will be necessary to elucidate the fundamental principles underlying dynamic coordination. (shrink)

The multitude of training models and curricula for the specialty of clinical neuropsychology around the world has led to organized activities to develop a framework of core competencies to ensure sufficient expertise among entry-level professionals in the field. The Standing Committee on Clinical Neuropsychology of the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations is currently working toward developing a specialty certification in clinical neuropsychology to establish a cross-national standard against which to measure levels of equivalency and uniformity in competence and service provision (...) among professionals in the field. Through structured interviews with experts from 28 European countries, we explored potential areas of core competency. Specifically, questions pertained to the perceived importance of a series of foundational, functional, and other competencies, as well as current training standards and practices, and optimal standards. Our findings revealed considerable agreement on academic and clinical training, despite varied actual training requirements currently, with fewer respondents relegating importance to training in teaching, supervision, and research, and even fewer to skills related to management, administration, and advocacy. European expert clinical neuropsychologists were in agreement with previous studies regarding the importance of sound theoretical and clinical training but management, administrative, and advocacy skills were not central to their perspective of a competent specialist in clinical neuropsychology. Establishing a specialty certificate in clinical neuropsychology based on core competencies may enable mobility of clinical neuropsychologists across Europe, and, perhaps, provide an impetus for countries with limited criteria to reconsider their training requirements and harmonize their standards with others. (shrink)

The result and the duration of an analysis depend on how quickly a patient succeeds in penetrating the resistance which prevents the unconscious data from becoming conscious. In addition to the fears that the patient brings with him into the analysis, the attitude of the analyst is a factor strengthening or weakening the fears and, therefore, the resistance. It is not primarily relevant here what the analyst says or thinks consciously, but whether he unconsciously accepts the patient and his claim (...) to happiness unconditionally. Freud s attitude towards the patient might be characterized fundamentally as „tolerance“. He recommends facing the patient indifferently and coolly. The essay proceeds to demonstrate that this conscious liberalism involves unconsciously a strict repudiation and rejection of those impulses which are tabooed by bourgeois society, especially the sexual ones. Therefore, Freud in his authoritarian and patricentric character must be recognized as a typical representative of a society, which demands obedience and subjection. This attitude creates in the patient, despite its liberalism, new fears which make it more difficult to overcome the resistance and, therefore, blocks the success of the analysis.The liberal tolerance represents at the same time a conscious relativism towards all values and an unconscious recognition of the taboos of bourgeois society. To utilize the Freudian therapy in the best possible way, it is necessary to connect it with an independent philosophy to accept unconditionally the patient’s claim to happiness and eliminating from all valuations the taboos and abstract traits. Le succès et la durée de l’analyse dépendent de la rapidité avec laquelle le malade réussit à briser la résistance qui empêche les réalités inconscientes de parvenir à la conscience. Abstraction faite des angoisses avec lesquelles le malade arrive à l’analyse, l’attitude de l’analyste est elle-même un facteur susceptible de renforcer ou au contraire d’affaiblir les angoisses et, par suite, la résistance. Ce qui importe en première ligne ce n’est pas ce que l’analyste dit ou pense consciemment, l’essentiel est de savoir si, inconsciemment aussi, il prend une attitude entièrement favorable à T égard du malade et de la prétention au bonheur de celui-ci. L’attitude de Freud à l’égard du malade peut être caractérisée d’abord par le mot de „tolérance“. Il recommande de ne pas porter de jugements de valeur, d’être indifférent et froid à l’égard du malade. L’article montre que derrière ce libéralisme conscient se cache un refus brutal, une condamnation des désirs qui sont en opposition avec les tabous de la société, spécialement les tabous sexuels. En même temps Freud se révèle un représentant typique de la société actuelle par son caractère autoritaire „patrocentrique“ qui réclame obéissance et soumission. Cette attitude, en dépit de son libéralisme conscient, crée au malade de nouvelles angoisses qui augmentent la difficulté de l’effort pour surmonter les résistances et ainsi rendent plus difficile le succès de l’analyse.La tolérance libérale avec son double visage, relativisme conscient à l’égard de toutes les valeurs et respect inconscient des tabous bourgeois, marque les limites de la thérapeutique analytique. La mise en valeur maximum de la thérapeutique Freudienne ne serait assurée que si elle était liée à une philosophie indépendante. Accepter inconditionnellement l’exigence du bonheur du malade, dépouiller toutes les valeurs de leur caractère tabou et abstrait constitueraient les traits essentiels d’une telle mise en valeur. (shrink)

Cet article étudie surtout les raisons de Faccueil favorable réservé à la théorie du droit maternel de Bachofen par des milieux de tendances ans4’: divergentes que le socialisme et le néoromantisme. Il montre qu'il y a chez Bachofen des tendances correspondant d'une part à la philosophie romantique et d'autre part à la critique de la société patricentrique. L'une ou l'autre de ces tendances se trouve être à la base des sympathies exprimées pour la théorie de Bachofen, selon l'orientation spirituelle ou (...) politique de son public. Au delà de cette question, l'auteur cherche à démontrer que la connaissance du „complexe matricentrique“, fondée sur l'étude des civilisations matriarcales, enrichit la doctrine des motifs psychiques qui sont à la base de la société moderne.This paper concerns itself mainly with the reason why Bachofen's mother-right theory met with so positive a reception by two such opposed circles as the Socialists and the New Romantics. It shows that in Bachofen there were present tendencies of romantic philosophy as well as statements leading to a criticism of the patricentric society — and that according to one's spiritual and political affiliations this or that aspect of Bachofen was made the basis for sympathy with the theory. It is also shown that the extensive knowledge of,,matricentric complexes“ obtained from study of matriarchal cultures, afford fruitful possibilities for the understanding of the psychological impulses lying at the root of modern society. (shrink)