"The medical establishment has become a major threat to health. The disabling impact of professional control over medicine has reached the proportions of an epidemic. Iatrogenesis, the name for this new epidemic, comes from iatros, the Greek word for physician, and genesis, meaning origin. Discussion of the disease of medical progress has moved up on the agendas of medical conferences, researchers concentrate on the sick-making powers of diagnosis and therapy, and reports on paradoxical damage caused by cures for sickness take (...) up increasing space in medical dope-sheets [...] The public has been alerted to the perplexity and uncertainty of the best among its hygienic caretakers [...] This book argues that panic is out of place. Thoughtful public discussion of the iatrogenic pandemic, beginning with an insistence upon demystification of all medical matters, will not be dangerous to the commonweal."-- from Introduction. (shrink)

We present a study of the linguistic output of the German-speaking writer Robert Walser using Natural Language Processing (NLP). We curated a corpus comprising texts written by Walser during periods of sound health, and writings from the year before his hospitalization, and writings from the first year of his stay in a psychiatric clinic, all likely attributed to schizophrenia. Within this corpus, we identified and analyzed a total of 20 linguistic markers encompassing established metrics for lexical diversity, semantic similarity, and (...) syntactic complexity. Additionally, we explored lesser-known markers such as lexical innovation, concreteness, and imageability. Notably, we introduced two additional markers for phonological similarity for the first time within this context. Our findings reveal significant temporal dynamics in these markers closely associated with Walser’s contemporaneous diagnosis of schizophrenia. Furthermore, we investigated the relationship between these markers, leveraging them for classification of the schizophrenic episode. (shrink)

An assertion is existentially known if and only if: (i) the speaker knows that the sentence she uses to make the assertion expresses a true proposition; (ii) she makes the assertion based on that knowledge; and (iii) she does not believe, have justification for, or know the proposition asserted. Accordingly, if existentially known assertions could be made correctly—as argued by Charlie Pelling in his ‘Assertion and the Provision of Knowledge’—this would show that the norm of assertion cannot be the speaker's (...) belief in, justification for or knowledge of the proposition. In this paper, I try to show that Pelling's argument is inconclusive, as it rests on two assumptions which can be resisted. In turn, I offer a pair of alternative strategies to explain how we can deal with existentially known assertions under the assumption that the speaker's knowledge is the norm of assertion. (shrink)

Life satisfaction is a research hotspot in positive psychology in recent years. This study uses overseas students as subjects and attempts to examine the effect of place attachment and student life satisfaction on Mainland Chinese students’ word-of-mouth recommendations and their Ambassador Behavioral intention. A survey was systematically conducted in six institutions in Macao. The results of 312 valid data indicate that place dependence has a positive influence on place identity; place identity and place dependence have a positive influence on student (...) life satisfaction; student life satisfaction mediates the influence of the two dimensions of place attachment on WOM and AB intention. Recommendations are provided to improve overseas students’ life satisfaction in the study places. It helps to improve their sense of ownership and actively participate in the construction of the study places. (shrink)

During the 1980s Illich added another dimension to his thought through the study of Medieval history. In the current volume he aims to demonstrate the extent to which the groundwork for the institutions that characterize our world today was laid in the twelfth century.

Kniha až na dva eseje zahrnuje diskusní příspěvky a referáty. Pojednávají o budoucnosti filosofie, malých divadelních formách, antropologických předpokladech moderní kultury, posuzování modelu člověka v dramatickém díle.

U Republici Hrvatskoj biti ravnatelj/ica odgojno-obrazovne ustanove nije više samo funkcija nego i zanimanje. Obveze i prava ravnatelja/ica odgojno-obrazovnih ustanova proizlaze iz zakonske regulative, dok su kompetencije ravnatelja od 2020. određene standardom zanimanja i standardom kvalifikacije. Ovim se radom na temelju Standarda zanimanja i Standarda kvalifikacije ravnatelja/ica odgojno-obrazovnih ustanova kojima su određene kompetencije ravnatelja/ica odgojno-obrazovnih ustanova želio utvrditi stupanj ravnateljskih kompetencija stečenih formalnim nastavničkim obrazovanjem. Formalno nastavničko obrazovanje podrazumijeva stjecanje kompetencija za rad u odgojno-obrazovnim ustanovama. Te se kompetencije u Republici (...) Hrvatskoj stječu u okviru nastavničkih smjerova sveučilišnih diplomskih studija. Istraživanjem se procjenjivala razina stečenih kompetencija odnosno znanja i vještina tijekom takvog obrazovanja, a koja je primjenjiva u poslovima ravnatelja, a provedeno je metodom ankete na uzorku od 200 ravnatelja/ica osnovnih i srednjih škola u Republici Hrvatskoj. Anketirani ravnatelji/ice iskazali su zadovoljstvo kompetencijama stečenim formalnim nastavničkim obrazovanjem posebice za poslove koji se odnose na organizacijsko upravljanje odgojno-obrazovnim procesom i suradnju s roditeljima i vanjskim okruženjem. Međutim, istraživanjem su uočene grupe kompetencija koje ravnatelji/ice ocjenjuju kao nedostatne, uz naglašenu potrebu za profesionalizacijom ravnateljske funkcije. Dobiveni rezultati ukazuju na potrebu provođenja dodatnih programa edukacija ravnatelja/ica koji bi im omogućili stjecanje znanja i vještina koja nisu stekli formalnim obrazovanjem, a ključna su za upravljanje odgojno-obrazovnom ustanovom. (shrink)

Karel Kosík (1926-2003) was one of the most remarkable Czech Marxist philosophers of the twentieth century. His reputation as a creative thinker is owed largely to his philosophical 'blockbuster' Dialectics of the Concrete, first published in Czechoslovakia in 1963. In reintroducing Kosík's philosophy to English-speaking readers, we show that Kosík's work is important not only as a leading intellectual document of the Prague Spring, but also as an original theoretical contribution with international impact that sheds light on the meaning of (...) labour and praxis, democracy and economic structure, dialectics and the crises of modernity. (shrink)

I argue that an analogy between pains and sounds suggests a way to give an objective account of pain which fits well with a naïve perceptualist account of feeling pain. According to the proposed metaphysical account, pains are relational physical events with shared qualitative nature, each of which is constituted by tissue damage and the activation of nociceptors. I proceed to show that the metaphysical proposal is compatible with platitudes about pains being animate, private, and self-intimating states.

With its emphasis on analytical dualism and its detailed account of the concepts and methods necessary for its application, Margaret Archer's morphogenetic approach seems to provide significant potential for empirical research. Over a decade after its publication, however, the potential of the approach remains largely unrealised. This paper seeks to begin to address this situation by reporting on and assessing the application of the morphogenetic approach to a longitudinal case study of information systems development and organisational change in British local (...) government. This assessment confirms Archer's claims for the approach's value as an instrument for the production of non-conflationary practical social theory. In addition, certain features of the methodology moved the analysis of IS and organisational change beyond that of more mainstream approaches used for this type of research. However, a range of issues are identified which demonstrate that the complexity and resulting resource intensity of the approach may well work against its more widespread adoption for empirical research. (shrink)

The author analyses the problems faced by Continental Europe's legal systems as a result of the appearance of the so‐called new religious movements. He is of the opinion that the expected change towards the achievement of full legal neutrality regarding the religious phenomena cannot be based on the sole assumption that each and every religion deserves protection. In fact, he considers that any system of equality should be aimed at protecting the legitimate expression of the individual's free will; that is (...) to say, neither a particular religion nor all of them, but the person considered as a citizen, regardless of whether he believes or not. (shrink)

There are three main types of atonement, namely the ‘classic’ type where Christ is a Victor, the ‘Latin’ type where Christ is satisfaction and the type of ‘humanism’ in which God is Love. These three types contain language of violence. However, the most striking language of violence is the ‘Latin’ type, where God is seen as the Angry one, who is thirsty for blood and asking to be satisfied. The sacrifice of redemption is seen as the idea of ‘bribe to (...) God’. Some theologians reject this idea and look for other alternatives. This article aims to find other alternatives while maintaining the idea of redemption sacrifice. The author uses a Jewish perspective in reading the Bible. From the entire Bible metanarrative, the authors construct the theory of atonement by focusing on the idea of Besorat Hageulah, the Gospel of redemption. On the cross is the sacrifice for redemption that expresses God’s justice and love. The bloodshed on the cross is not to satisfy God, who is angry, but as a sign of God’s love for humans according to the demands of justice ‘life shall go for life’ (KJV, Dt 19:21).Contribution: This article is interdisciplinary in the sense that it touches on issues such as redemption, mercy and peace. In this article, the author has shown how redemption brings peace and love. The implication is in the life of the nation and state as God’s creatures. (shrink)

We extend Savage et al.'s music and social bonding hypothesis by examining it in the context of Chinese music. First, top-down functions such as music as political instrument should receive more attention. Second, solo performance can serve as important cues for social identity. Third, a right match between the tones in lyrics and music contributes also to social bonding.

[opening paragraph] -- I am convinced that `health' and `responsibility' belong to a lost past and that, since I am neither a romantic, a visionary, nor a drop-out, I must renounce both of them. We are occupied with a reflection on contemporary certainties and their history, that is, on assumptions which seem so commonplace that they escape critical testing. Over and over again we find that the renunciation of these very certainties offers the only possibility remaining for us to take (...) up a critical position regarding that which Jacques Ellul calls la technique. As we want to free ourselves from these assumptions, not just run away, my reaction to `taking responsibility for one's own health' is an emphatic `no!'. (shrink)

Since the death of Cézanne in 1906, there has been throughout the world of European art a general reawakening of a sense of the necessity for constructive qualities in painting. Whereas our fathers were content to speak of the “composition” of a picture, in our own day it is more usual to speak of its construction. Composition, after all, is a comparatively loose and elastic term implying a generally harmonious arrangement of the massed effect of light and dark, a juxtaposition (...) of contrasting and balanced tones, sufficiently logical in their placing as to give a general sense of repose and unity to the work as a whole. Composition was generally understood to be dependent upon instinct and good taste on the part of the painter, and, as such, it was looked upon as a thing that could not be taught by rule of thumb. Like a sense of colour, a student either had it or he had not; and, beyond attempting to guard him from glaring error, there was little that a teacher of art could do for him in this department of his training. Perspective, which is governed by definite mathematical rules, could be taught in detail as an aid to composition, but the sense of composition itself must be allowed to develop in the student according to his talent for this side of his work. Composition classes were indeed a part of his curriculum, but the criticism which a student received at such classes amounted, in practice, to little more than general advice, given by the teacher, from his ripe experience and his developed sense oftherightandwrong in this matter, to the unmatured taste of the student. It was understood that composition could not exist without a general sense of order, but it was understood in a much looser sense than is implied by the comparatively modern use of the word “construction” that has replaced it. The artist of the modern school or schools of thought will have none of the old happy-golucky, loose thinking in the matter of construction. (shrink)