Zusammenfassung Die Überwindung von Theorie-Praxis-Differenzen wird entlang der Unterscheidung zwischen wissenschaftlicher Rigorosität und Relevanz geführt. Der direkte Übertrag von wissenschaftlichen Befunden in die Praxis könnte im Sport auch durch die Übernahme von Führungspositionen gelingen. Forschungen, in welchem Maße und warum WissenschaftlerInnen Führungspositionen im Sport parallel zu einer Position an der Hochschule begleiten, liegen bislang noch nicht vor. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass nur ein geringer Teil der Vorstandsämter in DOSB/dsb, Landessportbünden und olympischen Spitzenverbänden durch forschende WissenschaftlerInnen besetzt ist und diese bei (...) Amtsübernahme und -ausübung nicht die Lösung der Theorie-Praxis-Differenz priorisieren. (shrink)

In recent years, the full text of papers are increasingly available electronically which opens up the possibility of quantitatively investigating citation contexts in more detail. In this study, we introduce a new form of citation analysis, which we call citation concept analysis (CCA). CCA is intended to reveal the cognitive impact certain concepts—published in a highly-cited landmark publication—have on the citing authors. It counts the number of times the concepts are mentioned (cited) in the citation context of citing publications. We (...) demonstrate the method using three classical highly cited books: (1) The structure of scientific revolutions by Thomas S. Kuhn, (2) The logic of scientific discovery—Logik der Forschung: Zur Erkenntnistheorie der modernen Naturwissenschaft in German—, and (3) Conjectures and refutations: the growth of scientific knowledge by Karl R. Popper. It is not surprising—as our results show—that Kuhn’s “paradigm” concept seems to have had a significant impact. What is surprising is that our results indicate a much larger impact of the concept “paradigm” than Kuhn’s other concepts, e.g., “scientific revolution”. The paradigm concept accounts for about 40% of the concept-related citations to Kuhn’s work, and its impact is resilient across all disciplines and over time. With respect to Popper, “falsification” is the most used concept derived from his books. Falsification is the cornerstone of Popper’s critical rationalism. (shrink)

The existing scholarly literature on the work and life of Max Weber has almost nothing to say about Max Weber's dissertation which was part of his first book, The History of Commercial Partnerships. This article reconstructs the development of this work. It explores how Weber chose and developed his dissertation, describes its major themes, and analyzes the academic contexts that framed it. Of particular interest is Max Weber's relationship to Levin Goldschmidt, a leading scholar in the history of commercial law, (...) and Weber's dissertation chair; also the assessment of each scholar's work by the other. The article also sheds light on how Weber's dissertation influenced his early career and it addresses Weber's personal life during this time, including Weber's relationship to his cousin Emmy Baumgarten, and his life as a bachelor at his parents' home, ruled by Max Weber Sr. The analysis reveals the remarkable academic challenges Weber faced and the obstacles he overcame in writing his first book, as well as his own extraordinarily difficult personal circumstances. An appendix presents a synopsis of the main arguments and themes of Weber's dissertation. (shrink)

PLoS ONE 3(3): e1897. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.

While previous studies have analyzed mean neurophysiological responses to musical stimuli, the current study aimed to identify specific time courses of electroencephalography (EEG) oscillations, which are associated with dynamic changes in the acoustic features of the musical stimulus. In addition, we were interested in whether these time courses change during a repeated presentation of the same musical piece. A total of 16 subjects repeatedly listened to the well-known aria “Nessun dorma,” sung by Paul Potts, while continuous 128-channel EEG and heart (...) rate, as well as electrodermal responses, were recorded. The time courses for the EEG oscillations were calculated using a time resolution of 1 second for several frequency bands, on the basis of individual alpha-peak frequencies (theta, low alpha-1, low alpha-2, upper alpha, and beta). For all frequency bands, we identified a more or less continuous increase in power relative to a baseline period, indicating strong event-related synchronization (ERS) during music listening. The ERS time courses, however, did not correlate strongly with the time courses of the acoustic features of the aria. In addition, we did not observe changes in EEG oscillations after repeated presentation of the same musical piece. Aside from this distinctive feature, we identified a remarkable variability in EEG oscillations, both within and between the repeated presentations of the aria. We interpret the continuous increase in ERS observed in all frequency bands during music listening as an indicator of a particular neurophysiological and psychological state evoked by music listening. We suggest that this state is characterized by increased internal attention (accompanied by reduced external attention), increased inhibition of brain networks not involved in the generation of this internal state, the maintenance of a particular level of general alertness, and a type of brain state that can be described as “mind wandering.” The overall state can be categorized as a psychological process that may be seen as a “drawing in” to the musical piece. However, this state is not stable and varies considerably throughout the music listening session and across subjects. Most important, however, is the finding that the neurophysiological activations occurring during music listening are dynamic and not stationary. (shrink)

In contrast to the recent rise to economic importance of offshore finance centres (OFCs), the topic of taxation has so far created little interest among scholars of corporate social responsibility (CSR). This paper makes two contributions to addressing this lacuna. Applying a range of influential normative theories of ethics, it first offers an ethical evaluation of tax havens. Second, the paper examines what use large firms that are headquartered in two OFCs—Bermuda and the Cayman Islands—make of formal CSR tools. The (...) emerging duplicity in tax havenbased companies professing social responsibility highlights once more the political nature of CSR, where at least some firms and/or industries can successfully limit government power to enact regulation as well as shape the discourse around CSR. The study of CSR in OFC-based firms thus calls into question the usefulness of the often quoted definition of CSR as going beyond the law. (shrink)

In 1638, the Jesuit, poet, preacher, and historianJohannes Bisselius published the first volume of his seasonal poem Deliciae Veris, Pleasures of Spring. The subtly composed, stylistically unique cycle is presented here for the first time in a modern edition with a German translation and insightful commentary, including an introduction to each poem.".

Name der Zeitschrift: Das Mittelalter Jahrgang: 22 Heft: 1 Seiten: 183-196.

Narrative is increasingly being recognised as an important tool both to manage and understand organisations. In particular, narrative is recognised to have an important influence on the perception of environmental issues in business, a particularly contested area of modern management. Management literature is, however, only beginning to develop a framework for evaluating the quality and legitimacy of narratives. Due to the highly fluid nature of narratives, the traditional notion of truth as reflecting ' objective reality' is not useful here. In (...) this article, an alternative approach that evaluates a narrative in two stages is developed. First, a horizontal reading investigates the surface of the narrative, its textual features, instrumental devices and its integrity as a text, to assess the quality of a narrative. Second, a more philosophical or vertical reading makes explicit the underlying value assumptions that author and reader bring to the writing and reading of the narrative to assess the narrative's claim to legitimacy. The framework is then tested against a narrative on the relationship between business and environment as espoused by a supply chain manager of a UK-based manufacturing company. (shrink)

Codes of conduct have become the perhaps most often used tool to manage corporate social responsibility (CSR). Researchers have primarily analysed such documents at company-wide or trans-company levels, whereas there is a dearth of studies into the use of codes for particular corporate functions. Hence, this article will examine one particular group of sub-company level codes, namely codes of conduct that stipulate CSR criteria for suppliers. Examining such ethical sourcing policies adopted by the FTSE100 corporations, the article draws out what (...) environmental, social and economic issues large corporations perceive to be important in the management of their supply chains. At an aggregate level, the coverage of CSR issues is rather extensive, yet at the level of the individual corporation a degree of selectivity in the issues that are addressed becomes noticeable. The code content analysis furthermore confirms the business case and public pressure to be the most important drivers of CSR. Finally, the study highlights the role of isomorphic processes in the adoption of CSR tools. (shrink)

This essay examines relativist and fideist challenges to Alasdair MacIntyre’s theory of rationality by reading some of MacIntyre’s more recent works in thecontext of his earlier work in the philosophy of religion, Marxism, and the philosophy of the social sciences.

The dualism of emic and etic plays a crucial role in the emergence of three culturally informed approaches of psychology: cross-cultural psychology , cultural psychology and indigenous psychologies , a distinction largely accepted nowadays. Similarities and/or differences between these positions are usually discussed either on the level of phenomena or theory. In this paper, however, the discussion takes place on a meta-theoretical or epistemological level, which is also emerging elsewhere. In following several earlier papers of the author, first, four perspectives (...) are distinguished that underlie present day psychology. Second, these are used as a framework for linking them to the three “camps”. This analysis will show that these perspectives are characterized by different underlying worldviews, interests as well as methodical preferences. Third, it is claimed that this level of discussion is quite fruitful for the ongoing discourse on the three camps, but also helps one to understand, why the duality between emic and etic approaches is—implicitly or explicitly—at the core of these discussions, because their relevance turns out to differ in the three camps. In that sense, the emic/etic duality is used here as a “litmus test” to exemplify these deeper differences between the camps, thereby highlighting them. Fourth, in order to overcome not only the dilemma between the unique and general in psychology, but also to clarify the relation between the individual and culture it is proposed that psychology should take human action as its unit of analysis, thereby connecting historically to the early beginnings of psychology at the end of the 19th century. It will be argued that a culture inclusive action theory may overcome this tension and may help to integrate western and other indigenous psychologies, and hence it could be advantageous to integrate CP and IPs as well. This is possible because the proposed theory hopefully provides a universal framework for psychological concepts, yet allows for their culture specific expression. (shrink)

ABSTRACT:The extant literature on cross-national differences in approaches to corporate social responsibility (CSR) has mostly focused on developed countries. Instead, we offer two inter-related studies into corporate codes of conduct issued by developing country multinational enterprises (DMNEs). First, we analyse code adoption rates and code content through a mixed methods design. Second, we use multilevel analyses to examine country-level drivers of differences in code content—specifically, elements of a country’s National Business System (NBS). We find that DMNEs are much more likely (...) to adopt a code of conduct than their domestic counterparts; however, this does not translate into greater code comprehensiveness. We also find support for the ‘substitute view’ of CSR in developing countries, i.e. that MNEs from poorer countries and from countries with lower governance effectiveness tend to express more comprehensive commitments. However, this dynamic does not extend to a country’s labour system; instead, CSR appears here to match the efficiency of a country’s labour market, thus reflecting the ‘mirror view’ of CSR. (shrink)

Seen from a national business system perspective, the notion of corporate social responsibility emerges as a specifically US‐American response to challenges regarding the corporate place in society. With the spread of American capitalism, however, CSR is bound to come into contact – and conflict – with other approaches to the role of business in society that have been shaped by different national cultures. Within Europe, one such area of potential conflict concerns the role of organised labour in representing employee interests. (...) Studying the perceptions held by European trade unions on stakeholding, as one of the important concepts in the CSR discourse, does indeed reveal a considerable degree of union scepticism of CSR and its terminology. There is, however, also embryonic evidence of at least some unions attempting to link the CSR discourse to traditional union goals. Furthermore, national differences in union responses to CSR are beginning to emerge, which may, in turn, further shape the evolution of national business systems in Europe. (shrink)

Studies into corporate social responsibility (CSR) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have suggested that small businesses are different to the large companies on which CSR research usually focusses. Extending this argument, this article raises the question what differences in approaches to CSR there are within the SME category. Analysing the CSR strategy and performance of a medium-sized fashion retailer in the United Kingdom through manager interviews as well as customer and employee surveys, the article develops an analytical framework of (...) CSR in small, medium and large firms. The argument is developed that medium-sized firms occupy a transition stage, where some CSR features that are reminiscent of small enterprises are still important but get overlaid with aspects that are more typical of large companies. (shrink)

Das vorliegende Buch stellt die Beziehungen zwischen neuplatonischer Metaphysik und dem spätantiken Mysterienkult dar. Ausgehend von einer Analyse des platonischen Kraftbegriffs (Dynamis) in seiner Beziehung zur Lichtbegrifflichkeit zeigt sich, daß zwar die Kraftmetaphysik das allgemeinere metaphysische Konzept darstellt, das auch der Lichtmetaphysik zugrundeliegt, es selbst aber in seinen Ausdifferenzierungen und in seinen Anwendungen auf den Bereich des Religiösen auf den explikativen Wert des Lichtmodells angewiesen bleibt. Die derart wechselseitig miteinander verschränkte Licht-Kraftmetaphysik macht ein zentrales Moment der neuplatonischen Metaphysik aus, das (...) beschreibt, wie die Welt mit ihren intelligiblen und materiellen Komponenten Gestalt annimmt, und das zugleich von den späteren Neuplatonikern genutzt wird, um Phänomene innerhalb eines umfassenden Rahmens zu erklären und zu legitimieren, die wesentlich mit der religiösen Praxis der Theurgie zusammenhängen, die z.B. in den Versen der sog. Chaldäischen Orakel ihren literarischen Ausdruck findet. (shrink)

This paper aims to ofer descriptions of the motion of human life and the place it is embedded in by presenting Eugen Fink’s cosmology and Emmanuel Levinas thinking as philosophies of motion. For both, human life is placed inside an impersonal motion and needs to make its home inside it. They differ however in the adequate mode of achieving this. The first part begins by introducing a difference between observable and non-observable types of motion with Fink. Progressing from thing ontological (...) concepts of motion derived from observation on things, the text presents Fink’s conceptions of the non-observable motions of human existence and the cosmic motion of appearing itself. In the second part, human life is thought as a corporeal motion of emancipation from the unpredictable motion of the elements. Taming the elements in economy, human life moves infinitely towards the Other. The conclusion juxtaposes Fink’s and Levinas‘ philosophies of motion. (shrink)

This article offers an overview over the wide scope business ethics has reached in German speaking countries; works which in their majority are not yet available in English translation. The proposed concepts range from a focus on the individual manager and a focus on moral education of managers, via the procedural model of discourse ethics to pressure group ethics and business ethics from a Christian point of view. Other authors suggest an economic theory of moral behaviour, or see ethics as (...) an assurance for decisions under uncertainty or argue for a more enlightened concept of economic rationality. (shrink)

Speed is an obvious facet of contemporary society, whereas slowness has often been dismissed as conservative and antimodern. Challenging a long tradition of thought, Lutz Koepnick instead proposes we understand slowness as a strategy of the contemporary--a decidedly modern practice that gazes firmly at and into the present's velocity. As he engages with late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century art, photography, video, film, and literature, Koepnick explores slowness as a critical medium to intensify our temporal and spatial experiences. Slowness helps (...) us register the multiple layers of time, history, and motion that constitute our present. It offers a timely mode of aesthetic perception and representation that emphasizes the openness of the future and undermines any conception of the present as a mere replay of the past. Discussing the photography and art of Janet Cardiff, Olafur Eliasson, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and Michael Wesely; the films of Peter Weir and Tom Tykwer; the video installations of Douglas Gordon, Willie Doherty, and Bill Viola; and the fiction of Don DeLillo, Koepnick shows how slowness can carve out spaces within processes of acceleration that allow us to reflect on alternate temporalities and durations. (shrink)

Seen from a national business system perspective, the notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) emerges as a specifically US‐American response to challenges regarding the corporate place in society. With the spread of American capitalism, however, CSR is bound to come into contact – and conflict – with other approaches to the role of business in society that have been shaped by different national cultures. Within Europe, one such area of potential conflict concerns the role of organised labour in representing employee (...) interests. Studying the perceptions held by European trade unions on stakeholding, as one of the important concepts in the CSR discourse, does indeed reveal a considerable degree of union scepticism of CSR and its terminology. There is, however, also embryonic evidence of at least some unions attempting to link the CSR discourse to traditional union goals. Furthermore, national differences in union responses to CSR are beginning to emerge, which may, in turn, further shape the evolution of national business systems in Europe. (shrink)

Zusammenfassung Entgegen häufig artikulierter Erwartungen ist die Erwerbstätigenquote in Sportvereinen noch immer gering und eine zunehmende Verberuflichung nicht zu beobachten. In Ergänzung vorliegender systemtheoretischer Erklärungsansätze wird ein produktionstheoretisches Modell entwickelt, das ehrenamtliche Arbeit als eine Form der Lohnspende auffasst und Entscheidungen des Sportvereins als Annäherung an eine minimale Kostenfunktion interpretiert. Aus dem Modell abgeleitete Hypothesen werden einer empirischen Prüfung aus den Daten einer Befragung aller rheinland-pfälzischen Sportvereine mit mehr als 750 Mitgliedern unterworfen. Es zeigt sich, dass sich die Hypothesen weitgehend (...) bewähren, sodass das Modell zur Erklärung geringer Ausbildungsintensität von Sportvereinen sowie zu den Bedingungen der Integration von Erwerbstätigkeit in die Produktionsfunktion von Sportvereinen beitragen kann. (shrink)

Zusammenfassung Anhand empirischer Daten zum organisationalem Verhalten von Ganztagsschulen und Sportvereinen wird der Frage nachgegangen, welche allgemeine Organisationstheorie Ansätze zur Erklärung von Kooperationen zwischen Ganztagsschulen und Sportvereinen bereitstellen kann. Nach der kriteriengestützten Identifikation erkenntnisträchtiger Organisationstheorien erfolgt eine explorative hypothesengeleitete empirische Prüfung der Transaktionskostentheorie, der Evolutionstheorie sowie der Theorie der Strukturation mit Längsschnittdaten aus Rheinland-Pfalz. Es zeigt sich, dass der Transaktionskostenansatz das Kooperationsverhalten von Sportvereinen, jedoch nicht von Ganztagsschulen, erklären kann. Die Evolutionstheorie leistet Beiträge zur Erklärung von Stabilität in der Population (...) der Ganztagsschulen sowie zum Wandel bei einem Teil der Kooperationspartner. Das Kooperationsverhalten von Ganztagsschulen kann damit ebenso wie mit der Theorie der Strukturation nicht theoriekonform interpretiert werden. (shrink)

Transparency is now a fundamental principle for data processing under the General Data Protection Regulation. We explore what this requirement entails for artificial intelligence and automated decision-making systems. We address the topic of transparency in artificial intelligence by integrating legal, social, and ethical aspects. We first investigate the ratio legis of the transparency requirement in the General Data Protection Regulation and its ethical underpinnings, showing its focus on the provision of information and explanation. We then discuss the pitfalls with respect (...) to this requirement by focusing on the significance of contextual and performative factors in the implementation of transparency. We show that human–computer interaction and human-robot interaction literature do not provide clear results with respect to the benefits of transparency for users of artificial intelligence technologies due to the impact of a wide range of contextual factors, including performative aspects. We conclude by integrating the information- and explanation-based approach to transparency with the critical contextual approach, proposing that transparency as required by the General Data Protection Regulation in itself may be insufficient to achieve the positive goals associated with transparency. Instead, we propose to understand transparency relationally, where information provision is conceptualized as communication between technology providers and users, and where assessments of trustworthiness based on contextual factors mediate the value of transparency communications. This relational concept of transparency points to future research directions for the study of transparency in artificial intelligence systems and should be taken into account in policymaking. (shrink)

This was the address given on the occasion of the award of the Goethe Institute’s Goethe Medal to the Hungarian philosopher Ágnes Heller in 2010. Other recipients of the Medal have included Bruno Bettelheim, György Ligeti, Ernst Gombrich, Karl Popper, and Lars Gustafsson.

Bisweilen sind wir frei. Diese Gewissheit gehört zu lebensweltlichen Überzeugungen, die resistent sind gegen wissenschaftliche Wissensansprüche. Was sagt diese Resistenz über den erkenntnismäßigen Status solcher Überzeugungen aus? – Dass sie den Status von Präsuppositionen für wissenschaftliche Erklärungen haben können. Der Präsuppositionsstatus schließt nicht aus, dass lebensweltliche Überzeugungen ein Wissen vom menschlichen Geist sind, statt bloß arationale Gewissheiten zu sein.