Background Health care workers (HCWs) are susceptible to moral stress and distress when they are faced with morally challenging situations where it is difficult to act in line with their moral standards. In times of crisis, such as disasters and pandemics, morally challenging situations are more frequent, due to the increased imbalance between patient needs and resources. However, the concepts of moral stress and distress vary and there is unclarity regarding the definitions used in the literature. This study aims to (...) map and analyze the descriptions used by HCWs regarding morally challenging situations (moral stress) and refine a definition through conceptual analysis. Methods Qualitative data were collected in a survey of 16,044 Swedish HCWs who attended a COVID-19 online course in autumn 2020. In total, 643 free-text answers with descriptions of moral stress were analyzed through content analysis. Results Three themes emerged from the content analysis (1) “Seeing, but being prevented to act; feeling insufficient/inadequate and constrained in the profession,” (2) “Someone or something hindered me; organizational structures as an obstacle,” and (3) “The pandemic hindered us; pandemic-related obstacles.” The three themes correspond to the main theme, “Being prevented from providing good care.” Discussion The main theme describes moral stress as various obstacles to providing good care to patients in need and acting upon empathic ability within the professional role. The themes are discussed in relation to established definitions of moral stress and are assessed through conceptual analysis. A definition of moral stress was refined, based on one of the established definitions. Conclusions On the basis of the study results and conceptual analysis, it is argued that the presented definition fulfils certain conditions of adequacy. It is essential to frame the concept of moral stress, which has been defined in different ways in different disciplines, in order to know what we are talking about and move forward in developing prevention measures for the negative outcomes of this phenomenon. (shrink)

BackgroundThe experience sampling method is an increasingly popular data collection method to assess interpersonal dynamics in everyday life and emotions contextualized in real-world settings. As primary advantages of ESM sampling strategies include minimization of memory biases, maximization of ecological validity, and hypothesis testing at the between- and within-person levels, ESM is suggested to be appropriate for studying the daily lives of educational actors. However, ESM appears to be underutilized in education research. We, thus, aimed to systematically evaluate the methodological characteristics (...) and quality of published ESM studies of social interactions among children and adolescents in school settings, as well as to explore how much variance in social interaction variables could be attributed to the within-person level.MethodUsing Academic Search Complete, APA PsycINFO, APA PsycArticles, ProQuest, Web of Science, Wiley Online Library, and SAGE Journals, and in accordance with PRISMA guidelines and pre-defined eligibility criteria, we conducted a systematic literature search of experience sampling studies up to November 2020. To assess methodological quality, we used a modified checklist for reporting of ESM studies.ResultsOf the originally 2 413 identified studies, a final 52 experience sampling studies were included in the present review. Findings on sample and study design characteristics generally revealed wide variability. Even if high-quality studies were associated with higher scores on the training of participants in using the ESM procedure, and use of incentives, these design strategies did not reveal a statistically significant impact on compliance. The intraclass correlation coefficient was reported in nine studies and on average 58% of the variance in social interaction variables could be attributed to within-person fluctuation between timepoints.ConclusionThe current study is the first to systematically review ESM-based studies on social interactions among children and adolescents in the school context. These observations suggest that ESM is a potentially favorable technique for extracting complex social phenomena in real-world settings. We hope that this review will contribute to improving the quality assessment of ESM studies as well as to inform and guide future experience sampling studies, particularly regarding social phenomena with children and adolescents in educational settings. (shrink)

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) to different sites allows interfering with dysfunctional network function implicated in major depression. Because a prominent clinical feature of depression is anhedonia--the inability to experience pleasure from previously pleasurable activities--and because there is clear evidence of dysfunctions of the reward system in depression, DBS to the nucleus accumbens might offer a new possibility to target depressive symptomatology in otherwise treatment-resistant depression. Three patients suffering from extremely resistant forms of depression, who did not respond to pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy, (...) and electroconvulsive therapy, were implanted with bilateral DBS electrodes in the nucleus accumbens. Stimulation parameters were modified in a double-blind manner, and clinical ratings were assessed at each modification. Additionally, brain metabolism was assessed 1 week before and 1 week after stimulation onset. Clinical ratings improved in all three patients when the stimulator was on, and worsened in all three patients when the stimulator was turned off. Effects were observable immediately, and no side effects occurred in any of the patients. Using FDG-PET, significant changes in brain metabolism as a function of the stimulation in fronto-striatal networks were observed. No unwanted effects of DBS other than those directly related to the surgical procedure (eg pain at sites of implantation) were observed. Dysfunctions of the reward system--in which the nucleus accumbens is a key structure--are implicated in the neurobiology of major depression and might be responsible for impaired reward processing, as evidenced by the symptom of anhedonia. These preliminary findings suggest that DBS to the nucleus accumbens might be a hypothesis-guided approach for refractory major depression. (shrink)

Monetary intelligence theory asserts that individuals apply their money attitude to frame critical concerns in the context and strategically select certain options to achieve financial goals and ultimate happiness. This study explores the dark side of monetary Intelligence and behavioral economics—dishonesty. Dishonesty, a risky prospect, involves cost–benefit analysis of self-interest. We frame good or bad barrels in the environmental context as a proxy of high or low probability of getting caught for dishonesty, respectively. We theorize: The magnitude and intensity of (...) the relationship between love of money and dishonest prospect may reveal how individuals frame dishonesty in the context of two levels of subjective norm—perceived corporate ethical values at the micro-level and Corruption Perceptions Index at the macro-level, collected from multiple sources. Based on 6382 managers in 31 geopolitical entities across six continents, our cross-level three-way interaction effect illustrates: As expected, managers in good barrels, mixed barrels, and bad barrels display low, medium, and high magnitude of dishonesty, respectively. With high CEV, the intensity is the same across cultures. With low CEV, the intensity of dishonesty is the highest in high CPI entities —the Enron Effect, but the lowest in low CPI entities. CPI has a strong impact on the magnitude of dishonesty, whereas CEV has a strong impact on the intensity of dishonesty. We demonstrate dishonesty in light of monetary values and two frames of social norm, revealing critical implications to the field of behavioral economics and business ethics. (shrink)

Recently, the mechanistic framework of active inference has been put forward as a principled foundation to develop an overarching theory of consciousness which would help address conceptual disparities in the field (Wiese 2018 ; Hohwy and Seth 2020 ). For that promise to bear out, we argue that current proposals resting on the active inference scheme need refinement to become a process theory of consciousness. One way of improving a theory in mechanistic terms is to use formalisms such as computational (...) models that implement, attune and validate the conceptual notions put forward. Here, we examine how computational modelling approaches have been used to refine the theoretical proposals linking active inference and consciousness, with a focus on the extent and success to which they have been developed to accommodate different facets of consciousness and experimental paradigms, as well as how simulations and empirical data have been used to test and improve these computational models. While current attempts using this approach have shown promising results, we argue they remain preliminary in nature. To refine their predictive and structural validity, testing those models against empirical data is needed i.e., new and unobserved neural data. A remaining challenge for active inference to become a theory of consciousness is to generalize the model to accommodate the broad range of consciousness explananda; and in particular to account for the phenomenological aspects of experience. Notwithstanding these gaps, this approach has proven to be a valuable avenue for theory advancement and holds great potential for future research. (shrink)

Monetary Intelligence theory asserts that individuals apply their money attitude to frame critical concerns in the context and strategically select certain options to achieve financial goals and ultimate happiness. This study explores the bright side of Monetary Intelligence and behavioral economics, frames money attitude in the context of pay and life satisfaction, and controls money at the macro-level and micro-level. We theorize: Managers with low love of money motive but high stewardship behavior will have high subjective well-being: pay satisfaction and (...) quality of life. Data collected from 6586 managers in 32 cultures across six continents support our theory. Interestingly, GDP per capita is related to life satisfaction, but not to pay satisfaction. Individual income is related to both life and pay satisfaction. Neither GDP nor income is related to Happiness. Our theoretical model across three GDP groups offers new discoveries: In high GDP entities, “high income” not only reduces aspirations—“Rich, Motivator, and Power,” but also promotes stewardship behavior—“Budget, Give/Donate, and Contribute” and appreciation of “Achievement.” After controlling income, we demonstrate the bright side of Monetary Intelligence: Low love of money motive but high stewardship behavior define Monetary Intelligence. “Good apples enjoy good quality of life in good barrels.” This notion adds another explanation to managers’ low magnitude of dishonesty in entities with high Corruption Perceptions Index. In low GDP entities, high income is related to poor Budgeting skills and escalated Happiness. These managers experience equal satisfaction with pay and life. We add a new vocabulary to the conversation of monetary intelligence, income, GDP, happiness, subjective well-being, good and bad apples and barrels, corruption, and behavioral ethics. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the research program of formal ontology developed by M. Scheler before his last 1922 theoretical shift. Scheler’s theory of dialectical negation will be also investigated. In regard to the first topic, the focus will be on the complex architecture of Scheler’s formal ontology, deepened within a theoretical framework of realistic ontology: integrated into this framework, formal ontology becomes a basic tool for building phenomenological realisms. In regard to the second topic, the focus (...) will be on the close theoretical relationship between Scheler’s mature suggestion of a phenomenological objective dialectics essence-being underlying his theory of the “functionalization of the essential knowledge” (Funktionalizierung der Wesenserkenntnis) ─ systematically presented for the first time in the 1921 work Probleme der Religion ─, and the formal ontological foundation of a logical theory of a “pluralistic” dialectical negation, that is, dually, an intuitionistic, hence paracomplete, and a paraconsistent negation. Finally, it will be introduced the basics of a semiotic interpretation of Scheler’s phenomenological formal ontology within the rigorous framework of Category Theory (TC). This interpretation “strengthens” the traditional (inter)subjective side of phenomenological analysis with a new ─ in the application suggested ─ “in the third person” objective side of semiotic analysis, that shares with the first one a common pre-logical and ante-predicative level of inquiry. (shrink)

Riassunto: Questo lavoro tratta le dimensioni analitiche della hyletica e della genetica nella prima fenomenologia della percezione sensibile di M. Scheler, caratterizzata da una fondazione realistica della materia e della forma del percetto. La hyletica fenomenologica indaga la “materia” o contenuto qualitativo del vissuto nel suo aspetto pre-intenzionale di dato sensoriale informe, privo cioè di forma oggettiva. La genetica fenomenologica indaga la genesi o formazione dei due poli della relazione intenzionale atto-oggetto, a partire dal loro originario momento d’indistinzione allo stadio (...) primitivo della coscienza percettiva. In questo lavoro si sottolinea l’originale elaborazione scheleriana dell’analisi fenomenologica: hyletica e genetica sono parte di un’indagine volta a indagare i diversi aspetti della realtà intesa come fenomeno vissuto caratterizzato dalla resistenza delle cose rispetto a un comportamento animato da finalità adattative. Il percipiente non è per Scheler il soggetto autocosciente, ma l’organismo come agente di informazione/comunicazione in costante interazione con il proprio ambiente circostante. Parole chiave: Hyletica fenomenologica; Fenomenologia genetica; Oggetto reale; Materia; Resistenza Matter and Form in Max Scheler’s Early Phenomenological Aesthetics: This paper addresses the analytic dimensions of Hyletics and Genetics in M. Scheler’s early phenomenology of sense perception, characterized by its realistic foundation for the matter and form of percepts. Phenomenological Hyletics studies the “matter”, i.e., the qualitative content of lived experiences with respect to the pre-intentional aspect of its unformed sensory input, lacking in objectual form. Phenomenological Genetics studies the “genesis” or formation of intentionality’s relata, starting from the early moments of indistinction at the initial phase of perceptual consciousness. This paper highlights the pivotal role and, above all, the original elaboration of these two analytic dimensions by the author: within Scheler’s work, phenomenological Hyletics and Genetics form part of an inquiry that stresses different aspects of reality, understood as a living phenomenon characterized by the resistance of things to adaptive behavior. According to Scheler, therefore, the perceiver is not a self-conscious subject, but rather an organism, i.e., an agent of information-communication that continuously interacts with his surrounding environment. Keywords: Phenomenological Hyletic; Genetic Phenomenology; Real Object; Matter; Resistence. (shrink)

La dimensione epistemologica dell’opera giovanile, pre-fenomenologica di M. Scheler non è stata ad oggi adeguatamente studiata. Questo breve articolo intende esplorare tale dimensione della prima riflessione filosofica scheleriana da una prospettiva analitica di tipo storiografico. Particolare attenzione sarà quindi riservata alle fonti e ai principali temi di interesse epistemologico affrontati dall’autore. I testi di riferimento sono la tesi di dottorato Beiträge zur festellung der Beziehungen zwischen den logischen und ethischen Prinzipien, lo scritto di abilitazione Versuch über die philosophische Methode, pubblicato (...) con il titolo Die transzendentale und die psycologische Methode e il frammento del primo libro della Logik, opera che Scheler ritira dalle stampe nel 1906. Conclusivamente, si proporrà un percorso di lettura dell’epistemologia che Scheler elabora nel contesto delle due versioni della sua successiva filosofia fenomenologica. (shrink)

1. Historically, our sense of smell has been deemed informationally impoverished, not very discerning, subjective, ineffable, and generally of little value (for an overview, see e.g., Barwich, 2020...

In his early interpretation and representation of the oral teachings of the Hasidic masters, Martin Buber engaged in issues pertinent to the critique of language (Sprachkritik,) of the fin-de-siècle. Associated pre-eminently with Fritz Mauthner and his circle, the critique of language (Sprachkritik) questioned the epistemological status of language, wedded as it is to the divisive Erfahrungswelt. By drawing attention to ecstatic speech, which paradoxically gives expression to the experience (Erlebnis) of the ineffable unity of existence, Buber adumbrates a solution to (...) the cognitive limitations of language. Refracted through Lebensphilosophie, he distinguishes between language as bound to Erfahrung and speech as nurtured by Erlebnis. Whereas language is propelled by conceptual and propositional forms of cognition, speech, principally sustained by metaphors evoked by an experience of the noumenal. Through an examination of his interpretive translation of a well-known Hasidic parable, this article explores how he amplifies this distinction by means of a semantic transformation of the key mystical metaphor of 'ahizat ' enayim (lit. seizing the eyes). Discerning the hermeneutical layers of Buber's rendition of the parable, we argue that his own ambiguous propositional casting of the metaphor entraps him into the very problem he sought to overcome. /// O presente artigo tem como ponto de partida o facto de que na interpretação e representação que dos mestres do Hasidismo fez logo na primeira fase da sua actividade como intelectual, Martin Buber assumiu como próprias questões especialmente pertinentes para uma crítica da linguagem (Sprachkritik) típica da época fin-de-siècle. Associada de modo particular a Fritz Mauthner e ao seu círculo, a Sprachkritik interrogava-se sobretudo acerca do estatuto epistemológico da linguagem, conectada como ela estava com uma Erfahrungswelt que era, desde logo, fonte de divisão. Nesse sentido, a autora do artigo defende que ao chamar a atenção para o discurso ecstático, o qual de modo paradoxal dá expressão à experiência (Erlebnis,) da unidade inefável da existência, Martin Buber pretende fazer vir ao de cima uma solução para o problema das limitações cognitivas da linguagem. Com efeito, mediante recurso à Lebensphilosophie, Buber distingue entre linguagem enquanto ligada à Erfahrung e discurso enquanto que propriamente alimentado pela Erlebnis. Ou seja, Buber reconhece que a linguagem esta animada por formas conceptuais e proposicionais de cognição, ao passo que o discurso aparece sobretudo sustentado por metáforas evocadas por uma experiência do noumenal Em suma, ao focar a sua atenção numa análise da tradução interpretativa que Buber faz de uma bem conhecida parábola Hasídica, o presente artigo explora de que modo o pensador judeu amplifica esta distinção mediante uma transformação semântica da principal metáfora mística do 'ahizaí 'enayim, ou seja, literalmente, da confiscação dos olhos. Tudo isso de modo a discernir os estratos hermenêuticos da interpretação buberiana da parábola, acabando a autora por mostrar de que modo Martin Buber ao dar uma forma propo-sicional ambígua à metáfora acabou por se encerrar no exacto problema que, desde logo, tinha procurado ultrapassar. (shrink)

O artigo apresenta a explicação fenomenológica da dimensão afetiva da pessoa humana e da sua relação com os valores, no pensamento da Edith Stein. O que diferencia a abordagem deste tema segundo a autora é precisamente a orientação para a explicação da pessoa humana: os diferentes tipos de vivências afetivas, conforme a sua origem em diferentes estratos da alma, constituem a pessoa, que se faz conhecer pela sua abertura aos valores que nas vivências de sentimentos são apreendidos.

Welfare science has built its foundations on veterinary medicine and thus measures of health. Since bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) tend to mask symptoms of poor health, management in captivity would benefit from advanced understanding on the links between health and behavioural parameters, and few studies exist on the topic. In this study, four representative behavioural and health measures were chosen: health status (as qualified by veterinarians), percentage of daily food eaten, occurrences of new rake marks (proxy measure of social activity), (...) and willingness to participate (WtP) in Positive Reinforcement Training sessions as qualitatively measured by their caretakers. These data were collected multiple times a day, every day over the course of a year from a multi-facility, large sample size (ndolphins= 51), allowing powerful analyses of the relationships between measures. First, it was found that dolphins with a higher WtP score also had a significantly better health status, ate a higher percentage of their daily food, and a lower occurrence of new rake marks. In addition, the WtP score was significantly lower up to 3 days before the weekly veterinary diagnosis of a decrease in health state; the percentage of daily food eaten and new rake mark measures did not show any significant change before such a diagnosis. These results suggest that WtP in training sessions is a potential behavioural measure of dolphin welfare, and an indicator of early changes in the dolphins’ health state. We therefore suggest measurement of WtP as a more practical and non-invasive tool to support veterinary care and general management. More work needs to be conducted to elucidate the influence of social behaviour on health, and to identify other potential welfare indicators, but this long-term study has shown that qualitative measures can be both practical and valid when assessing dolphin welfare. (shrink)

_Riassunto_: Il concetto di modello corporeo è un’acquisizione relativamente recente della neuropsicologia. Studiosi attivi in questo ambito di ricerca interpretano il concetto di modello corporeo come facente riferimento ad un modello interno, una rappresentazione cognitiva delle proprietà anatomiche, volumetriche e posturali del corpo umano. È stato dimostrato come il modello corporeo fornisca un _background_ cognitivo stabile a processi d’integrazione dell’informazione multisensoriale riferita al corpo proprio. In questo senso, si ritiene che esso concorra a generare una forma elementare di autocoscienza corporea, (...) il cosiddetto sé corporeo minimale. Il presente contributo intende fornire un’aggiornata rassegna tematica sul modello corporeo trattato contestualmente alla teoria neuropsicologica del sé corporeo minimale. A tale scopo, saranno discussi studi teorici di rilievo che condividono una comune base sperimentale: le _Illusioni della Proprietà Corporea_ (IPC). Attenzione verrà riservata anche alle principali ricadute che un tale lavoro di sistematizzazione teorica ha recentemente conosciuto in psicopatologia, filosofia della neuroscienza e neurofilosofia. Saranno infine segnalati alcuni problemi aperti nella contemporanea ricerca sul modello corporeo. _Parole chiave_: Neuropsicologia; Modello corporeo; Sé corporeo minimo; Illusioni della proprietà corporea _The body model and the neuropsychological theory of the minimal bodily self. A thematic revie _ _Abstract_: The body model is a relatively new concept developed by neuropsychologists that refers to an internal model or cognitive representation of the anatomical, volumetric, and structural aspects of the human body. The body model has been shown to provide a stable cognitive background for body-related multisensory integration, thereby contributing to the formation of an elementary kind of corporeal self-consciousness, the so-called minimal bodily self. Here, I provide an updated thematic review of research on the body model in the context of the neuropsychological theory of the minimal bodily self. It examines theoretical studies based on experiments on _Body Ownership Illusions_ (BOI) and the important implications this work has for psychopathology, the philosophy of neuroscience and neurophilosophy. Finally, it points to some unanswered questions in contemporary research on the body model. _Keywords_: Neuropsychology;_ _Body Model; Minimal Bodily Self; Body Ownership Illusions. (shrink)

O texto analisa o conceito de crença [Glaube]e sua relação com a razão na fenomenologia de Husserl, sob três aspectos. Primeiramente, a partir da concepção da razão como essência e telos do homem e da concepção da filosofia como o modo de vida que lhe corresponde e que exige a crença na razão. Em segundo lugar é analisada a crença como posição de ser e a sua legitimação pela razão. O último aspecto analisado é o da implição da crença em (...) Deus na elucidação da exigência da vida ética para o sentido racional da existência no mundo. A concepção teleológica da vida da subjetividade e intersubjetividade marca a compreensão da relação entre crença e razão; esta última é alargada de modo a permitir pensar uma originária unidade entre as suas dimensões teórica e prática. (shrink)

O texto analisa como a teleologia, forma do ser da subjetividade segundo Husserl, opera na vontade. Em primeiro lugar são apresentados os elementos fundamentais da fenomenologia da vontade enquanto posição de metas; a seguir pergunta-se sobre a meta derradeira que opera na subjetividade como o telos implicado no processo do seu ser. Husserl pensa o telos como o ideal ético infinito da subjetividade perfeita na comunidade perfeita. A fé e a decisão pessoal por esta meta são fundamentais para a realização (...) do sentido do ser. (shrink)

Questo articolo ricostruisce la dimensione formale dell’ontologia elaborata da Max Scheler fra il 1908-1909 ed il 1922, nel corso cioè della sua prima fase produttiva d’interesse fenomenologico. Particolare attenzione è riservata alla struttura “architettonica” della prima ontologia formale scheleriana, composta da un trivium di sotto-discipline formali. L’autore elabora in questo modo la distinzione, sostenuta dai maggiori rappresentanti dei primi Circoli tedeschi di fenomenologia realista, fra un’ontologia formale “pura” che indaga la regione formale analitica dell’“oggettività in generale” e ontologie formali generali (...) interessate alle forme o categorie oggettuali dell’essere reale, organizzato in sommi generi materiali. L’articolo mostra inoltre come l’approccio scheleriano all’ontologia formale apra percorsi di recupero e rielaborazione di un’idea tipicamente pre-moderna: l’ontologia è disciplina che tratta anche dell’ordine sovra-predicamentale delle relazioni trascendentali. (shrink)

O texto pretende explicitar como, segundo Tugendhat, se dá a justificação da moral, intrínseca aos juízos morais, através de uma imbricação dos elementos racional e emotivo. Os juízos morais, enquanto procedimento racional, contêm uma pretensão de objetividade, que se pode explicar pelo imperativo categórico kantiano, interpretado como um exigir mútuo do respeito universal e imparcial aos interesses de todos. A obrigatoriedade moral, porém, pressupõe também um querer fazer parte de uma comunidade moral, a partir da qual os juízos morais passam (...) a vincular emotivamente, através da interiorização dos sentimentos que acompanham o aprovar e o desaprovar moral. Essa explicação das exigências morais parece satisfatória para a justificação de um núcleo mínimo de normas morais partilhadas numa dada sociedade; o texto aponta para a problematicidade dessa justificação da obrigatoriedade moral nos casos em que faltam regras partilhadas ou quando se considera a não-identificação das exigências morais com o que é empiricamente aprovado na sociedade. (shrink)

In a multiagent and multi-cultural world, the fine-grained analysis of agents’ dynamic behaviour, i.e. of their activities, is essential. Dynamic activities are actions that are characterized by an agent who executes the action and by other participants of the action. Wh-questions on the participants of the actions pose a difficult particular challenge because the variability of the types of possible answers to such questions is huge. To deal with the problem, we propose the analysis and classification of Wh-questions apt for (...) agents’ communication in a multiagent system (MAS). Our proposal of such a system consists of agents who communicate with their fellow agents by messaging so that each autonomous agent, though resource-bounded, can make less or more rational decisions to meet its own and collective goals. In addition, by communicating with other fellow agents and their environment, agents can learn new concepts and enrich their ontology so that their behaviour is dynamic. We aim to make a general proposal of the system so that the ‘envelope’ of agents’ messages can be formalized in any MAS standard, be it The Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents - Agent Communication Language (FIPA-ACL) or Knowledge Query and Manipulation Language (KQML). Yet, the content of messages is encoded in a formalized natural language. To this end, we apply Transparent Intensional Logic (TIL) with its procedural semantics which is particularly apt for a fine-grained analysis in which all the semantically salient features of natural language can be plausibly formalized. In this paper, we concentrate on analysing the content of query messages, particularly the content of those that encode Wh-questions and the answers to them. We also summarize TIL deduction system that makes it possible to answer such questions in an intelligent way. Linguists distinguish several subtypes of Wh-questions. Though the linguistic classification is helpful, it is not always suitable for agents’ communication and reasoning. We need the classification based on a logical analysis of Wh-questions so that the agents can infer possible answers to such questions rather than only looking for them by keywords. This paper aims to apply an appropriate classification of the logical types of Wh-questions and the analysis of such questions; we concentrate in particular on questions concerning the participants of activities. The application of these results to the analysis of processes and events based on verb valency frames is another novelty of the paper. (shrink)

In this paper, I attend to the ontological shift in Merleau-Ponty’s later writing and suggest that this conceptual turn opens the space for questions of the latent sense of the sensible foreclosed by dualist accounts and propositional theories of meaning. By attending to the Nature Lectures, I claim that there is a sens [meaning and orientation] of nature whose regulatory principle ought to be found in nature itself. This is to say that there is a normativity of nature that, albeit (...) not exclusive of sociocultural-linguistic norms, is irreducible to them. As I argue, this normativity is a “transspatializing and transtemporalizing”: it transverses its carnal manifestations, thereby inaugurating and becoming traceable within their materialization while remaining invisible in its excess or poietic renewing. I conclude by attending to the question of the “latent sense” of nature, suggesting that this sense is not conceptual or propositional, but intuitive as in the sense of right and left, a sense that is distributed across spatio-temporal individuals and emerges via the play of yet-to-be-determined incarnate manifestations.Dans cet article, j’aborde le tournant ontologique du dernier Merleau-Ponty et je suggère qu’il implique une interrogation sur le sens latent du sensible, exclu par les approches dualistes ainsi que par les théories propositionnelles de la signification. En analysant les cours sur la Nature, je vise à montrer qu’il y a un sens [signification et direction] de la nature, dont le principe régulateur est à chercher dans la nature elle-même. Cela revient à dire qu’il y a une normativité de la nature qui, bien qu’elle n’exclue pas les normes socio-culturelles-linguistiques, ne leur est pas pour autant réductible. Une telle normativité est « trans-spatiale et trans-temporelle » : elle traverse ses manifestations charnelles, en inaugurant ainsi et en devenant traçable dans ses matérialisations, tout en demeurant invisible dans son excès et dans son renouvellement poïétique. Je termine en abordant la question du « sens latent » de la nature, en suggérant que ce sens n’est ni conceptuel ni propositionnel, mais intuitif, tout comme l’est le sens de la droite et de la gauche, c’est-à-dire un sens qui est distribué à travers les individus spatio-temporels et qui émerge dans le jeu des manifestations incarnées encore-à-déterminer.In questo articolo intendo esaminare la svolta ontologica degli ultimi scritti di Merleau-Ponty per suggerire come questa apra ad un’interrogazione sul senso latente del sensibile, che rimane escluso dagli approcci dualistici e dalle teorie proposizionali del significato. Analizzando i corsi sulla Natura, vorrei mostrare come vi sia un senso [significato e orientamento] della natura il cui principio regolatore deve essere rintracciato nella natura stessa. Ciò significa che vi è una normatività della natura che, benché non esclusiva delle norme socioculturali-linguistiche, è irriducibile ad esse. Questa normatività è “trans-spaziale e trans-temporale”: essa attraversa le sue manifestazioni carnali, inaugurando e divenendo tracciabile nelle sue materializzazioni, pur rimanendo invisibile nella sua eccedenza o rinnovamento poietico. Concludo soffermandomi sulla questione del “senso latente” della natura, suggerendo che questo senso non è concettuale o proposizionale, ma intuitivo al modo del senso della destra e della sinistra, un senso che è distribuito attraverso gli individui spazio-temporali e che emerge nel gioco delle manifestazioni incarnate ancora-da-determinare. (shrink)

Husserls Ansatz der Transzendentalphänomenologie wird gemeinhin als Versuch einer rationalen Letztbegründung von Erkenntnis überhaupt gedeutet. Sein Verständnis der konstitutiven Rolle des reinen Bewußtseins gegenüber dem Weltphänomen als solchem sowie seine Betonung des teleologischen Aspektes der transzendentalen Vernunft scheint sein Denken von vornherein in radikalen Gegensatz zu all jenen phänomenologischen Entwürfen zu bringen, die – wie etwa Heidegger oder Fink – die Beziehung von Subjekt und Welt sowie die Philosophie als ganze wesentlich vom Spiel her zu verstehen suchen. Andererseits hat die (...) phänomenologische Epoché durch die in ihr liegende Neutralisierung der Existenzsetzung von transzendenter Wirklichkeit bisweilen in dem Ruf gestanden, sich in die freischwebende Sphäre der „reinen Denkbarkeiten und Fiktionen zurückziehen zu wollen. Ausgehend von gewissen kritischen Bemerkungen Husserls zu den Analysen der praktischen Verwendungs- und Verstehenszusammenhänge in Sein und Zeit soll in diesem Artikel gezeigt werden, daß der Spielbegriff bei Husserl so vielschichtig ist wie die intentionale Struktur des Bewußtseins selbst. Zwischen der existenzneutralen Betrachtung „freischwebender eidetischer Strukturen einerseits und der Betonung des absoluten teleologischen Zwecksinnes der transzendentalen Bewußtseinsaktivität andererseits versucht Husserl, die Motivation des Durchbruchs der rein theoretischen Haltung als solcher vor dem Hintergrund spielerischer Freiheit und Spontaneität zu verstehen. Im Gegensatz zu Heidegger wird die „spielerische Neugierde der theoretischen Haltung, die auch der Epoché zugrunde liegt, als ein positives Grundphänomen verstanden, das auf die Freiheit des transzendentalen Subjekts von dinglichen Zweckzusammenhängen und damit auf seine überweltliche Würde als transzendentale Person verweist. (shrink)

L’articolo si propone di indagare le numerose sfaccettature di un personaggio cruciale per il mercato dell’arte europeo del XIX secolo, a cui gli studi non hanno ancora rivolto la dovuta attenzione: l’antiquario Giuseppe Baslini. Ricordato dai contemporanei per l’eccezionale talento da connoisseur e la spregiudicata astuzia negli affari, Baslini fu probabilmente il più importante mercante milanese del secondo Ottocento. La sua bottega in via Montenapoleone 11 divenne riferimento e luogo di richiamo per restauratori, collezionisti e travelling agents di tutta Europa. (...) Fu consulente e fornitore delle collezioni milanesi Poldi Pezzoli e Bagatti Valsecchi, che beneficiarono della poliedricità dei suoi interessi, ma anche della National Gallery di Londra e della Gemäldegalerie di Berlino. Il suo «perfido commercio», come pure il ruolo di mediatore presso gallerie e collezioni private, sono documentati dalle lettere di Giovanni Morelli e Austen Henry Layard, dai taccuini di viaggio di Charles Eastlake e Otto Mündler e dall’autobiografia di Wilhelm von Bode. La restituzione delle vicende biografiche e professionali dell’antiquario, attraverso lo studio di documenti d’archivio inediti, lettere, fatture e cataloghi d’asta, ha rivelato una personalità intrigante e controversa, importante tramite per ricostruire relazioni e provenienze collezionistiche sino a oggi ignote. (shrink)

Already in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the Minorite and Dominican orders (or Poor Clares and Dominican women) played an important role in town building in terms of religion and social ties, as well as in architecture and urban development. In the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Franciscan Order became important in the same urban environment, contributing with other monasteries to shaping the changing religiosity. This article studies the relationship of Mendicants’ priories – both male and female – to (...) their urban milieux, for which these orders’ monasteries are typical. The area of interest, however, is not the monastic church but the chapter house and the cloister. Despite the presumed rules of enclosure, a lay public can also be envisioned in these spaces, enabling the study of a partial interconnection between the “outer” secular and the “inner” sacred monastic worlds. A combined historical, art historical, archaeological, and anthropological analysis furthers understanding of the conditions under which these interconnections developed. Urban “artistic” and memorial presentations in the monastic context can be traced, along with activities organized in both the cloister (e.g., funerals and processions) and the chapter house, which also served for other types of lay gatherings (e.g., court or guild chapel). (shrink)

ZusammenfassungHusserls Ansatz der Transzendentalphänomenologie wird gemeinhin als Versuch einer rationalen Letztbegründung von Erkenntnis überhaupt gedeutet. Sein Verständnis der konstitutiven Rolle des reinen Bewußtseins gegenüber dem Weltphänomen als solchem sowie seine Betonung des teleologischen Aspektes der transzendentalen Vernunft scheint sein Denken von vornherein in radikalen Gegensatz zu all jenen phänomenologischen Entwürfen zu bringen, die – wie etwa Heidegger oder Fink – die Beziehung von Subjekt und Welt sowie die Philosophie als ganze wesentlich vom Spiel her zu verstehen suchen. Andererseits hat die (...) phänomenologische Epoché durch die in ihr liegende Neutralisierung der Existenzsetzung von transzendenter Wirklichkeit bisweilen in dem Ruf gestanden, sich in die freischwebende Sphäre der „reinen Denkbarkeiten” und Fiktionen zurückziehen zu wollen. Ausgehend von gewissen kritischen Bemerkungen Husserls zu den Analysen der praktischen Verwendungs- und Verstehenszusammenhänge in Sein und Zeit soll in diesem Artikel gezeigt werden, daß der Spielbegriff bei Husserl so vielschichtig ist wie die intentionale Struktur des Bewußtseins selbst. Zwischen der existenzneutralen Betrachtung „freischwebender” eidetischer Strukturen einerseits und der Betonung des absoluten teleologischen Zwecksinnes der transzendentalen Bewußtseinsaktivität andererseits versucht Husserl, die Motivation des Durchbruchs der rein theoretischen Haltung als solcher vor dem Hintergrund spielerischer Freiheit und Spontaneität zu verstehen. Im Gegensatz zu Heidegger wird die „spielerische Neugierde” der theoretischen Haltung, die auch der Epoché zugrunde liegt, als ein positives Grundphänomen verstanden, das auf die Freiheit des transzendentalen Subjekts von dinglichen Zweckzusammenhängen und damit auf seine überweltliche Würde als transzendentale Person verweist. (shrink)

Studie se zabývá proměnou přístupu k vytváření vědeckých poznatků. Tradiční epistemologie vědy založená na metodě indukce či dedukce představuje abstraktní formálně-logicky strukturovaný a atemporální konstrukt. Ve světle komplexně-systémového přístupu se však tento konstrukt jeví jako nepřátelský vůči snaze pojímat vědu jako dynamický kognitivní systém. Ve studii je hájen právě komplexně-systémový přístup, neboť je schopen obsáhnout nezpochybnitelný sociální a historický rozměr vědy a stejně tak psychologické schopnosti jednotlivců, respektive skupin. Týmová spolupráce je z hlediska stále se zvyšující komplexity vědy zcela nezbytná (...) a běžné statické formální modely vědy nejsou schopny tyto její aspekty reflektovat. (shrink)

The cognitive phenomenology thesis has it that conscious cognitive states essentially exhibit a phenomenal character. Defenders of ‘conservatism’ about cognitive phenomenology think that the phenomenology of thought is reducible to sensory phenomenology. In contrast, proponents of ‘liberalism’ hold that there is a proprietary, sui generis cognitive phenomenology. Horgan develops a morph-sequence argument to argue for liberalism. The argument is based on the conceivability of a cognitive phenomenology zombie, i.e. a man who does not understand Chinese but shares the behavior and (...) sensory phenomenology with his twin who does understand Chinese. I argue that the conceivability of a cognitive phenomenology-zombie fails to settle the debate between conservatives and liberals. The roots of the ineffectiveness of the argument lie in the diverse readings of sensory phenomenology which flesh out the relation between sensory phenomenology and concepts differently but explain the conceivability of the scenario equally well. The lesson to learn is that to adjudicate the debate about cognitive phenomenology, we first have to clarify the notion of sensory phenomenology. (shrink)

A classical theoretical frame to interpret motor reactions to emotional stimuli is that such stimuli, particularly those threat-related, are processed preferentially, i.e., they are capable of capturing and grabbing attention automatically. Research has recently challenged this view, showing that the task relevance of emotional stimuli is crucial to having a reliable behavioral effect. Such evidence indicated that emotional facial expressions do not automatically influence motor responses in healthy young adults, but they do so only when intrinsically pertinent to the ongoing (...) subject’s goals. Given the theoretical relevance of these findings, it is essential to assess their generalizability to different, socially relevant emotional stimuli such as emotional body postures. To address this issue, we compared the performance of 36 right-handed participants in two different versions of a Go/No-go task. In the Emotional Discrimination task, participants were required to withhold their responses at the display of emotional body postures and to move at the presentation of neutral postures. Differently, in the control task, the same images were shown, but participants had to respond according to the color of the actor/actress’ t-shirt, disregarding the emotional content. Results showed that participants made more commission errors for happy than fearful body postures in the Emotional Discrimination task. However, this difference disappeared in the control task. Such evidence indicates that, like facial emotion, emotional body expressions do not influence motor control automatically, but only when they are task-relevant. (shrink)

In this paper we claim, first, that there are high-level visual experiences of grouping properties, i.e., properties that an array of elements we see can have to be organised in a certain way. Second, we argue that there are auditory experiences of groupings that share certain important properties with visual experiences of groupings, thereby being perceptual and high-level as well. Third, these results enable us to understand the nature and structure of our meaning experiences. We claim that, although meaning experiences (...) depend on the auditory experiences we discuss, they are not perceptual, for they lack one of the features that make those auditory experiences perceptual; namely, being holistically attended to. (shrink)

In this paper, I tend to the concept of “immemorial past” and argue that Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s turn in The Visible and the Invisible—a turn toward the conceptualization of time as chiasm and an ontology of the invisible—provides a rich resource for theorizing sexual difference. More precisely, I argue that acknowledging the different kind of temporality of life that the immemorial institutes—a temporality that is generative of meaning and signification—invites us to investigate gender’s “immemorial past.” Shifting attention from the sedimentation and (...) presence of gender habits to the fecund lack that grounds such sedimentation allows us to account for the structure that makes gender production, institution, and differing possible in the first place. Such a structure is a “fecund negativity,” a polymorphous field or depth, that points to the inherent instability and multiplicity of gender, to the fact that gender formation can be traced back to a plural and ambiguous ground that comes to expression in cultural-historical-linguistic manifestations.Dans cet article, je m’appuie sur le concept de « passé immémorial » et montre que le tournant merleau-pontien du Visible et l’Invisible – vers la conceptualisation du temps comme chiasme et d’une ontologie de l’invisible – constitue une riche ressource lorsqu’il s’agit de théoriser la différence sexuelle. Plus précisément, je montre que reconnaître les différents genres de temporalité de vie que l’immémorial institue – une temporalité qui est génératrice de sens et de significations – nous invite à examiner le « temps immémorial » du genre. Passer de la sédimentation et de la présence des habitudes de genre au manque fécond qui fonde une telle sédimentation nous permet de rendre compte de la structure qui rend possible la production, l’institution du genre et de différer le possible à la première place. Une telle structure est une « négativité féconde », un champ ou une profondeur polymorphe, qui souligne l’instabilité inhérente et la multiplicité du genre, le fait que la formation du genre peut être retracée jusqu’à un fond pluriel et ambigu qui s’exprime dans des manifestations culturelles, historiques et linguistiques.Nel presente articolo, intendo elaborare il concetto di “passato immemoriale” e mostrare come la svolta di Merleau-Ponty nel Visibile e l’invisibile – una svolta verso una teorizzazione del tempo come chiasma e verso un’ontologia dell’invisibile – costituisca una risorsa particolarmente ricca per pensare la differenza sessuale. In particolare, vorrei sostenere che comprendere i diversi tipi di temporalità della vita che l’immemoriale istituisce – una temporalità generativa di senso e significato – ci porta a considerare il “passato immemoriale” del gender. Spostare l’attenzione dalla sedimentazione e dalla presenza delle abitudini di genere, alla mancanza feconda che sottende una simile sedimentazione, ci permette di prendere in esame la struttura stessa che rende possibile la produzione, istituzione e differenziazione del genere. Una tale struttura corrisponde ad una “negatività feconda”, un campo polimorfo o profondità che fa segno verso l’instabilità e la molteplicità inerenti al gender, ovvero al fatto che la formazione del genere può essere rintracciata in un orizzonte plurale e ambiguo, che si esprime attraverso manifestazioni culturali-storico-linguistiche. (shrink)

Riassunto: Può la corporalità dirsi ancora una condizione costitutiva dell’esperienza nella presente era digitale? Esistono due fondamentali modi di affrontare la questione, la cui rilevanza è stata di recente sottolineata da ricercatori attivi nei campi dell’ Intelligenza Artificiale Incorporata. Il primo interpreta la questione come incentrata su un’indagine della relazione fra corporalità e digitalizzazione, il processo cioè di digitalizzare dati il quale rende possibile simulare, aumentare e perfino costruire la realtà all’interno di uno spazio di esperienza virtuale, assumendo l’idea tradizionale (...) del computing come un’attività che utilizza dispositivi artificiali, elettronici, per processare, gestire e comunicare informazioni. Il secondo considera la stessa relazione da una diversa prospettiva, facendo cioè riferimento al computing come a un’attività naturale, secondo l’emergente ricerca di computing naturale condotta nel campo del computing non convenzionale. Seguendo quest’ultima prospettiva, che sta acquisendo un crescente consenso all’interno della comunità scientifica, il lavoro indagherà il ruolo costitutivo della corporalità rispetto all’esperienza virtuale associata a una nota ed oramai autonoma area di ricerca del computing naturale, vale a dire il computing morfologico, utilizzando il metodo della fenomenologia genetica. Parole chiave: Computing naturale e computing artificiale; Corporeità; Morfologia naturale e morfologia artificiale; Fenomenologia genetica Lived Body and Virtual experience. A Phenomenological Perspective: In what sense can corporality still be considered a constitutive condition for experience in the current digital age? Recent scholarship in the fields of Embodied Artificial Intelligence and the philosophy of Embodied Artificial Intelligence has probed the relevance of two approaches to this question. The first queries the relationship between corporality and digitization, i.e., examining how it is possible to simulate, augment, and even construct reality within a space of virtual experience by digitizing data. This approach builds on the traditional idea of computing as an activity that uses artificial, mostly electronic, devices to process, manage, and communicate information. The second approach, increasingly favored by computer scientists, considers computing to be a natural activity, and approaches this same relationship from the perspective of emerging research in unconventional computing, specifically Natural Computing. This paper follows the latter approach, addressing the constitutive role of corporality in virtual experience associated with a well-known and still autonomous research area within Natural Computing, that is, Morphological Computing, from the from the point of view of genetic phenomenology. Keywords: Artificial and Natural Computing; Corporality; Natural and Artificial Morphology; Genetic Phenomenology. (shrink)