Traditional portfolio selection models mainly obtain the optimized portfolio ratio by focusing on the prices of financial products. However, investors’ multiple preferences and risk appetites are also significant factors that should be taken into account. In consideration of these two factors simultaneously, we propose a double-hierarchy model in this paper. Specifically, the first hierarchy quantifies investors’ risk appetite based on a historical simulation method and probabilistic preference theory. This hierarchy can be utilized to describe investors’ variable risk appetites and ensure (...) the obtained investment ratios meet investors’ immediate risk requirements. Then, using the cross-efficiency evaluation principle, the optimal investment ratios can be derived by fusing investors’ multiple preferences and risk appetites in the second hierarchy. Lastly, an illustrative example about evaluating the 10 largest capitalized stocks on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange is given to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of our newly proposed model. We make the theoretical contribution to improve the traditional portfolio selection model, especially considering investors’ subjective preferences and risk appetite. Moreover, the proposed model can be practical for assisting investors with their investment strategies in real life. (shrink)

Nach der phänomenologischen Hermeneutik von Gegenständlichkeit (2006) und der phänomenologischen Ästhetik von Erscheinungsdinge (2010) legt Günter Figal mit Unscheinbarkeit ein Buch vor, in dem die Phänomenologie zusammen mit ihrer Sache, den Phänomenen, das Hauptthema ist. Phänomene, so der zentrale und in der phänomenologischen Philosophie neue Gedanke es Buches, sind als solche räumlich und also nur vom Raum her zu verstehen. Entsprechend muss die Phänomenologie eine Reflexion und Beschreibung des Raums sein. Der Raum ist das Unscheinbare, in dem etwas erscheinen und (...) darin Phänomen sein kann. Wenn es so ist, beschreibt die Phänomenologie nicht nur Raum, sondern ist selbst nur im Raum möglich. Die Bestimmungen des Raumes und der Räumlichkeit, die das Buch entwickelt, ergeben sich aus dem genauen Hinsehen, dem bewussten Erleben. So ist das Buch dem Gedanken Husserls verpflichtet, dass die Anschauung "die einzige Rechtsquelle der Erkenntnis" ist. (shrink)

Das Buch bietet eine systematische Aufarbeitung der Forschung zum moralpsychologischen Ansatz von Lawrence Kohlberg und insbesondere seiner zahlreichen Kritiker.

Kann man das Leben führen? Die in diesem Band versammelten Beiträge stellen sich in kritischer Absicht dem modernen Konzept der »Lebensführung«, das die Technikphilosophie mit der Lebensphilosophie im frühen 20. Jahrhundert eng verbunden hat und teilweise bis heute verbindet. Auch relevante soziologische Positionen wurden in diesem Kontext entwickelt. Anhand zentraler Autoren wie Simmel, Bergson, Husserl, Heidegger, Blumenberg, Berdjajew, Reuleaux, von Uexküll, Plessner, Freyer, Jonas und Günter Ropohl (dem dieser Band aus Anlass seines 75. Geburtstags gewidmet ist) werden die Bezugnahmen zwischen (...) Technik- und Lebensphilosophie analysiert, aber auch die Abgrenzungsversuche voneinander. Die Verhältnisbestimmung der Konzepte »Leben« und »Technik« kann systemischen Charakter annehmen und deshalb die Idee einer lebensbejahenden oder -verneinenden Technik nach sich ziehen, z.B. artikuliert als Technikoptimismus/-pessimismus oder als emanzipatorische Frage nach dem eigenen Leben und dessen Selbstverwirklichung. Wenn es um Lebensführung geht, werden also gleichzeitig die Ausgangsbedingungen der Identitätskonstruktion moderner Subjekte und die Frage thematisiert, inwieweit Systementwürfe jene ermöglichen oder begrenzen. (shrink)

Bertrand Russell's Bundle Theory of Particulars presents and evaluates Russell's arguments for two competing theories on the nature of particulars at different stages in his career: the substratum theory of particulars (1903-1913) and the bundle theory of particulars (1940-1948). Through its original focus on Russell's little known metaphysics in the later part of his career, this study explains why Russell's theory of particulars is relevant today. It argues that a Russellian realist bundle theory is indeed the best explanation of similarities (...) and differences that we observe around us thanks to the ontological economy such a theory provides and its strength and completeness as a theory of the nature of reality. Tackling the major criticisms levelled against the realist bundle theory - the problem of individuation, the problem of necessity, and the problem of analyticity - this study presents and defends a tenable Russellian bundle theory which can answer the objections. Bertrand Russell's Bundle Theory of Particulars is a novel and significant contribution to Russell scholarship. (shrink)

What makes philosophy metaphysical? Understood as the search for truth, philosophy has led those seeking it to the question of Being, says Gunter Figal. He shows that because this devotion to truth and Being are the heart of metaphysics, it is what makes up philosophy's metaphysical character. Figal embraces this, and, leaving arguments for simple affirmation aside, offers instead a critical discussion of the positions adopted by metaphysical philosophy's founding fathers, Parmenides, Plato and Aristotle. Alongside a phenomenological transformation of the (...) latter's ontology, Figal also sets out why he regards metaphysics as just one philosophical perspective among others, and not as a dominating `first philosophy?. The outcome is philosophy as a de-centered, non-hierarchical and liberating project. (shrink)

It could be said that chinese aesthetics merges together three cornerstones of the western tradition. It might be intended as the study of beauty in the Platonic sense, because of the vaste debate on the topic rooted back in chinese’s ancient times; it could match the sense of aesthetics as intended by Baumgarten, because of the long tradition of chinese perceptual studies, and it may also be compared to the Hegelian philosophy of art, given the abundance of chinese artistic manufacts (...) and theories. Chinese aesthetics is distinctive and very different from the western one. While the latter tries to grasp the inner beauty of things by breaking them and accounts for beauty as an object, chinese aesthetics considers beauty as a subject, rather aiming at feeling the beauty of things for what they are. Compared to the occidental tradition, which is rooted in sensation but deviates from sensation to pursue a rational goal, chinese aesthetics originates from the sensation and adheres to it all the time. Therefore, the chinese stance makes for a unique and genuine approach to the discipline. (shrink)

In seinem 1960 erschienenen Hauptwerk "Wahrheit und Methode" nimmt Gadamer die bis in die Antike zuruckreichende hermeneutische Tradition auf, um vor allem im Anschluss an Hegel und Heidegger eine philosophische Hermeneutik zu begrunden.

Friedrich Nietzsche has emerged as one of the most important and influential modern philosophers. For several decades, the book series Monographien und Texte zur Nietzsche-Forschung has set the agenda in a rapidly growing and changing field of Nietzsche scholarship. The scope of the series is interdisciplinary and international in orientation reflects the entire spectrum of research on Nietzsche, from philosophy to literary studies and political theory. The series publishes monographs and edited volumes that undergo a strict peer-review process. The book (...) series is led by an international team of editors, whose work represents the full range of current Nietzsche scholarship. (shrink)

Mystik und Romantik sind Gegenmodelle einer stets fremder werdenden Moderne. Die Romantik als eine Kulturepoche nimmt das überzeitliche religiöse Phänomen der Mystik in sich auf. Der vorliegende Band geht auf zahlreiche Beispiele ein, insbesondere auf die Rezeption Jacob Böhmes in der Romantik. Mysticism and Romanticism are counter-models of an ever stranger modernity. Romanticism as a cultural epoch absorbs the supra-temporal religious phenomenon of mysticism. This volume deals with numerous examples, specifically the reception of Jacob Böhme in Romanticism.

Im 18. Jahrhundert bestand ein uberraschend grosses Interesse am Denker, Schriftsteller und Menschen David Hume (1711-1776), das die ganze Vielheit in den Voraussetzungen und Zielen der deutschen Aufklarung widerspiegelt. Zunachst standen die religionsphilosophischen Thesen Humes im Vordergrund; sie wurden durchweg abgelehnt und haufig nur polemisch zuruckgewiesen. Gerade als sich die Chance einer sachgerechteren Beurteilung Humes bot, revolutionierte Kant die gesamte Philosophie, und Hume wurde nur noch als der auslosende Faktor der Kantischen Metaphysikkritik gesehen. Die umstrittene Frage, wann und durch welches (...) seiner Werke Hume Kants dogmatischen Schlummer unterbrach, wird zur Entscheidung gebracht und damit zugleich eine neue These zu Kants philosophischer Entwicklung prasentiert. In the 18th century there was a surprisingly large amount of interest in the thinker, author and human being David Hume (1711-1776), and this interest reflected the entire range of requirements and goals of the German Enlightenment. To begin with, the focus was on Humes theories of the philosophy of religion, theories which were rejected without exception and often only polemically repudiated. Just when there was a chance of having an objective assessment of Humes work, Kant revolutionized philosophy, and Hume was seen merely as the factor which triggered Kants metaphysics. The controversial question of when and in which of his works Hume interrupted Kant's dogmatic slumber is brought to a head, and thus at the same time a new theory pertaining to Kant's philosophical development is presented. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:VIOLENT MEMES AND SUSPICIOUS MINDS: GIRARD'S SCAPEGOAT MECHANISM IN THE LIGHT OF EVOLUTION AND MEMETICS Guömundur Ingi Markússon Reykjavik, Iceland The present article is an attempt to bring mimetic theory into dialogue with certain evolutionary approaches to human culture, i.e., evolutionarypsychology and memetics. That which immediately suggests a consonance between these approaches is a shared concern for the fundamental aspects ofhuman culture, or "fundamental anthropology." My discussion aims at (...) reconsidering Girard's startling insight concerning the significance of scapegoating in the formation of human culture, ritual and myth—or, in short, his concept of the scapegoat mechanism. Two alternative approaches will be explored: (1) On the basis of evolutionary psychology, scapegoating is considered as a cognitive side-effect; (2) with reference to memetics, it is suggested that the scapegoat mechanism is a memetic parasite. The former account is an interpretation ofPascal Boyer's ideas about group mentality and fundamentalist violence in his recent book ReligionExplained(2001). The latter consideration is inspired byTerrence W. Deacon's concept of language evolution and symbolic reference in his book The Symbolic Species (1997). It should be emphasized at the outset that neither Boyer nor Deacon are concerned with scapegoating and, needless to say, the application and interpretation oftheir ideas is entirely my own. 1. The Scapegoat Mechanism as a Cognitive Side Effect The following is an attempt to formulate a cognitive account of scapegoating based on Pascal Boyer's ideas about fundamentalism (2001, 292ff). Guömundur Ingi Markússon89 1.1. The Coalitional Reasoning ofthe Social Mind Boyer's theory of religion is firmly rooted in evolutionary psychology (2001, 118, passim)} A key concept in evolutionary psychology is the environment ofevolutionary adapteäness (EEA) which is centered around the claim that our cognitive apparatus evolved in response to ecological problems faced by our ancestors in the Pleistocene period (which lasted from ca. 2 million-10,000 years ago). In other words, the cognition of modern humans is geared to the ancestral environments of our huntergatherer past. The key issue in evolutionary psychology is to gain insight into the adaptive problems faced by our ancestors, and figure out the necessary cognitive capabilities needed to solve them. The resulting models of how the mind works can then be tested experimentally. Evolutionary psychologists also emphasize the áomain specificity of our psychological mechanisms, i.e., in simple terms, that our mind is a collection of specialized mechanisms wrought by natural selection to deal with specific features of our environment, such as detecting predators, keeping track of social relations, etc. In Boyer's account, the mixed stock of our evolutionary heritage includes a complex array of psychological mechanisms for keeping track ofa wide spectrum ofsocial relations, the social mina (2001, 122). An essential aspect of our social intelligence is "intuitive psychology" or a "theory of mind," i.e., seeing others as intentional agents, realizing what they are up to, what their beliefs and desires are, being able to predict their behavior, etc. According to evolutionary psychologists we are adapted for social exchange. We easily calculate the costs and benefits of our interactions with others. Experiments have shown that logical problems are much more transparent to people when presented as social exchange problems. In such cases, the logical rule in question is restated as a "check for cheaters" rule, i.e., the problem is to figure out whether people respect social conventions or not. Evolutionary psychologists interpretthese results to the effect that our cognition is geared to evaluate social exchange, and we have evolved a disposition to check for cheaters in social exchange situations (2001, 124f; Cosmides 1989; Cosmides & Tooby 1992).2 1 On evolutionary psychology, see Barkow et al. and Laland and Brown (ch. 5). 2 Cosmides, one of the pioneers of evolutionary psychology, characterizes "check for cheaters" thus: "cheating can be defined as the violation of a rule established, explicitly or implicitly, by acceptance ofa social contract. A social contract relatesperceived benefits to 90Violent Mêmes and Suspicious Minds Evaluation oftrust is essential to human interaction: "That humans depend on cooperation creates strategic problems, where the value (the expected benefit) of a particular move depends on whether someone else makes a particular move...." (2001, 125... (shrink)