Seit ihrer Begründung im 18. Jahrhundert war die Ästhetik auch ein Korrektiv der Logik, indem sie die Sinnlichkeit des Menschen - Wahrnehmungen, Gefühle, Erinnerungen sowie deren Ausdruck in Kunst, Literatur und Wissenschaft - in den Blick genommen hat. In diesem Band wird die Vielfalt ästhetischer Perspektiven dokumentiert: Als Gesellschaftskritik und Erkenntnistheorie, als Lehre vom Schönen und Theorie der Kunst ist die Ästhetik nicht wegzudenken, wenn man den Menschen in seiner kulturellen Existenz begreifen möchte.

Language’s intentional nature has been highlighted as a crucial feature distinguishing it from other communication systems. Specifically, language is often thought to depend on highly structured intentional action and mutual mindreading by a communicator and recipient. Whilst similar abilities in animals can shed light on the evolution of intentionality, they remain challenging to detect unambiguously. We revisit animal intentional communication and suggest that progress in identifying analogous capacities has been complicated by (i) the assumption that intentional (that is, voluntary) production (...) of communicative acts requires mental-state attribution, and (ii) variation in approaches investigating communication across sensory modalities. To move forward, we argue that a framework fusing research across modalities and species is required. We structure intentional communication into a series of requirements, each of which can be operationalised, investigated empirically, and must be met for purposive, intentionally communicative acts to be demonstrated. Our unified approach helps elucidate the distribution of animal intentional communication and subsequently serves to clarify what is meant by attributions of intentional communication in animals and humans. (shrink)

This article puts forward the following thesis: the legitimation of school subjects stems from an acknowledged epistemic field, from a science in its broadest sense. The more school subjects deviate from the science from which they originate the more they become weaken and disfigured. A focus on the Estado Novo period in Portugal allows for a particular understanding and emphasis placed on the context which legitimises Philosophy as a school subject in middle school. Thus, this article examines the avenues followed (...) by Philosophy as a school subject in this particular historical period, accounting for and explaining the link between educational and instructional plans, the interference of ideology and education policy, and the transformation of school into an instrument of political, ideological education. (shrink)

Every philosophy has a conceptualisation which demarcares it and defines a net of signification, even in the field of filiation or proximity relations. Ricœur’s hermeneutics is admittedly close to Gadamer’s hermeneutics, due to the aim of integrating and rectifying it and to its identical or equivalent conceptualisation (in some cases). My topic concerns the difference between the two hermeneutics, which mainly emerges through the relevance attached to dialogue. The chief question I ask is whether that difference is insignificant and sporadic (...) or, in contrast, is determinant to the description of Ricœur’s hermeneutics, which would mark it out against Gadamer’s. The former establishes a link between dialogue and oralism, which allow us a coherent understanding of not only his opposition to romantic hermeneutics, but also the development of his epistemological project. By analysing these matters we will, therefore, realise the consistency of the hermeneutic paradigm put forward by Ricœur, as well as the progressively clear cut between the two hermeneutical models. (shrink)

Muraro’s article begins from the philosophical question of the ‘unthought’, and asks how our very image of thought is transformed when the thinking subject is a woman, and her thought is specifically linked to the experience of a body. On the basis of a feminist interrogation of sexual difference which reveals the forms of violence inherent in certain claims to universality, Muraro tries to develop a thinking of politics which would rest on its symbolic distance or independence from power. Through (...) readings of Freud, Macbeth, Saint Paul and women’s narratives, Muraro investigates the dangers borne by the fusion of power and politics and explores the ways in which they could be disjoined. (shrink)

BackgroundThe methodology of medical ethics during the last few decades has shifted from a predominant use of normative-philosophical analyses to an increasing involvement of empirical methods. The articles which have been published in the course of this so-called 'empirical turn' can be divided into conceptual accounts of empirical-normative collaboration and studies which use socio-empirical methods to investigate ethically relevant issues in concrete social contexts.DiscussionA considered reference to normative research questions can be expected from good quality empirical research in medical ethics. (...) However, a significant proportion of empirical studies currently published in medical ethics lacks such linkage between the empirical research and the normative analysis. In the first part of this paper, we will outline two typical shortcomings of empirical studies in medical ethics with regard to a link between normative questions and empirical data: (1) The complete lack of normative analysis, and (2) cryptonormativity and a missing account with regard to the relationship between 'is' and 'ought' statements. Subsequently, two selected concepts of empirical-normative collaboration will be presented and how these concepts may contribute to improve the linkage between normative and empirical aspects of empirical research in medical ethics will be demonstrated. Based on our analysis, as well as our own practical experience with empirical research in medical ethics, we conclude with a sketch of concrete suggestions for the conduct of empirical research in medical ethics.SummaryHigh quality empirical research in medical ethics is in need of a considered reference to normative analysis. In this paper, we demonstrate how conceptual approaches of empirical-normative collaboration can enhance empirical research in medical ethics with regard to the link between empirical research and normative analysis. (shrink)

In Andrej Belyjs Roman Petersburg (entstanden 1911-1913) kulminiert der Mythos dieser Stadt und wird zugleich ironisiert. Stadt und Roman sind bestimmt von Gegensätzen wie dem von Russland und Europa, Vater und Sohn, Zarismus und Revolution etc. Im Krisenjahr 1905, in dem der Roman spielt, sind diese Gegensätze allenthalben am Werk, aber sie erlauben dennoch keine Orientierung: Denn die Staatsmacht steht nicht nur rebellischen Elementen gegenüber, sondern übt selbst Terror aus, z.B. durch Doppelagenten. In einem Klima gegenseitiger Bespitzelung und Bedrohung sind (...) alle Zuordnungen ungewiss. Welche Funktion haben hier die zahlreichen geometrischen Referenzen: Punkt, Linie, Quadrat, Kubus und die Rede von der ›vierten‹ oder ›n-ten Dimension‹? Der Essay geht diesen Fragen nach und stellt u.a. Beziehungen zur Popularisierung der n-dimensionalen Geometrie und zu avantgardistischer Kunst(-theorie) her, namentlich zu Kandinsky und Malewitsch. In Andrey Bely’s novel »Petersburg« (written between 1911 and 1913), the myth of Petersburg comes to a peak while being simultaneously ironized. The city and the novel are determined by oppositions such as those between Russia and Europe, father and son, tsarism and revolution, and so on. Set in 1905, a year of deep crisis, these oppositions are at work everywhere in the story. Nevertheless, they do not permit any understanding of what is going on: this is because the state is not only challenged by rebellious elements, but also acts as a terrorist itself; for instance, with the help of double agents. In a climate of threat and fear, everything becomes uncertain. What is the function of the numerous geometrical references – point, line, square, cube, and of the ›fourth‹ or the ›nth dimension‹ – in such a context? The essay asks these questions and links the novel to the popularisation of n-dimensional geometry, as well as to the art and art theory of the early 20th century, namely to Kandinsky and Malevic. (shrink)

Life history data, attractiveness ratings of male photographs, and attitudes towards partnership and child-rearing of 321 women were used to test four evolutionary models (quantitative reproductive strategy, male short-age, polygyny indication, and maternal reproductive interests) which attempt to explain the influence of family composition on reproductive strategies. Links between early menarche and other markers of reproductive strategy were investigated. Childhood stress and absence of a father figure, whether genetically related or not, were found to have accelerated menarche whereas having younger (...) siblings decelerated it. Early menarche was associated with attractiveness ratings, the number of partners desired for the immediate future, and the early onset of intimate relationships. It was not linked with sociosexual orientation, mate choice criteria, and investment in the subjects’ own children, but these three markers were interrelated. The implications of the findings for the four evolutionary models are discussed. (shrink)

ZusammenfassungAn der Gabenpraxis traditioneller Gesellschaften, die Marcel Mauss im Essai sur le don untersucht hat, ist die ästhetische Dimension von großer Bedeutung; zu sozial konstitutiven Gaben, die v.a. Akte wechselseitiger Anerkennung sind, eignen sich nämlich nur besondere Dinge und Leistungen. Diese werden im Rahmen festlicher Gelegenheiten getauscht. Die vorliegende Studie untersucht den Zusammenhang zwischen Gabe und Ästhetik an einem konkreten Fall der europäischen Vormoderne, an Benvenuto Cellinis Saliera für den französischen König François Ier. In der Renaissance verklammert der Begriff grazia (...) Hofkunst mit höfischem Habitus, Selbstdarstellung der Elite und Inszenierung der Macht. Das hier verhandelte kostbare Objekt und seine Geschichte realisieren grazia in ihrer doppelten Bedeutung als Erscheinung im Kunstwerk und soziopolitische Beziehung; beide verweisen auf die Gabenpraxis und deren symbolische Funktionen, und umgekehrt. Für die Analyse sind Materialität des Gegenstands und Textualität gleichermaßen wichtig.The aesthetic dimension is crucial in the practices of gift giving in traditional societies as studied by Marcel Mauss in his Essai sur le don. Aesthetics is highly relevant because not any object or service is suitable for the socially constitutive gift, which, above all, is a symbolic act of recognition. Rare and precious objects and services are exchanged at festive occasions. This paper examines the connection between gift and aesthetics in a concrete case of pre-modern Europe: in Benvenuto Cellini’s salt cellar for the French King François Ier. In Renaissance discourse, the concept of grazia links the work of an individual court artist to courtly behavior, elite self-representation and the celebration of political power. Grazia is actualized in the saliera and the history of its making; in its double sense, as appearance in the artwork and social relationship, it refers to gift giving practices and their symbolic functions, and vice versa. For my article, the material object and the related texts are equally important. (shrink)

The article aims to provide a point of view for understanding the conceptual genesis of ‘post-history’, the key idea of Danto’s theory of contemporary art. To do this, reference is made to an essay from Beyond the Brillo Box which analyzes the various forms the past has assumed in the Western tradition, from the point of view of the influence exerted from narrative structures on artists and their practices. Danto’s argument will be clarified through the notion of ‘regime of historicity’ (...) (Hartog). Based on this, the article discusses three different paradigms of the historicity of art: each is the expression of a specific experienced mediation between the temporal dimensions of the past, present and future. First of all: the relationship of imitative recovery of the past, corresponding to the pre-modern scheme of history understood as exemplary and repeatable. Later, the article focuses the link of transformation/negation of the artistic past, both corresponding to the modern, linear and vectoral view of history. Finally, it will emerge the spatialized exploration of the past, that is, a neutral relationship with it no longer marked by the principle of authority: Danto’s post-history points out a situation in which the historical past of art is an available repertory of styles to be used. (shrink)

The ability to be creative is often considered a unique characteristic of conscious beings and many efforts have been directed at demonstrating a relationship between creativity and the personality construct of psychoticism. The present study sought to investigate this link explicitly by focusing on discrete facets of creative cognition, namely the originality/novelty dimension and the practicality/usefulness dimension. Based on Eysenck’s conceptualisation of psychoticism as being characterised by an overinclusive cognitive style, it was expected that higher levels of psychoticism would accompany (...) a greater degree of conceptual expansion and elevated levels of originality in creative imagery, but would be unrelated to the practicality/usefulness of an idea. These hypotheses were confirmed in 80 healthy participants who were contrasted based on their EPQ psychoticism scale scores. Our findings suggest that the link between psychoticism and creativity is based on associative thinking and broader but weak top-down activation patterns rather than on goal-related thinking. (shrink)

Este trabajo analiza la historicidad del lenguaje como prioridad ontológica del humanismo retórico . Esta indagación se proyecta en el seguimiento de la relación que establece Unamuno entre la palabra y el pensamiento.This work analyses the historicity of language as an ontological priority of rhetorical humanism . The research is linked to the relationship established by Unamuno between word and thought.

This volume brings together new work by leading philosophers on the topics of emotion and value, and explores issues at their intersection. Recent work in philosophy and psychology has had important implications for topics such as the role that emotions play in practical rationality and moral psychology, the connection between imagination and emotion in the appreciation of fiction, and more generally with the ability of emotions to discern axiological saliences and to ground the objectivity of ethical or aesthetic value judgements. (...) This volume makes a unique contribution to scholarship on emotion and value by bringing together top authors from these lines of research. In addition, it explores various links between the emotions and self-understanding, touching on a range of themes that include depression, empathy, agency, guilt, and self-trust. All of these issues are approached from a number of different perspectives in order to present the reader with a wide view of this extremely rich terrain and to demonstrate how the latest thinking in a number of currently intensive areas of research is deeply interconnected. (shrink)

A sample of college women and men responded to a survey assessing attitudes, beliefs, experiences, and behaviors relevant to sexual harassment and assault. Men were more tolerant of sexual harassment, more likely to believe that heterosexual relationships were adversarial, more likely to subscribe to rape myths, and more likely to admit that they might sexually assault someone under some circumstances. Data from the present study support the proposition that relevant affective, cognitive, and behavioral indices of hostile sexuality directed against women (...) are linked, supporting the assumption of a continuum of misogyny. Significant positive correlations were predicted and found among men's self-reported tolerance for sexual harassment, adversarial sexual beliefs, rape-myth acceptance, likelihood to rape, and experience as a sexual victimizer. Among women, belief and attitude measures were positively correlated but, as predicted, experience of sexual victimization was not reliably related to any other measure, supporting the conclusion that personal characteristics are not relevant to college women's sexual victimization. (shrink)

In this paper, we provide an overview of research highlighting the relation between cultural processes, social norms, and food choices, discussing the implication of these findings for the promotion of more sustainable lifestyles. Our aim is to outline how environmental psychological research on urban affordances, through the specific concepts of restorative environments and walkability, could complement these findings to better understand human health, wellbeing and quality of life. We highlight how social norms and cultural processes are linked to food choices, (...) and we discuss the possible health-related outcomes of cultural differences in food practices, their relation to acculturation and globalization processes. We also discuss the concepts of restorative environments and walkability as positive urban affordances, and their relation to human well being, and the possibile link with cultural process and sustainable lifestyles. Finally, we outline issues for future research and areas for policy making and interventions on the links between cultural processes, healthy and sustainable food consumption and urban affordances, for the pursuit of public health, wellbeing and environmental sustainability. (shrink)

BackgroundThe bioethical debates concerning living donation and surrogacy revolve around similar ethical questions and moral concepts. Nevertheless, the ethical discourses in both fields grew largely isolated from each other.MethodsBased on a review of ethical, sociological and anthropological research this paper aims to link the ethical discourses on living kidney donation and surrogacy by providing a comparative analysis of the two practices’ relational dimension with regard to three aspects, i.e. the normative role of relational dynamics, social norms and gender roles, and (...) reciprocity. Based on this analysis, we derive conclusions for the framing of living organ donation and surrogacy in ethical theory and practice.ResultsFirst, our analysis emphasizes the relevance of acknowledging the complex relational implications of living kidney donation and surrogacy. Underestimating this relational dimension may not only lead to individual crises but endanger existing as well as newly emerging familial relationships. Second, we point out differences in the normative assessment of social norms and gender roles in the ethical debates about living kidney donation and surrogacy. In particular, we show how different evaluations of altruism affect the understanding of autonomy in both contexts. In addition, we sensitize for biased perceptions of gender roles. Finally, we argue that challenges resulting from unresolved reciprocity are an issue in living kidney donation and surrogacy independent of whether the exchange of body parts or bodily services is framed as a gift or commercial exchange. By pointing out the limits of financial compensation, we stress the relevance of non-material, relational rewards as potential remedy. (shrink)

BackgroundAdvance directives (ADs) were implemented in Portugal in 2012. Although more than a decade has passed since Law 25/2012 came into force, Portuguese people have very low levels of adherence. In this context, this study aimed to identify and analyse the attitudes of people aged 18 or older living in Portugal towards ADs and to determine the relationships between sociodemographic variables (gender/marital status/religion/level of education/residence/whether they were a health professional/whether they had already drawn up a living will) and people’s attitudes (...) towards ADs.MethodsAn online cross-sectional analytical study was conducted using a convenience sample. For this purpose, a request (email) that publicized the link to a –form—which included sociodemographic data and the General Public Attitudes Toward Advance Care Directives (GPATACD) scale—was sent to 28 higher education institutions and 30 senior universities, covering all of mainland Portugal and the islands (Azores and Madeira). The data were collected between January and February 2023.ResultsA total of 950 adults from completed the online form. The lower scores (mean 1 and 2) obtained in most responses by applying the GPATACD scale show that the sample of the Portuguese population has a very positive attitude towards ADs. The data showed that women, agnostics/atheists, health professionals and those who had already made a living will had more positive attitudes (p < 0.001) towards ADs. There were no statistically significant differences in the attitudes of the Portuguese population sample towards ADs in relation to marital status, education level, and residence.ConclusionThe results obtained enable us to confirm that this sample of the Portuguese population has a positive attitude towards ADs. We verify that there are certain fringes of this sample with certain sociodemographic characteristics (women, agnostics/atheists, health professionals and those who had already made a living will) that have a more positive attitude towards ADs. This data could facilitate the implementation and adjustment of relevant measures, particularly in the field of health education and aimed at groups with less favourable attitudes, to increase the effectiveness of voluntary exercise of citizens’ autonomy in end-of-life care planning. (shrink)

Las redes sociales asociadas al conocimiento resultan de interés tanto a los estudios en Ciencia Tecnología y Sociedad, como al desenvolvimiento del pensamiento de la complejidad que se desarrolla en el país. Su análisis explica la naturaleza social de la producción científica y la existencia del capital social, cuyas características se vinculan con la satisfacción y resolución de las necesidades sociales dentro de la población cubana. Se muestra una red, conformada en torno a la Publicación Archivo Médico de Camagüey, durante (...) los años 2003, 2004 y dos bimestres del 2005 sobre el desenvolvimiento de las co autorías dentro de ella. Delineando en qué forma los investigadores se relacionaron entre sí, para valorar algunos de sus resultados. Se describen, los grupos esenciales de investigación y sus principales fortalezas. Constituye una herramienta de trabajo, al exponer los cambios que están ocurriendo en torno a la Universidad Médica Camagüeyana The social networks associated to human knowledge are useful to the studies in Science Technology and Society. Their analysis explains the social nature of the scientific production and the existence of social resources, which link the satisfaction and resolution of the social necessities inside the Cuban population. The characteristics of this networks conformed in Archivo Médico de Camagüey publication on the development of co authorship from 2003 to 2005 were presented in this article. The researchers were related to each other in this work to value in which way they function together and analyze some of their results. The essential groups of investigation and their main strengths were also described. It constitutes a work tool for further research works, to considering the changes that are happening about the scientific knowledge production in Camagüey University of Medicine. (shrink)

In the age of artificial intelligence, the common interest in human autonomy is experiencing a revival. Autonomy has formerly and mostly been investigated from a theoretical scientific perspective, in which scholars from various disciplines have linked autonomy with the concepts of dignity, independence from others, morality, self-awareness, and unconventionality. In a series of three semi-qualitative, preregistered online studies, we investigated laypersons' understanding of autonomy with a bottom-up procedure to find out how far lay intuition is consistent with scientific theory. First, (...) in Study 1, participants provided us with at least three and up to 10 examples of autonomous behaviors, for a total of 807 meaningful examples. With the help of blinded research assistants, we sorted the obtained examples into categories, from which we generated 34 representative items for the following studies. Next, in Study 2, we asked a new sample of participants to rate the degree of autonomy reflected in each of these 34 items. Last, we presented the five highest-rated and the five lowest-rated items to the participants of Study 3, whom we asked to evaluate how strongly they represented the components of autonomy: dignity, independence from others, morality, self-awareness, and unconventionality. We identified that dignity, independence from others, morality, and self-awareness significantly distinguished between high- and low-autonomy items, implying that high autonomy items were rated higher on dignity, independence from others, morality, and self-awareness than low autonomy items, but unconventionality did not. Our findings contribute to both our understanding of autonomous behaviors and connecting lay intuition with scientific theory. (shrink)

The organ donation and transplantation (ODT) system heavily relies on the willingness of individuals to donate their organs. While it is widely believed that public trust plays a crucial role in shaping donation rates, the empirical support for this assumption remains limited. In order to bridge this knowledge gap, this article takes a foundational approach by elucidating the concept of trust within the context of ODT. By examining the stakeholders involved, identifying influential factors, and mapping the intricate trust relationships among (...) trustors, trustees, and objects of trust, we aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of trust dynamics in ODT. We employ maps and graphs to illustrate the functioning of these trust relationships, enabling a visual representation of the complex interactions within the ODT system. Through this conceptual groundwork, we pave the way for future empirical research to investigate the link between trust and organ donation rates, informed by a clarified understanding of trust in ODT. This study can also provide valuable insights to inform interventions and policies aimed at enhancing organ donation rates. (shrink)

Summary The practice of the disputatio in the medieval universities gave rise to a particular literary genre, the questio. This genre is caracterised by the production of arguments in favour of or against the thesis submitted for questio, before the author develops his own answer. This genre is common to philosophy and theology. But to present a mathematical problem in the form of the questio may seem paradoxical since it leads to the production of false proofs. We shall examine three (...) texts of the 14th and 15th centuries in which is raised the question of the incommensurability of the diagonal and the side of a square: Nicole Oresme's Questions on the geometry of Euclid, an anonymous question from a 15th century manuscript and Blasius of Parma's Questions on Thomas Bradwardine's treatise on ratios. We shall establish a relationship between these three texts. We will show how the mathematical content is combined with the literary genre of the questio. We shall particularly concentrate on the false proofs and consider their status. Finally, we shall ask ourselves how these texts are linked with a possible didactic purpose. Résumé La pratique de la «dispute» dans les universités médiévales a donné lieu à un genre littéraire particulier, la Question. Ce genre est caractérisé par la production d'arguments pour ou contre la thèse soumise à questionnement, avant que l'auteur ne développe sa propre réponse. Ce genre est courant en philosophie et en théologie. Mais présenter un problème mathématique sous la forme d'une Question peut sembler paradoxal: cela conduit en effet à la production de démonstrations fausses. Nous examinerons trois textes des xiv e et xv e siècles dans lesquels est posée la question de l'incommensurabilité de la diagonale et du côté d'un même carré: Les questions sur la géométrie d'Euclide de Nicole Oresme, une question anonyme dont le manuscrit est daté du xv e siècle et les Questions sur le traité des rapports de Thomas Bradwardine rédigées par Blaise de Parme. Nous établirons une filiation entre ces trois textes. Nous montrerons comment s'articule le contenu mathématique avec le genre littéraire de la Question. Nous porterons une attention particulière aux démonstrations fausses sur le statut desquelles nous nous interrogerons. Et nous nous demanderons quel lien entretiennent ces textes avec un éventuel enseignement. (shrink)

Summary The practice of the disputatio in the medieval universities gave rise to a particular literary genre, the questio. This genre is caracterised by the production of arguments in favour of or against the thesis submitted for questio, before the author develops his own answer. This genre is common to philosophy and theology. But to present a mathematical problem in the form of the questio may seem paradoxical since it leads to the production of false proofs. We shall examine three (...) texts of the 14th and 15th centuries in which is raised the question of the incommensurability of the diagonal and the side of a square: Nicole Oresme's Questions on the geometry of Euclid, an anonymous question from a 15th century manuscript and Blasius of Parma's Questions on Thomas Bradwardine's treatise on ratios. We shall establish a relationship between these three texts. We will show how the mathematical content is combined with the literary genre of the questio. We shall particularly concentrate on the false proofs and consider their status. Finally, we shall ask ourselves how these texts are linked with a possible didactic purpose. Résumé La pratique de la «dispute» dans les universités médiévales a donné lieu à un genre littéraire particulier, la Question. Ce genre est caractérisé par la production d'arguments pour ou contre la thèse soumise à questionnement, avant que l'auteur ne développe sa propre réponse. Ce genre est courant en philosophie et en théologie. Mais présenter un problème mathématique sous la forme d'une Question peut sembler paradoxal: cela conduit en effet à la production de démonstrations fausses. Nous examinerons trois textes des xiv e et xv e siècles dans lesquels est posée la question de l'incommensurabilité de la diagonale et du côté d'un même carré: Les questions sur la géométrie d'Euclide de Nicole Oresme, une question anonyme dont le manuscrit est daté du xv e siècle et les Questions sur le traité des rapports de Thomas Bradwardine rédigées par Blaise de Parme. Nous établirons une filiation entre ces trois textes. Nous montrerons comment s'articule le contenu mathématique avec le genre littéraire de la Question. Nous porterons une attention particulière aux démonstrations fausses sur le statut desquelles nous nous interrogerons. Et nous nous demanderons quel lien entretiennent ces textes avec un éventuel enseignement. (shrink)

The concepts of disease, illness and sickness capture fundamentally different aspects of phenomena related to human ailments and healthcare. The philosophy and theory of medicine are making manifold efforts to capture the essence and normative implications of these concepts. In parallel, socio-empirical studies on patients’ understanding of their situation have yielded a comprehensive body of knowledge regarding subjective perspectives on health-related statuses. Although both scientific fields provide varied valuable insights, they have not been strongly linked to each other. Therefore, the (...) article aims to scrutinise the normative-ethical implications of patient perspectives in building a bridge to the empirical ethics debates. Three potential fields of tension between the illness and the disease perspective are presented. Consequently, findings from empirical research examining patient perspectives on illness are displayed and the practical implications and associated ethical issues which arise are discussed. This leads to the conclusion that an explicit and elaborate empirical-ethical methodology is needed to deal appropriately with the complex interaction between patients’ views and the medico-professional view of disease. Kon’s four-stage model of normative-empirical collaboration is then applied against the background of empirical data on patient perceptions. Starting from this exemplary approach, the article suggests employing empirical-ethical frameworks for further research on the conceptual and normative issues, as they help to integrate perspectives from the philosophy of medicine with socio-empirical research. The combination of theoretical and empirical perspectives suggested contributes to a more nuanced discussion of the normative impact of patients’ actual understanding of illness. Further empirical research in this area would profit from explicitly considering potential ethical issues to avoid naturalistic fallacies or crypto-normative conclusions that may compromise healthcare practice. Vice versa, medico-theoretical debates could be enriched by integrating subjective views of those people who are immediately affected. (shrink)

The authors of this article examine how Giordano Bruno rewrites the classical myth of Diane and Actaeon in the Eroici furori . The starting point for this study is the Argomento del Nolano where the philosopher explains his ideas regarding the importance of love poetry and allegory for the illustration of philosophical concepts. In the next section the authors concentrate on the sonnet «Alle selve i mastini e i veltri slaccia» . This is the first passage in the Furori where (...) Bruno connects Actaeon’s hunt and his encounter with the goddess Diana to the philosophical hunt of knowledge. The authors explain the meaning of the mythological imagery evoked in this sonnet by relating the poem to other parts of the Furori . An analysis of the notion of furor , which is the subject of dialogue three , allows the authors to identify Actaeon as a model for the eroico furioso . The prose comment following the sonnet «Alle selve i mastini e i veltri slaccia» offers essential information on the reinterpretation of the literary motifs which have been linked to the myth of Actaeon since Antiquity. Bruno presents these motifs as components of the philosophical hunt, which the frenzied hero needs to undertake in order to contemplate the truth . In the last section the authors take a closer look at the second and the third allusion to the hunting myth , which illustrate the further stages of Actaeon’s epistemological journey. (shrink)

This study aimed to advance our understanding of 5-year-olds’ behavioral difficulties by modeling and testing both mediational protective and risk pathways simultaneously. Drawing on two national samples from different Western European countries—the United Kingdom and Germany, the proposed model considered observed sensitive parental interactive behaviors and tested child vocabulary as protective pathways connecting parental education with children’s behavioral outcomes; the risk pathways focused on negative parental disciplinary practices linking parental education, parental distress, and children’s difficult temperament to children’s behavioral difficulties. (...) Further, the tested model controlled for families’ income as well as children’s sex and formal child care attendance. Children with comparatively higher educated parents experienced more sensitive interactive behavior, had more advanced vocabulary, and exhibited fewer behavioral difficulties. Children with a comparatively higher level of difficult temperament or with parents who suffered from distress tended to experience more negative disciplinary behavior and exhibited more behavioral difficulties. Additionally, children’s vocabulary skills served as a mechanism mediating the association between parental education and children’s behavioral difficulties. Overall, we found similar patterns of results across the United Kingdom and Germany with both protective and risk pathways contributing simultaneously to children’s behavioral development. The findings suggest that promoting parents’ sensitive interactive behaviors, favorable disciplinary practices, and child’s vocabulary skills have potential for preventing early behavioral difficulties. (shrink)

The development of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine raises fundamental ethical issues. As one example, AI systems in the field of mental health successfully detect signs of mental disorders, such as depression, by using data from social media. These AI depression detectors (AIDDs) identify users who are at risk of depression prior to any contact with the healthcare system. The article focuses on the ethical implications of AIDDs regarding affected users’ health-related autonomy. Firstly, it presents the (ethical) discussion of AI (...) in medicine and, specifically, in mental health. Secondly, two models of AIDDs using social media data and different usage scenarios are introduced. Thirdly, the concept of patient autonomy, according to Beauchamp and Childress, is critically discussed. Since this concept does not encompass the specific challenges linked with the digital context of AIDDs in social media sufficiently, the current analysis suggests, finally, an extended concept of health-related digital autonomy. (shrink)

Past experimental research has shown that social exclusion can be linked with radicalism. During the COVID-19 pandemic, feelings of social isolation and loneliness rose, just like protests and violence against national anti-COVID-19 measures did. Based on these observations, we hypothesized that feelings of exclusion induced by measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 were associated with radicalism intentions to illegally and violently fight COVID-19-related regulations among critics of the containment policies. Moreover, we expected that radicalism intentions against COVID-19-related regulations fortified (...) needs deprived by social exclusion. Studying a sample of individuals who opposed the measures to contain the spread of COVID-19, we found evidence for both hypotheses: Results revealed that feelings of social exclusion induced by COVID-19 containment measures predicted radicalism intentions. Moreover, the relationship between exclusion and radicalism was associated with fortifying power issues. Political opinion did not moderate these effects. These data replicate the exclusion-radicalism link in the COVID-19 crisis and add one more factor that may have promoted radical developments during that time. Fortifying feelings of power, radicalism appeared to foster well-being, though at a high political price. (shrink)

The radical changes deriving from the COVID-19 emergency have heavily upset some of the most familiar routines of daily work life. Abruptly, many workers have been forced to face the difficulties that come with switching to remote working. Basing on the theoretical framework proposed by the Job Demands-Resources model, the purpose of this paper was to explore the effect of work overload, on behavioral stress, meant as an outcome linked to the health impairment process. Furthermore, the aim of the study (...) was to explore the mediating role of job crafting, considered as a second-order construct consisting of two dimensions in the abovementioned relation. Participants were 530 workers experiencing remote working or work-from-home during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. Hypotheses were explored by using three different latent variables, measured reflexively through indicators on a 5-point scale, extracted from validated questionnaires. Data analysis was performed through Structural Equation Modeling; to test the mediation, bootstrap validation was computed. Results showed that the mediation of job crafting was partial. More specifically, the direct effect between work overload and behavioral stress was positive; moreover, the indirect, negative effect through the mediation of job crafting was also significant. Therefore, results showed that job crafting can play a crucial role as a protective factor supporting the activation and adjustment of suitable resources; these resources can be useful to deal with the negative effects of work overload, particularly under the condition of heavy remote working and use of technologies, on individual outcomes. Starting from the current global scenario of the pandemic that has not yet ceased its effects, the study suggested decisive theoretical and practical implications. Accordingly, findings extended the current trends in occupational health psychology research, with special reference to the mainstream topic “work and COVID-19” in the Italian context. Finally, results can give suggestions to companies engaged in managing change, recommending that they build a collaborative workplace at the individual and collective level to implement job crafting interventions and enrich the personal and organizational resources of workers, which is useful cope with the current demands. (shrink)

Previous research indicates positive effects of a person’s attractiveness on evaluations of opposite-sex persons, but less positive or even negative effects of attractiveness on same-sex evaluations. These biases are consistent with social motives linked to mate search and intrasexual rivalry. In line with the hypothesis that such motives should not become operative until after puberty, 6- to 12-year-old participants (i.e., children) displayed no evidence for biased social evaluations based on other people’s attractiveness. In contrast, 13- to 19-year-old participants (i.e., adolescents) (...) displayed positive and negative attractiveness biases toward opposite- and same-sex targets, respectively. Moreover, these biases increased with the age—and thus the reproductive relevance—of the targets being evaluated. Findings corroborate the relevance of mating-related motives for social judgment and illustrate how such biases can grow during human development. At a broader conceptual level, this research demonstrates the utility of investigating proximate social judgment processes through the lens of adaptationist thinking. (shrink)

In teacher education, students have to link theoretical knowledge from educational studies or other academic fields with classroom experiences in formal settings such as triadic mentoring conversations. Students make this link through verbal activities, which are the heart of our analysis. Students produce complex discourses in which they position themselves, refer to multiple types of knowledge, describe and analyse their practicum. Considering that discourse analysis enlightens professional development processes, we study what prospective teachers (PTs) learn in a specific moment of (...) formal mentoring conversations that is a presentation of problematic issues. We compare the evolution of these presentations for two PTs. Through an utterer centred approach, we focus on three key elements: positioning adopted by PTs regarding the content of their sayings and their discussion partners; the way they integrate the theoretical concepts in their discourse; and the way they put in words working experiences and specific internship events. These elements enlighten the process of self-building and building of professional knowledge. Our results point out that in these « in between » settings, preservice teachers produce two kinds of discourse: academic and professional. (shrink)

There currently is sufficient scientific evidence directly linking acquisition, exposure and prevalence of the human papillomavirus to cervical cancer. The article addresses HPV in women by taking NaProTechnology into account, which makes it posible to combine scientific evidence with ethical approaches. It looks at both the biological aspect of sexuality and the ability to become a person within one’s sexual nucleus. There is an analysis of sex education programs based on preventive health and on the anthropology of sexuality, and supported (...) by family institutions, that have demonstrated better acceptance in dealing with the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, including HPV infection. (shrink)

Primary progressive aphasia is a clinical syndrome in which patients progressively lose speech and language abilities. Three variants are recognized: logopenic, associated with phonology and/or short-term verbal memory deficits accompanied by left temporo-parietal atrophy; semantic, associated with semantic deficits and anterior temporal lobe atrophy; non-fluent associated with grammar and/or speech-motor deficits and inferior frontal gyrus atrophy. Here, we set out to investigate whether the three variants of PPA can be dissociated based on error patterns in a single language task. We (...) recruited 21 lvPPA, 28 svPPA, and 24 nfvPPA patients, together with 31 healthy controls, and analyzed their performance on an auditory noun-to-verb generation task, which requires auditory analysis of the input, access to and selection of relevant lexical and semantic knowledge, as well as preparation and execution of speech. Task accuracy differed across the three variants and controls, with lvPPA and nfvPPA having the lowest and highest accuracy, respectively. Critically, machine learning analysis of the different error types yielded above-chance classification of patients into their corresponding group. An analysis of the error types revealed clear variant-specific effects: lvPPA patients produced the highest percentage of “not-a-verb” responses and the highest number of semantically related nouns ; in contrast, svPPA patients produced the highest percentage of “unrelated verb” responses and the highest number of light verbs. Taken together, our findings indicate that error patterns in an auditory verb generation task are associated with the breakdown of different neurocognitive mechanisms across PPA variants. Specifically, they corroborate the link between temporo-parietal regions with lexical processing, as well as ATL with semantic processes. These findings illustrate how the analysis of pattern of responses can help PPA phenotyping and heighten diagnostic sensitivity, while providing insights on the neural correlates of different components of language. (shrink)

Logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia is a neurodegenerative language disorder primarily characterized by impaired phonological processing. Sentence repetition and comprehension deficits are observed in lvPPA and linked to impaired phonological working memory, but recent evidence also implicates impaired speech perception. Currently, neural encoding of the speech envelope, which forms the scaffolding for perception, is not clearly understood in lvPPA. We leveraged recent analytical advances in electrophysiology to examine speech envelope encoding in lvPPA. We assessed cortical tracking of the speech envelope (...) and in-task comprehension of two spoken narratives in individuals with lvPPA and age-matched controls. Despite markedly reduced narrative comprehension relative to controls, individuals with lvPPA had increased cortical tracking of the speech envelope in theta oscillations, which track low-level features, but not delta oscillations, which track speech units that unfold across a longer time scale. This neural signature was highly correlated across narratives. Results indicate an increased reliance on acoustic cues during speech encoding. This may reflect inefficient encoding of bottom-up speech cues, likely as a consequence of dysfunctional temporoparietal cortex. (shrink)

Teachers´ attitudes toward their students have been associated with differential teachers´ expectations and, in turn, with students´ educational pathways. Theories of social cognition can explain the link between attitudes and behavior. In this regard, the distinction between implicit and explicit attitudes is worth to be considered, whereby implicit attitudes are automatically activated when the attitude object is present and guide automatic behavior. In contrast, explicit attitudes infer deliberation and reflection, hence affecting controlled behavior. As teachers often are required to act (...) immediately in situations that do not allow for thoughtful reflection due to time restraints, teachers´ implicit attitudes concerning different student groups with shared characteristics, such as gender or ethnicity, may be especially important when considering teachers´ behavior in relation to students´ educational pathways. This notion is reflected by an increased interest in adopting implicit methodology in the educational domain. Over the last 10 years, several studies have been conducted in different countries, involving in- and preservice teachers and investigating their attitudes toward different student groups. Estimates of effects have varied and may be affected by sampling bias. To systematically review and integrate data from different studies, this meta-analysis focuses on teachers´ implicit attitudes. Following the systematic search of the database and initial screening, 43 articles were identified from which 22, describing 34 studies, were retained for the meta-analysis after further inspection. First analyses revealed an estimated average effect size of 0.56 for implicit attitudes in favor of non-marginalized groups. As there was a large extent of heterogeneity between studies, several moderator variables, were investigated. Results showed that the employed implicit measure and stimulus materials as well as the student target group affected the effect sizes. Low or non-significant relationships were reported between implicit and explicit attitudes. Findings are discussed in terms of theory and future research. (shrink)

Female coital orgasm may be an adaptation for preferentially retaining the sperm of males with “good genes.” One indicator of good genes may be physical attractiveness. Accordingly, R. Thornhill, S. W. Gangestad, and R. Comer (1995) found that women mated to more attractive men reported an orgasm during a greater proportion of copulations than did women mated to less attractive men. The current research replicates this finding, with several design variations. We collected self-report data from 388 women residing in the (...) United States or in Germany. Results support the hypothesis that women mated to more attractive men are more likely to report an orgasm at the most recent copulation than are women mated to less attractive men, after statistically controlling for several key variables. Discussion addresses (a) the inability of the present research to specify the causal link between female orgasm and male attractiveness and (b) the proactive nature of female sexuality documented in recent research guided by an evolutionary perspective. (shrink)

This work tells the story of the rise of the modern German environmental imagination, with particular emphasis on its narrative and visual components.

Body feedback is the proprioceptive feedback that denominates the afferent information from position and movement of the body to the central nervous system. It is crucial in experiencing emotions, in forming attitudes and in regulating emotions and behavior. This paper investigates effects of dynamic body feedback on affect and attitudes, focusing on the impact of movement rhythms with smooth vs. sharp reversals as one basic category of movement qualities. It relates those qualities to already explored effects of approach vs. avoidance (...) motor behavior as one basic category of movement shape. Studies 1 and 2 tested the effects of one of two basic movement qualities (smooth vs. sharp rhythms) on affect and cognition. The third study tested those movement qualities in combination with movement shape (approach vs. avoidance motor behavior) and the effects of those combinations on affect and attitudes toward initially valence-free stimuli. Results suggest that movement rhythms influence affect (studies 1 and 2), and attitudes (study 3), and moderate the impact of approach and avoidance motor behavior on attitudes (study 3). Extending static body feedback research with a dynamic account, findings indicate that movement qualities – next to movement shape – play an important role, when movement of the lived body is an independent variable. (shrink)

For John Forrester, the ‘case’, particularly in its psychoanalytic version, makes possible a science of the particular – knowledge open to the differences of individuals and situations. This article takes up that aspect of Forrester’s account that linked the psychoanalytic case with forms of autobiography – new narrations of that particular self. After Freud, many authors – literary and psychoanalytic – have taken up the challenge of narrating subjectivity in new forms, engaging a quasi-psychoanalytic framework. Focusing on Luisa Passerini’s (...) text Autobiography of a Generation, which deals with the Italian experience of 1968, the article examines some of the features of such hybrid texts, and argues that psychoanalysis makes a contribution not just to the forms of self-investigation they pursue, but more significantly to the search for a radically new methodology of narration. Such models end up as ‘impossible’ cases, but in so doing they explore new interdisciplinary means for understanding the historical shaping of subjectivity. (shrink)

An important debate in the current literature is whether “all truth-conditional effects of extra-linguistic context can be traced to [a variable at; LM] logical form” (Stanley, ‘Context and Logical Form’, Linguistics and Philosophy, 23 (2000) 391). That is, according to Stanley, the only truth-conditional effects that extra-linguistic context has are localizable in (potentially silent) variable-denoting pronouns or pronoun-like items, which are represented in the syntax/at logical form (pure indexicals like I or today are put aside in this discussion). According to (...) Recanati (‘Unarticulated Constituents’, Linguistics and Philosophy, 25 (2002) 299), extra-linguistic context can have additional truth-conditional effects, in the form of optional pragmatic processes like ‘free enrichment’. This paper shows that Recanati’s position is not warranted, since there is an alternative line of analysis that obviates the need to assume free enrichment. In the alternative analysis, we need Stanley’s variables, but we need to give them the freedom to be or not to be generated in the syntax/present at logical form, a kind of optionality that has nothing to do with the pragmatics-related optionality of free enrichment. (shrink)

I discuss two ways in which emotions explain actions: in the first, the explanation is expressive; in the second, the action is not only explained but also rationalized by the emotion's intentional content. The belief-desire model cannot satisfactorily account for either of these cases. My main purpose is to show that the emotions constitute an irreducible category in the explanation of action, to be understood by analogy with perception. Emotions are affective perceptions. Their affect gives them motivational force, and they (...) can rationalize actions because, like perception, they have a representational intentional content. Because of this, an emotion can non-inferentially justify a belief which in its turn justifies or rationalizes an action; so emotions may constitute a source of moral knowledge. (shrink)

There is general acknowledgement that both the anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex are implicated in reinforcement-guided decision making, and emotion and social behaviour. Despite the interest that these areas generate in both the cognitive neuroscience laboratory and the psychiatric clinic, ideas about the distinctive contributions made by each have only recently begun to emerge. This reflects an increasing understanding of the component processes that underlie reinforcement- guided decision making, such as the representation of reinforcement expectations, the exploration, updating and representation (...) of action values, and the appreciation that choices are guided not just by the prospect of reward but also by the costs that action entails. Evidence is emerging to suggest that the anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex make distinct contributions to each of these aspects of decision making. (shrink)