This book puts forward a new theoretical concept of the juridical act, this concept is not described from the perspective of a specific national legal system, but instead represents the commonalities and ideas that stem from the Western legal tradition. Since the concept is system-independent, it does not rely on national or state laws. The book begins by detailing those characteristics that distinguish juridical acts from the general group of acts. It offers clear distinctions between the different aspects of juridical (...) acts, such as the power and the competence needed in order to perform the act, the fact that juridical acts are constitutive speech acts, and the rules that connect the act with its consequences. In the process, the book dispels much of the haziness currently surrounding juridical acts. Developed with a mix of theory and practice, this new concept is better equipped to deal with modern trends and practices. Further, since the author has freed the idea of the juridical act from the bonds of history and geography, it is also more suited to facilitating a better understanding of and explaining changes in the legal landscape, such as the rise of computer technology. Accordingly, it offers scholars and practitioners alike a valuable new tool for explaining and theorizing about the law. (shrink)

Moral ideals should not be seen as simple and purely personal, but as complex values with a social dimension that transcend attempts to formulate or realize them. Orientation towards ideals needs a realistic component: people should identify with the quest for an ideal, not with the ideal itself, and consider the possibility of negative consequences of their pursuit. Such realism about ideals includes acknowledging that ideals are not the only, nor the most important, motivating force of morality.

In this paper I critically reflect on the sustainability potential of biomimetic technologies by focusing on writings of the German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk. Although I agree with Sloterdijk that biomimetic technologies - or, as he calls them, 'homeotechnologies' - offer specific opportunities for a more peaceful co-existence of humans and nature, I will argue that his reflections are based on a series of problematic assumptions. I will conclude by arguing that the 'homeotechnological turn' can be effected only if it is (...) developed within the context of a different ecological ethos from the technocentric ethos that currently dominates our attitude towards nature. (shrink)

Expanded universal carrier screening (EUCS) entails a population‐wide screening offer for multiple disease‐causing mutations simultaneously. Although there is much debate about the conditions under which EUCS can responsibly be introduced, there seems to be little discussion about its aim: providing carrier couples with options for autonomous reproductive choice. While this links in with current accounts of the aim of foetal anomaly screening, it is different from how the aim of ancestry‐based carrier screening has traditionally been understood: reducing the disease burden (...) in the population. The reasons why the aim of EUCS is presented in terms of ‘autonomy’ rather than ‘prevention’ have not been spelled out in the literature. This paper seeks to fill this gap by considering the morally relevant similarities and dissimilarities between foetal anomaly screening, ancestry‐based carrier screening and EUCS. When carrier screening is performed in the prenatal period, enhancing autonomy appears the most appropriate aim of EUCS, as the alternative of ‘prevention through selective abortion’ would urge women to terminate wanted pregnancies. However, when screening is conducted in the preconception period, carrier couples can avoid the birth of affected children by other means than selective abortion, for instance preimplantation genetic diagnosis. To the extent that this increased control over passing on a genetic disorder raises questions of parental responsibility, it seems necessary that the account of the aims of EUCS is wider than only in terms of enhancing reproductive autonomy. (shrink)

New agrifood technologies are often difficult to grasp for the public, which may lead to resistance or even rejection. Insight into which technology features determine public acceptability of the technology could offer guidelines for responsible technology development. This paper systematically assesses the relative importance of specific technology features for consumer response in the agrifood domain in two consecutive studies. Prominent technology features were selected from expert judgment and literature. The effects of these features on consumer evaluation were tested in a (...) consumer study. Fictitious technologies were used to avoid any uncontrollable contextual influences that existing new technologies may evoke. Results show that technologies that were seen as more natural and newer were perceived less risky, more beneficial, and were evaluated more positively. Technologies applied to food were judged to be more beneficial, but also more risky than those applied to non-food. Technologies used in the production process were perceived to be less risky and evaluated more positively than those used in the product. Technologies owned by the market leader were perceived to be more beneficial, and evaluated more positively than those that were freely available. In a next study, effects of the technology features on consumer response were tested for existing new agrifood technologies. This study replicated the results for perceived naturalness, perceived newness, and place in the production process where the technology is applied. However, in contrast to the first study, we did not find an effect of application area and technology ownership. (shrink)

Ideals are important in social reality, but they have been neglected in theories of law, politics, and morality. This book has the role of ideals as its central theme. More specifically, it argues that ideals are necessary to understand pluralism, that they are key elements in controversy and debate, and that they enable development. It combines theoretical analysis of the concept of ideals with discussion of concrete debates and cases, including philosophical debates about politics and equality, sociological studies of the (...) diverse interpretations of the rule of law, and accounts of the development of environmental law and privacy law. Thus, the functioning of ideals is critically examined, showing the merits and limitations of an ideal-oriented approach. (shrink)

Lower levels of news use are generally understood to be associated with less political engagement among citizens. But while some people simply have a low preference for news, others avoid the news intentionally. So far little is known about the relationship between active news avoidance and civic engagement in society, a void this study has set out to fill. Based on a four-wave general population panel survey in the Netherlands, conducted between April and July 2020 (N = 1,084) during a (...) crisis situation, this research-in-brief investigates the development of news avoidance and pro-social civic engagement over time. Results suggest that higher news topic avoidance results in higher levels of civic engagement. The study discusses different explanations for why less news can mean more engagement. (shrink)

The emerging field of ecological genomics promises to bring about a marriage between ecological and laboratory-based, genomic investigations. In this paper, I will reflect on this promise by exploring how ecology and genomics are integrated in the two approaches that currently dominate this field: the organism-centred approach, focusing individual organisms, and the metagenomic approach, concentrating on entire microbial communities composed of a variety of species. I will show that both approaches have already taken some important steps in bridging the gap (...) between genomics and ecology. Since the introduction of next-generation sequencing methodology in 2007, the organism-centred approach does not need to stick to classical model organisms like Arabidopsis anymore. Instead, it is now able to apply genomic tools to ecologically interesting species as well. The metagenomic approach has been able to give ecology a more prominent place in its investigations, in another way. Contrary to classical microbiology, it does not study microbial communities under controlled laboratory settings, but under nature's own conditions. However, in the marriage between genomics and ecology, genomics still appears to be the dominant partner, especially in the case of the organism-centred approach that continues to study the new ecological models in artificial lab environments. Moreover, the organism-centred and metagenomic approaches employ a gene-centred perspective in understanding critical ecological interactions, thus strengthening a reductionist rather than a holistic approach. (shrink)

Every field of science, but especially biology, contains particular conceptions of nature. These conceptions are not merely epistemological or ontological, but also have normative dimensions; they provide an ethos, a framework for moral orientation. These normative dimensions, whilst often remaining ‘hidden’ and inarticulate, influence the way in which biologists practice their profession. In this paper, I explore what happens when different versions of these implicit normative frameworks collide. To do so, I will focus on a case study from the field (...) of ecological genomics as it has evolved in one particular country, namely the Netherlands. During an important inaugural meeting, the director of one of the most sizeable Dutch ecogenomics centres gave a presentation in which he introduced the term ‘nature mining’. Part of the audience immediately embraced the term, but others were very reluctant. This mixed response is generally explained as a culmination of growing tension about the future direction of the field: due to new funding demands, a shift had occurred from fundamental research to research more interested in ‘valorisation’. (shrink)

Conflict framing is key in political communication. Politicians use conflict framing in their online messages (e.g., criticizing other politicians) and journalists in their political coverage (e.g., reporting on political tensions). Conflicts can take a variety of forms and can provoke different reactions. However, the literature still lacks a systematic and theoretically-grounded conceptual framework that accounts for the multi-dimensionality of political conflict frames. Based on literature from political epistemology, political communication, and related fields such as psychology, we present four conceptual dimensions (...) of political conflicts: (1) the style (civil/uncivil); (2) the subject (personal/substantive); (3) whether it is about underlying moral/epistemic principles or not (deep/superficial conflict); and (4) whether it concerns a normative or factual issue. Results of a content analysis of newspaper articles and politicians’ tweets confirm the usage of these conflict dimensions in the Netherlands during a non-election period. Interestingly, most of the conflicts are civil, substantive, and do not highlight deep fundamental clashes. In light of the current societal concerns about the lack of respect in political debates and the deepening of our political divides, these findings can be considered encouraging. (shrink)

Moral ideals should not be seen as simple and purely personal, but as complex values with a social dimension that transcend attempts to formulate or realize them. Orientation towards ideals needs a realistic component: people should identify with the quest for an ideal, not with the ideal itself, and consider the possibility of negative consequences of their pursuit. Such realism about ideals includes acknowledging that ideals are not the only, nor the most important, motivating force of morality.

Bowman-Smart and colleagues (2023) argue that techniques to screen and analyze the fetal genome are rapidly evolving, and are sometimes already offered commercially. These new developments will all...

Misinformation perceptions related to global crises such as COVID-19 can have negative ramifications for democracy. Beliefs related to the prevalence of falsehoods may increase news avoidance or even vaccine hesitancy – a problematic context for successful interventions and policymaking. To explore how misinformation beliefs developed over a six-month pandemic period and how they corresponded to (digital) media preferences and selective exposure to the news, we rely on a five-wave panel survey conducted in the Netherlands (N =1,742). Our main findings show (...) that misinformation perceptions got more pronounced as the pandemic evolved. Social media use related to more pronounced misinformation beliefs within waves, whereas mainstream news use corresponded to less pronounced misinformation beliefs. An important implication for journalists and policymakers is to lower the over-time accumulation of misinformation perceptions, for example, by increasing transparency and acknowledging “honest mistakes.”. (shrink)

Van Vugt, van der Velde, and collaborators show how cognitive architectures can implement verbal theories of psychiatric problems. They show how one theory of depressive rumination can be implemented in the ACT‐R cognitive architecture by changing the contents of its simulated memory. These manipulations of memory habits lead the model to show impairments in a sustained attention task‐‐a plausible impairment given that people who suffer from depression have concentration complaints.

Although emotions play a crucial role in understanding and encouraging sustainable behavior and decision-making, many open questions currently remain unanswered. In this review, we advance three broad areas of particular theoretical and applied importance that affective science and emotion researchers could benefit from engaging with: (1) “ sustainable emotions” or empirically testing the possibility of positive reinforcing feedback loops between anticipatory and experienced emotions following the adoption of sustainable behaviors, (2) “ non- Western emotions” or exploring the extent to which (...) people's understanding and experience of climate-relevant emotions differs across non-WEIRD populations, and (3) “ impactful emotions” or the need to carefully differentiate the conceptual and empirical role of emotions in encouraging the adoption of low-impact (e.g., recycling) versus high-impact (e.g., flying less) environmental behaviors. (shrink)

This paper addresses the challenge of ethically integrating ChatGPT, a sophisticated AI language model, into K-14 economics education. Amidst the growing presence of AI in classrooms, it proposes the “Evaluate, Reflect, Assurance” model, a novel decision-making framework grounded in normative and virtue ethics, to guide educators. This approach is detailed through a theoretical decision tree, offering educators a heuristic tool to weigh the educational advantages and ethical dimensions of using ChatGPT. An educator can use the decision tree to reach a (...) conclusion on using ChatGPT within the classroom environment by using ethical considerations to promote personalized learning and upholding academic integrity. The paper stresses the importance of ongoing professional development for educators in ethical AI usage and calls for institutional support in this pursuit. It also identifies future research directions, including long-term impact studies of ChatGPT and comparative analyses of various AI tools in economics education, underscoring the paper’s relevance to current educational technology discourse. (shrink)

The spectrum of religious experience and spirituality in contemporary postmodern, postsecular and religiously pluralized Western culture is extremely broad. Is it possible to trace the development, the shifts, breaches and patterns of religious and spiritual transcendence in this deeply diversified context? In this volume, a heuristic model of four types of transcendence is proposed and discussed. The four types are immanent transcendence, radical transcendence, radical immanence and transcendence as alterity. Of each type two examples from contemporary cultural discourses, ranging from (...) theology and philosophy to popular culture are presented and the viability of the model as such is critically assessed. The pairs of examples show how different kinds of content are given to the same type. By illuminating this dialectic between formal categories of notions of transcendence and their specific content in various areas of culture, the book can aid further exploration of the preconditions, possibilities, difficulties and limitations of relating to and expressing (a) sense(s) of transcendence within a postmodern world. (shrink)

Religion is undergoing a transformation in current Western society. In addition to organized religions, there is a notable movement towards spirituality that is not associated with any institutions but in which experiences and notions of transcendence are still important. Transcendence can be described as God, the absolute, Mystery, the Other, the other as alterity, depending on one's worldview. In this book, these shifts in the views of transcendence in various areas of culture such as philosophy, theology, art, and politics are (...) explored on the basis of a fourfold heuristic model (proposed by Wessel Stoker)"--Back cover. (shrink)

Reading the Tractatus. And appreciating it The reception history of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus displays an impressive and persistent diversity. This paper explores possible sources of that diversity and locates them in different takes on the text and its context of origin, and in different perspectives of the readers. This hermeneutics is illustrated by a comparison of two views on the importance of ethics for an understanding of the Tractatus: that of Cora Diamond and the one developed by the authors in (...) previous work. (shrink)

As we owe the division of ecology into autecology and synecology to botanists, the arguments for this subdivision and also the definitions and contents of both subsciences as given bySchröter, Flahault &Schröter, Gams andDu Rietz are communicated in full. The same is the case with the division of ecology given by the zoologistsAdams andChapman. Moreover the opinions of these authors in this respect are critisized in detail as well as in their general aspects. This critique is connected with the author's (...) own positive opinion, which is given at the end of the paper, where also the remarks covered by the first two papers of this series are summarised.In ecology as a biological science either the individual or the complex of individuals has to occupy a central position. Therefore science about the environment, especially the abiotic one, as well as science about a definite region or spot of the earth ought not to be incorporated in biology.In autecology the individual occupies a central position, it is one of the subsciences of idiobiology, it is a science about the relations to environment, taken in the broadest sense. Dependent upon the contents of this we have many definitions of ecology, the most important ones being: 1) ecology is a biogeographical subscience; 2) ecology is taken in the sense of ethology; 3) ecology is taken as a science of the teleological relations of the individual to its environment and the objects in it, thus of the non-causal relations, the causal ones being assigned to physiology. These non-causal relations appear under four aspects, all called teleological, i.e. the true purpose-notion, relation in the sense of requirement, that in the sense of wholeness, and of adaptation and the degree of adaptation. Adaptation is taken in a broad sense, covering as well the degree of adaptation , as the latitude of the possibility of adaptation and the degree of variability of the individual to adapt itself. The proposal is made to confine the term autecology to this teleological aspect of the relations of the individual, i.e. of all its characters, not of the epharmonic ones only, to environment.In synecology the complex of individuals, showing direct real connections during individual life, occupies a central position, with equal scientific interest for all members of the complex. Synecology contains all biological scientific contents about this matter. The application ofTschulok's system of subsciences to synecology is critisized and the development of the system of these subsciences is left to its developmental fate in time. Considering the importance of the knowledge of the tendencies of thought for the development of synecology an attempt is made to state those already applied in synecology; author distinguishes the systematical, the mathematical, the causal, the historical, the teleological and the essential tendency of thought. Also the difference in the tendencies of thought shows that autecology and synecology are to be separated in a logical system of biological subsciences.Puisque c'est aux botanistes que nous devons la division de l'écologie en autécologie et synécologie, l'auteur passe en revue tous les arguments qui ont amené les biologistes à faire cette subdivision, ainsi que les définitions de ces deux subsciences et les matières qu'elles comprennent, comme elles sont données parSchröter, Flahault &Schröter, Gams etdu Rietz. Il en fait de même pour la division de l'écologie faite par les zoologistesAdams etChapman. En outre il discute les opinions de ces auteurs sous ce rapport, dans leurs détails aussi bien que dans leurs aspects généraux. Cette discussion est en rapport avec l'opinion positive de l'auteur, qu'il expose à la fin de l'article, où se trouvent résumées également les remarques qui se trouvaient déjà dans les deux premiers articles de cette série.Dans l'écologie, en tant que science biologique, l'individu — ou bien l'ensemble des individus — doit occuper une position centrale. C'est pourquoi ni la science qui concerne le milieu, en particulier le milieu abiotique, ni la science qui se rapporte à une région ou un endroit défini de la terre, ne devrait être incorporée dans la biologie.Dans l'autécologie l'individu occupe une position centrale. Cette science est une des subsciences de l'idiobiologie; elle se rapporte aux relations entre le sujet et son milieu — „milieu” pris dans le sens le plus large du mot. Selon les significations diverses qu'on peut attacher aux termes „relations” et „milieu”, nous avons plusieurs définitions de l'écologie, parmi lesquelles les plus importantes suivent ci-dessous:1)L'écologie est une subscience biogéographique; 2) le terme „écologie” est pris dans le sens d'éthologie; 3) l'écologie est considérée comme la science des relations téléologiques entre l'individu et son milieu et les objets se trouvant dans ce milieu; elle est donc considérée comme la science des relations non-causales, les relations causales étant conférées à la physiologie. Ces relations non-causales se présentent sous quatre aspects, tous appelés téléologiques, c. à. d. la vraie notion de but, les relations dans le sens de besoins, les relations dans le sens de „tout” et les relations dans le sens d'adaptation et de degré d'adaptation.Le mot „adaptation” est pris dans un sens étendu, comprenant aussi bien le degré d'adaptation que l'amplitude de la possibilité d'adaptation et le degré de variabilité dans l'adaptation de l'individu à son milieu. L'auteur propose de restreindre le terme „autécologie” à cet aspect téléologique des relations entre l'individu et son milieu; il s'agit ici, bien entendu, de toutes les qualités de l'individu et non seulement des qualités epharmoniques.Dans la synécologie l'ensemble des individus montrant des rapports directs et réels durant la vie individuelle occupe une position centrale et offre un intérêt scientifique pareil pour tous les membres de l'ensemble. La synécologie comprend tout ce qu'il y a à dire sur cette matière par rapport à la science biologique. L'application du système des subsciences deTschulok à la synécologie est critiquée par l'auteur, qui juge prématuré de s'occuper déjà d'un tel système de subsciences: l'avenir seul nous apprendra quel système se développera ici. Vu l'importance d'une connaissance exacte des différentes tendances de penser pour le développement de la synécologie, l'auteur s'efforce de rassembler celles qui ont déjà été appliquées dans la synécologie; il distingue les tendances de penser systématique, mathématique, causale, historique, téléologique et essentielle . En outre les différences entre ces tendances de penser démontrent, que l'autécologie et la synécologie doivent être séparées dans un système logique de subsciences biologiques. (shrink)

Between 1940 and 1980, Ernest Mandel studied many aspects of capitalism. With his magna opera, Traité d'économie marxiste and Der Spätkapitalismus he had a great impact on the social movements which emerged in the 1960s and 1970s of the last century. This article attempts to unravel the story of the development of Mandel's economic historical work. It follows the search for the synthesis of late capitalism, positions Mandel in the Marxist tradition and looks for what was innovative in his contributions. (...) The Traité d'economie marxiste was a provocative experiment. The author shows how Mandel replaced history into the core of Marx's economic theory and how he supersedes Eurocentrism by independently asking for attention for Asia, Africa, the Islamic World and pre-Columbian America. Mandel worked on Der Spätkapitalismus for more than ten years. The article shows how Mandel rehabilitated the forgotten 'long-wave theory', which enabled him to offer an explanation for the exceptional postwar expansion, but also made him predict the end of the 'golden days of capitalism'. The study was completed in 1972 in a turbulent West Berlin, where as visiting professor at the leading Otto-Suhr-Institut für Politikwissenschaft he defended his vision in lively debate with students and confrères and where the last theoretical differences were ironed out. (shrink)

Looking back at the twentieth century the question is what we have 'learned' in the field of philosophy in that century. In the case of philosophy 'learning' is understood as getting a more adequate insight into the frameworks in terms of which we spell our experience, in particular as getting an eye for aspects of it that were overlooked or insufficiently noticed in the philosophy of earlier periods. In that connection four themes are discussed: 1. subjectivity and inwardness, i.e. the (...) issue of the special mode of being of the subject ; 2. intersubjectivity and connectedness, i.e. the 'discovery' that by the relation between subjects a very special dimension of reality is indicated that cannot be adequately characterized in terms of the subject-object relationship ; 3. mediation, the issue that meanings are always context and tradition bound, that subjectivity, mind, etc., manifest themselves only as 'incarnated', mediated by nature ; and 4. the evolution from a uniform to a manifold concept of rationality and experience. (shrink)

Fundamentele filosofische studie over hermeneutiek, opgevat als het stem geven aan degene die niet (meer) zelf kan spreken, met beschouwingen over het betreffende gedachtegoed van enkele vooraanstaande denkers zoals Plato en Heidegger.

Onderzoekers die kritiek willen leveren op de institutionele eisen die doorgaans aan hun werk worden gesteld, nemen meestal een visie op de zin en noodzaak van onderzoek als uitgangspunt. Ze laten zien dat een onderzoeker die ‘goed scoort’ volgens de maatstaven van publieke onderzoeksfinanciers, zoals in Nederland nwo, nog geen goed onderzoekswerk levert. En ze geven redenen om te betwijfelen dat een instituut dat zich een ‘topinstituut’ mag noemen niet per se mensen opleidt die in staat zijn om zelfstandig hoogwaardig (...) en vernieuwend onderzoek te doen. (shrink)

Exploring Practical Knowledge investigates professional practices from a hermeneutic perspective. The book presents, discusses and applies notions such as practical knowledge, practical wisdom, tacit knowledge, and normativity to the professional lifeworld. These contributions focus on both specific practices and more general questions concerning theories and investigations of practice. This volume comes as the result of a cooperation of three research centres: The two Centres for Practical Knowledge in Bodø, Norway and in Södertörn, Sweden, as well as the Research Group Value-Oriented (...) Professionalisation at the University of Applied Sciences in Utrecht, the Netherlands. It offers empirical studies of professionals as well as discussing the underlying theories, approaches and methods of exploring practical knowledge - including the limits to any articulation of these aspects of professional action. In contrast to the objectivist paradigm that otherwise dominates professional studies, each chapter presents central perspectives and possibilities drawing from humanistic and interdiscipkinary research traditions. The book explores professions in a style accessible to scholars and practitioners alike. It is interesting for those studying practices within these professions and for vocational studies in education, social work, health care, police work, journalism, etc. (shrink)

Het denken van de Nederlandse filosoof Leo Polak (1880-1941) heeft nog altijd niet aan actualiteit ingeboet. Hij bepleitte hartstochtelijk de autonomie van de menselijke rede, worstelde met de grondslag van onze ethiek en wierp zich in een tijd van politieke massabewegingen en toenemende verzuiling op als kampioen van het vrije denken. Zelfs tijdens de Duitse bezetting hield hij vast aan zijn zelfstandig oordeel – een houding die hij eind 1941 met de dood in een concentratiekamp moest bekopen. Al die jaren (...) hield hij een dagboek bij, voor hem een essentieel middel om greep te krijgen op zijn leven. Op basis hiervan worden in deze bundel nieuwe aspecten van Polaks leven en werk belicht: zijn denken over schuld en vergelding, zijn verhouding tot grote filosofen als Spinoza en Heymans en zijn houding tegenover het nationaalsocialisme, maar ook zijn familieleven, zijn boekenverzameling en zijn geestelijke nalatenschap. (shrink)

Review of Willem Schinkel's Theorie van de Kraal, de Hamsteraar, and Pandemocratie.

The Western Tradition has long struggled to define and understand evil, yet definitive answers continue to elude us. So, too, the role of evil in Goethe's Faust remains problematic. With the help of Mephistopheles, Faust acquires a forbidden,,knowledge of good and evil“, evoking the biblical story of the Fall. This study uncovers important layers of meaning in that story and reveals its special and unrecognized significance for Faust.

Het nihilisme speelt niet alleen een rol binnen de westerse filosofie. Ook binnen de boeddhistische filosofische traditie is aandacht besteed aan deze problematiek. Het oude boeddhisme kent een heilsleer die uitmondt in nirwana, dat letterlijk ‘uitdoving’ betekent: het uitdoven van begeerte, haat en onwetendheid. In het latere mahayana-boeddhisme speelt het niets een nog grotere rol: de filosoof Nâgârjuna stelt keer op keer dat alles ‘leeg’ is : de dingen hebben geen substantie, geen eigen wezen, en bestaan niet op zichzelf. De (...) heilsleer van het mahayana-boeddhisme is gericht op het existentieel realiseren van deze sunyata. Mede vanwege deze opvattingen is het boeddhisme vanaf de negentiende eeuw in het Westen vaak gerecipieerd als een nihilisme. De boeddhistische opvattingen over sunyata zijn echter juist bedoeld om het nihilisme te overwinnen. (shrink)