Volume 19, Issue 10, October 2019, Page 93-94.

Meaningful relationships are centrally important for human functioning. It remains unclear, however, which aspects of meaningful relationships impact wellbeing the most and whether these differ between psychiatric patients and members of the community. Information about relationship attributes and functions were collected in community members and psychiatric patients. Relationship attributes and functions were examined for differences between groups, their impact on wellbeing and symptoms, and the size of network. Community members reported fewer relationships, higher frequency of contact and less desire for (...) change when compared to the psychiatric patients. Nevertheless, both groups reported relatively high levels of fulfilled functions. Quality of the relationship and investment into the relationship was associated with both wellbeing and symptoms for both the community and the patient group. Almost all functions were associated with wellbeing and symptoms for the community group. However, for the patient group, only few functions were associated with wellbeing and no functions were associated with symptoms. Contrary to our hypotheses, the results show that psychiatric patients do not have a deficit in fulfilling relationships. Most people report a well-functioning network of meaningful, high-quality relationships. Patients benefit from meaningful, function-fulfilling relationships just as much as community members. Results are discussed with respect to how targeting relationships can be used clinically. (shrink)

Interpersonal sensitivity, particularly threat of potential exclusion, is a critical condition in borderline personality disorder (BPD) which impairs patients’ social adjustment. Current evidence-based treatments include group components, such as mentalization-based group therapy (MBT-G), in order to improve interpersonal functioning. These treatments additionally focus on the therapeutic alliance since it was discovered to be a robust predictor of treatment outcome. However, alliance is a multidimensional factor of group therapy, which includes the fellow patients, and may thus be negatively affected by the (...) exclusion-proneness of BPD patients. The aim of this pilot study was to examine the predictive value of threat of social exclusion for the therapeutic alliance in MBT-G. In the first part of the study, social exclusion was experimentally induced in 23 BPD inpatients and 28 healthy subjects using the Cyberball paradigm, a virtual ball tossing game. The evoked level of threat was measured with the Need-Threat Scale (NTS) which captures four dimensions of fundamental human needs, i. e. the need for belongingness, for self-esteem, for control, and for a meaningful existence. In the second part of the study, therapeutic alliance was measured on three dimensions, the therapists, the fellow patients and the group as a whole, using the Group-Questionnaire (GQ-D). BPD patients scored higher in their level of threat according to the NTS in both, the inclusion and the exclusion condition. The level of threat after exclusion predicted impairments of the therapeutic alliance in MBT-G. It was associated with more negative relationships, lower positive bonding and a lower positive working alliance with the fellow patients and lower positive bonding to the group as a whole whilst no negative prediction of the alliance to the therapists was found. Consequently, our translational study design has shown that Cyberball is an appropriate tool to use as an approach for clinical questions. We further conclude that exclusion-proneness in BPD is a critical feature with respect to alliance in group treatments. In order to neutralize BPD patients’ exclusion bias, therapists may be advised to provide an “inclusive stance”, especially in initial sessions. It is also recommendable to strengthen patient to patient relations. (shrink)

This paper develops a theoretical model to explicate stakeholder-related mechanisms that affect university adoption of sustainability in curricula. This work combines stakeholder and institutional theories so as to extend both. By examining change in the university context wherein there is confusion about sustainability adoption, this research adds to previous institutional theory focusing on strongly contested practices, primarily in the for-profit firm setting. Sustainability is a transformational challenge and may be adopted reactively or proactively. Also, stakeholder theory is extended in a (...) mixed profit and non-profit context. Propositions suggest how the extent of embeddedness affects an organizations’ selection of stakeholders, consequently affecting the type of adoption. This facilitates a greater understanding of why two competing definitions of stakeholders may operate. Moreover, extrinsic and intrinsic motivations are discussed as affecting adoption in different ways. A responsible leader organization is newly defined and intrinsic motivation is proposed as underlying its choice of the widest set of stakeholders leading to broad, proactive adoption. (shrink)

In their paper, “Conversational Artificial Intelligence in Psychotherapy: A New Therapeutic Tool or Agent?” Sedlakova and Trachsel (2023) claim that therapeutic insights and therapeutic changes are...

Storytelling, art and craft can be considered aesthetic expressions of identities. Kalahari identities are not fixed, but fluid. Research with present-day Kalahari People regarding their artistic expression and places where it has been, and is still, practised highlights that these expressions are informed by spirituality. This article explores this idea via two Kalahari case studies: Water Stories recorded in the Upington, Kakamas area, as well as research on a specific rock engraving site at Biesje Poort near Kakamas. The importance of (...) the Kalahari People’s spiritual beliefs as reflected in these case studies and its significance regarding their identities and influence on social change and/or community development projects is discussed. The article thus highlights ways in which spirituality can be considered in relation to social change projects that are characterised by partnerships between local community, non-government and tertiary education representatives and researchers and that highlight storytelling as an integral part of people’s spirituality. (shrink)

Shastri & Ajjanagadde argue convincingly that both structured connectionist networks and parallel dynamic inferencing are necessary for reflexive reasoning - a kind of inferencing and reasoning that occurs rapidly, spontaneously, and without conscious effort, and which seems necessary for everyday tasks such as natural language understanding. As S&A describe, reflexive reasoning requires a solution to thedynamic binding problem, that is, how to encode systematic and abstract knowledge and instantiate it in specific situations to draw appropriate inferences. Although symbolic artificial intelligence (...) systems trivially solve the dynamic binding problem using computers' registers and pointers, it has remained a difficult problem for connectionist systems. S&A's temporal synchrony solution to the dynamic binding problem using synchronous firing of argument units and the entities that are bound to them illustrates one way in which connectionist networks can do thisusing a constrained but important class of long-term knowledge rules. Their structured connectionist solution allows dynamic inferencing to proceed in parallel and therefore has a number of advantages for reflexive reasoning over most other connectionist and symbolic systems. (shrink)

The intact nervous system has an exquisite ability to modulate the activity of multiple muscles acting at one or more joints to produce an enormous range of actions. Seemingly simple tasks, such as reaching for an object or walking, in fact rely on very complex spatial and temporal patterns of muscle activations. Neurological disorders such as stroke and focal dystonia affect the ability to coordinate multi-joint movements. This article reviews the state of the art of research of muscle synergies in (...) the intact and damaged nervous system, their implications for recovery and rehabilitation, and proposes avenues for research aimed at restoring the nervous system’s ability to control movement. (shrink)

The relationship between multinational corporations and nongovernmental organizations on social and environmental issues sometimes evolves from being antagonistic to cooperative. To explore how MNCs and NGOs are able to cooperate as friends rather than remain foes, this conceptual research drawing on complexity theory examines a proposed process of mutual adaptation occurring through more flexible semi-structures that support the evolution of joint strategic responses enabled by future gazing, communication systems that facilitate joint strategic responses, and coordinated, timed-based change that supports joint (...) strategic responses. The article provides illustrations from MNC–NGO collaborations. Conclusions are that mutual adaptation and cooperative resolutions are more likely when organizations either share these capabilities or compensate for each other’s shortcomings, and make trade-offs that align with joint strategic objectives. This article contributes to complexity theory and the NGO–MNC literature by exploring how interorganizational cooperative behavior incorporates mutual adaptation so that more sustainable practices are implemented and continuously improved upon by MNCs. (shrink)

In 1984, Danecki proved that satisfiability in IPDL, i.e., Propositional Dynamic Logic (PDL) extended with an intersection operator on programs, is decidable in deterministic double exponential time. Since then, the exact complexity of IPDL has remained an open problem: the best known lower bound was the ExpTime one stemming from plain PDL until, in 2004, the first author established ExpSpace-hardness. In this paper, we finally close the gap and prove that IPDL is hard for 2-ExpTime, thus 2-ExpTime-complete. We then sharpen (...) our lower bound, showing that it even applies to IPDL without the test operator interpreted on tree structures. (shrink)

Unlock the secrets of the art world and unleash your creative potential with this innovative and inspiring book. Drawing on the principles of vital art education, this book offers a fresh approach to art instruction that emphasizes the importance of creativity, experimentation, and personal expression. Full of practical tips, engaging exercises, and stunning examples of art, this book is a must-read for artists of all levels and backgrounds. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is (...) part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant. (shrink)

O presente estudo tem por objetivo compartilhar fragmentos de uma experiência com Oficina de Escrita, que foi desenvolvida com crianças que estudam em escolas públicas, e estudar a relação dessa prática com a educação. Considerando alguns aspectos da literatura e da teoria da psicanálise (baseada nos autores Sigmund Freud e Jacques Lacan), o estudo aqui apresentado tem o propósito de aproximar ambas: leitura e escrita, a fim de examinar a noção de endereçamento implicada nos processos de escrita e nos processos (...) de aprendizagem. Além disso, este artigo procura mostrar alguns dos efeitos do processo de escrita naquele que escreve. (shrink)

Humans have evolved various social behaviors such as interpersonal motor synchrony, play and sport or religious ritual that bolster group cohesion and facilitate cooperation. While important for small communities, the face-to-face nature of such technologies makes them infeasible in large-scale societies where risky cooperation between anonymous individuals must be enforced through moral judgment and, ultimately, altruistic punishment. However, the unbiased applicability of group norms is often jeopardized by moral hypocrisy, i.e., the application of moral norms in favor of closer subgroup (...) members such as key socioeconomic partners and kin. We investigated whether social behaviors that facilitate close ties between people also promote moral hypocrisy that may hamper large-scale group functioning. We recruited 129 student subjects that either interacted with a confederate in the high synchrony or low synchrony conditions or performed movements alone. Subsequently, participants judged a moral transgression committed by the confederate toward another anonymous student. The results showed that highly synchronized participants judged the confederate’s transgression less harshly than the participants in the other two conditions and that this effect was mediated by the perception of group unity with the confederate. We argue that for synchrony to amplify group identity in large-scale societies, it needs to be properly integrated with morally compelling group symbols that accentuate the group’s overarching identity. Without such contextualization, synchrony may create bonded subgroups that amplify local preferences rather than impartial and wide application of moral norms. (shrink)

The Shenzi Fragments is the first complete translation in any Western language of the extant work of Shen Dao (350–275 B.C.E.). Though his writings have been recounted and interpreted in many texts, particularly in the work of Xunzi and Han Fei, very few Western scholars have encountered the political philosopher's original, influential formulations. This volume contains both a translation and an analysis of the Shenzi Fragments. It explains their distillation of the potent political theories circulating in China during the Warring (...) States period, along with their seminal relationship to the Taoist and Legalist traditions and the philosophies of the Lüshi Chunqiu and the Huainanzi. These fragments outline a rudimentary theory of political order modeled on the natural world that recognizes the role of human self-interest in maintaining stable rule. Casting the natural world as an independent, amoral system, Shen Dao situates the source of moral judgment firmly within the human sphere, prompting political philosophy to develop in realistic directions. Harris's sophisticated translation is paired with commentary that clarifies difficult passages and obscure references. For sections open to multiple interpretations, he offers resources for further research and encourages readers to follow their own path to meaning, much as Shen Dao intended. The Shenzi Fragments offers English-language readers a chance to grasp the full significance of Shen Dao's work among the pantheon of Chinese intellectuals. (shrink)

Para o “descanço dos Mestres, e utilidade dos Discipulos”: direções para a educação dos infantis no manual pedagógico Nova Escola de Meninos (Portugal, século XVIII) Resumo: O presente estudo, de natureza historiográfica e filosófica, pretende desenvolver uma análise dos discursos relativos à boa educação de sujeitos infantis que estão presentes na obra Nova escola de meninos [...]. Publicado em Coimbra no ano de 1784. O impresso de autoria do presbítero português Manoel Dias de Sousa (1753-1823) tinha como principal objetivo apresentar (...) um método pedagógico, proporcionado à primeira infância, para a aprendizagem da leitura, da escrita e das principais operações aritméticas, bem como instruir os meninos portugueses nos princípios da religião e da civilidade. Fundamentado na categoria conceitual governamentalidade, o estudo defende que a relação discursiva estabelecida por Sousa estabeleceu um conjunto de enunciados e de normativas sobre valores ético-religiosos, a conservação da saúde e adiantamento nos estudos. Entende-se, assim, que tais elementos enunciados na obra podem ter atuado na constituição discursiva acerca de modelos específicos de educação, buscando garantir a produção de um específico tipo de sujeito infantil masculino. Palavras-chave: História da Educação; Infância; Meninos; Portugal; Século XVIII. For the “rest of the teachers and usefulness of the disciples”: guidelines for educating childhood in the pedagogical manual Nova Escola de Meninos (Portugal, 18th century) Abstract: The present study, of historiographical and philosophical nature, aims to develop an analysis of the discourses related to the good education of children's subjects that are present in the work Nova Escola de Meninos(...) [New Boys School (…)]. Published in Coimbra in 1784, the form authored by the priest Portuguese Manoel Dias de Sousa (1753-1823) had as main objective to present a pedagogical method, provided to early childhood, for the learning of reading, writing and the main arithmetic operations, as well as instructing Portuguese boys in the principles of religion and civility. Based on the conceptual category governmentality, the study argues that the discursive relationship established by Sousa established a set of utterances and norms on ethical-religious values, health conservation and advances in studies. It is understood, therefore, that these elements enunciated in the work may have acted in the discursive constitution about specific models of education, seeking to guarantee the production of a specific type of male infant subject. Keywords: History of Education; Childhood; Boys; Portugal; 18th Century. Para el “resto de los profesores y utilidad de los discípulos”: pautas para educar la infância en el manual pedagógico Nova Escola de Meninos (Portugal, siglo XVIII) Resumen: El presente estudio, de carácter historiográfico y filosófico, tiene como objetivo desarrollar um análisis de los discursos relacionados com la buena educación de los sujetos infantiles que están presentes em la obra Nova escola de meninos(...) [Nueva escuela de niños (...)]. Publicada en Coimbra en 1784, la forma del sacerdote portugués Manoel Dias de Sousa (1753-1823) tenía como objetivo principal presentar un método pedagógico, proporcionado a la primera infancia, para el aprendizaje de la lectura, la escritura y las principales operaciones aritméticas, así como la instrusción de los niños portugueses em los principios de religión y civilidad. Sobre la base de la gubernamentalidad de la categoría conceptual, el estudio argumenta que la relación discursiva establecida por Sousa estableció un conjunto de expresiones y normas sobre valores ético-religiosos, conservación de la salud y avances em los estudios. Se entiende, por lo tanto, que estos elementos enunciados en la obra pueden haber actuado en la constitución discursiva sobre modelos específicos de educación, buscando garantizar la producción de un tipo específico de sujeto infantil masculino. Palabras clave: Historia de la Educación; Infancia; Niños; Portugal; Siglo XVIII. Data de registro: 18/05/2020 Data de aceite: 05/10/2020. (shrink)

Symmetry principles are commonly said to explain conservation laws—and were so employed even by Lagrange and Hamilton, long before Noether's theorem. But within a Hamiltonian framework, the conservation laws likewise entail the symmetries. Why, then, are symmetries explanatorily prior to conservation laws? I explain how the relation between ordinary (i.e., first-order) laws and the facts they govern (a relation involving counterfactuals) may be reproduced one level higher: as a relation between symmetries and the ordinary laws they govern. In that event, (...) symmetries are meta-laws; they are not mere byproducts of the dynamical and force laws. Symmetries then explain conservation laws whereas conservation laws lack the modal status to explain symmetries. I elaborate the variety of natural necessity that meta-laws would possess. Proposed metaphysical accounts of natural law should aim to accommodate the distinction between meta-laws and mere byproducts of the laws just as they must accommodate the distinction between laws and accidents. (shrink)

Despite the promise of new gene editing technologies (GETs) (e.g., CRISPR) in accelerating sustainable agri-food production, the social acceptability of these technologies remains unclear. Prior literature has primarily addressed the regulatory and economic issues impacting GETs ongoing acceptability, while little work has examined socio-cultural impacts despite evolving food policies and product commercialisation demanding input from various actors in the food system. Our systematic review across four databases addresses this gap by synthesising recent research on food system actors’ perspectives to identify (...) the key socio-cultural factors influencing GET acceptability. This review extends prior literature by including views from a more diverse range of actors (e.g., farmers and NGOs) and provides a better understanding of their perceived social benefits and concerns. We find food system actors perceive positive and negative impacts of using GETs in agriculture. These perspectives are often entangled in broader debates regarding sustainability and food systems issues (e.g., social justice). We discuss practical recommendations for policymakers, agri-food industry managers, and scientists to better align gene edited foods (GEFs) with food system actors’ values. GEF policy, development, and commercialisation must reflect social values such as collective wellbeing and transparency to improve actors’ acceptability. More research is required among marginalised food actors such as Indigenous and smallholder farmers. (shrink)

The modal -calculus extends basic modal logic with second-order quantification in terms of arbitrarily nested fixpoint operators. Its satisfiability problem is EXPTIME-complete. Decision procedures for the modal -calculus are not easy to obtain though since the arbitrary nesting of fixpoint constructs requires some combinatorial arguments for showing the well-foundedness of least fixpoint unfoldings. The tableau-based decision procedures so far also make assumptions on the unfoldings of fixpoint formulas, e.g., explicitly require formulas to be in guarded normal form. In this paper (...) we present a tableau calculus for deciding satisfiability of arbitrary, i.e., not necessarily guarded -calculus formulas. It is based on a new unfolding rule for greatest fixpoint formulas which allows unguarded formulas to be handled without an explicit transformation into guarded form, thus avoiding a exponential blow-up in formula size. We prove soundness and completeness of the calculus, and compare it empirically to using guarded transformation instead. The new unfolding rule can also be used to handle nested star operators in PDL formulas correctly. (shrink)

Owen Barfield--philosopher, author, poet, and critic--was a founding member of the Inklings, the private Oxford society that included the leading literary figures C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams. Lewis, who was greatly affected by Barfield during their long friendship, wrote of their many heated debates: "I think he changed me a good deal more than I him." Simon Blaxland-de Lange's biography (the first to be published on Owen Barfield) was written with the active cooperation of Barfield himself who, before (...) his death in 1997, gave numerous interviews to the author and shared many of his papers and manuscripts. The fruit of this collaboration is a book that penetrates deeply into the life and thought of one of the most important figures of the twentieth century. It studies two pf Barfield's influences--the Romantic poet Coleridge and the philosopher Rudolf Steiner--and elaborates on his profound personal connection with C.S. Lewis. This biography also features a sketch in his own words (based on interviews with the author), describing Barfield's strong relationship with North America and his two professions as lawyer and writer. This updated edition features important new material, including Owen Barfield's own "Psychography" (1948) and four pages of color plates. (shrink)

Scalar utilitarianism, a form of utilitarianism advocated by Alastair Norcross, retains utilitarianism's evaluative commitments while dispensing with utilitarianism's deontic commitments, or its commitment to the existence or significance of moral duties, obligations and requirements. This article disputes the effectiveness of the arguments that have been used to defend scalar utilitarianism. It is contended that Norcross's central ‘Persuasion Argument’ does not succeed, and it is suggested, more positively, that utilitarians cannot easily distance themselves from deontic assessment, just as long as scalar (...) utilitarians admit – as they should do – that utilitarian evaluation generates normative reasons for action.Send article to KindleTo send this article to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about sending to your Kindle. Find out more about sending to your Kindle. Note you can select to send to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be sent to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply. Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.Should Utilitarianism Be Scalar?Volume 25, Issue 1GERALD LANG DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0953820812000295Your Kindle email address Please provide your Kindle [email protected]@kindle.com Available formats PDF Please select a format to send. By using this service, you agree that you will only keep articles for personal use, and will not openly distribute them via Dropbox, Google Drive or other file sharing services. Please confirm that you accept the terms of use. Cancel Send ×Send article to Dropbox To send this article to your Dropbox account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about sending content to Dropbox. Should Utilitarianism Be Scalar?Volume 25, Issue 1GERALD LANG DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0953820812000295Available formats PDF Please select a format to send. By using this service, you agree that you will only keep articles for personal use, and will not openly distribute them via Dropbox, Google Drive or other file sharing services. Please confirm that you accept the terms of use. Cancel Send ×Send article to Google Drive To send this article to your Google Drive account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about sending content to Google Drive. Should Utilitarianism Be Scalar?Volume 25, Issue 1GERALD LANG DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0953820812000295Available formats PDF Please select a format to send. By using this service, you agree that you will only keep articles for personal use, and will not openly distribute them via Dropbox, Google Drive or other file sharing services. Please confirm that you accept the terms of use. Cancel Send ×Export citation Request permission. (shrink)

After reviewing several failed arguments that laws cannot change, I use the laws' special relation to counterfactuals to show how temporary laws would have to differ from eternal but time-dependent laws. Then I argue that temporary laws are impossible and that neither Lewis's nor Armstrong's analyses of law nicely accounts for the laws' immutability. *Received September 2006; revised September 2007. ‡Many thanks to John Roberts and John Carroll for valuable comments on earlier drafts, as well as to several anonymous referees (...) for their good suggestions. †To contact the author, please write to: Department of Philosophy, University of North Carolina, CB #3125, Caldwell Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3125; e-mail: [email protected]. (shrink)

Die erste Rezeption Kants unmittelbar nach Erscheinen der Kritik der reinen Vernunft zahlt zu den folgenreichsten und spannendsten Etappen der neueren Philosophiegeschichte. Erstaunlicherweise ist sie noch immer weithin unerforscht. Dieser Band geht auf eine Fruhkantianismus-Ausstellung der Universitat Jena (1993) zuruck. Er hilft, das Quellenmaterial leichter zu erschliessen. Kapitel uber Ch. G. Schutz, C. Ch. E. Schmid, die Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung, Reinhold, Schiller, Hufeland u.a. geben neue Einblicke in diese fruhe Etappe der Kantrezeption. An die hundert Abbildungen prasentieren teilweise vollig unbekanntes Quellenmaterial (...) von hohem Wert. The first reception of Kant directly after publication of the Critique of Pure Reason is one of the most momentous and fascinating stages in the recent history of philosophy. Surprisingly not much research has been done on this. This volume is the result of an exhibition of early Kantianism at the University of Jena in 1993. It helps to make the source material more easily accessible. Chapters on Ch. G. Schutz, C. Ch. E. Schmid, the Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung, Reinhold, Schiller, Hufeland among others provide new insight into this early stage of Kant's reception. There are approximately 100 illustrations which present very valuable source material, some of which was previously completely unknown. (shrink)

A educação e as comemorações cívicas foram temas bastante discutidos em âmbito nacional. Tais temas não deixaram de fazer parte das páginas do jornal O Rebate que fazia oposição ao Partido Republicano Rio-Grandense (PRR). O presente trabalho dedica-se à análise das notícias sobre festas cívicas e educação cívica, publicadas no referido jornal, em 1914 e 1915, primeiros anos de funcionamento desse órgão de imprensa. Embora tal periódico constasse como "orgam independente", a filiação partidária de seu editor norteou as críticas e (...) os temas tratados nas páginas dessa publicação. Além disso, foram utilizados os Relatórios Intendenciais de 1914 e 1915, para que fosse realizada uma comparação entre os discursos antagônicos presentes na vida política de Pelotas, tendo em vista que o então intendente, Cypriano Corrêa Barcellos, estava vinculado ao PRR. Para a realização deste trabalho, fez uma revisão bibliográfica do tema educação cívica no Brasil, além de buscar subsídios para a análise de impressos. (shrink)

Nowadays it is well known among historians of science that Francis Bacon, one of the modern defender of the experimental method, owed much of his thoughts to the chemical or alchemical tradition (cf. e.g., Gregory 1938, West 1961, Linden 1974, and Rees 1977). In fact, alchemy, particularly in the Arabic tradition, was always based on laboratory investigations by carefully examining the results of controlled manipulation of materials.1 It is also well known that Francis Bacon’s appeal to the experimental method was (...) severe criticism of scholasticism in philosophy of nature and, in particular, of authority as the basis of knowledge.2 If we compare philosophy of nature in the early 17th century with phi-. (shrink)

O presente estudo tem por objetivo compartilhar fragmentos de uma experiência com Oficina de Escrita, que foi desenvolvida com crianças que estudam em escolas públicas, e estudar a relação dessa prática com a educação. Considerando alguns aspectos da literatura e da teoria da psicanálise (baseada nos autores Sigmund Freud e Jacques Lacan), o estudo aqui apresentado tem o propósito de aproximar ambas: leitura e escrita, a fim de examinar a noção de endereçamento implicada nos processos de escrita e nos processos (...) de aprendizagem. Além disso, este artigo procura mostrar alguns dos efeitos do processo de escrita naquele que escreve. (shrink)

"If event E had occurred, someone would know of documentary evidence for E; someone does not know of documentary evidence for E; therefore, E did not occur." The conditional in this model of arguments from silence is probabalistic if its consequent is not deducible from the antecedent, relevant conditions, and laws. In interesting cases arguments from silence are rarely rationally, and never logically, conclusive. Specific instances of the argument must be evaluated individually, their persuasiveness depending mainly on the likelihood of (...) documents being available in a given type of case. (shrink)

Recently, the effort to counter Fake News faced a counter attack: academic »postmodernism « and »social constructivism« it was said—because they say that facts are soaked in prior interpretations—are either purveyors of Fake News or set the cultural context in which it flourishes. They do so by undermining confidence in inquiry governed by simple facts. That is erroneous, argues William E. Connolly, because postmodernism never said that facts or objectivity are ghostly, subjective or »fake«. However, that what was objective at (...) one time may become less so at a later date through the combination of a paradigm shift in theory, new powers of perception, new tests with refined instruments, and changes in natural processes such as species evolution. But the emergence of new theories and tests does not reduce objectivity to subjective opinion. Facts are real. Objectivity is important. But as you move up the scale of complexity with respect to facts and objectivity, it becomes clear that what was objective at one time may become subjective at another. Not because of Fake News or postmodernism. But because the complex relationships between theory, evidence and conduct periodically open up new thresholds. Colin Lang in turn rhetorically asks if »fake news« or »alternative facts« are a new carnival and Trump its dog and pony show? The idea of »fake news« and »alternative facts« as a carnival could not only help to see the constructedness of the media spectacle, but also provides a new perspective on Trump as an actor who is playing a particular role in this carnival, and that role is not one that any of us would describe as presidential. Many in the popular press have assumed it is just what it looks like, an infantilized narcissist, a parody of some Regan-era New York real estate tycoon straight out of a Bret Easton Ellis novel. The problem is that this description is all too obvious, and misses something fundamental about alternative facts, and the part that Trump is playing. A central assumption is, then, that the creation of alternative facts is one symptom of a more structural, paradigmatic shift in the persona of a president, one which has few correlates in the annals of political history. The closest analogy for his kind of performance is actually hinted at in the title of Trump’s greatest literary achievement: The Art of the Deal. Trump is playing the part of an artist, pilfering from the tactics of the avant-garde and putting them to very different ends. (shrink)

Recently, the effort to counter Fake News faced a counter attack: academic »postmodernism « and »social constructivism« it was said—because they say that facts are soaked in prior interpretations—are either purveyors of Fake News or set the cultural context in which it flourishes. They do so by undermining confidence in inquiry governed by simple facts. That is erroneous, argues William E. Connolly, because postmodernism never said that facts or objectivity are ghostly, subjective or »fake«. However, that what was objective at (...) one time may become less so at a later date through the combination of a paradigm shift in theory, new powers of perception, new tests with refined instruments, and changes in natural processes such as species evolution. But the emergence of new theories and tests does not reduce objectivity to subjective opinion. Facts are real. Objectivity is important. But as you move up the scale of complexity with respect to facts and objectivity, it becomes clear that what was objective at one time may become subjective at another. Not because of Fake News or postmodernism. But because the complex relationships between theory, evidence and conduct periodically open up new thresholds. Colin Lang in turn rhetorically asks if »fake news« or »alternative facts« are a new carnival and Trump its dog and pony show? The idea of »fake news« and »alternative facts« as a carnival could not only help to see the constructedness of the media spectacle, but also provides a new perspective on Trump as an actor who is playing a particular role in this carnival, and that role is not one that any of us would describe as presidential. Many in the popular press have assumed it is just what it looks like, an infantilized narcissist, a parody of some Regan-era New York real estate tycoon straight out of a Bret Easton Ellis novel. The problem is that this description is all too obvious, and misses something fundamental about alternative facts, and the part that Trump is playing. A central assumption is, then, that the creation of alternative facts is one symptom of a more structural, paradigmatic shift in the persona of a president, one which has few correlates in the annals of political history. The closest analogy for his kind of performance is actually hinted at in the title of Trump’s greatest literary achievement: The Art of the Deal. Trump is playing the part of an artist, pilfering from the tactics of the avant-garde and putting them to very different ends. (shrink)

This paper describes one form of not-knowing the good that interferes with teaching ethics, namely the use of moral clichés to justify one’s moral behavior. After identifying some of the key problems with an uncritical acceptance of moral clichés (e.g. the fact that they aim for universality, lack of room for exceptions, and take the place of thinking), two common features of moral clichés are articulated.

This paper describes one form of not-knowing the good that interferes with teaching ethics, namely the use of moral clichés to justify one’s moral behavior. After identifying some of the key problems with an uncritical acceptance of moral clichés (e.g. the fact that they aim for universality, lack of room for exceptions, and take the place of thinking), two common features of moral clichés are articulated.