Hoewel enorm invloedrijk in Duitstalig Europa, heeft de conceptuele geschiedschrijving (Begriffsgeschichte) tot nu toe weinig aandacht in het Engels gekregen. Dit genre van intellectuele geschiedschrijving verschilt van zowel de Franse geschiedschrijving van mentalités als de Engelstalige geschiedschrijving van verhandelingen door het concept. Aan de hand van practische voorbeelden in de geschiedschrijving wordt deze vorm toegelicht door Bram Kempers, Eddy de Jongh en Rolf Reichardt.

Literatuur leeft. Na een betrekkelijk stabiel maar sluimerend bestaan in de marges van de cultuurbijlagen is de literatuur sinds een jaar zowel de inzet als het mikpunt van een felle discussie. Aanstichter van deze discussie is hoogleraar moderne letterkunde Thomas Vaessens, die met zijn De revanche van de roman een vurig pleidooi hield voor de terugkeer van de literatuur naar de binnencirkel van het actuele debat. Aan zijn pleidooi ligt een diepe onvrede ten grondslag over het feit dat de literatuur (...) in de loop van de twintigste eeuw haar waarde als betekenisvolle cultuuruiting lijkt te hebben verloren. (shrink)

This article aims to further test the cognitive claims of the so-called subjectivity account of causal events and their linguistic markers, causal connectives. We took Mandarin Chinese, a language that is typologically completely different from the usual western languages, as a case to provide evidence for this subjectivity account. Complementary to the commonly used corpora analyses, we employed crowdsourcing to tap native speakers’ intuitions about causal coherence, focusing on four result connectives kějiàn ‘therefore’, suǒyǐ ‘so’, yīncǐ ‘so/for this reason’ and (...) yúshì ‘thereupon/as a result’. The analysis shows systematic differences regarding the use of connectives in relations that differ in terms of subjectivity, demonstrating that native speakers make use of subjectivity to encode and decode different types of causal relations in discourse. Moreover, our study evidences that a comprehensive model of subjectivity should include the epistemic dimension of certainty about the subjectivity scale that might be indicated by other linguistic elements. In-depth analyses of the test items revealed that the presence/absence of modality words in the result segments are related to different preferential patterns for the connectives. There is a trade-off between the epistemic dimension of certainty and the expression of subjectivity in the four connectives involved. (shrink)

The Action Chrétienne en Orient was founded in 1922 in order to bring relief among displaced Christians, especially Armenians, in Syria. It also supported the displaced Protestant communities in their ecclesiastical, educational and medical work. In structure the ACO resembled other Protestant missionary societies, but it had some unique features such as its trans-European character. At the time of the decolonization, the work of the ACO changed as the local Protestant churches took charge and the ACO devolved its responsibilities. In (...) the postcolonial period the ACO gradually embraced a missiology that was focused on partnership. This led to the formation of the ACO Fellowship, a communion of churches and mission agencies. (shrink)

This contribution discusses the reception to and relevance of ‘Christian witness in a multi-religious world’ in the Middle East. After a brief survey of the reception and some comments on the Arabic translation of the document, it argues that the guidelines offered in ‘Christian witness’ are especially relevant with regard to intra-Christian proselytism, relief and development work, and religious freedom and conversion.

Patient-reported outcomes are frequently used for medical decision making, at the levels of both individual patient care and healthcare policy. Evidence increasingly shows that PROs may be influenced by patients’ response shifts and dispositions. We identify how response shifts and dispositions may influence medical decisions on both the levels of individual patient care and health policy. We provide examples of these influences and analyse the consequences from the perspectives of ethical principles and theories of just distribution. If influences of response (...) shift and disposition on PROs and consequently medical decision making are not considered, patients may not receive optimal treatment and health insurance packages may include treatments that are not the most effective or cost-effective. We call on healthcare practitioners, researchers, policy makers, health insurers, and other stakeholders to critically reflect on why and how such patient reports are used. (shrink)

Introduction to collection of papers by group of scholars and ACO missionaries brought together to discuss the developments within the ACO over the past hundred years during a conference that was organised by Dr Wilbert van Saane of Haigazian University in January 2021. I will briefly summarise what strikes me as characteristic of the ACO on the basis of these articles, and conclude with a discussion of how this may contribute to further reflection in Mission Studies and World Christianity.

Het moderne leven wordt beheerst door drie tegenstellingen, die overwonnen moeten worden: de neiging in het westerse denken om het ik gelijk te stellen aan de rede, de vrees voor isalement van het individu, dat tot cosiaal conformisme leidt en de door de mens geschapen technologie, die een wereld tot stand brengt, waarin het scheppende vermogen wordt verstrikt. Een echte uitweg geeft hij niet en ook zijn tragisch socialisme komt niet goed uit de verf. Hij wil wel een klassenloze maatschappij, (...) maar dan in een paternalistisch-individualistisch kader. (shrink)

The History of Political and Social Concepts: A Critical Introduction by Melvin Richter History of Concepts: Comparative Perspectives by Iain Hampsher-Monk; Karin Tilmans; Frank van Vree History and Theory.

The History of Political and Social Concepts: A Critical Introduction by Melvin Richter History of Concepts: Comparative Perspectives by Iain Hampsher-Monk; Karin Tilmans; Frank van Vree History and Theory.

‘Vrees is een van de weinige dingen waaraan het onze tijd, die zekerheid, veiligheid en geborgenheid node mist, niét ontbreekt. Vrezen zijn er vele en verschillende. Mensen van uiteenlopende sociale, geslachtelijke en leeftijdscategorieën wordt geteisterd door de hunne; er zijn ook vrezen die we allemaal gemeen hebben -- ongeacht in welk deel van de aardbol we toevallig zijn geboren of hebben gekozen te wonen. De moeilijkheid echter is dat die vrezen zich niet zo makkelijk laten optellen. Naarmate ze een voor (...) een in gestage, zij het willekeurige volgorde afdalen, tarten ze onze pogingen ze met elkaar in verband te brengen en hun gemeenschappelijke wortels op te sporen. Ze zijn des te angstaanjagender omdat er zo moeilijk greep op is te krijgen; maar nóg beklemmender door het gevoel van machteloosheid dat ze wekken. Omdat we geen vat hebben gekregen op hun oorsprongen en logica, tasten we ook radeloos in het duister als we voorzorgen moeten nemen -- nog gezwegen van het voorkómen of het afslaan van de gevaren die ze signaleren. Het ontbreekt ons domweg aan de instrumenten en de vaardigheden om het te gebruiken. De gevaren die we vrezen overstijgen ons handelend vermogen; tot nog toe zijn we nog niet eens ver genoeg gevorderd om helder voor ogen te krijgen hoe die daarvoor berekende instrumenten en vaardigheden eruit zouden zien -- laat staan ze beginnen te ontwerpen en te maken.’. (shrink)

Het moderne stadsleven is bij uitstek geschikt om vreemdelingen te absorberen. Niettemin staat tegenover de openheid van de westerse stadscultuur ook de vrees door de vreemden te worden geannexeerd. De Januskoppen van aantrekkingskracht van het vreemde en angst voor hiervoor houden elkaar voorlopig in evenwicht.

What sort of epistemic positions are compatible with inquiries driven by interrogative attitudes like wonder and puzzlement? The ignorance norm provides a partial answer: interrogative attitudes directed at a particular question are never compatible with knowledge of the question’s answer. But some are tempted to think that interrogative attitudes are incompatible with weaker positions like belief as well. This paper defends that the ignorance norm is exhaustive. All epistemic positions weaker than knowledge directed at the answer to a question are (...) compatible with having an interrogative attitude towards that question. We offer two arguments for this conclusion. The first is based on considerations about the role of hedging in inquiry. The second is conditional on considerations related to the aim of inquiry as a goal-directed activity. (shrink)

It has been argued that the Internet and social media increase the number of available viewpoints, perspectives, ideas and opinions available, leading to a very diverse pool of information. However, critics have argued that algorithms used by search engines, social networking platforms and other large online intermediaries actually decrease information diversity by forming so-called “filter bubbles”. This may form a serious threat to our democracies. In response to this threat others have developed algorithms and digital tools to combat filter bubbles. (...) This paper first provides examples of different software designs that try to break filter bubbles. Secondly, we show how norms required by two democracy models dominate the tools that are developed to fight the filter bubbles, while norms of other models are completely missing in the tools. The paper in conclusion argues that democracy itself is a contested concept and points to a variety of norms. Designers of diversity enhancing tools must thus be exposed to diverse conceptions of democracy. (shrink)

The effect of the body transfer illusion on the perceived strength of self- and externally-generated “tickle” sensations was investigated. As expected, externally generated movement produced significantly higher ratings of tickliness than those associated with self-generated movements. Surprisingly, the body transfer illusion had no influence on the ratings of tickliness, suggesting that highly surprising, and therefore hard to predict, experiences of body image and first-person perspective do not abolish the attenuation of tickle sensations. In addition, evidence was found that a version (...) of the rubber hand illusion exists within the body transfer illusion. We situate our findings within the larger debate over sensory attenuation: there is an attenuation of prediction errors that depends upon the context in which sensory input is predicted , and sensory attenuation is a necessary consequence of self-generated movement irrespective of context . The results support the notion of active inference. (shrink)

ABSTRACT:The ethics of high frequency trading are obscure, due in part to the complexity of the practice. This article contributes to the existing literature of ethics in financial markets by examining a recent trend in regulation in high frequency trading, the prohibition of deception. We argue that in the financial markets almost any regulation, other than the most basic, tends to create a moral hazard and increase information asymmetry. Since the market’s job is, at least in part, price discovery, we (...) argue that simplicity of regulation and restraint in regulation are virtues to a greater extent than in other areas of finance. This article proposes criteria for determining which high-frequency trading strategies should be regulated. (shrink)

The dominant idea in debates on social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities is that social inclusion requires recognition of their ‘sameness’. As a result, most care providers try to enable people with intellectual disabilities to live and participate in ‘normal’ society, ‘in the community’. In this paper, we draw on (Pols, Medicine Health Care and Philosophy 18:81–90, 2015) empirical ethics of care approach to give an in-depth picture of places that have a radically different take on what social inclusion (...) for people with intellectual disabilities looks like: places known as ‘sheltered living institutions’. We argue these places can be seen as ‘communities of difference’ catered to the specific needs and capacities of the residents. We then contend that these communities raise questions about what a good life for people with intellectual disabilities looks like and where and how it ought to be realised; questions not posed very often, as they get muzzled by the dominant rhetoric of normalisation and the emphasis on sameness. (shrink)

In this paper I examine the foundations of Laplace's famous statement of determinism in 1814, and argue that rather than derived from his mechanics, this statement is based on general philosophical principles, namely the principle of sufficient reason and the law of continuity. It is usually supposed that Laplace's statement is based on the fact that each system in classical mechanics has an equation of motion which has a unique solution. But Laplace never proved this result, and in fact he (...) could not have proven it, since it depends on a theorem about uniqueness of solutions to differential equations that was only developed later on. I show that the idea that is at the basis of Laplace's determinism was in fact widespread in enlightenment France, and is ultimately based on a re-interpretation of Leibnizian metaphysics, specifically the principle of sufficient reason and the law of continuity. Since the law of continuity also lies at the basis of the application of differential calculus in physics, one can say that Laplace's determinism and the idea that systems in physics can be described by differential equations with unique solutions have a common foundation. (shrink)

In this article, I examine the relation between Bateson and Guattari’s ecological thoughts: two thinkers whose ecological ideas at first sight have a lot in common. In order to show the difference between the thoughts of both thinkers, I will take my clue from Guattari’s remark that he parts ways with Bateson on the role of context. Explaining the role of context in both authors will allow me to show how Guattari’s thought implies both an endorsement and a critique of (...) cybernetics, and, specifically, promoting a machinic rather than cybernetic ecology. I will conclude by indicating what is at stake in this distinction. (shrink)

SummaryIn the 1940s a controversy developed between John H. Northrop (Nobel Laureate, 1946) and Max Delbrück (Nobel Laureate, 1969) on the formation of bacteriophage. From the historiography of molecular biology there emerges a picture of an obstinate Northrop who repudiated the ‘correct’ insights revealed by the experiments of Delbrück. The established reputation of Northrop confronts one with the question of why Delbrück's epoch-making experiments were not convincing for Northrop. It will be argued that this was a consequence of local incommensurability (...) between Northrop's physiological/chemical research style and Delbrück's bacteriological/genetic research style. The analysis of this controversy reveals the elements that made up these two research styles. (shrink)

We study whether it is possible to generalise Seidenfeld et al.’s representation result for coherent choice functions in terms of sets of probability/utility pairs when we let go of Archimedeanity. We show that the convexity property is necessary but not sufficient for a choice function to be an infimum of a class of lexicographic ones. For the special case of two-dimensional option spaces, we determine the necessary and sufficient conditions by weakening the Archimedean axiom.