In a recent paper (Berry in Eur J Phys 42: 015401, 2020), the boundaries of superoscillatory regions (the regions where a function oscillates faster than its fastest Fourier component) of waves described by the Helmholtz equation in a uniform medium were related to zeros of the quantum potential, arising in the Madelung formulation of quantum mechanics. We generalize this result, showing that the relativistic counterpart, which is, essentially, a Klein-Gordon equation, exhibits the same behaviour, but in spacetime, giving rise to (...) anomalous values for the local mass (instead of local momenta, in the classical case). This amounts to the generalization of the condition for superoscillations from the magnitude of a vector, to the norm of a four-vector. For a photon, boundaries of superoscillatory regions are surfaces on which the photon’s trajectory is locally light-like, separating time-like and space-like regions, which correspond to real and imaginary local mass, respectively. (shrink)

The Cramér–Rao bound, satisfied by classical Fisher information, a key quantity in information theory, has been shown in different contexts to give rise to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics. In this paper, we show that the identification of the mean quantum potential, an important notion in Bohmian mechanics, with the Fisher information, leads, through the Cramér–Rao bound, to an uncertainty principle which is stronger, in general, than both Heisenberg and Robertson–Schrödinger uncertainty relations, allowing to experimentally test the validity (...) of such an identification. (shrink)

August 2006 marked the 10th anniversary of landmark legislation when Israel’s parliament passed the unique Patient’s Rights Law. This law underscores the importance of medical ethics in Israeli society. During a seminar at the Shaare Zedek School of Nursing, third-year students performed a qualitative research study investigating ethical issues arising in the field of nursing, and how nursing staff dealt with these issues in relation to the law. The research was conducted using semistructured questionnaires. The results showed that the staff (...) participants knew the law, but did not differentiate between legal and ethical problems. The establishment of a framework for dealing with these issues would help to promote professional ethics, encourage broad-based agreements related to ethical decisions, reduce ethical conflict, and increase implementation of the law on patients’ rights. (shrink)

Ethical issues are pivotal to the practice of psychiatry. Anyone involved in psychiatric practice and mental healthcare has to be aware of the range of ethical issues relevant to their profession. An increased professional commitment to accountability, in parallel with a growing "consumer" movement has paved the way for a creative engagement with the ethical movement. The bestselling 'Psychiatric Ethics' has carved out a niche for itself as the major comprehensive text and core reference in the field, covering a range (...) of complex ethical dilemmas which face clinicians and researchers in their everyday practice. This new edition takes a fresh look at recent trends and developments at the interface between ethics and psychiatric practice. Coming ten years after the third edition, the editors have observed several emerging aspects of psychiatric practice requiring coverage, as a result, 5 new chapters have been added, including cutting edge topics - such as neuroethics. All other chapters have been fully revised and updated. The book will continue to be essential reading for psychiatrists, psychologists, other mental health professionals, and bioethicists, as well as of interest to policy makers, managers and lawyers. (shrink)

Altruistic behavior and motivation has traditionally been regarded as a defense mechanism defined by the vicissitudes of instinctual gratification. In this article, we suggest that there exists a substantial body of evidence from the fields of ethology, infant research, and experimental psychology to support the existence of an independently motivated altruism that is nondefensive in nature. We attempt to show how the view of altruism as a universal motivational system stems from the recent developments in evolutionary theory and contributes to (...) our understanding of intrapsychic factors influencing human behavior in general and the process of psychotherapy in particular. It is not our goal to prove the existence of "pure altruism" that can never be derived from selfish motives. Rather, our thesis is that self-oriented and altruistic motivations are equal and essential partners in human evolution and development. It is the optimal balance of these two forces that is necessary for evolutionary advancement and for psychological health. (shrink)

The purpose of the study is to reveal the scientific inconsistency and reactionary political essence of traditional and modern concepts that distort the truth about the Great Patriotic War and the most common techniques used for this, on the one hand, and on the other hand, to propose measures to ensure an offensive strategy to protect historical truth. The scientific novelty consists in the unique author's classification of Russophobic concepts and techniques into two directions, and within their framework in the (...) analysis of their content through relevant aspects and discourses. The result of the analysis carried out are proposals to neutralize hostile propaganda, provide an offensive strategy to combat falsifiers and protect historical truth. (shrink)

Jacques Chevalier et Emmanuel Mounier : deux philosophes, le maître et l'élève, engagés dans la vie de leur pays. Leurs liens d'amitié, noués dès 1924, se relâchent progressivement, sans pour autant disparaître, dès lors que le nazisme dévoile sa vraie nature, que l'Allemagne rompt le traité de Versailles, que la guerre civile espagnole fait rage, que le Front populaire s'effondre, que l'État français est institué et met fin à la démocratie et à la République. En 1932, Mounier crée, avec l'appui (...) de Chevalier, la revue Esprit. Celle-ci, d'abord tolérée par les autorités de Vichy, sera interdite, mais elle réapparaîtra à la Libération. Chevalier, engagé depuis toujours contre le "laïcisme", deviendra ministre du Maréchal Pétain. En charge de l'Instruction publique, il réintroduira Dieu à l'école et sera condamné en 1946, en Haute Cour de justice. Cet ouvrage prend appui sur leurs correspondances et sur les verbatims de leurs entretiens, pour la plupart inédits. (shrink)

Marx as a student -- Karl Marx and humanity : the material of hope -- Man and citizen in Marx -- Changing the world : Marx's Theses on Feuerbach -- Marx and dialectics of idealism -- The university, Marxism, and philosophy -- The Marxist concept of science -- Epicurus and Karl Marx -- Upright carriage, concrete utopia.

première partie. Le maître et son disciple : une amité improbable -- deuxième partie. Deux acteurs de la vie publique -- troisième partie. Un renouvellement de la pensée philosophique.

The aim of this book is to help students write mathematics better. Throughout it are large exercise sets well-integrated with the text and varying appropriately from easy to hard. Basic issues are treated, and attention is given to small issues like not placing a mathematical symbol directly after a punctuation mark. And it provides many examples of what students should think and what they should write and how these two are often not the same.

Most decisions in life involve ambiguity, where probabilities can not be meaningfully specified, as much as they involve probabilistic uncertainty. In such conditions, the aspiration to utility maximization may be self-deceptive. We propose “robust satisficing” as an alternative to utility maximizing as the normative standard for rational decision making in such circumstances. Instead of seeking to maximize the expected value, or utility, of a decision outcome, robust satisficing aims to maximize the robustness to uncertainty of a satisfactory outcome. That is, (...) robust satisficing asks, “what is a ‘good enough’ outcome,” and then seeks the option that will produce such an outcome under the widest set of circumstances. We explore the conditions under which robust satisficing is a more appropriate norm for decision making than utility maximizing. (shrink)

Aussprache über Hegel.--Modellzeichen unterwegs und Hegels Thesis.--Kant und Hegel oder Inwendigkeit, die Welt-Enzyklopädie überholend.--Faust, Hegels "Phänomenologie" und das Ereignis.--Problem der Engelsschen Trennung von "Methode" und "System" bei Hegel.--Hegel und die Gewalt des Systems.--Über die Besonderheit bei Hegel.--Materie im dialektischen Weltgeist.--Der Schwur auf den Styx, der zweideutige Kosmos in Hegels Rechtsphilosophie.--Hegel und der Humor.

This new edition of Psychiatric Ethics continues to serve as the most authoritative and comprehensive text on the many complex ethical dilemmas which face the clinician in everyday practice. In addition to addressing questions about drug therapy, sex therapy, suicide, and child psychiatry, among others, this up-to-date revision adds six new chapters discussing abuses in psychiatry in Japan and Nazi Germany; a conceptual analysis of what mental illness is; psychiatry as a profession; the ethical aspects of psychogeriatrics; and deinstitutionalization. This (...) book is essential reading for all mental health professionals. (shrink)