This paper provides an introductory review of the theory of judgment aggregation. It introduces the paradoxes of majority voting that originally motivated the field, explains several key results on the impossibility of propositionwise judgment aggregation, presents a pedagogical proof of one of those results, discusses escape routes from the impossibility and relates judgment aggregation to some other salient aggregation problems, such as preference aggregation, abstract aggregation and probability aggregation. The present illustrative rather than exhaustive review is intended to give readers (...) new to the field of judgment aggregation a sense of this rapidly growing research area. (shrink)

When can or should citizenship be granted to prospective members of states? When can or should states withdraw citizenship from their existing members? In recent decades, political philosophers have paid considerable attention to the first question, but have generally neglected the second. There are of course good practical reasons for prioritizing the question of when citizenship should be granted—many individuals have a strong interest in acquiring citizenship in particular political communities, while many fewer are at risk of denationalization. Still, loss (...) of membership in a political community is a practice with a long history that continues to take place today. -/- Concerns about national security have recently led several liberal democratic states to pass, strengthen or consider legislation that would empower their governments to denationalize certain persons.] At the international level, formal norms governing denationalization are vague and generally toothless, and there are no international legal norms that restrict denationalization to citizens who hold another citizenship or wish to take up citizenship elsewhere (Worster, 2009). So it is important to determine whether there are conditions under which denationalization can be morally justified and, if so, what those conditions are. We shall argue that while denationalization is ordinarily impermissible, there is a class of crime committed by citizens that may render it not only permissible, but a fitting response on the part of the state. (shrink)

The 2015 Nepal earthquake and subsequent avalanche at Mount Everest Base Camp is the deadliest mountaineering disaster to date. This study is novel in exploring the lived experiences of survivors and the role of mental toughness in their psychological responses to the disaster. Design: Phenomenological study. Method: Ten mountaineers, who were on expeditions during the earthquake, participated in phenomenological interviews. Data were analysed inductively and thematically, while strategies to enhance trustworthiness were also employed. Results: Seven dimensions emerged from the data, (...) which captured climbers' psychological responses to the disaster, ranging from the moments the earthquake hit to reflections on the disaster after returning home. Contrasting emotional responses were described, and suggested to depend on experience and mental toughness. Negative emotional and behavioural responses were reported in the aftermath. Some climbers reported post-traumatic stress, but also a strong desire to return to Mount Everest and continue mountaineering. Conclusions: These findings provide detailed insights into the lived experiences of climbers who survived the 2015 Nepal earthquake and Base Camp avalanche. Findings also shed light on the role of mental toughness in coping with and responding to a major natural disaster. (shrink)

This paper provides an introductory review of the theory of judgment aggregation. It introduces the paradoxes of majority voting that originally motivated the field, explains several key results on the impossibility of propositionwise judgment aggregation, presents a pedagogical proof of one of those results, discusses escape routes from the impossibility and relates judgment aggregation to some other salient aggregation problems, such as preference aggregation, abstract aggregation and probability aggregation. The present illustrative rather than exhaustive review is intended to give readers (...) new to the field of judgment aggregation a sense of this rapidly growing research area. (shrink)

Written from the perspective of a philosopher, this paper raises a number of potential concerns with how the VIA classifies and the VIA-IS measures character traits. With respect to the 24 character strengths, concerns are raised about missing strengths, the lack of vices, conflicting character strengths, the unclear connection between character strengths and virtues, and the misclassification of some character strengths under certain virtues. With respect to the 6 virtues, concerns are raised about conflicting virtues, the absence of practical wisdom, (...) and factor analyses that do not find a 6 factor structure. With respect to the VIA-IS, concerns are raised about its neglect of motivation and about the underlying assumptions it makes about character traits. The paper ends by sketching a significantly improved classification which omits the 6 virtues and introduces additional strengths, vices, and a conflict resolution trait. (shrink)

Varied theories and models of development have been advanced by many scholars to explain the failure of developmental theories and policies in Africa. This paper critically reviews the existing literature on the bane of development in Africa, arriving at what it considers as the most fundamental twin minions of underdevelopment in the continent. The two implicated interrelated issues are thought predicament and unwillingness to act. Whereas thought predicament affects the intellectual faculty, unwillingness to act is the defect of the volitional (...) and affective faculties. This paper strongly claims that without first rectifying these three core faculties of the African person, the continent can at best be chasing shadows. This, however, does not suggest that all other reasons for underdevelopment are insignificant or implausible. Well-planned educational system and deliberate conscientiousness towards enhancing the intellectual, volitional and affective faculties of humans are key to sustainable development of any state in Africa. Keywords : Thought Predicament, Unwillingness to Act, Underdevelopment, Africa. (shrink)

A Inglaterra vivida por Locke é marcada, contraditoriamente, pelo crescimento da pobreza num cenário de prosperidade econômica. Esta situação fez com que o Estado investisse em políticas assistenciais, fato observado por ele com certa ressalva, já que o filósofo inglês diagnosticou que a pobreza é fruto da degeneração moral que marcava uma parcela da sociedade. Entretanto, sabe-se que o conceito lockeano de propriedade garante o direito à vida como natural a todos, direito garantindo mesmo após a passagem para a sociedade (...) contratual. Esta situação o conduz a refletir sobre o direito dos pobres, particularmente no intitulado _Ensaio sobre a lei assistencial_. Tendo como cerne o conceito de caridade, o objetivo deste texto é expor a reflexão que Locke desenvolve em torno do direito dos pobres. (shrink)

In European law, "non-contractual liability arising out of damage caused to another" is one of the three main non-contractual obligations dealt with in the Draft of a Common Frame of Reference. The law of non-contractual liability arising out of damage caused to another â?? in the common law known as tort law or the law of torts, but in most other jurisdictions referred to as the law of delict â?? is the area of law which determines whether one who has (...) suffered a damage, can on that account demand reparation â?? in money or in kind â?? from another with whom there may be no other legal connection than the causation of damage itself. Besides determining the scope and extent of responsibility for dangers of one's own or another's creation, this field of law serves to protect fundamental rights in the private law domain, that is to say horizontally between citizens inter se. Based on pan-European comparative research which annotates the work, this book presents model rules on liability. Explanatory comments and illustrations amplify the policy decisions involved. During the drafting process, comparative material from over 25 different EU jurisdictions has been taken into account. The work therefore is not only a presentation of a future model for European rules to come, but also provides a fairly detailed indication of the present legal situation in the Member States. (shrink)

Before crystallizing into works, music as a field of sensible organization of sound poses a problem: how is it possible that something audible is set apart from the acoustic world to constitute a distinct sphere of sense, holding people′s attention in an unparalleled way? To deal with this question, the text proceeds in three steps: using a concept from art theory, Boehm′s “iconic difference”, music is conceptualized as an ongoing differentiation within the audible; the means that accomplish this differentiation, namely (...) musical tone and the tonal system, are investigated; and finally the gestural element in music is introduced as the form these means take on in the musical process. Throughout, the text draws on classical philosophical resources such as Hegelian dialectics, current research in parallel fields like language development, psychological insights into the structure of perception in early infancy, and various examples from contemporary music and art. (shrink)

At the turn of the twentieth century, the debate between supporters of internal and external relations showed how our assumptions on the nature of relations result in ontological, epistemic, and ethical commitments. In this debate, Alfred North Whitehead provided the most articulated and satisfying account through his “philosophy of the organism,” which holds relations to be internal yet vectorial, without excluding completely external relations. Today, the debate has become once again topical and constitutes a core issue for speculative realism. This (...) paper aims to show how the theory of external relations endorsed by some leading figures of speculative realism does not suffice to preserve the desiderata it was designed for, and how a more serious consideration of Whitehead’s theory would have beneficial effects on the ontological and ethical issues of this rejuvenated metaphysical discourse. (shrink)

Based on an analysis of naturally occurring interactions between lecturers and students, this article investigates how university lectures and seminars are brought to a close through the collaborative work of lecturers and students. The analysis focuses on, first, the resources that lecturers and students have to accomplish this ; second, the active role that students play, who may engage in closing activities in ways that attempt to preserve the classroom order or in ways that are disruptive of it ; and (...) third, the occasional subversive role that students may adopt, who may attempt to initiate closings in order to cut the lecture or seminar short. (shrink)

O presente artigo pretende refletir, a partir de contribuições de Theodor W. Adorno, sobre aspectos da formação objetiva do sujeito. Isso é feito por meio da apropriação de conceitos como autoconservação, autocrítica e crítica imanente. Tomamos como exemplo parte do projeto de à la recherche du temps perdu de Marcel Proust, nomeadamente, Un amour de Swann . A análise do processo de formação de Swann permite observar nexos e tensões que o sujeito elabora com o mundo objetivo. A ação do (...) Swann incorpora na sua relação co m o mundo objetivo os processos próprios da Obra de Arte autêntica para empreender a crítica necessária ao contexto social em que está inserido. Crítica esta, também, voltada a si próprio. (shrink)

›Natur‹ ist von natura, und damit durch das zusammengesetzte Suffix -tu-ra von dem lateinischen Verb nasci abgeleitet. Solche Suffixe drücken in der Regel eine Tätigkeit oder ein Ergebnis aus. Sie sind nicht wörtlich zu übersetzen; ›natura‹ ließe sich vielleicht noch am besten als das ewig Tätige, Produzierende oder Entstandene umschreiben.

This review article discusses Melinda Cooper and Catherine Waldby’s recent book, Clinical Labor. Tissue donors and research subjects in the global bio-economy, as a topical contribution to the literatures on the bio-economy, and to studies of life sciences, society, and policy more generally. The article contextualizes the book within existing literatures and thoroughly considers its conceptual approach as well as its findings. Further, it discusses its value as a contribution, arguing that clinical labor also presents an intriguing framework for further (...) research, thereby suggesting some possible directions. (shrink)

São muitas e, até hoje, muito controvertidas as opiniões referentes à função e ao lugar sistemático da filosofia da história de Kant no todo do seu projeto crítico-transcendental; nem há consenso quanto à importância ou relevância filosófica dos diversos escritos em que Kant aborda e defende os seus teoremas histórico- políticos. – No presente trabalho, pretende-se interpretar a “doutrina” histórico-filosófica kantiana – não obstante o seu caráter fragmentário e até aparentemente nem sempre coerente – na perspectiva da sua possível homogeneidade (...) e compatibilidade com os elementos centrais da própria teoria-base transcendental. Isso significa, antes de mais nada, ler os respectivos teoremas não como resultados de um raciocínio dogmático baseado num saber do processo histórico, mas como um conjunto de teses e postulados baseados no mero suposto subjetivo-racional de um progresso, ou seja, na idéia não só da possibilidade mas da necessidade (subjetiva) da razão de implantar princípios racionais na história. PALAVRAS-CHAVE – Kant. Filosofia transcendental. Sistema. Filosofia da história. ABSTRACT There are many different and controversial opinions about the function and the systematic place of Kant’s philosophy of history in the context of his critical-transcendental project on the whole, as well as about the philosophic relevance of his historical-political writings. – This paper aims to interpret Kant’s historical-philosophical “doctrine” – in despite of its fragmentary character and of some apparent incoherences – in the horizon of its possible homogeneity and compatibility with the central elements of the basic transcendental theory. That means, above all: read the theorems in question not as results of a dogmatic thought based on the knowledge of historical processes, but as a set of thesis and postulates based on the mere subjective- rational supposition of progress, that is, on the idea that it is not only possible, but a (subjective) need of reason to implant rational principles in history. KEY WORDS – Kant. Transcendental philosophy. System. Philosophy of history. (shrink)

Revanche und Rache im Kleinen und Großen sind alltägliche Phänomene, die sich bis hin zu stabilen Feindschaftsbeziehungen ausweiten können. Sie beruhen auf Prinzipien des Tauschhandels, wie der Autor darlegt, allerdings mit der Neigung, exzessiv zu entgleisen. In Auseinandersetzung mit Freuds Konzept des »narzisstischen Typus der Objektwahl« und mit seinem zentralen Begriff der »Ersetzbarkeit« entwickelt der Autor die Hypothese, dass die im Rachemodus stattfindende spiegelbildliche Umkehrung von Schmerz und Verlust als Versuch aufgefasst werden kann, jenem inkommensurablen Rest in uns selbst und (...) im Gegenüber nicht begegnen zu müssen, der sich weder aneignen noch ersetzen lässt, den Freud als »Ding« bezeichnet hat und der mit Kants Begriff der »Würde« zusammengedacht werden kann. (shrink)

Am Vorabend von Nietzsches 175. Geburtstag scheint eine Zwischenbilanz angebracht, eine Art Einfuhrung in das Wichtigste an seinem Werk, dasjenige also, was dabei hilft, Nietzsche als langst noch nicht ausgeschopften "Philosophen der Zukunft" auszuweisen im Blick auf seine Intention. Dies geschieht - in Teil I - mit Blick auf Nietzsches Wahrheitstheorie; seine Metaphysikkritik und das ihr innewohnende Konzept einer "anderen Vernunft"; seinem Konzept einer "neuen Aufklarung" a la Voltaire; sowie die implizite Padagogik in seiner Philosophie, zutage tretend in seinem Ubermenschenkonstrukt (...) als Teil einer "Philosophie der Zukunft". In Teil II interessiert die Nietzscherezeption von ihren Anfangen in den 1890er Jahren uber das Nietzschebild im Dritten Reich bis nach 1945 unter besonderer Beachtung von Nietzsches - von seiner Schwester unterschlagenen - Position gegenuber dem "Hitlervorlaufer" Theodor Fritsch. Damit sind die Grundlagen gelegt fur ein Kapitel zum Thema Nietzsche und die Neue Rechte, dem abschliessend ein Kapitel zu Nietzsche und Donald Trump folgt. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Nietzscheforschung Jahrgang: 24 Heft: 1 Seiten: 411-417.

This paper presents two approaches to creativity needed to solve problems.: the Brainstorming from Osborn and the Synectics from Gordon. By a comparison between these two disconnection processes, we try to appreciate the contributions and limits of creativity methods to practical problem solving.