Let T1 and T2 be two countable strongly minimal theories with the DMP whose common theory is the theory of vector spaces over a fixed finite field. We show that T1 ∪ T2 has a strongly minimal completion.

Conditional promises and threats are speech acts that are used to manipulate other people's behaviour. Studies on human reasoning typically use propositional logic to analyse what people infer from such inducements. While this approach is sufficient to uncover conceptual features of inducements, it fails to explain them. To overcome this limitation, we propose a multilevel analysis integrating motivational, linguistic, deontic, behavioural, and emotional aspects. Commonalities and differences between conditional promises and threats on various levels were examined in two experiments. The (...) first shows that both types of inducements are understood as being complementary on the linguistic level, but not reversible, due to the specific temporal order of their actions. In addition, it gives a first assessment of emotional reactions. The second experiment investigated the novel question of whether complementary promises and threats, despite semantic differences, both imply an obligation to cooperate on the deontic level. The data corroborate this hypothesis, and they support various appraisal-theoretical assumptions on the elicitation of emotions. They also reveal that content affects not only the attribution of emotions, but also the deontic interpretation. (shrink)

Gegenwärtig gibt es eine intensive internationale Diskussion zum Stellenwert der Sedierungsbehandlung am Lebensende. Auch in Deutschland sind der grundsätzliche Status und die medizinethische Bewertung palliativer bzw. terminaler Sedierung noch nicht ausreichend geklärt. Der vorliegende Beitrag stellt anhand der Analyse sechs möglicher klinischer Szenarien differenzierte Beispiele für die Situation von Patienten vor einer Sedierungsbehandlung dar. Dazu wird ein Vergleich mit Standardsituationen der Sterbehilfe vorgenommen. Für die moralische Bewertung werden Aktionen und Intentionen der Sedierungsformen unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von Aufklärung und Autonomie diskutiert. (...) Aus Perspektive einer klinisch orientierten Ethik sind eine differenzierte Entscheidungsanalyse, die Form informierter Zustimmung sowie der Ablauf der Sedierungs- und Ernährungsbehandlung von Bedeutung. Eine kritische Debatte zur moralischen Legitimität der Sedierung am Lebensende ist notwendig für die medizinethische Kultur ärztlicher Praxis. (shrink)

Bei der Bemühung um die Emanzipation von körperlich oder geistig beeinträchtigten Menschen kommt es häufig zu einer vehementen Kritik an einem "medizinischen Konzept" von Behinderung. Diesem wird aus Sicht einer "Bürgerrechtsperspektive" entgegengehalten, es gelte nicht, die Menschen zu korrigieren, sondern die Umwelt so zu verändern, dass Betroffene ungehindert am gesellschaftlichen Leben teilhaben können. Nach Auffassung der "Normalisierungskritik" sind es Stereotypen und Stigmata, die es Behinderten erschweren, ein selbstbestimmtes Leben zu führen. Beide Ansätze ignorieren oder bagatellisieren jedoch aus systematischen Gründen die (...) Art und Weise, in der Betroffene ihre physische oder psychische Schädigung subjektiv erfahren. Deshalb kann auch nicht auf die erheblichen Unterschiede reflektiert werden, die zwischen verschiedenen Formen der Behinderung bestehen. Es ist jedoch verfehlt, die Feststellung, dass Behinderte häufig in spezifischer Art bedürftig sind, mit paternalistischer Herablassung gleichzusetzen. Gerade für ein zuträgliches Verhältnis von Medizinern und Behinderten ist es wichtig, exakt jene Differenzen zu berücksichtigen, die zwischen akuten Krankheiten und verschiedenen Formen chronischer Beeinträchtigung bestehen. Nur so können Ärzte dazu veranlasst werden, von einer allzu "interventionsfreudigen" Haltung Abstand zu nehmen. (shrink)

Using placebos in day-to-day practice is an ethical problem. This paper summarises the available epidemiological evidence to support this difficult decision. Based on these data we propose to differentiate between placebo and “knowledge framing”. While the use of placebo should be confined to experimental settings in clinical trials, knowledge framing — which is only conceptually different from placebo — is a desired, expected and necessary component of any doctor-patient encounter. Examples from daily practice demonstrate both, the need to investigate the (...) effects of knowledge framing and its impact on ethical, medical, economical and legal decisions. (shrink)

Berufliche Autonomie ist Voraussetzung für Zufriedenheit mit der eigenen Tätigkeit. Dem Arztberuf wird ein hohes Maß an Autonomie zugeschrieben, verbunden mit fachlicher und ethisch-moralischer Kompetenz für lebenswichtige Bereiche. Das sind wesentliche Elemente für das positive Image dieses Berufes. Zu Beginn der ärztlichen Tätigkeit ist die ethischmoralische Kompetenz weitgehend ausgebildet, während die fachliche Kompetenz erst erworben werden muss. Kliniken, in denen die Weiterbildung meist erfolgt, sind oft auch heute noch traditionell hierarchisch organisiert. Die z.T. feudalistischen oder militärischen Strukturen behindern autonome moralische (...) Entscheidungen und bewirken eine strukturelle Verantwortungslosigkeit. Behinderungen und Druck durch Vorgesetzte, finanzielle Sanktionen, Standesdünkel und Profilierungsbestreben werden an typischen Konfliktsituationen aufgezeigt. Es kommt dadurch zu Spannungen, Unzufriedenheit, Gewissenskonflikten und Erkrankungen bis zum Burn out. Engagement von Mitarbeitern wird verhindert, Kreativität nicht genutzt und Fehler werden nicht konstruktiv bearbeitet. Dadurch können Patienten unangemessen belastet oder geschädigt werden. Nicht nur Vorgesetzte, sondern auch Nachgeordnete können so in Gefahr geraten, ihre moralischen Werte anderen Interessen unterzuordnen. Es werden Wege zu einer autonomiefördernden Kultur zwischen Ärzten und mit anderen Berufsgruppen aufgezeigt. Dazu gehört eine institutionalisierte Kommunikation auf der Basis gegenseitiger Wertschätzung in einem partnerschaftlichen Team, das auch ethische Fragen im Diskurs bearbeiten kann. (shrink)

This book presents results of an international conference which addressed the interaction of aesthetical and technological dimensions within the formation of contemporary society. The contributions discuss the production of time and space, self and nature, individual and society in the image of technology. They focus on the productive tensions and convergences between aesthetic and technological concepts when implemented in everyday life. The volume contains - among others - texts about technologies of visualisation, the aesthetics of warfare and the design of (...) technological lifeworlds. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Cognitive Linguistics Jahrgang: 26 Heft: 2 Seiten: 331-359.

Pollution, higher traffic noise, or a poisoned river are all examples of externalities---costs which are imposed by an action but which are not built in to the price of that action. One of the problems of economic theory is whether, when analysing the desirability of a new road, for example, the costs that occur as externalities can be fully incorporated into the price of that road. Dr Andreas Papandreou has provided a book which fully explains and analyses the ideas lying (...) behind the theory of externalities. Papandreou has made a survey of the various methodological approaches taken by economists to the issue of eternalities, and the failure of some markets to reconcile individual and social costs and benefits. He tackles the difficult issue of defining or characterizing externalities, surveys the current literature, and investigates the effect that externality theory has had on major economic issues. His major theme is an exploration of institutional inefficiency and the implications of incorporating organizational costs into economic models. Written in a non-technical style, this book is suitable not only for those economists who make a study of externalities, but for those who need to understand the theory for their own fields of research, and for postgraduate students. (shrink)

Dieses Lehrbuch behandelt zentrale naturphilosophische Probleme, die durch Theorien der modernen Naturwissenschaften aufgeworfen werden. Es fragt, welches Bild von Raum, Zeit, Materie, Leben und Bewusstsein sich aus ihnen ergibt, aber auch nach den Konsequenzen der aktuellen Umweltkrise für unser praktisches Verhältnis zur Natur. Der Autor Prof. em. Dr. Andreas Bartels hat Mathematik, Physik und Philosophie studiert und ist emeritierter Professor für Natur- und Wissenschaftsphilosophie an der Universität Bonn.

In this groundbreaking book, Andrea R. English challenges common assumptions by arguing that discontinuous experiences, such as uncertainty and struggle, are essential to the learning process. To make this argument, Dr. English draws from the works of two seminal thinkers in philosophy of education - nineteenth-century German philosopher J. F. Herbart and American Pragmatist John Dewey. English's analysis considers Herbart's influence on Dewey, inverting the accepted interpretation of Dewey's thought as a dramatic break from modern European understandings of education.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) recently hosted the blockbuster exhibition, Africa & Byzantium, which ran from November 19, 2023, to March 3, 2024. This long-anticipated show and accompanying catalogue1 represent one of the first major exhibitions to place the contemporaneous arts of Byzantine, Coptic, Nubian, Ethiopian, and Islamic traditions in Africa side by side. Showcasing medieval Africa’s rich cultural heritage, complexity, power, and transcontinental influence, Africa & Byzantium will become a standard resource for scholars reevaluating Africa’s role in medieval (...) art and culture. Head curator of the exhibition, Dr. Andrea Myers Achi, has kindly agreed to an interview as a supplement to the current Convivium issue on The Arts of Medieval Northern Africa. Dr. Achi is Mary and Michael Jaharis Associate Curator of Byzantine Art at the Met. She specializes in Late Antique and Byzantine art and archaeology in Northern Africa, particularly in Egypt. She previously worked on the Met’s exhibitions for Art and Peoples of the Kharga Oasis (October 11, 2017 – April 11, 2021), Crossroads: Power and Piety (March 6, 2020 – July 24, 2022), The Good Life: Collecting Late Antique Art at The Met (May 24, 2021 – January 7, 2024), and Afterlives: Contemporary Art in the Byzantine Crypt (2024), which recently opened and will be on display through January 25, 2026. (shrink)

This dissertation abstract and reflection commentary present the work of Dr. Andrea Liesen. The dissertation examines the informational efficiency of financial markets to price the systematic risk stemming from climate change for European companies. The abstract provides an overview of the underlying theory, introduces the development of hypotheses, the method applied, and data gathered, as well as selected implications of results. The reflection commentary discusses the author’s views of the research process as a junior scholar.

Literatur ist Kommunikation! Die Frühe Neuzeit als Epoche des Übergangs zwischen Mittelalter und Moderne ist gekennzeichnet durch umfassende Veränderungen. Doch welchen Stellenwert hat dabei die Literatur? Der neue literaturwissenschaftliche Epochenband bietet eine so fundierte wie spannende Einführung in die Frühe Neuzeit, in der Literatur vor allem eines war: ein offenes Kommunikationssystem. Die unmittelbare Begegnung mit der Epoche: Umgang mit Originalen, Verstehen und Missverstehen frühneuzeitlicher Dokumente Der vermittelte Zugang zur Epoche: Epochenbegriff und Epochengrenzen, Forschungs- und Wirkungsgeschichte Der frühneuzeitliche Literaturbegriff: Text und (...) Intertextualität, Rhetorik und Schreibpraxis, Autor und Medien, Gattungen und Formdiskurse "Ars hermeneutica" in der konkreten Textanalyse: Wissenstransfer, Religiosität, Subjekt und Individualität, Herrschaftsdiskurs, Raum- und Zeiterfahrung, Naturbegriff Pressestimmen: "In seiner Abhandlung bietet Andreas Keller ein breites Spektrum unterschiedlicher Aspekte zu Literaturproduktion und Diskurstraditionen in der Frühen Neuzeit, die durch das Leitmotiv einer rhetorischen Interpretation geeint werden. [...] Die gesamte Aufbereitung des Textes ist auf den hochschuldidaktischen Verwendungszweck zugeschnitten. [...] Die Stärke der Studie liegt in ihrem literaturgeschichtlichen Gesamtkonzept [...]. Hervorzuheben ist, dass die Studierenden mit dem rhetorischen Grundwissen einen hermeneutischen Schlüssel für eigene Textanalysen erhalten." Regina Toepfer in: H-Soz-u-Kult, 18. Juni 2009 "Der Band präsentiert sich in jeder Hinsicht erfreulich. Er ist auf dem neuesten Stand der Forschung, präsentiert die Einzelaspekte der Epoche pointiert und dennoch nie vereinfachend oder banal, er führt die notwendigen philosophischen Grundlagen ebenso vor wie einzelne, beispielhafte Ergebnisse von Spezialuntersuchungen, er ist nicht zuletzt stilistisch glänzend formuliert - offenbar also kein 'Schnellschuss', sondern ein Ergebnis langer, sorgfältiger Arbeit. Insofern ist dem Band auch zu wünschen, dass er unter Studierenden, die sich mit der Frühen Neuzeit auseinandersetzen, die größtmögliche Verbreitung findet. Ein Konkurrenzprodukt, das auch nur annähernd die Qualität dieser Darstellung erreichen würde, ist jedenfalls derzeit nicht auf dem Buchmarkt erhältlich, auch nicht für Teilepochen wie das Barock." Prof. Dr. Ralf Georg Bogner in: KulturPoetik, Band 9,2 Kommentare zum Buch: "Ein richtiger Ansatz beim 'Rhetorischen', eine sehr gute Auswahl der Themen, gut balanciert und portioniert, eine hervorragende Auswahl der empfohlenen Sekundärliteratur, gut und sehr klar geschrieben. Kurzum: ein rundum gelungener Band." Prof. Dr. Martin Mulsow, Lehrstuhl für Wissenskulturen der europäischen Neuzeit und Direktor des Forschungszentrums Gotha der Universität Erfurt Schloss Friedenstein "Das Studienbuch stellt auch für den germanistischen Sprachhistoriker eine Fülle von interessanten, gut systematisierten Inhalten bereit." Prof. Dr. Jürgen Macha, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster. (shrink)

Many patients were surprised or confused by their first visit to Dr. Freud's office. Lying on the famous couch, they found themselves surrounded by a plethora of objects and images they would never have associated with the business of the psychoanalytic cure. Statuettes, masks, and portraits from ancient times were arranged in showcases, on the shelves and on desks within a room whose walls were covered with depictions of mythological scenes and portraits of Freud's mentors . The patient's first impressions (...) of this peculiar display, which has been faithfully preserved by Anna Freud in their last London home at Maresfield Gardens, were frequently strong ones. One of the most articulate of Freud's patients, Hilda Doolittle, herself a lover of antiquities, did not hesitate to tell him how “overwhelmed and upset” she was to find him “surrounded by these treasures, in a museum, a temple.” During her own analysis, a variety of these “toys,” as she called them, seemed to act as replicas or “ghosts” of the figures appearing in her dreams or memories: “We are all haunted houses.”1 · 1. H. D. [Hilda Doolittle], “Advent,” Tribute to Freud , pp. 119, 146. (shrink)

What is the responsibility of multinational enterprises in international value chain networks in countries with inadequate institutions? In this article, we present an ethical framework that allows for evaluation of institutions at the macro, mezzo, and micro levels. This framework is used to analyze the case of Telenor in Bangladesh. Telenor is a telecommunications company based in Norway. It is the majority owner (62%) in Grameenphone in Bangladesh. The minority owner is Grameen Telecom, which is part of the Grameen group (...) created by the pioneer of micro finance, Nobel Prize winner Dr. Mohammad Yunus. The case of Telenor in Bangladesh is one of many examples of international value chain networks that span different jurisdictions. The case focuses on relevant issues in the value chain networks: the institutions in Norway and Bangladesh, the owners, suppliers, and customers. We highlight the responses made by the major actors in the value chain, and conclude the article by analyzing the responsibility, or "ability to respond" of these major actors. (shrink)

The Decision Regret Scale was assessed for its psychometric qualities in measuring decision regret in ordinary life scenarios. Although the scale has typically been used with patients and in the context of medical decision-making in earlier studies, this contribution shows that the instrument may have a variety of uses, retaining excellent metric properties even in non-medical contexts. The tool showed good fits with both the CFA and the gender Measurement Invariance. A non-probabilistic selection of 2,534 Italian university students was conducted. (...) The internal consistency measures were found to be completely appropriate. Correlations with the General Decision-Making Style and Scale of Regulatory Modes were used to check for convergent validity. Convergence analysis showed that participants with higher regret scores were those who favored a rational decision-making style, while lower regret scores correlated with avoidant and spontaneous styles. With regard to the regulatory modes, the relationship between regret and locomotion was positive. Overall, the directions of association point to an interesting predictive measure of a person’s decision-making and self-regulatory orientation through the evaluation of regret using the DRS. The excellent psychometric properties found foreshadow a reliable use in various contexts where knowledge of post-decisional attitude becomes important: school, university, professional orientation, marketing studies, relationship choices, as well as for use in research. (shrink)

Der Sammelband nimmt erstmalig seit Ende des Kalten Krieges für den deutschsprachigen Raum eine komprimierte Bestandsaufnahme der aktuellen Aktivitäten, rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen, politischen und militärischen Konfliktlinien und Kooperationsräume sowie weiterführender Trends und Herausforderungen im Weltraum vor. Dabei werden zum einen die rechtlichen, militärischen, wirtschaftlichen und technologischen Herausforderungen des Bedeutungszuwachses dieses strategisch gewichtigen Raumes analysiert. Zum anderen werden Handlungsfähigkeit und -bedarf ausgewählter Weltraummächte, ihre Kooperationsmöglichkeiten und Konfliktpotenziale sowie der internationale politische Regulierungsbedarf herausgearbeitet und darauf aufbauend politische Handlungsempfehlungen dargelegt.,,Eine hervorragend gelungene Bestandsaufnahme der (...) umfassenden Bedeutung des Weltraums." Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Karl Kaiser, Harvard University Die Herausgeber PD Dr. Antje Nötzold ist Privatdozentin und wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin an der Professur Internationale Politik der TU Chemnitz. Dr. Enrico Fels ist Geschäftsführer des Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS) der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn. Andrea Rotter ist Referatsleiterin für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik bei einer politischen Stiftung. Dr. Moritz Brake ist Senior Fellow am Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS) und Experte für Maritime Sicherheit und Strategie am German Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies (GIDS) als Reserveoffizier der Deutschen Marine. (shrink)

To mark the 300th anniversary of the composition of Leibniz’ most important mature writing on justice, the Méditation sur la notion commune de la justice, I published an interpretation of this work in The Leibniz Review. But Dr. Andreas Blank, dissatisfied with my Platonizing “reading” of the Méditation, published his own commentary in the same Review —treating not just my 2003 article but also my Leibniz’ Universal Jurisprudence: Justice as the Charity of the Wise and several smaller writings from the (...) period 1972-2002. Since Andreas Blank is a good Leibniz-scholar who deserves a reply, I want to attempt an answer; and to avoid any possible misrepresentation, I want to quote the beginning of his article, word-for-word. (shrink)

Dieses Buch fragt danach, wie Recht und Rechtsprechung, Staats- und Rechtstheorie sowie moderne Verhaltensökonomie die Rationalität und den Egoismus des Menschen begreifen und wie dies die Wahl staatlicher Steuerungsinstrumente beeinflusst. Das scheinbar neuartige Instrument Nudging wird mit Blick auf Umweltschutzinstrumente, die Regulierung des Tabakrauchens und der Organspende in den öffentlich-rechtlichen Handlungsformenkatalog eingeordnet, wobei verfassungsrechtliche Grenzen diskutiert werden. Zielgruppe sind die an der "Metaebene" des Rechts und der Verhaltenssteuerung interessierten Leserinnen und Leser. Der Inhalt Zeigt Möglichkeiten und verfassungsrechtliche Grenzen staatlicher Verhaltenssteuerung (...) auf Diskutiert das egoistisch-rationale Menschenbild aus Sicht der Staats- und Rechtstheorie Ordnet Nudging systematisch in die öffentlich-rechtliche Handlungsformenlehre ein Die AutorinJana Maruschke war zwischen März 2016 und Oktober 2021 wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Lehrstuhl für öffentliches Recht, Umwelt- und Technikrecht sowie Rechtstheorie von Prof. Dr. Andreas Fisahn an der Universität Bielefeld. In diesem Rahmen hat sie sich vor allem mit Fragen des Umwelt- und Staatsrechts befasst. Das Rechtsreferendariat am Landgericht Bielefeld hat sie mit dem 2. Staatsexamen im Juni 2023 erfolgreich abgeschlossen. (shrink)

It may be most convenient to respond to Dr Andreae’s points in turn. Unless the claim that a child should determine its own genetic characteristics before it is conceived or born is intended to be flippant, it is logically incoherent. Conception is a decision that only a prospective parent can make. The editorial argument is that denial of choice of sex contributes to preventable maternal mortality and morbidity, particularly in developing countries. ….

Phenomenology has been defined by Husserl as “theory of the essences of pure phenomena,” yet the ontological status of essences in Husserlian phenomenology is far from a settled issue. The late Husserlian emphasis on genetic constitution and the historicity of the lifeworld is not immediately reconcilablewith the ‘unchangeable’ nature that is prima facie attributed to essences. However, the problem of the nature of ideality cannot be dropped from phenomenological accounts without jeopardizing the phenomenological enterprise as such. Through an immanent analysis (...) of Husserl’s meditation on essences a positive account of their ontological status is provided. Essences are interpreted as ontological thresholds, primordially rooted in our motivated confrontation with sensuous transcendence. Essences appear as emergent ontological features, which are not reducible to their particular realizations and which exhibit a fundamental continuity between consciousness and being. They manifest themselves as prospectively a priori (a precondition for further experiences), but retrospectively a posteriori (they are founded in experience). Finally, essences manifest the ‘co-essential’ nature of consciousness and sensuous transcendence: they are the way in which we are motivated and constitutively bound to articulate being, which in turn is apt to be thus articulated. (shrink)

Citizen science models of public participation in scientific research represent a growing area of opportunity for health and biomedical research, as well as new impetus for more collaborative forms of engagement in large-scale research. However, this also surfaces a variety of ethical issues that both fall outside of and build upon the standard human subjects concerns in bioethics. This article provides background on citizen science, examples of current projects in the field, and discussion of established and emerging ethical issues for (...) citizen science in health and biomedical research. (shrink)

According to Relational Quantum Mechanics the wave function \ is considered neither a concrete physical item evolving in spacetime, nor an object representing the absolute state of a certain quantum system. In this interpretative framework, \ is defined as a computational device encoding observers’ information; hence, RQM offers a somewhat epistemic view of the wave function. This perspective seems to be at odds with the PBR theorem, a formal result excluding that wave functions represent knowledge of an underlying reality described (...) by some ontic state. In this paper we argue that RQM is not affected by the conclusions of PBR’s argument; consequently, the alleged inconsistency can be dissolved. To do that, we will thoroughly discuss the very foundations of the PBR theorem, i.e. Harrigan and Spekkens’ categorization of ontological models, showing that their implicit assumptions about the nature of the ontic state are incompatible with the main tenets of RQM. Then, we will ask whether it is possible to derive a relational PBR-type result, answering in the negative. This conclusion shows some limitations of this theorem not yet discussed in the literature. (shrink)

The present essay provides a new metaphysical interpretation of Relational Quantum Mechanics (RQM) in terms of mereological bundle theory. The essential idea is to claim that a physical system in RQM can be defined as a mereological fusion of properties whose values may vary for different observers. Abandoning the Aristotelian tradition centered on the notion of substance, I claim that RQM embraces an ontology of properties that finds its roots in the heritage of David Hume. To this regard, defining what (...) kind of concrete physical objects populate the world according to RQM, I argue that this theoretical framework can be made compatible with (i) a property-oriented ontology, in which the notion of object can be easily defined, and (ii) moderate structural realism, a philosophical position where relations and relata are both fundamental. Finally, I conclude that under this reading relational quantum mechanics should be included among the full-fledged realist interpretations of quantum theory. (shrink)

Kant’s conception of the relation between knowledge and doubt stands opposed to much of contemporary epistemology. For Kant denies that it is possible for one to have knowledge of how things are without having a ground for one’s judgment that guarantees its truth. Knowledge, according to him, is judgment that is based on a ground that the judger recognizes to guarantee the truth of her judgment. A judgment that is based on such a ground, trivially, excludes any doubt the judger (...) might have had with respect to it. Therefore knowledge implies certainty. Much of contemporary epistemology has no room for the idea of a truth-guaranteeing ground. By contrast, Kant thinks that the rejection of the idea of a truth-guaranteeing ground has a devastating effect. It does not only render unintelligible the idea of knowledge, but, because of that, the very idea of a subject that is able to be ignorant about things, to have doubts about them or even to err about them. The paper defends the Kantian account of knowledge with the aim to show that ignorance, doubt and error can only characterize, and hence trouble, a subject that knows herself to have a capacity that enables her to overcome any possible doubt and error. (shrink)

In order to accommodate for the present shortage of oocyte donors, oocyte-donation programs place ads in college newspapers and provide large monetary compensation to encourage participation. Large compensation acts as a strong incentive for young women to undergo the potentially risky procedure of donation. In this enticing situation, it is particularly important for programs to fully inform prospective donors of the risks of the procedure so that they can accurately weigh the costs and benefits of donating. However, because oocyte-donor programs (...) must alleviate the shortage of donors if they wish to maintain a financially viable business, there is reason to fear that they may minimize or misrepresent risks when recruiting egg donors. In this pilot study, the risk information provided by programs (n=19) to prospective oocyte donors in a preliminary phone call inquiry was investigated. The majority of the programs provided incomplete and/or inaccurate risk information. Policy changes are recommended to reduce the potential for undue influence and to standardize and regulate the risk information provided to prospective egg donors. (shrink)

This study presents a theory of causally complex configurations of antecedent conditions influencing the adoption versus non-adoption of international supplier ethical certification-standards. Using objective measures of antecedents and outcomes, a large-scale study of exporting firms in the cut-flower industry in two South American countries supports the theory. The theory includes the following and additional propositions. No single -antecedent condition is sufficient for accurately predicting a high membership score in outcome conditions; the outcome conditions include a firm’s adoption or rejection of (...) a product certification. No single -antecedent condition is necessary for accurately predicting high scores in the outcome condition. A few complex antecedent conditions are sufficient but the occurrence of each is not necessary for accurately predicting high scores in an outcome condition. Causal asymmetry of antecedent conditions indicating adoption versus non-adoption of specific ethical standards occurs—that is, causal conditions leading to rejection are not the mirror opposites of causal conditions leading to adoption. (shrink)

Several scholars have recognized the limitations of theories of moral reasoning in explaining moral behavior. They have argued that moral behavior may also be influenced by moral identity, or how central morality is to one’s sense of self. This idea has been supported by findings that people who exemplify moral behavior tend to place more importance on moral traits when defining their self-concepts (Colby & Damon, 1995). This paper takes the next step of examining individual variation in a construct highly (...) associated with immoral behavior — psychopathy. In Study 1, we test the hypothesis that individuals with a greater degree of psychopathic traits have a weaker moral identity. Within a large online sample, we found that individuals who scored higher on a measure of psychopathic traits were less likely to base their self-concepts on moral traits. In Study 2, we test whether this reduced sense of moral identity can be attributed to differences in moral judgment, which is another factor that could influence immoral behavior. Our results indicated that the reduced sense of moral identity among more psychopathic individuals was independent of variation in moral judgment. These results suggest that individuals with psychopathic traits may display immoral behavior partially because they do not construe their personal identities in moral terms. (shrink)

In this paper, I take a fresh look at Husserl's key distinction between objectifying and non‐objectifying acts, which roughly amounts to a distinction between presentational and evaluative experiences. My goal is to provide a clear and unified reconstruction of Husserl's argument for the thesis that non‐objectifying acts are necessarily founded in objectifying acts, a thesis that is highly controversial in and beyond Husserlian scholarship. In the first section, I reconstruct Husserl's view in the Logical Investigations, according to which only objectifying (...) acts establish an independent intentional relation to their objects, and argue that it is justified by the positing function of objectifying acts. In the second section, I address two problematic interpretations of this view and, after criticizing them, I present what I take to be Husserl's core argument for his position. In the third section, I turn to the revision of the view of the Logical Investigations that Husserl proposes in the wake of his transcendental turn, especially in Ideas I and II. On Husserl's revised view, all acts are objectifying, including emotional acts [Gemütsakte]. This revision has led scholars to consider Husserl's view aporetic. I propose an alternative interpretation that dispels the purported aporia. I conclude with some remarks on the costs and benefits of my reading, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of Husserl's view in general. (shrink)