Ich will meine Gedanken folgendermaßen zusammenfassen: Ein spontanes und früh erlerntes Glaubenserlebnis ringt immer mit einer wissenschaftlichen Analyse. Zwar wird die Religionspsychologie negativ aufgefaßt, aber sie hilft uns auch einzusehen, wie solch eine Einstellung entstehen kann. Die intensive Glaubenserfahrung enthält immer eine Totalitätsorientierung, die den eigentlichen Grund in transzendentalen Größen sucht. Eine aufgezwängte Umorientierung bringt immer einen gewissen Schmerz mit sich. Eine religionspsychologische Analyse der Glaubensmotive führt jedoch auch zu einem Verständnis für das wichtige Zusammenspiel, das die Symbol-motive der Tradition (...) haben, und müßte auch mit den persönlich erlebten Situationen seit der Kindheit rechnen. Dadurch, daß man Zusammenspielsmöglichkeiten zwischen den historisch gegebenen Modellen und den individuellen Situationen findet, geschieht ein Wechsel, der wichtige Modelle des menschlichen Lebens vertieft und ins Bewußtsein bringt. Dies ist doch kein selbstverständlicher oder automatischer Prozeß, sondern falsche Verbindungen und negative Bindungen sind auch möglich. Hier muß eine religionsspychologische Ethik entwickelt werden. Große Aufträge erwarten uns in der Zukunft. Das oben Erwähnte kann man auch so ausdrücken: Der Glaube an Gottes Wirken ist nicht streitig mit dem Handhaben wissenschaftlicher Modelle. Ebensowenig wie das Brot und der Wein des Abendmahls was anderes als Brot und Wein zu sein brauche, ebensowenig brauchen das Gesundbeten, das Zungenreden, die Prophezeiung, die Stigmatisierung, ja des Lebens heilige Momente etwas anderes zu sein als die Ergebnisse menschlich gegebener Prozesse, um Gottes Gegenwart zu erleben. Durch die innere symbolische Interaktion wird menschliche Dürftigkeit in eine Heiligkeit mit Ewigkeitswert verwandelt - und umgekehrt: Die jahrhundertelange Mythologie findet ihre menschliche Inkarnation. (shrink)

Graphical AbstractHow exactly specific biological pathways and eventually life arise from the crowded molecular environment of the cell is a problem that has long vexed humanity and will require a paradigm shift toward mechanistic experimental and computational approaches that probe intracellular diversity and complexity more directly. More details can be found in article number 1800244 by Nils G. Walter. DOI: 10.1002/bies.201800244.

Biology arises from the crowded molecular environment of the cell, rendering it a challenge to understand biological pathways based on the reductionist, low‐concentration in vitro conditions generally employed for mechanistic studies. Recent evidence suggests that low‐affinity interactions between cellular biopolymers abound, with still poorly defined effects on the complex interaction networks that lead to the emergent properties and plasticity of life. Mass‐action considerations are used here to underscore that the sheer number of weak interactions expected from the complex mixture of (...) cellular components significantly shapes biological pathway specificity. In particular, on‐pathway—i.e., “functional”—become those interactions thermodynamically and kinetically stable enough to survive the incessant onslaught of the many off‐pathway (“nonfunctional”) interactions. Consequently, to better understand the molecular biology of the cell a further paradigm shift is needed toward mechanistic experimental and computational approaches that probe intracellular diversity and complexity more directly. Also see the video abstract here https://youtu.be/T19X_zYaBzg. (shrink)

The human genome project's lasting legacies are the emerging insights into human physiology and disease, and the ascendance of biology as the dominant science of the 21st century. Sequencing revealed that >90% of the human genome is not coding for proteins, as originally thought, but rather is overwhelmingly transcribed into non‐protein coding, or non‐coding, RNAs (ncRNAs). This discovery initially led to the hypothesis that most genomic DNA is “junk”, a term still championed by some geneticists and evolutionary biologists. In contrast, (...) molecular biologists and biochemists studying the vast number of transcripts produced from most of this genome “junk” often surmise that these ncRNAs have biological significance. What gives? This essay contrasts the two opposing, extant viewpoints, aiming to explain their bases, which arise from distinct reference frames of the underlying scientific disciplines. Finally, it aims to reconcile these divergent mindsets in hopes of stimulating synergy between scientific fields. (shrink)

Although the widespread use of the term “Big Data” is comparatively recent, it invokes a phenomenon in the developments of database technology with distinct historical contexts. The database engineer Jim Gray, known as “Mr. Database” in Silicon Valley before his disappearance at sea in 2007, was involved in many of the crucial developments since the 1970s that constitute the foundation of exceedingly large and distributed databases. Jim Gray was involved in the development of relational database systems based on the concepts (...) of Edgar F. Codd at IBM in the 1970s before he went on to develop principles of Transaction Processing that enable the parallel and highly distributed performance of databases today. He was also involved in creating forums for discourse between academia and industry, which influenced industry performance standards as well as database research agendas. As a co-founder of the San Francisco branch of Microsoft Research, Gray increasingly turned toward scientific applications of database technologies, e. g. leading the TerraServer project, an online database of satellite images. Inspired by Vannevar Bush’s idea of the memex, Gray laid out his vision of a Personal Memex as well as a World Memex, eventually postulating a new era of data-based scientific discovery termed “Fourth Paradigm Science”. This article gives an overview of Gray’s contributions to the development of database technology as well as his research agendas and shows that central notions of Big Data have been occupying database engineers for much longer than the actual term has been in use. (shrink)

In a recent, thought-provoking paper Adam Elga argues against unsharp – e.g., indeterminate, fuzzy and unreliable – probabilities. Rationality demands sharpness, he contends, and this means that decision theories like Levi's, Gärdenfors and Sahlin's, and Kyburg's, though they employ different decision rules, face a common, and serious, problem. This article defends the rule to maximize minimum expected utility against Elga's objection.

This paper discusses what the so-called Priority View implies regarding possible people. It is argued that this view is plausible when applied to fixed populations, but that, when applied to the issue of possible people, it faces certain difficulties. If it is claimed that possible people fall within the scope of the Priority View, we are led to the repugnant conclusion at a faster pace than we are by, e.g., utilitarianism. And if it is claimed that possible people do not (...) fall within the scope of the Priority View, we shall have to combine this view with a different view in order to avoid certain counter-intuitive judgements. Such a combined view, however, leads to intransitivities. At the end of the paper, I discuss what these conclusions imply regarding both the Priority View and our moral obligations to possible people. (shrink)

This paper presents a way of formalising definite descriptions with a binary quantifier ι, where ιx[F, G] is read as ‘The F is G’. Introduction and elimination rules for ι in a system of intuitionist negative free logic are formulated. Procedures for removing maximal formulas of the form ιx[F, G] are given, and it is shown that deductions in the system can be brought into normal form.

Sentences containing definite descriptions, expressions of the form ‘The F’, can be formalised using a binary quantifier ι that forms a formula out of two predicates, where ιx[F, G] is read as ‘The F is G’. This is an innovation over the usual formalisation of definite descriptions with a term forming operator. The present paper compares the two approaches. After a brief overview of the system INFι of intuitionist negative free logic extended by such a quantifier, which was presented in (...) (Kürbis 2019), INFι is first compared to a system of Tennant’s and an axiomatic treatment of a term forming ι operator within intuitionist negative free logic. Both systems are shown to be equivalent to the subsystem of INFι in which the G of ιx[F, G] is restricted to identity. INFι is then compared to an intuitionist version of a system of Lambert’s which in addition to the term forming operator has an operator for predicate abstraction for indicating scope distinctions. The two systems will be shown to be equivalent through a translation between their respective languages. Advantages of the present approach over the alternatives are indicated in the discussion. (shrink)

This paper presents rules of inference for a binary quantifier I for the formalisation of sentences containing definite descriptions within intuitionist positive free logic. I binds one variable and forms a formula from two formulas. Ix[F, G] means ‘The F is G’. The system is shown to have desirable proof-theoretic properties: it is proved that deductions in it can be brought into normal form. The discussion is rounded up by comparisons between the approach to the formalisation of definite descriptions recommended (...) here and the more usual approach that uses a term-forming operator ι, where ιxF means ‘the F’. (shrink)

This paper presents rules in sequent calculus for a binary quantifier I to formalise definite descriptions: Ix[F, G] means ‘The F is G’. The rules are suitable to be added to a system of positive free logic. The paper extends the proof of a cut elimination theorem for this system by Indrzejczak by proving the cases for the rules of I. There are also brief comparisons of the present approach to the more common one that formalises definite descriptions with a (...) term forming operator. In the final section rules for I for negative free and classical logic are also mentioned. (shrink)

Within contemporary metaethics, it is widely held that there is a “presumption of realism” in moral thought and discourse. Anti-realist views, like error theory and expressivism, may have certain theoretical considerations speaking in their favor, but our pretheoretical stance with respect to morality clearly favors objectivist metaethical views. This article argues against this widely held view. It does so by drawing from recent discussions about so-called “subjective attitude verbs” in linguistics and philosophy of language. Unlike pretheoretically objective predicates (e.g., “is (...) made of wood”, “is 185 cm tall”), moral predicates embed felicitously under subjective attitude verbs like the English “find”. Moreover, it is argued that the widespread notion that moral discourse bears all the marks of fact-stating discourse is rooted in a blinkered focus on examples from English. Cross-linguistic considerations suggest that subjective attitude verbs are actually the default terms by which we ascribe moral views to people. Impressions to the contrary in English have to do with some unfortunate quirks of the term “think”. (shrink)

This paper presents a sequent calculus and a dual domain semantics for a theory of definite descriptions in which these expressions are formalised in the context of complete sentences by a binary quantifier I. I forms a formula from two formulas. Ix[F, G] means ‘The F is G’. This approach has the advantage of incorporating scope distinctions directly into the notation. Cut elimination is proved for a system of classical positive free logic with I and it is shown to be (...) sound and complete for the semantics. The system has a number of novel features and is briefly compared to the usual approach of formalising ‘the F ’ by a term forming operator. It does not coincide with Hintikka’s and Lambert’s preferred theories, but the divergence is well-motivated and attractive. (shrink)

Derek Parfit has argued that prioritarianism “naturally” has global scope, i.e. naturally applies to everyone, irrespective of his or her particular national, state or other communal affiliation. In that respect, it differs from e.g. egalitarianism. In this article, I critically assess Parfit's argument. In particular, I argue that it is difficult to draw conclusions about the scope of prioritarianism simply from an inspection of its structure. I also make some suggestions as to what it would take to argue that prioritarianism (...) has either global or merely domestic scope. (shrink)

Some things that we take to be the case in a fictional work are never made explicit by the work itself. For instance, we assume that Sherlock Holmes does not have a third nostril, that he wears underpants and that he has never solved a case with a purple gnome, even though neither of these things is ever mentioned in the narration. This article argues that examples like these can be accounted for through the same content-enriching reasoning that we employ (...) when confronted with non-fictional discourse, with the important difference that fictional discourse essentially involves pretence. Fictional discourse works in much the same way as non-fictional discourse, and what is conveyed without being stated can accordingly be explained through familiar pragmatic mechanisms. It is argued that this account carries some distinct advantages over competing views. (shrink)

Dahlbäck, Forsblad and Hydén argue that conversational remembering in the real‐world must be acknowledged as an interactional practice grounded in and bound to the communicative actions produced by the interlocutors. They illustrate the complexity of those processes by referring to their own fieldwork examining older adults’ prospective memory within their homes (Dahlbäck, Kristiansson, & Stjernberg, 2013) and propose alternative methodologies (e.g., scenarios design) to increase collaborations between ethnographic and experimental memory researchers.

Quality improvement (QI) is fundamental to maintaining high standards of health care. Significant debate exists concerning the necessity for an ethical approval system for those QI projects that push the boundaries, appearing more similar to research than QI. The authors discuss this issue identifying the core ethical issues in family medicine (FM), drawing upon the fundamental principles of medical ethics, including principles of autonomy, utility, justice and non-maleficence. Recent debate concerning the application of QI ethics boards is discussed with relevance (...) to primary care and issues such as general practitioner (GP) intentions, the impact of QI on patients and the use of confidential patient data and the impact of dissemination. The authors conclude that a system of QI ethical approval leaves many issues unresolved and potentially creates several barriers to implementing QI. To ensure ethical QI work is generated within FM it is essential for GPs to learn about and engage in more ethical reflection so that they can better judge and resolve these issues. (shrink)

This paper presents rules of inference for a binary quantifier I for the formalisation of sentences containing definite descriptions within intuitionist positive free logic. I binds one variable and forms a formula from two formulas. Ix[F,G] means ‘The F is G’. The system is shown to have desirable proof-theoretic properties: it is proved that deductions in it can be brought into normal form. The discussion is rounded up by comparisons between the approach to the formalisation of definite descriptions recommended here (...) and the more usual approach that uses a term-forming operator ι, where ιxF means ‘the F’. (shrink)

This book provides a worthwhile and challenging introduction to scientific and moral issues in germline gene therapy. It contains two parts, dealing with scientific and moral issues respectively. In the first, scientific part, a chapter on what the alternatives to germline therapy are is helpful, especially in pointing out that many of the goals one might want to achieve by using germline therapy may be achieved, at a slighter risk, by using non-genetic technologies such as selective embryo implantation and selective (...) abortion. However, the authors argue that germline therapy may be an option in certain cases in which these alternatives are not viable (page 72). In the second part of the book, moral and political issues in germline therapy are discussed, such as the distinction between therapy and enhancement, potential benefits and harms, rights and responsibilities, justice, our concept of humanness, and public policy issues. The …. (shrink)

Providing healthcare services frequently involves cognitively demanding tasks, including diagnoses and analyses as well as complex decisions about treatments and therapy. From a global perspective, ethically significant inequalities exist between regions where the expert knowledge required for these tasks is scarce or abundant. One possible strategy to diminish such inequalities and increase healthcare opportunities in expert-scarce settings is to provide healthcare solutions involving digital technologies that do not necessarily require the presence of a human expert, e.g., in the form of (...) artificial intelligent decision-support systems (AI-DSS). Such algorithmic decision-making, however, is mostly developed in resource- and expert-abundant settings to support healthcare experts in their work. As a practical consequence, the normative standards and requirements for such algorithmic decision-making in healthcare require the technology to be at least as explainable as the decisions made by the experts themselves. The goal of providing healthcare in settings where resources and expertise are scarce might come with a normative pull to lower the normative standards of using digital technologies in order to provide at least some healthcare in the first place. We scrutinize this tendency to lower standards in particular settings from a normative perspective, distinguish between different types of absolute and relative, local and global standards of explainability, and conclude by defending an ambitious and practicable standard of local relative explainability. (shrink)

While thinkers of the material turn offer new conceptual resources for talking about non-human ontologies, interaction researchers are trying to reassemble the social situation fragmented by telecommunication. Conversation analysts tend to see technical objects in their situation-constitutive role, but they can also disrupt the current projects of the participants whilst remaining "unseen and unnoticed" (e.g. Zoom delays). We propose a conceptualization of the relationship between the participant and the interaction environment as a source of agency, which makes it possible to (...) preserve an emic perspective. We illustrate our thesis by analyzing a case study of interaction between a Deaf and a hearing participant in VRChat. In this case, virtual pencils that leave durable inscriptions in the air are used by participants for communication. We analyze a simple question-and-answer sequence and demonstrate that: the participants treat the inscriptions as material; the hearing participant is less capable of communicating in this space than the Deaf person; the answer to the question is produced jointly due to the instructional work of the Deaf participant. The results allow us to draw the following conclusions about the nature of materiality, agency and communicative competence: 1) the materiality of the environment is not a purely analytical category, but is constructed by the participants in the interaction; 2) the agency of the participants depends on the environment and at the same time has a distributed character; 3) communicative competence is not directly related to the "internal" characteristics of the agent, such as atypicality. (shrink)

Standard views of personal identity over time often hover uneasily between the subjective, first-person dimension (e. g. psychological continuity), and the objective, third-person dimension (e. g. biological continuity) of a person’s life. Since both dimensions capture something integral to personal identity, we show that neither can successfully be discarded in favor of the other. The apparent need to reconcile subjectivity and objectivity, however, presents standard views with problems both in seeking an ontological footing of, as well as epistemic evidence for, (...) personal identity. We contend that a fresh look at neutral monism offers a novel way to tackle these problems; counting on the most fundamental building blocks of reality to be ontologically neutral with regards to subjectivity and objectivity of personal identity. If the basic units of reality are, in fact, ontologically neutral – but can give rise to mental as well as physical events – these basic units of reality might account for both subjectivity and objectivity in personal identity. If this were true, it would turn out that subjectivity and objectivity are not conflictive dimensions of personal identity but rather two sides of the same coin. (shrink)

The purpose of this study was to compare working memory (WM), executive function, academic ability and problem classroom behaviors in children aged 8 to 11 years who were either identified via routine screening as having low WM, or had been diagnosed with ADHD. Standardised assessments of WM, executive function and reading and mathematics were administered to 83 children with ADHD, 50 children with low WM and 50 typically developing children. Teachers rated problem behaviors on checklists measuring attention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, oppositional behavior, (...) and difficulties associated with executive function in the classroom. The ADHD and low WM groups had highly similar WM and executive function profiles, but were distinguished in two key respects: children with ADHD had higher levels of rated and observed impulsive behavior, and children low WM had slower response times. Possible mechanisms for these common and distinct deficits are discussed. (shrink)

OBJECTIVES: To study the ethical reasoning of nurses and physicians, and to assess whether or not modified focus groups are a valuable tool for this purpose. DESIGN: Discussion of cases in modified focus groups, each consisting of three physicians and three nurses. The discussion was taped and analysed by content analysis. SETTING: Five departments of internal medicine at Danish hospitals. SAMPLE: Seven discussion groups. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: Ethical content of statements, style of statements, time used by each participant. RESULTS: Danish physicians (...) and nurses do not differ in the kind of ethical reasoning they use, but physicians use more of the discussion time than nurses, they use a more assertive style of argumentation, and the solutions chosen are usually first put forward by physicians. CONCLUSION: The results and informal comparisons with similar data from long qualitative interviews indicate that groups of this kind are a useful tool for gathering data on ethical reasoning. (shrink)

OBJECTIVES: To study the ethical reasoning of nurses and physicians, and to assess whether or not modified focus groups are a valuable tool for this purpose. DESIGN: Discussion of cases in modified focus groups, each consisting of three physicians and three nurses. The discussion was taped and analysed by content analysis. SETTING: Five departments of internal medicine at Danish hospitals. SAMPLE: Seven discussion groups. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: Ethical content of statements, style of statements, time used by each participant. RESULTS: Danish physicians (...) and nurses do not differ in the kind of ethical reasoning they use, but physicians use more of the discussion time than nurses, they use a more assertive style of argumentation, and the solutions chosen are usually first put forward by physicians. CONCLUSION: The results and informal comparisons with similar data from long qualitative interviews indicate that groups of this kind are a useful tool for gathering data on ethical reasoning. (shrink)

Film production is the process of creating a film, involving stages such as progress, pre-production, invention, post-production, and sharing. It encompasses planning, scripting, shooting, editing, and finalizing the film for public viewing. The process of imagination drives innovation in scripting, directing, and cinematography, resulting in unique, engaging experiences that captivate audiences with their emotive stories. The principle of this investigation is to assess how psychological factors add to enhancing imagination in film production, focusing on their impact on creative processes and (...) outcomes. A study surveyed 680 students from college film program students to analyze their creative personality and imaginative capabilities using structured questionnaires. Key psychological constructs included Creative Self-Efficacy, Emotional Resilience, Cognitive Flexibility, and Intrinsic Motivation. The study investigated the impact of psychological factors on college cinema students' creative imagination in filmmaking, demonstrating high validity and reliability with Factor Loadings exceeding 0.76, Composite Reliability higher than 0.88, and Average Variance Extracted (AVE) range as of 0.59 to 0.67. Discriminant validity was confirmed as every construct AVE was better than its square correlations by other constructs. Psychological factors significantly influence film production imagination, fostering creative thinking and emotional depth. Understanding and harnessing these factors enhances storytelling, character development, and audience engagement, ultimately enriching the cinematic experience. (shrink)

Wenn man davon ausgeht, dass eine der Voraussetzungen für ein gut fundiertes moralisches Urteil im Bereich der Medizin ein adäquates Verständnis der medizinischen Gegebenheiten und Zusammenhänge ist, dann muss diesem Aspekt bei der Beurteilung der künstlichen Ernährung bei fortgeschritten Demenzerkrankten in Zukunft mehr Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt werden. Damit verbunden ist die kritische Auseinandersetzung mit aktuellen empirischen Untersuchungen, anhand derer es gerechtfertigt scheint, die künstliche Ernährung bei dementen Patienten als erfolglos hinsichtlich des Ernährungszustands, der Verbesserung der Lebensqualität und der Überlebenszeit zu bezeichnen. (...) Unsere Arbeit setzt an drei wesentlichen Punkten an: zum einen soll der Zusammenhang zwischen Ernährungssituation und Demenzerkrankung dargestellt werden, andererseits soll ein Modell vorgestellt werden, das bessere Ergebnisse verspricht als sie in den bisherigen empirischen Studien gefunden worden sind, und drittens soll darauf aufmerksam gemacht werden, dass mit dem Erkennen der Möglichkeit der adäquaten Ernährung von fortgeschritten Demenzkranken auch neue Optionen in der normativen Beurteilung von künstlicher Ernährung offen stehen. (shrink)