Deciding the conflict between various rights and interests, especially in medical ethics where health and lives are in question, has significant challenges, and to obtain appropriate outcomes, it is necessary to properly apply the principles of non-discrimination and proportionality. Using the example of mandatory vaccination policies, we show that this task becomes even more difficult when these principles lead us to counterintuitive and paradoxical results. Although the general purpose of these principles is to ensure that decisions and policies seek the (...) highest and broadest possible enjoyment of rights for all (ie, the least restrictive solution), they achieve the complete opposite when applied to mandatory vaccination policies. To highlight and explain these paradoxical results, we present a typology of fifteen hypothetical mandatory vaccination policies containing various degrees of restriction and apply well-established non-discrimination and proportionality tests from constitutional law to each. We argue that mandatory vaccination policies exhibit two characteristics, namely the non-linear relationship between their general purposes and specific goals and the involvement of life and health, suggesting that more restrictive policies should prevail even though less restrictive policies might fail these tests. Using clearly structured and rigorous methodology from constitutional law, the proposed approach delivers a fresh view on the core ethical principles of non-discrimination and proportionality and a potentially useful tool in helping resolve also other challenges encountered in medical ethics beyond mandatory vaccination policies. (shrink)

So far overlooked by the international business ethics literature, we introduce, characterize, and normatively analyze the use of affective ties and networks in South Korea from an ethical point of view. Whereas the ethics of using Guanxi in China has been comprehensively discussed, Korean informal networks remain difficult to manage for firms in South Korea due to the absence of existing academic debate and research in this field. In this study, we concentrate mainly on the question of whether foreign firms (...) will and can use affective ties in Korea. The informal social network forms are classified and contrasted with the conventional ethical approaches used in international business ethics to assess which categories can be regarded as ethical or unethical. Finally, foreign firms are advised how to cope with and use different affective network types. Although the nature of affective ties and networks in Korea differs from that found for instance in China, consistent with the conclusion of prior research, we recommend particularistic analysis and decision making regarding the circumstances in which to conclude affective ties and networks and when to opt out. We conclude that foreign firms in Korea should invest in establishing Inmaek, refrain from engaging in Yonjul, and support host country nationals’ Yongo ties. Moreover, it is suggested that foreign firms should find ways to monitor and manage informal ties effectively. (shrink)

We present an inference to the best explanation of the immense cultural success of Freudian psychoanalysis as a hermeneutic method. We argue that an account of psychoanalytic facts as products of unintended declarative speech acts explains this phenomenon. Our argument connects diverse, seemingly independent characteristics of psychoanalysis that have been independently confirmed, and applies key features of John Searle’s and Eerik Lagerspetz’s theory of institutional facts to the psychoanalytic edifice. We conclude with a brief defence of the institutional approach against (...) more contentious social constructivist approaches to science and psychoanalysis. (shrink)

Anthropology of Consciousness, Volume 32, Issue 1, Page 33-54, Spring 2021.

Sextus Empiricus portrays the Pyrrhonian sceptics in two radically different ways. On the one hand, he describes them as inquirers or examiners, and insists that what distinguishes them from all the other philosophical schools is their persistent engagement in inquiry. On the other hand, he insists that the main feature of Pyrrhonian attitude is suspension of judgement about everything. Many have argued that a consistent account of Sextan scepticism as both investigative and suspensive is not possible. The main obstacle to (...) characterizing Pyrrhonism as both investigative and suspensive is the fact that it seems that the mature sceptics, after they have suspended judgement and thus reached tranquillity, have no motivation for further inquiry. Any inquiry they seem to be interested in after they have suspended judgement is the refutation of beliefs needed for maintaining tranquillity. I try to show that the mature sceptics' removal of distress does not ipso facto mean removal of the desire for knowledge. This is because distress is not just a matter of unsatisfied desire, but of belief that one of the opposed appearances must be true, or, more generally, of belief that the truth is the only worthwhile epistemic goal. Having abandoned this belief, the sceptics can still engage in philosophical inquiries. This is because Sextus does not assume that philosophy is the search for truth: it is so only for the dogmatists. In a more general sense, applicable to the sceptics as well, philosophy is just an inquiry into certain things, and for the sceptics, its epistemic goal is still open. (shrink)

This article focuses on the social structure of domestic cat colonies, and on the various ways these are represented in ethological literature. Our analysis begins with detailed accounts of different forms of cat societies from the works of Leyhausen, Tabor, and Alger and Alger, and then puts these descriptions into a broader epistemological perspective. The analysis is inspired by the bi-constructivist approach to ethological studies formulated by Lestel, which highlights the position of the ethologist in the constitution of particular animal (...) activities. We propose a third layer should be added to post hoc analyses of ethological enterprises: i.e., the ontological commitments shaping the conceptual framework of a given research. It is through these commitments we find a hierarchical structure in a caged colony of cats, different territorial patterns in the case of urban cats, and egalitarian friendly bonds within the society of a cat shelter. Our critical tri-constructivist approach can be utilized for contemporary biosemiotics as it is centered on a multi-level process of interpretation. (shrink)

This paper addresses several objections that have been leveled against a behavioral approach to psychological categories. It reconstructs and critically assesses the so-called causal objection; alleged counterexamples whereby one can exhibit the typical behaviors associated with a psychological phenomenon without exhibiting the latter, including Lewis’ “perfect actor” case and Kirk’s “zombie”; alleged counterexamples whereby organisms can exemplify psychological phenomena without exhibiting any behavior associated with them, including Armstrong’s imagined brain in a vat, Putnam’s “super-super-spartans” scenario, and related cases; and the (...) holistic objection. Mistaken assumptions in each of these objections are pinpointed. The paper starts with a brief characterization of behaviorism about psychological categories and a summary of the particular version thereof supported here, which draws upon Ryle and Skinner, among others. (shrink)

Drawing on interviews with decision makers in multinational corporations (MNCs) in South Korea, we examine the role of informal networks in the social exclusion of women in the workforce. Although legislation in the country is in favor of gender equality, we found that informal barriers in the workplace remain difficult to overcome. Informal networks in Korea, yongo, present an ethical issue in the workplace, as they tend to socially exclude women, limiting possibilities for their participation and career progression. We found (...) that informal networks are pervasive and strong because of the informal institutions in which they are embedded and that there is a complex interplay between informal networks and informal institutions that socially excludes women. Due to difficulties accessing yongo, women appear to build inmaek, a network type that is more open and accessible. We also found that MNCs in Korea can compensate for the lack of local informal networks for their female employees. However, despite providing a more supportive environment for women at work, gender equality policies in MNCs are not yet as effective as they could be due to the dynamics of the workplace and the fact that the policies are not tailored to the local context. We have seen evidence in recent years that MNCs can serve as role models for implementing gender equality policies by creating a more inclusive work environment and demonstrating leadership commitment and support. (shrink)

I propose a theory aimed at advancing scholarly research in social entrepreneurship. By highlighting the key trade-off between value creation and value capture and explaining when situations of simultaneous market and government failure may arise, I suggest that social entrepreneurship is the pursuit of sustainable solutions to neglected problems with positive externalities. I further discuss the situations in which problems with externalities are likely to be neglected and derive the central goal and logic of action of social entrepreneurs, in contrast (...) to commercial entrepreneurs. Overall, this article provides a conceptual framework that allows understanding the growing phenomena of social entrepreneurship and its role in the functioning of modern society. (shrink)

Following the recent call for advancement in knowledge about business ethics in East Asia, this study proposes a complementary perspective on business ethics in South Korea. We challenge the conventional view that South Korea is a strictly collectivist country, where group norms and low trust determine the norms and values of behavior. Using the concept of civil religion, we suggest that the center of the South Korean civil religion can be seen in the affective ties and networks pervading the economic, (...) political, and social institutions, embedded in and guided by Confucian ideals. We argue that South Korea should be seen not as a collectivist low-trust society, but rather as an affective-relational society, in which the relational context determines whether collectivism or individualism prevails. Further, we assert that trust, the cohesive factor of affective ties and networks, has until now been inadequately captured by conventional surveys. Our proposed perspective contributes to a more holistic picture and a more firmly grounded understanding of business ethics in South Korea. (shrink)

Darwin1 introduced the idea that ornamental secondary sexual traits have evolved in response to female preferences for showy males. Among such traits, yellow and red carotenoid‐based ornaments have been considered as particularly good candidates for explaining why and how females would benefit from mating with showy partners. Because carotenoids can be used for promotion of both health and appearance, colourful male ornaments should honestly reveal the vigour of the bearers. Two recent experiments with birds2,3 now show how allocation of bodily (...) carotenoids to sexual signalling is traded off against the use of carotenoids for boosting immune function. BioEssays 25:746–747, 2003. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

V příspěvku připomínáme originální spolupráci s prof. P. Maternou, která začala v 60. letech minulého století a vedla ke vzniku třísložkové teorie jazyka, jejímiž autory jsou spolu s Pavlem Maternou Karel Pala a Aleš Svoboda. Články o třísložkové teorii byly publikovány v r. 1976 a 1979, ovšem jméno P. Materny se v titulcích článků ne­smělo objevit, byl tak komunistickým režimem trestán za vyloučení z KSČ v r. 1969. Třísložková teorie jazyka, jak název naznačuje, pokrývá tři základní komponenty sys­tému jazyka, tedy (...) syntax, sémantiku a pragmatiku, a je plně srovnatelná s podobnými pokusy u nás i v zahraničí. Stala se východiskem pro další propojení logiky, lingvistiky a informatiky díky působení K. Paly a P. Materny na Fakultě informatiky od roku 1995. Do této spolupráce se zapojili studenti Fakulty informatiky, zejména Aleš Horák, jehož zásadním příspěvkem je počítačová implementace systému transparentní intenzionální logiky (TILu) ve vztahu ke zpracování přirozeného jazyka (češtiny). (shrink)

V dějinách filozofie se objevilo nespočetné množství snah překonat kognitivní nedostatečnost člověka. Většinový názor zněl, že zatímco vnější smyslové poznání podléhá nejrůznějším klamům, poznání vnitřní je mnohem jistější, či dokonce neomylné. Předpokládaná znalost sebe sama je ovšem iluzorní a stala se důvodem pro vznik mnoha chybných přístupů ke skutečnosti. Kniha se skládá ze tří částí. První kapitola se zabývá introspekcí, především jejím přijetím v dějinách filozofie a odmítnutím v psychologickém behaviorismu 20. století. Druhá kapitola pojednává o iluzornosti svobody rozhodování, která (...) je způsobena řadou nevědomých mechanismů, o jejichž fungování máme zatím jen dosti matnou představu. Ve třetí kapitole jsou domýšleny důsledky kauzálního determinismu pro etiku a právo, především ve smyslu odmítnutí koncepcí morální odpovědnosti a retributivní spravedlnosti. Autor se tak pokouší dokázat, že podstatná část názorů zdravého rozumu je chybná a měla by být nahrazena sadou nových, kompatibilních s dnešní vědou. (shrink)

The paper offers a conceptual and phenomenological analysis of the language of depersonalization. The depersonalization syndrome or disorder has no known common pathogenesis and shows no characteristic behavioral manifestations. A conceptual analysis of the key terms in the subjective complaints would therefore have consequences for clinical research into the phenomenon of depersonalization.

The nature of unconscious information processing is a heavily debated issue in cognitive science , and neuroscience . Traditionally, it has been thought that unconscious cognitive processing is restricted to knowledge that is strongly prepared by conscious processes . In three experiments, we show that the task that is performed consciously can also be applied unconsciously to items outside the current task set. We found that a same–different judgment of two target stimuli was also performed on two subliminally presented prime (...) stimuli. This was true for target and prime stimuli from entirely different categories, as well as for prime and target stimuli at different levels of abstraction. These results reveal that unconscious processing can generalize more widely than previously accepted. (shrink)

ABSTRACTResearch has established that human thinking is often biased by intuitive judgement. The base-rate neglect effect provides such an example, so named because people often support their decisions in stereotypical individuating information, neglecting base-rates. Here, we test the hypothesis that reasoners acknowledge information provided by base-rates and may use individuating information in support of a “rational” decision process. Results from four experiments show that “base-rate neglecting” occurs when participants acknowledge sample distributions; participants who prefer individuating over base-rate information perceive base-rates (...) as less diagnostic and are more confident in their individuating-based responses; and that posterior probabilities predict more individuating-based responses for individuating-preference participants. However, data also show a deeper form of base-rate neglect: even when some partic... (shrink)

The relationship of humans to other primates – both in terms of abilities and evolution - has been an age-old topic of dispute in science. In this paper the claim is made that the different views of authors are based not so much on differences in empirical evidence, but on the ontological stances of the authors and the underlying ground narratives that they use. For comparing and reconciling the views presented by the representatives of, inter alia, cognitive ethology, comparative psychology, (...) and zoosemiotics, an overarching approach of multi-constructivism is introduced. The paper proposes an analytic model that distinguishes four logical possibilities in representing anthropological difference: Gradualism, Transformativism, Unitarism, and Pluralism. Using this typology, the views of C. Darwin, F. de Waal, M. Tomasello, and T. A. Sebeok regarding the similarities and differences between human and animal capacities for cognition, culture and communication are analyzed. The results indicate systematic differences in the selected narratives by these authors that can be related to the types of underlying ontologies. (shrink)

Este artigo aborda o debate realismo vs. instrumentalismo (ou antirrealismo) sobre teorias científicas, com foco no debate desdobrado no contexto da Análise do Comportamento (AC). Axiologias realistas são caracterizadas como aquelas segundo as quais (i) as teorias científicas devem buscar identificar e descrever processos, entidades, propriedades e/ou relações extrateóricos de suas esferas de estudo, e (ii) estamos justificados em considerar que elas, quando empiricamente adequadas (ou maduras), são bem-sucedidas nisso. Axiologias instrumentalistas (ou antirrealistas, termos tomados aqui intercambiavelmente), por outro lado, (...) negam (ii), e em alguns casos também (i). No contexto de discussões metateóricas em AC, tanto a partir de sua matriz de pesquisa predominante (comportamentalista radical) quanto de algumas de suas propostas alternativas de fundamentação (como o comportamentalismo molar), formas de instrumentalismo têm sido dominantes. O presente trabalho oferece uma reconstituição lógico-conceitual e um exame do debate recente em AC, problematizando argumentos instrumentalistas frequentes nesse contexto e esboçando a defesa de uma forma atenuada de realismo, próxima da proposta articulada por F. Suppe. (shrink)

The nature of unconscious information processing is a heavily debated issue in cognitive science, and neuroscience. Traditionally, it has been thought that unconscious cognitive processing is restricted to knowledge that is strongly prepared by conscious processes. In three experiments, we show that the task that is performed consciously can also be applied unconsciously to items outside the current task set. We found that a same–different judgment of two target stimuli was also performed on two subliminally presented prime stimuli. This was (...) true for target and prime stimuli from entirely different categories, as well as for prime and target stimuli at different levels of abstraction. These results reveal that unconscious processing can generalize more widely than previously accepted. (shrink)

This paper focuses on the links between Jakob von Uexküll’s theoretical biology and Adolf Portmann’s conception of organic life. Its main purpose is to show that Uexküll and Portmann not only share a view of the living being as an autonomous and holistically organized entity, but also base this view on the seminal idea of the subjectivity of the organism. In other words, the respective holistic principles securing the autonomy of the living being—the Bauplan, for Uexküll; the Innerlichkeit, for Portmann—share (...) an essentially subjective character. Such principles, indeed, express themselves in a centrally directed and formative way; moreover, in organisms endowed with a central nervous system, they also extend their influence on the overt behavioral sphere and on the organism’s capacity to give meaning to the surrounding reality. The conclusion of the article will show how, though starting from this common background, the two authors develop divergent positions on the issue of the anthropological difference. If Portmann emphasizes the special status of the relationship between the human animal and the world, Uexküll tends to see a substantial continuity in the biosemiotic processes through which human and non-human animals constitute their species-specific worlds of experience. (shrink)

A abordagem de Armstrong e Lewis sobre os conceitos psicológicos ordinários pretende-se uma síntese entre behaviorismo e cartesianismo. Ela sustenta, fundamentalmente, duas teses: (a) a de que esses conceitos, em geral, explicam e predizem comportamentos pela designação de entidades internas (isto é, próprias do interior do corpo) que são os ocupantes de papéis de causar os respectivos comportamentos; e (b) a tese de que os ocupantes desses papéis causais identificam-se com entidades cerebrais e, eventualmente, substratos internos de outras constituições físicas, (...) no sentido de identidades de tipos (e não de particulares), ainda que restringidas. Por um lado, a abordagem é formulada em oposição à ideia de que os conceitos em questão não se referem a causas internas; mas, por outro, propõe uma forma de visão materialista e entende esses conceitos como possuindo conexões lógicas com relações comportamentais do organismo como um todo com aspectos do ambiente maior. O presente trabalho procura sugerir (1) que tal abordagem é implausível, levantando a ela várias objeções; e (2) que as objeções de Armstrong e Lewis a perspectivas comportamentais não atingem pelo menos uma específica deste tipo, aqui esboçada brevemente e apoiada. (shrink)

Contextualists and assessment relativists neglect the expressive dimension of assertoric discourse that seems to give rise to faultless disagreement. Discourse that generates the intuition makes public an attitudinal conflict, and the affective -expressive dimension of the contributing utterances accounts for it. The FD-phenomenon is an effect of a public dispute generated by a sequence of expressing opposite attitudes towards a salient object or state of affairs, where the protagonists are making an attempt to persuade the other side into joining the (...) other’s camp. (shrink)

In welchem Verhaltnis steht die Seelenlehre zur Kosmologie in Platons Phaidon?

Tekst ten stanowi krytyczne omówienie książki „Dwa ciała” Didiera Francka. Zdaniem Filipa Gołaszewskiego, książka ta stara się realizować jedną z jej najpierwotniejszych funkcji, którą jest dialog. Autor udziela własnej odpowiedzi na pytanie, z jakim skutkiem Franck wywiązuje się z tego zadania.

Philosophical counseling is a helping profession that relates to the ancient concept of philosophy as a discipline with therapeutic potential. Unfortunately, there is no empirical evidence supporting the claim of therapeutic effects philosophy is supposed to have. Philosophical counselors do not have any exclusive methods – distinctive from the procedures used in psychotherapy – that we could find as sources of therapeutic effects. Philosophical counselors often do not understand the processes that generate therapeutic effects and mistakenly attribute these effects to (...) the usage of their philosophical “methods”. Lack of knowledge in the fields of psychology and psychiatry that philosophical counselors show begs the question whether philosophical counseling is not harmful in some cases. There is no reason to solve the issue of relationship between philosophy and psychotherapy by establishing separate field of philosophical counseling. Instead, the aim should be to help psychologists and prospective psychotherapists acquire proper philosophical competences – in terms of philosophical skills and knowledge. (shrink)

W artykule analizowane są reguły „dezintegracji” i „dekonstrukcji” w pracach Kazimierza Dąbrowskiego i Michela Foucaulta. Teoria dezintegracji pozytywnej Dąbrowskiego bada niszczące i budujące procesy w osobowości człowieka. Teoria dyskursu Foucaulta wskazuje na różne dekonstrukcje, którym człowiek jest poddawany na skutek procesów kulturowych i psychologicznych. Obie reguły ukazane są na przykładzie opisów „zdrowia” i „choroby”.

All research agrees that youth was an important social category for the communist regimes. At the beginning of the Cold War, youth was perceived in literature as a subject under the regimes’ total control. Later on, scholars understood that gaining the support of young people was a political priority for the Communists. To follow this complicated relationship between youth and the communist regime, I first looked at the complexity of the concept. Second, I have moved beyond the Manichean perspective of (...) the Cold War and sought to study it in its complexity and continuity within generations. Ultimately, this contextualisation helps readers better understand the works in the current issue, which examines the problem of youth from several perspectives. (shrink)

The so-called ‘redintegration experiment’ is traditionally at the center of the comments on the supposed Boyle/Spinoza controversy. A. Clericuzio influentially argued in his publications that, in De nitro, Boyle accounted for the ‘redintegration’ of saltpeter on the grounds of the chemical properties of corpuscles and “did not make any attempt to deduce them from mechanical principles”. By way of contrast, this paper argues that with his De nitro Boyle wanted to illustrate and promote his new corpuscular or mechanical philosophy, and (...) that he made significant attempts to explain the phenomena in terms of mechanical qualities. Boyle had borrowed the ‘redintegration experiment’ from R. Glauber and used it in an attempt to demonstrate that his philosophy was superior to the Peripatetic and Paracelsian theory. Consequently, Clericuzio’s characterization of the Boyle/Spinoza controversy as a discussion between a strict mechanical philosopher and a chemist is problematic and a wider view of Spinoza’s interpretation and its context gives a fairer picture. (shrink)

In this paper I take a closer look at Sextus Empiricus’ arguments in his Outlines of Pyrrhonism I.25-30 and try to make sense of his account of Skepticism as a goal-directed philosophy. I argue that Sextus fails to mount a convincing case for the view that tranquility, rather than suspension of judgment, is the ultimate goal of his inquiries.

Interaction between humans and cats in urban environments is subject to dynamic change. Based on the frequency and quality of relations with humans, we can distinguish several populations of domestic cats : pedigree, pet, semi-feral, feral, and pseudo-wild. Bringing together theoretical perspectives of the Tartu school of biosemiotics and ethological studies of animal societies, we distinguish two basic types of cat cultures: the culture of street cats and the humano-cat culture of pets. The difference between these cultures is documented on (...) the level of zoosemiotic interactions, ecological relations, and human representations. We introduce a threefold model of human-animal interactions in urban environments which steer a careful course between the Scylla of realistic ontology and the Charybdis of social constructivism. A case study on Estonian cat shelters illustrates the significance of cultural representations and institutionalized actions in human-cat cohabitation. (shrink)

In 1665, in a response to a question posed by Robert Boyle, Spinoza gave a definition of the coherence between bodies in the universe that seems to be inconsistent both with what he had written in a previous letter to Boyle (1661) and with what he would later write in his main work, the Ethics (1677). Specifically, Spinoza’s 1665 letter to Boyle asserts that bodies can adapt themselves to another body in a non-mechanistic way and absent the agency of an (...) external cause. This letter – Letter 32 – seems, therefore, to be in clear contradiction with the metaphysical determinism that is an important and characteristic element of his philosophy. This article suggests that the viewpoint expressed by Spinoza in Letter 32 may have been inspired by a spectacular discovery made by Christiaan Huygens a few months prior, namely, the self-synchronization of pendulum clocks. As I argue in this article, this new, hypothesized link to Huygens’ pendulum experiments may account for Spinoza’s otherwise paradoxical answer to Boyle in Letter 32. (shrink)

ABSTRACT By turning his focus to individuals – the profile of billionaires as the people they are – Peter Hägel offers in his book Billionaires in World Politics an interesting move towards agency, showing that their power, even if situated in a complex economic structure, also consists in bending, changing, or setting the rules of how the game is played. After having followed the move of the pendulum from structure to agency with Hägel, in this paper I suggest that moving (...) back to structural analyses could again provide new insights. I argue that in order to have a more complete picture of the billionaires-and-politics puzzle, it is required to not only look at agency as a kind of reflexive phenomenon, but also to provide a more historically informed genealogy of the conditions under which billionaires’ passions have been shaped. (shrink)

The social cognition of domestic cats is a scarcely studied topic due to the reputation of the animal as individualistic. Nevertheless, cats are capable of cognitively demanding cooperative activities such as a communal nest-moving. The cognitive abilities of free-ranging cats are evaluated against the background of the shared intentionality hypothesis, proposed by a research group of Michael Tomasello. Although their comparative studies are carried out on chimpanzees, they are valuable as a source of conceptual work linking empirical cognitive studies with (...) the philosophical accounts of joint agency. We critically analyze theoretical cognitive concepts interpreting the triadic interactions of great apes and the collective hunting among chimpanzees. Contrary to the shared intentionality hypothesis, it is argued that cats have cognitive abilities to share attention, truly cooperate and constitute shared meanings. Finally, we introduce the concept of the natural interaction ritual by Randall Collins and outline its significance for our case study about cats as well as for a general biosemiotic theory of the development of symbols. (shrink)

This edited volume is the first specialized book in English about the Swiss zoologist and anthropologist Adolf Portmann. It provides a clarification and update of Portmann’s theoretical approach to the phenomenon of life, characterized by terms such as “inwardness” and “self-presentation.” Portmann’s concepts of secondary altriciality and the social uterus have become foundational in philosophical anthropology, providing a benchmark of the difference between humans and animals. In its content, this book brings together two approaches: historical and philosophical analysis of Portmann’s (...) studies in the life sciences and application of Portmann’s thought in the fields of biology, anthropology, and biosemiotics. Significant attention is also paid to the methodological implications of his intended reform of biology. Besides contributions from contemporary biologists, philosophers, and historians of science, this volume also includes a translation of an original essay by Portmann and a previously unpublished manuscript from his most remarkable English-speaking interpreter, philosopher Marjorie Grene. Portmann’s conception of life is unique in its focus on the phenomenal appearance of organisms. Confronted with the enormous amount of scientific knowledge being produced today, it is even clearer than it was during Portmann’s lifetime that although biologists employ physical and chemical methods, biology itself is not physics and chemistry. These exact methods must be applied according to what has meaning for living beings. If biology seeks to understand organisms as autonomous agents, it needs to take display and the interpretation of appearances as basic characteristics of life. The topic of this book is significantly relevant to the disciplines of theoretical biology, philosophy, philosophical anthropology, and biosemiotics. The recent epigenetic turn in biology, acknowledging the interconnections between organismal development, morphology and communication, presents an opportunity to revisit Portmann’s work and to reconsider and update his primary ideas in the contemporary context. (shrink)

Po disputacích k tématům Filosofie nepředmětnosti Ladislava Hejdánka a Nekonečnost konečnosti podle Ivana Chvatíka uspořádala Katedra filosofie Evangelické teologické fakulty UK v Praze dne 29. června 2009 v pořadí již třetí pokus o výměnu mezi domácími filosofy. Tentokrát však nebyl východiskem diskusí programový text některého z účastníků, ale Platónův výklad o nejvyšších rodech v dialogu Sofistés. Tomuto textu se zde dostalo trojí velmi odlišné interpretace, kterou bychom snad mohli vzdáleně přirovnat k liternímu, morálnímu a alegorickému neboli naukovému pochopení posvátného textu (...) Písma. Filip Karfík nabízí co možná přesný výklad Platónova textu, Štěpán Špinka sleduje etické implikace Platónovy ontologie, konečně Pavlu Koubovi je pasáž ze Sofisty záminkou pro velmi zajímavé vyrovnání s Heideggerovým pojetím bytí v jeho rozštěpu na bytí jsoucna výskytového a bytí pobytu, o to zajímavější, že je provedeno prostředky Heideggerova vlastního výkladu dialogu Sofistés. Na příspěvek Pavla Kouby navazuje diskuse o zdánlivě dílčím aspektu jeho výkladu, totiž o otázce, zda identitu chceme, nebo nechceme chápat pouze jako dějství diferujících vztahů. V zájmu historické věrnosti třeba poznamenat, že tato diskuse proběhla na disputaci samé jen částečně, zato se zde odehrálo mnoho pozoruhodných diskusí dalších, které nebylo možné svěřit písemnému zachycení. Mnohé se nicméně podařilo zachytit médiem jiným, totiž na fotografiích Věry Koubové, jež jsou uveřejněny na stránkách katedry. (shrink)

The effect of specificity of autobiographical memory (AM) retrieval on the affective impact of an emotional event was examined. In Study 1 (N = 90) the impact of a negative and positive experience was compared between student participants who habitually retrieve autobiographical memories (AMs) in a specific way and participants who generally retrieve less specific memories. In Study 2 (N = 48) the effect of an experimentally induced (specific vs. overgeneral) retrieval style on the impact of a negative experience was (...) studied in student participants who habitually retrieve less specific memories. Study 1 replicated the finding of Raes, Hermans, de Decker, Eelen, & Williams (Citation2003) that a negative event leads to less subjective distress in low‐specific participants as compared with high‐specific participants. However, both groups did not differ in their affective reaction to a positive event. Important, reduced memory specificity was associated with “repressive coping”, providing further evidence for the idea that reduced memory specificity is used as an avoidant or repressive‐defensive mechanism to regulate negative affect (CitationWilliams, 1996). In Study 2, participants who were induced to retrieve memories in an overgeneral way experienced more distress following a negative event as compared with participants who were induced to retrieve memories in a specific way. Results are discussed in the context of recent findings concerning AM specificity and emotion regulation (CitationPhilippot, Schaefer, & Herbette, 2003). Directions for further research are suggested. (shrink)

Kaplan’s (1989a) solution to the indexical version of Frege’s Puzzle in terms of the character of linguistic expressions has been greatly influential and much discussed. Many philosophers regard it as being correct, or at least as being on the right track. However, little has been said about how character is supposed to apply to proper names, and how it could account for the name version of the Puzzle. In this paper I want to fill this gap. I sketch some solutions (...) to the name version of Frege’s Puzzle in terms of character, and argue that all of them are flawed in some way: they are either semantically implausible or fail to account for all relevant phenomena. Keywords: reference, Frege’s Puzzle, proper names, cognitive value, philosophy of language. (shrink)

In Liberating Oedipus?: Psychoanalysis as Critical Theory, Dr. Filip Kovacevic demonstrates how psychoanalytic theory can join political theory in designing alternative political norms and values. Kovacevic proves that political practice without an emancipatory psychology to guide it is potentially dangerous.