Despite the positive effects of including patients’ preferences into therapy on psychotherapy outcomes, there are still few thoroughly validated assessment tools at hand. We translated the 18-item Cooper-Norcross Inventory of Preferences into German and aimed at replicating its factor structure. Further, we investigated the reliability of the questionnaire and its convergence with trait measures. A heterogeneous sample of N = 969 participants took part in our online survey. Performing ESEM models, we found acceptable model fit for a four-factor structure similar (...) to the original factor structure. Furthermore, we propose an alternative model following the adjustment of single items. The German C-NIP showed acceptable to good reliability, as well as small correlations with Big-Five personality traits, trait and attachment anxiety, locus of control, and temporal focus. However, we recommend further replication of the factor structure and further validation of the C-NIP. (shrink)

The goal is to present how shared decision-making in paediatric oncology occurs from the viewpoints of parents and physicians. Eight Swiss Pediatric Oncology Group centres participated in this prospective study. The sample comprised a parent and physician of the minor patient. Surveys were statistically analysed by comparing physicians’ and parents’ perspectives and by evaluating factors associated with children’s actual involvement. Perspectives of ninety-one parents and twenty physicians were obtained for 151 children. Results indicate that for six aspects of information provision (...) examined, parents’ and physicians’ perceptions differed. Moreover, parents felt that the children were more competent to understand diagnosis and prognosis, assessed the disease of the children as worse, and reported higher satisfaction with decision-making on the part of the children. A patient’s age and gender predicted involvement. Older children and girls were more likely to be involved. In the decision-making process, parents held a less active role than they actually wanted. Physicians should take measures to ensure that provided information is understood correctly. Furthermore, they should work towards creating awareness for systematic differences between parents and physicians with respect to the perception of the child, the disease, and shared decision-making. (shrink)

Der Streit um die Prinzipien der Theorienentwicklung hat in den Jahren seit dem Erscheinen von TH. S. KUHNS "Die Struktur wissen schaftlicher Revolutionen" mannigfache und lebhafte AufSerungen pro und contra hervorgerufen. Die Gegenposition wird im wesent lichen durch die Namen POPPER und LAKATOS charakterisiert. Die Kontroverse erweist sich als eine solche zwischen synchronischer und diachronischer, zwischen systematischer und historischer Betrach tungsweise. 1st die Entwicklung der Wissenschaften, wie man es nach KUHN glauben kann, in entscheidendem MafSe aufSeren Einfliissen und Zufalligkeiten ausgesetzt, (...) oder gibt es nicht doch rationale, rein wissenschaftsimmanente Kriterien, auf Grund derer eine Entwicklung im Sinne eines Fortschrittes zu immer besseren, richtigeren und lei stungsfahigeren Theorien moglich ist? Eine wesentliche Schwierigkeit, um dabei weiterzukommen, besteht darin, dafS es keine Moglichkeit zu geben scheint, eine Theorie zu bewerten, zu entscheiden, welche von zwei Theorien "wahrscheinlicher, richtiger, besser oder leistungs fahiger" ist. Wenn es geiange, eine numerische Bewertung von Hypothesen und Theorien in dieser Richtung zu finden, so ware damit auch ein Weg gewiesen, die Entwicklung der Theorien nicht nur zu rekon struieren, sondern vielleicht auch zu lei ten. Die Bewertung einer Theorie im Sinne ihrer Richtigkeit ist bisher nicht gelungen. Wenn POPPER, insbesondere in seinen spaten Arbeiten ("Objective Knowl edge"), die Auffassung vertritt, dafS die Entwicklung der Wissen schaften im Sinne einer immer grofSeren Wahrheitsahnlichkeit von statten gehe, so ist das bei ihm ein reiner Glaube, der auf Grund seines Modells von Versuch und Irrtum postuliert wird. (shrink)

Fifteen essays are contained in this collection, all relating to Heinz Post ’ s article ‘ Correspondence, Invariance and Heuristics ’, also reprinted. In this article, written in the heyday of the post - positivist movement, Post aims to convince his fellowphilosophers of science to bring the issue of heuristics back to the philosophical stage. Examining a wealth of theories and models from the physics and chemistry of the last 300 years, Post extracts several strategies of theory construction of (...) which he considers the General Correspondence Principle to be the most important. According to this principle, any acceptable newtheory should explain the well - confirmed part of its predecessor. Later Post states the General Correspondence Principle more precisely and uses it with what he considers its de facto validity to argue against incommensurability, Kuhn - losses, 1 and relativism. Post himself seems to support a kind of convergent realism which is most notably expressed in his credo that science progresses linearly. (shrink)

Ein Gespenst geht um in den Wissenschaften - das Gespenst des Gedankenexperiments. Gedankenexperimente verheißen Erkenntnisgewinn ohne empirische Arbeit - was vor dem Selbstverständnis der modernen Naturwissenschaften jedoch einer Unmöglichkeit gleichkommt. Und doch zieht sich das Forschen mit Gedankenexperimenten wie ein roter Faden durch die lange Tradition in den empirischen Wissenschaften von ihren Anfängen bei Stevin, Galilei und Newton bis heute.

Frank Kuhne zeigt auf, warum der spekulative Idealismus als Antwort auf die Fichteschen Schwierigkeiten mit Kant erscheinen konnte und warum er im Hinblick auf die Erkenntnis des Besonderen ebenso defizient ist wie Fichtes ...

Social robots and their interactions with children are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with the emergence of child-robot relationships as a likely result. However, adequate measurement instruments that tap into concepts associated with child-robot relationship formation are scarce. We aimed to develop three measures that can be used to assess children’s closeness to, trust in, and perceived social support from, a social robot. We established the validity and reliability of these measures among 87 Dutch children aged 7 to 11 years old. Because (...) of their shortness, the measures can efficiently be applied by scholars aiming to gain insight into the general process of child-robot relationship formation and its specific sub-processes, that is, the emergence of closeness, trust, and perceived social support. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Zeitschrift für kritische Sozialtheorie und Philosophie Jahrgang: 2 Heft: 1 Seiten: 139-170.

Name der Zeitschrift: Zeitschrift für kritische Sozialtheorie und Philosophie Jahrgang: 4 Heft: 1-2 Seiten: 152-176.

This paper contributes to a growing body of literature analyzing the social responsibilities of SMEs (Sarbutts, 2003, Journal of Communication Management 7(4), 340-347; Castka et al., 2004, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management 11, 140-149; Enderle, 2004, Business Ethics: A European Review 14(1), 51-63; Fuller and Tian, 2006, Journal of Business Ethics 67, 287-304; Jenkins, 2006, Journal of Business Ethics 67, 241-256; Lepoutre and Heene, 2006, Journal of Business Ethics 67, 257-273; Roberts, 2003, Journal of Business Ethics 44(2), 159-170; Williamson (...) et al., 2006, Journal of Business Ethics 67, 317-330) by designing a conceptual framework based on the Strategic Management Theory, which links social issues to the creation of sustained competitive advantages for SMEs. Firstly, the paper reviews literature on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and especially on the creation of social capital for SMEs. An exploration of Strategic Management Theory follows, focusing on the Positioning and Competence Based Schools, with the objective to find an answer to the question: how do social and environmental issues fit in the logic of creation of competitive advantage and what role do they play during strategic planning? The contributions of Hart (natural resourced based view) and Porter and Kramer (development of strategic intent in social responsible actions) are then related to the framework of possible growth paths of SMEs (Hong and Jeong, 2006, Journal of Enterprise Information Management 19(3), 292-302) in order to answer this question. Strategies that could trigger or lever these growth paths are then discussed. Following the recommendation Thompson and Smith (1991, Journal of Small Business Management 29(1), 30-44) gave to focus on the "study of CSR behaviors instead of perceptions," a medium-sized Austrian company in the food producing industry has been identified for an exploratory case study analysis to test the applicability of this theoretical framework for the description of the actual responsible business behavior (RBB) of an SME. This company is typical of one of the 250.000 SMEs which account for 99.6% of the Austrian economy. Based on the findings and the discussion, this paper presents a strategic planning tool for SMEs aiming to embed RBB into the corporate strategy. (shrink)

Moving from the correspondence beween Yorck von Wartenburg and Dilthey, this essay highlights the affinities between the two thinkers and their common belief that life represents the point of view of philosophy and the foundation of knowledge and science. More specifically, it is stressed how Yorck prefers, to the concept of Leben, too much static, that of Lebendigkeit, through which the dynamism proper of the lebend – the living – is made visible. Starting from the concept of Lebendigkeit and from (...) that of Geschichtlichkeit which is connected to it, this essay shows the intrinsic bond existing between the knowledge of life and the knowledge of history. Indeed, they both aim at the man’s self-knowledge and, consequently, at the chance of a representation of the present. (shrink)

This junior/senior level text is devoted to a study of first-order logic and its role in the foundations of mathematics: What is a proof? How can a proof be justified? To what extent can a proof be made a purely mechanical procedure? How much faith can we have in a proof that is so complex that no one can follow it through in a lifetime? The first substantial answers to these questions have only been obtained in this century. The most (...) striking results are contained in Goedel's work: First, it is possible to give a simple set of rules that suffice to carry out all mathematical proofs; but, second, these rules are necessarily incomplete - it is impossible, for example, to prove all true statements of arithmetic. The book begins with an introduction to first-order logic, Goedel's theorem, and model theory. A second part covers extensions of first-order logic and limitations of the formal methods. The book covers several advanced topics, not commonly treated in introductory texts, such as Trachtenbrot's undecidability theorem. Fraissé's elementary equivalence, and Lindstroem's theorem on the maximality of first-order logic. (shrink)

The famous definition of landscape by Joachim Ritter unmistakably names the aesthetic act of construction that makes landscape vision possible: “Landscape is nature that is aesthetically present in the sight for a feeling and sensing observer”. Landscape is an aesthetic construct, in whose act of construction, however, social, cultural, individual and other constitutional factors flow. Following Karl Popper’s 3-world theory, a physical landscape (world 1), an individual landscape (world 2) and a social landscape (world 3) can be distinguished. In each (...) case, aesthetic and other constitutional factors are interconnected in a complex and complicated way. In addition, this situation is aggravated by the fact that different scientific basic positions (essentialism, positivism, constructivism) find their way into corresponding analyses (partly unreflected) and make scientific understanding difficult. Finally, this scientific starting position produces different paradigms, theories and terminology, which are often played off against each other and can lead to unfruitful dissent in science. The lecture counters this with a “neopragmatic” approach that can show that and how different paradigms, theories and conceptualisations can be related to each other in such a way that unfruitful dissent can be avoided and instead the advantages of the scientific plurality of theories, concepts and paradigms can be used and made fruitful for concrete research goals. (shrink)

This article focuses on trans-linguistic relationships between the German aphoristic writings of Israeli, Hebrew poet, and rabbi Elazar Benyoëtz and his personal library, which is one of the last and largest private book collections in Israel to contain the German-Jewish literary canon. By reading traces from the library’s marginalia and paraphernalia, analyzed here for the first time, the article presents five case studies that sketch Benyoëtz’s transformation during the 1960s and 1970s from a Hebrew poet into the most influential contemporary (...) writer of aphorisms in German. The article also presents points of departure for future research into the development of the Archiv Bibliographia Judaica, the largest encyclopedia of Jewish authors in the German language. (shrink)

The present study investigated the influence of related and unrelated emotions on judgments about a news article. An experimental study was designed to manipulate both the relatedness of an elicited emotion (i. e., anger) to the news article and processing depth. Following mood and emotion effects theory, related anger was expected to have a stronger effect on judgments about the media message than unrelated anger. Processing depth was expected to moderate this effect. The results showed a main effect of relatedness (...) and a main effect of processing depth, but the interaction effect was not found. Implications of the findings for understanding how emotions influence the processing of media stimuli are discussed. (shrink)

In his critical comment on our paper in this journal, Shaw argues that ‘false assumptions’ which we have criticised are in fact correct . He suggests that the risk of addiction to neuroenhancers may not be relevant, and that safety and research in regard to neuroenhancement do not pose unique ethical problems. Here, we demonstrate that Shaw ignores key empirical research results, trivialises addiction, commits logical errors, confuses addictions and passions, argues on a speculative basis, and fails to distinguish the (...) specific ethical conditions of clinical research from those relevant for research in healthy volunteers. Therefore, Shaw's criticism cannot convince. (shrink)

The article discusses some of Heinz Post's views on correspondence and whether revolutions occur in science a la Kuhn. For example Post points out that the periodic table of the chemical elements has withstood any revolutions. Specific issues examined include the Paneth-Fajans controversy, the extent to which quantum mechanics provides an explanation for the periodic table and ab initio calculations in quantum chemistry.

The present work critically examines two assumptions frequently stated by supporters of cognitive neuroenhancement. The first, explicitly methodological, assumption is the supposition of effective and side effect-free neuroenhancers. However, there is an evidence-based concern that the most promising drugs currently used for cognitive enhancement can be addictive. Furthermore, this work describes why the neuronal correlates of key cognitive concepts, such as learning and memory, are so deeply connected with mechanisms implicated in the development and maintenance of addictive behaviour so that (...) modification of these systems may inevitably run the risk of addiction to the enhancing drugs. Such a potential risk of addiction could only be falsified by in-depth empirical research. The second, implicit, assumption is that research on neuroenhancement does not pose a serious moral problem. However, the potential for addiction, along with arguments related to research ethics and the potential social impact of neuroenhancement, could invalidate this assumption. It is suggested that ethical evaluation needs to consider the empirical data as well as the question of whether and how such empirical knowledge can be obtained. (shrink)