Príspevok rieši definičný rámec pojmov inštitúcia a organizácia v optike filozofických a etických nástrojov štúdia vývinových špecifík teórie a praxe axiologických systémov. Hlavným cieľom je teoretické určenie týchto pojmov v záujme ich korektnej aplikácie v oblasti filozofie a etiky, kde často dochádza k ich zámene, alebo stotožňovaniu. Inštitúciu chápe ako etický, a teda aj praktický fundament existencie človeka ako indivídua, ale aj celej spoločnosti, s dôrazom na jej axiologické vymedzenie, ktoré je jej podstatou. V historickom kontinuu si všíma metamorfózy (...) hodnotových, a inštitucionálnych základov fungovania západnej civilizácie, cez jej dominantné dejinno-axiologické systémy: Staroveké Grécko, kresťanstvo a moderné politické ideológie v logike vzájomnej komparácie. (shrink)

ABOUT WEAK AND STRONG EMPIRICAL NECCESSITY. CATEGORICAL, DISPOSITIONAL PROPERTIES AND LAWS OF NATURE Pohľady na empirickú nevyhnutnosť možno rozdeliť do dvoch skupín: teórie slabej nevyhnutnosti a teórie silnej nevyhnutnosti. Do prvej teórie patria koncepcie, ktoré uvažujú svet zložený z pasívnych vlastností, akými sú kategorické vlastnosti. Za zmeny vo svete sú zodpovedné zákony prírody, ktoré sa od možného sveta k svetu líšia, a preto aj prejavy týchto vlastností sú odlišné. Druhú teóriu, teóriu silnej nevyhnutnosti, zastávajú filozofi, ktorí predpokladajú existenciu silovo aktívnych (...) vlastností, dispozícií. Práve tieto sú zodpovedné za zmeny vo svete, a vo všetkých možných svetoch sa prejavujú nevyhnutne rovnako. Autor argumentuje v prospech existencie dispozičných vlastností a tvrdí, že dispozičný výklad sveta netrpí modálnymi absurdnosťami, ktorými trpia teórie slabej nevyhnutnosti. Hoci aj dispozičné teórie majú svoje problémy a hlavne mysterióznosti, ktoré môžu viesť až do metafyziky dispozičných monád. Kľúčové slová: dispozičné vlastnosti, kategorické vlastnosti, modality, nevyhnutnosť, zákony prírody. (shrink)

Akým druhom činnosti filozofia je, aký má zmysel, aké otázky si má klásť, a akým spôsobom ich má uchopiť? Mojím cieľom v článku nie je priamo odpovedať na tieto otázky, na ktoré nie je žiadna jednoduchá odpoveď. Chcem skôr kriticky preskúmať stále populárne poňatie filozofie: filozofia ako skúmanie usilujúce o pravdu či poznanie pravdy. O výroky v tomto duchu nie je vo filozofickej tradícii núdza. Otázka znie: hovoria nám tieto metafory niečo podstatné o filozofii?

Článok je pokusom o interpretáciu Platónovho dialógu Faidón vo svetle prvých Sókratových slov, ktoré v ňom zaznievajú. Sókratova krátka úvaha o vzťahu príjemného a nepríjemného je vzápätí vsadená do kontextu konfrontácie filozofického a básnického typu explanácie. Zaujímavé je, že Sókratov komentár k snu, ktorý ho kedysi vyzval k praktizovaniu múzického umenia, neprezentuje oba prístupy ako navzájom sa vylučujúce, ale skôr ako komplementárne. V tejto perspektíve je možné čítať Faidóna ako náčrt „vysokej“ filozofie oddelených ideí, a zároveň ako výzvu o (...) jej doplnenie „nižšou“ filozofiou zmesí. (shrink)

Obrat (Kehre) v Heideggerovom myslení má dosah nielen na skúmanie otázky bytia (Seinsfrage), ale aj na zmenu postavenia človeka vo vzťahu k bytiu. Túto zmenu je možné ukázať aj prostredníctvom Heideggerovej interpretácie predsokratovskej filozofie. Pokým v období pred obratom je človek ako pobyt (Dasein) schopný porozumieť bytiu a je s ním spojený, po obrate sa tento vzťah zásadným spôsobom mení. Bytie sa Heideggera po obrate stáva Bytím, ktoré má charakter ne-časovosti či pred-časovosti a ako také má aj svoje vlastné (...) dejiny. Poznanie pravdy Bytia už nie je záležitosťou človeka, ale závisí od toho, či sa Bytie samo človeku ukazuje, alebo skrýva.Turning (Kehre) in Heidegger’s thinking reaches not only his search of the question of Being (Seinsfrage) but also the change of the status of human being in relation to Being. This change can be displayed also through Heidegger’s interpretation of pre-Socratic philosophy. While during the period before turning human being as being-there (Dasein) is able to understand Being and he is connected to it, in the period after turning this relationship changes completely. For Heidegger Being after turning becomes Being with the character of non-temporality or pre-temporality and it has its own history. Knowledge of the truth of Being happens not to be a matter of human being but it depends on the fact whether Being hides or unhides. (shrink)

Kako je moguće baviti se Platonom danas, ukoliko je filozofija „svoje vreme obuhvaćeno mislima“? Autor Platonovom delu ne pristupa kao dogmatskom štivu, već kao tekstu prožetom paradoksima, koje izmiče svakom unapred pripremljenom, šematizovanom modelu čitanja. Obratiti se Platonu kao filozofskoj paradigmi isplativo je ukoliko filozofi koji progovaraju iz dubine vremena mogu nešto važno da nam saopšte i ukoliko smo kadri da im postavimo autentično pitanje. Zato filozofi moraju imati dah delfskog ronioca, jer biser se ne nalazi u svakoj školjci. Knjiga (...) Iz Platonove filozofije ulazi u red značajnih knjiga posvećenih Platonovoj filozofiji. Veći deo knjige je objavljen u časopisima od svetskog ugleda (na nemačkom i engleskom jeziku). Time je njen kvalitet potvrđen recenzijama koje su nastale van domaćih koterija, a delo se samerilo sa aktuelnim pristupima Platonu. Knjiga se bavi problemima koji su formulisani u drugoj polovini prošlog veka (napisano i nenapisano učenje), preko naizgled klasičnih tema (dvostruki paradoks, utemeljenje istorijskog i političkog, eros), do tekstova koji pogađaju fenomen aktuelnosti Platonove teorije i prakse (problemi kongitivne dispozicije i bioetike u Platonovoj filozofiji). Ispred nas je Platon u dijalogu sa filozofskim strujanjima s kraja dvadesetog i početkom ovog veka. Za Irinu Deretić smisao filozofskog dijaloga leži u procenjivanju i odmeravanju stanovišta u raspravi, kako bi se vlastito stanovište preciznije artikulisalo. Ne radi se o utopijskoj komunikativnoj zajednici - već o karakteru filozofskog dijaloga, koji je upućen na unutrašnji, a ne na spoljašnji agon. Platon iz sasvim nesofističkih razloga preuzima metodu sofista kada „slabiju stvar čini jačom“. Tome je suprotna eristička (ne)kultura, u kojoj strasti imaju prevagu na davanjem bilo kakvih, „a kamoli valjanih razloga“, piše Irina Deretić. Iz problematičnosti jezika i sučeljavanja sa bliskim granicama pojmljivosti, ne mora da proizađe i slabost logosa. Naprotiv, snaga logosa je obrnuto proporcionalna sposobnošću da se odredi njegova nemoć. Granicu Platonove misli Irina Deretić jezgrovito formuliše: „Platonov jezik je sav okrenut biću, i usmeren je na saznajno ovladavanje njime. Snaga argumenta učesnika u Platonovim razgovorima upravo se sastoji u njihovoj sposobnosti da tačno pogode stvarnost na koju se odnose i koju nastoje da izraze“. Ali to vodi oblikovanju samog karaktera dijaloga: sagovornici se podređuju vođstvu „same stvari“ mišljenja. Međutim, logos nije svemoćan, i inače, a pogotovo ne za Platona. Irina Deretić insistira na autentičnom smislu nemoći logosa kao racionalnog diskursa, koji se pokazuje na odlučujućim mestima, tamo gde njegove refleksije o idejama, posebno o Ideji Dobra bivaju suočene sa granicama njihove saznatljivosti i saopštivosti. Napokon, Platonova okrenutost biću nije dovela do teorije adekvatnosti između bića i jezika, nego do isticanja paradoksa i metafore. A šta je iza njihovog vela - ništa, ili su oni, naprotiv, konstitutivni za biće, da li uopšte može biti odlučeno? U skladu sa filozofskim vjeruju Nikolaja Berđajeva, može se formulisati karakteristika ove važne i lepe knjige: Iz dubine vremena izvire sposobnost da se filozofski misli, a to onda nije u koliziji sa aktuelnim „primenama“ filozofske refleksije. Naprotiv. (shrink)

John Duns Scotus is arguably one of the most significant philosopher theologians of the middle ages who has often been overlooked. This book serves to recover his rightful place in the history of Western philosophy revealing that he is in fact one of the great masters of our philosophical heritage. Among the fields to which Scotus has made an immense contribution are logic, metaphysics, philosophy of mind and action, and ethical theory.The Philosophy of John Duns Scotus provides a formidable yet (...) comprehensive overview of the life and works of this Scottish-born philosopher. Vos has successfully combined his lifetime of dedicated study with the significant body of biographical literature, resulting in a unique look at the life and works of this philosopher theologian. (shrink)

In reference to the different approaches in philosophy(of medicine) of the nature of (medical) technology,this article introduces the topic of this specialissue of Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, that is,the way the different forms of medical technologyfunction in everyday medical practice. The authorselaborate on the active role technology plays inshaping our views on disease, illness, and the body,whence in shaping our world.

It is important and urgent to question therelationship between evidence-based medicineand power shifts in health care systems.Although definitions of EBM are phrased as ascientific approach to medicine, EBM is anormative concept: it aims to improve medicineand health care. Both proponents and opponentsuse a normative concept. More particularly,they provide particular views on positions,responsibilities, possibilities, norms andrelationships between professionals, patientgroups, governments and other parties in healthcare and society. From this perspective, wewant to analyse the role of EBM in modernwestern societies. By using (...) citizenshiptheory, we will argue that the role of EBM isnot fixed but depends on the relation betweenstate and society. We will first analyse thefundamental change in western societies duringthe past decades, from modern to post-modernsocieties. Then, we will elaborate a fourfoldmodel of possible relationships between stateand society, and discuss the issue of how EBM mayfit in, by giving some examples of the practiceof EBM in different European countries. On thisbasis, we conclude to consider EBM as a publicforum where proponents and opponents of EBMdiscuss diverse and possibly conflicting waysof changing medicine, health care, and healthpolicy. This requires the incorporation of theperspective of citizens and their socialnetworks, professionals with practical andtacit knowledge, and diverse public views onwhat is regarded as `a good life'. Inasmuch asEBM is expected to be practically relevant, itought to be tied to rather than separated fromthe normative world of emancipated patients anddiverse health care practices. Proponents andopponents of EBM should be prepared to defendthe normative claims and power effects that areinherently tied to any presentation ofevidence. (shrink)

Argues that Americans must improve their understanding of probability and logic.

The process of globalization is inevitable because it is part of human nature. Man by nature is a social being with an irresistible urge to associate with his fellow human beings. Man cannot survive without associating with his fellow human beings. Globalization is a manifestation of this natural urge in man to associate with his fellow human beings and it is irresistible. I understand globalization to mean the process by which mankind gets closer together. This process has in recent times (...) been facilitated by modern means of communication and transportation. Tremendous progress was made in this direction in the 20th century by the unprecedented advancement in the means of transportation and communication, e.g. Satellite and E-mail. This has turned the world to “global village”. You could have your dinner in Lagos and your breakfast the following morning in London. Through CNN, you could see and know what is happening in other part of the world. And through improved telecommunication, you could talk with anybody in other parts of the world. Through all these advancements in transportation and telecommunication, mankind is fast coming together, getting to know more about one another, becoming more and more interested and involved in what goes on in other parts of the world. Despite its numerous advantages, globalization has serious effects on African culture. It affects almost if not all aspects of African culture. One of such is the loss of one’s cultural identity and even national identity. The paper discusses meaning and definitions of culture, characteristics of culture, Categories and types of culture, meaning and definition of globalization, features of globalization, advantages of globalization and the impacts of globalization on African culture. The paper therefore concludes that globalization is good, but we must embrace it with caution and guard against the dangers inherent in it so that our cultural heritage is not eroded and sacrificed on the altar of globalization. (shrink)

Next SectionEvidence based medicine is rightly at the core of current medicine. If patients and society put trust in medical professional competency, and on the basis of that competency delegate all kinds of responsibilities to the medical profession, medical professionals had better make sure their competency is state of the art medical science. What goes for the ethics of clinical trials goes for the ethics of medicine as a whole: anything that is scientifically doubtful is, other things being equal, ethically (...) unacceptable. This particularly applies to so called orphaned fields of medicine, those areas where medical research is weak and diverse, where financial incentives are lacking, and where the evidence regarding the aetiology and treatment of disease is much less clear than in laboratory and hospital based medicine. Examples of such orphaned fields are physiotherapy, psychotherapy, medical psychology, and occupational health, which investigate complex syndromes such as RSI, whiplash, chronic low back pain, and chronic fatigue syndrome. It appears that the primary ethical problem in this context is the lack of attention to the orphaned fields. Although we agree that this issue deserves more attention as a matter of potential injustice, we want to argue that, in order to do justice to the interplay of heterogeneous factors that is so typical of the orphaned fields, other ethical models than justice are required. We propose the coordination model as a window through which to view the important ethical issues which relate to the communication and interaction of scientists, health care workers, and patients. (shrink)

Homesign is a visual–gestural form of communication that emerges between deaf individuals and their hearing interlocutors in the absence of a conventional sign language. I argue here that homesign conversations form a perfect testcase to study the extent to which pragmatic competence is foundational rather than derived from our linguistic abilities.

This book argues that Protestant theological ethics not only reveals basic virtue ethical characteristics, but also contributes significantly to a viable contemporary virtue ethics. Pieter Vos demonstrates that post-Reformation theological ethics still understands the good in terms of the good life, takes virtues as necessary for living the good life and considers human nature as a source of moral knowledge. Vos approaches Protestant theology as an important bridge between pre-modern virtue ethics, shaped by Aristotle and transformed by Augustine of Hippo, (...) and late modern understandings of morality. The volume covers a range of topics, going from eudaimonism and Calvinist ethics to Reformed scholastic virtue ethics and character formation in the work of Søren Kierkegaard. The author shows how Protestantism has articulated other-centered virtues from a theology of grace, affirmed ordinary life and emphasized the need of transformation of this life and its orders. Engaging with philosophy of the art of living, Neo-Aristotelianism and exemplarist ethics, he develops constructive contributions to a contemporary virtue ethics. (shrink)

Das Buch eröffnet ein neues Forschungsfeld praxeologischer Demokratieforschung. Statt von bestimmten theoretischen Konzeptionen auszugehen, was Demokratie ist oder sein soll, wird untersucht, wie Demokratie praktisch gemacht wird. Wie wird der,,demos" zum Subjekt des Regierens gemacht, als politischer Akteur mit kollektivem Willen und Handlungsmacht? Das Buch verfolgt den Ansatz, nach konkreten praktischen Formen zu suchen, in denen Repräsentationen des Willens von kollektiven Subjekten hergestellt und geltend gemacht werden. Dabei entfaltet sich ein Blick auf die Multiplizität und Dynamik der Demokratie. Die Herausgebenden (...) Dr. Jan-Peter Voß ist Gastprofessor für Technik und Gesellschaft an der RWTH Aachen. Dr. Hagen Schölzel ist Universitätsassistent am Institut für Politikwissenschaft der Universität Wien. (shrink)

The premodern history of the European university can be divided into two triads of three centuries: the medieval university and the ‘medieval’ university of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. During these last three centuries Europe’s Christian university was a ‘confessional’ university: the catholic, Lutheran, reformed and Anglican university and the dissenter university of New England. The reformed university of these centuries offered a distinctive way of systematic thought. A specific doctrine of God was connected with a distinct ontology and (...) this combination constituted the theoretical framework of its philosophy and theology. What are the main distinctive features of this scholastic way of thought and can a specific traditionhistorical background be identified ? I– The key concept of this systematic way of thought is God’s free knowledge . This free knowledgeis here understood to be God’s knowledge of future states of affairs – see section 7 for the main lines of Turrettini’s doctrine of God. This free knowledge of future states of affairs is also called definite , because future states of affairs are definite on the basis of God’s certain will. Thus God’s free knowledge is partly based on divine will, but the other pillar of God’s free knowledge is that divine knowledge which is structurally prior to an act of divine will: God’s ‘natural’ knowledge . This natural or necessary knowledge of God encompasses all possible states of affairs. This structure turning around the notion of scientia libera is vital for understanding Western thought, because Aristotelianism and latin Averroism, Thomism and nominalism do not dispose of this notion of scientia libera. Such a free knowledge doctrine of God is married to a specific type of ontology, namely a contingency ontology– see section 8. This type of ontology centres on the notion of fundamental possibility. All possible states of affairs enjoy the status of possibility . This status of possibility is constituted by logical possibility. Turrettini joins Duns Scotus in defining the logicum possibile: If a state of affairs is possible, then it is not inconsistent that it obtains. Therefore, the twin concept of fundamental possibility is logical IMpossibility: What is logically impossible, is inconsistent and self-contradictory, because it includes contradictory predicates. This approach leads to the central ontological notion of synchronic contingency. Turrettini’s key term is even almost the same as this modern invention to name this crucial device: simultas potentiae. When is an event contingent in this sense? An event e is synchronically contingent at time t, if e is the case at time t – therefore eis possible – while it is possible too that e is not the case at the same time t. Because of the simultaneity of the possibility of the opposite, reality is not necessary. It is open. Thus, the tool of implicative necessity is essential to Turrettini’s methodology. It does not only govern his doctrine of God, but also his theory of true freedom of the human will. II – In contrast to traditional descriptions of reformed scholasticism, Turrettini’s theology is a theology of will and radical contingency in general and a theology of freedom and grace in particular. I have already indicated that Turrettini followed Scotism in vital respects and Duns Scotus stood on the shoulders of Henry of Ghent and of Bonaventure . The ontological infrastructure was delivered by Duns Scotus’ way of thinking structured by synchronic contingency, but the basics of this type of doctrine of God’s knowledge are already conspicuous in the so-called Summa fratris Aleandri . Thomas Aquinas substantially borrowing from Aristotle consciously deviates from this tradition built on the legacy of Augustine and Anselm, the Victorines and Alexander of Hales by ignoring the new theory of divine knowledge put forward by John of La Rochelle. This new approach develops a new relationship between God’s notitia simplex and notitia visionis on the one hand and his potentia absoluta and potentia ordinata on the other hand. (shrink)

Since the regional level has become important in European politics, it is necessary to examine the specifity of the regions. This contribution is a first attempt to develop a model to measure 'regional specifity' for the ten criteria which are most often used to define regions in academic literature. A first application of the model makes clear the characteristics of those regions and gives an understanding of the process of regionbuilding as well. Most regions with a certain degree of political (...) autonomy do have a specificity on more criteria than those regions without any autonomy. These empirical data give a scientific basis to the thesis that regional specificity is constructed by regional authorities. (shrink)

The overlapping of the competencies of a number of regional authorities and those of the EU has necessitated an introduction of the regions in the EU policy-making. In this contribution, this phenomenon is combined with the concepts of paradiplomacy and multilevel governance. The present opportunities for regional participation will be looked at and some kind of classification scheme will be proposed. Those opportunities may be classified into four categories, depending on the formal or informal and direct or indirect character of (...) the participation. References are made to the Flemish involvement in European decision-making in the environmental field. (shrink)

Welche - nicht nur philosophischen - Konzeptionen des Rationalen gibt es? Wie manifestiert und determiniert die Rationalität die soziale Praxis? Wie ist unser alltägliches Handeln in Rationalitätsstrukturen eingebettet und lässt sie sich auf andere Bereiche wie Religion, Kunst, Alltagssprache oder Mythos anwenden? Auf wie viel Irrationalität beruht das, was wir heute als wahr akzeptieren? Und wie ist das Wechselverhältnis zwischen Rationalität und menschlichen Emotionen? Was steckt hinter der oft als «neutral» ausgewiesenen Rationalität, welche Interessen, Akteure, sozial-historischen Strukturen, welche Bedingungen und (...) Voraussetzungen hat Rationalität? Wie gehen wir mit einem Pluralismus verschiedener Rationalitäten um? Diese Fragen versucht das 2. Symposium der philosophischen akademie mit Vortragenden unterschiedlicher kultur-, sozial- und geisteswissenschaftlicher Disziplinen zu beantworten. (shrink)

Our study examines how a company’s engagement in corporate social responsibility influences word of mouth about the company on Twitter, particularly during a service delay. We use the airline industry as the study context. On the popular social medium Twitter, people post tweets about airline services and raise concerns about service delays when flights are delayed, canceled, or diverted. Drawing on the literature on legitimacy and the halo effect, we argue that a company’s CSR engagement enhances its corporate image, which (...) in turn, influences WOM about the company on Twitter. We predict and find that airlines with better CSR engagement receive more positive word of mouth and less negative word of mouth on Twitter. We also find that service delays reduce PWOM and increase NWOM, with the additional finding that the positive relationship between service delays and NWOM is less strong for airlines with better CSR engagement. We conduct additional analyses to investigate the effects of environmental, social, and governance CSR on PWOM and NWOM. Our study has practical implications in informing companies about the benefits of CSR engagement in relation to public opinion during service delays. (shrink)

Research from behavioural sciences shows that people reach decisions in a much less rational and well-considered way than was often assumed. The doctrine of informed consent, which is an important ethical principle and legal requirement in medical practice, is being challenged by these insights into decision-making and real-world choice behaviour. This article discusses the implications of recent insights of research on decision-making behaviour for the informed consent doctrine. It concludes that there is a significant tension between the often non-rational choice (...) behaviour and the traditional theory of informed consent. Responsible ways of dealing with or solving these problems are considered. To this end, patient decisions aids are discussed as suitable interventions to support autonomous decision-making. However, current PDAs demand certain improvements in order to protect and promote autonomous decision-making. Based on a conception of autonomy, we will argue which type of improvements are needed. (shrink)

The knower paradox states that the statement ‘We know that this statement is false’ leads to inconsistency. This article presents a fresh look at this paradox and some well-known solutions from the literature. Paul Égré discusses three possible solutions that modal provability logic provides for the paradox by surveying and comparing three different provability interpretations of modality, originally described by Skyrms, Anderson, and Solovay. In this article, some background is explained to clarify Égré’s solutions, all three of which hinge on (...) intricacies of provability logic and its arithmetical interpretations. To check whether Égré’s solutions are satisfactory, we use the criteria for solutions to paradoxes defined by Susan Haack and we propose some refinements of them. This article aims to describe to what extent the knower paradox can be solved using provability logic and to what extent the solutions proposed in the literature satisfy Haack’s criteria. Finally, the article offers some reflections on the relation between knowledge, proof, and provability, as inspired by the knower paradox and its solutions. (shrink)

Although justice is a central principle in clinical ethics, work that centers social justice is often marginalized in clinical ethics. In addition to institutional barriers that may be preventing clinical ethicists from becoming the activists that Meyers argues we should be, we must also recognize the barriers embedded in the field of clinical ethics itself. As clinical ethicists, we have an opportunity to support anti‐racism work in particular by altering our own organizational structures to be more inclusive and reflective of (...) the Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color we serve, enhancing clinical ethics education and training by making critical theories foundational, and decolonizing our clinical ethics consultation tools and practices. (shrink)

Background In the ethical and clinical literature, cases of parents who want treatment for their child to be withdrawn against the views of the medical team have not received much attention. Yet resolution of such conflicts demands much effort of both the medical team and parents. Objective To discuss who can best protect a child9s interests, which often becomes a central issue, putting considerable pressure on mutual trust and partnership. Methods We describe the case of a 3-year-old boy with acquired (...) brain damage due to autoimmune-mediated encephalitis whose parents wanted to stop treatment. By comparing this case with relevant literature, we systematically explored the pros and cons of sharing end-of-life decisions with parents in cases where treatment is considered futile by parents and not (yet) by physicians. Conclusions Sharing end-of-life decisions with parents is a more important duty for physicians than protecting parents from guilt or doubt. Moreover, a request from parents on behalf of their child to discontinue treatment is, and should be, hard to over-rule in cases with significant prognostic uncertainty and/or in cases with divergent opinions within the medical team. (shrink)

In spoken interactions, interlocutors carefully plan and time their utterances, minimising gaps and overlaps between consecutive turns. Cross-linguistic comparison has indicated that spoken languages vary only minimally in terms of turn-timing, and language acquisition research has shown pre-linguistic vocal turn-taking in the first half year of life. These observations suggest that the turn-taking system may provide a fundamental basis for our linguistic capacities. The question remains however to what extent our capacity for rapid turn-taking is determined by modality constraints. The (...) avoidance of overlapping turns could be motivated by the difficulty of hearing and speaking at the same time. If so, turn-taking in sign might show greater toleration for overlap. Alternatively, signed conversations may show a similar distribution of turn-timing as spoken languages, thus avoiding both gaps and overlaps. To address this question we look at turn-timing in question-answer sequences in spontaneous conversations of Sign Language of the Netherlands. The findings indicate that although there is considerable overlap in two or more signers' articulators in conversation, when proper allowance is made for onset preparation, post-utterance retraction and the intentional holding of signs for response, turn-taking latencies in sign look remarkably like those reported for spoken language. This is consistent with the possibility that, at least with regard to responses to questions, speakers and signers follow similar time courses in planning and producing their utterances in on-going conversation. This suggests that turn-taking systems may well be a shared cognitive infrastructure underlying all modern human languages, both spoken and signed. (shrink)

Recent years have seen a rapid growth in neuroscientific research, and an expansion beyond basic research to incorporate elements of the arts, humanities and social sciences. It has been suggested that the neurosciences will bring about major transformations in the understanding of ourselves, our culture and our society. In academia one finds debates within psychology, philosophy and literature about the implications of developments within the neurosciences, and the emerging fields of educational neuroscience, neuro-economics, and neuro-aesthetics also bear witness to a (...) 'neurological turn' which is currently taking place. Neuroscience and Critique is a ground-breaking edited collection which reflects on the impact of neuroscience in contemporary social science and the humanities. It is the first book to consider possibilities for a critique of the theories, practices, and implications of contemporary neuroscience. Bringing together leading scholars from several disciplines, the contributors draw upon a range of perspectives, including cognitive neuroscience, critical philosophy, psychoanalysis, and feminism, and also critically examine several key ideas in contemporary neuroscience, including: The idea of "neural personhood" Theories of emotion in affective neuroscience Empathy, intersubjectivity and the notion of "embodied simulation" The concept of an "emo-rational" actor within neuro-economics. The volume will stimulate further debate in the emerging field of interdisciplinary studies in neuroscience, and will appeal to researchers and advanced students in a range of disciplines including critical psychology, philosophy, and critical studies. (shrink)