The present study describes the mechanism of need regulation, which accompanies the so-called “biased” decisions. We hypothesized an unconscious urge for psychological need satisfaction as the trigger for cognitive biases. In an experimental study (N = 106), participants had the opportunity to win money in a functionality test. In the test, they could either use the solution they had developed (sunk cost) or an alternative solution that offered a higher probability of winning. The selection of the sunk-cost option was the (...) most chosen option, supporting the hypothesis of this study. The reason behind the majority of participants choosing the sunk-cost option seemed to be the satisfaction of psychological needs, despite a reduced chance of winning money. An intervention, which aimed at triggering self-reflection, had no impact on the decision. The findings of this study contribute to the discussion on the reasons for cognitive biases and their formation in the human mind. Moreover, it discusses the application of the label “irrational” for biased decisions and proposes reasons for instrumental rationality, which exist at an unconscious, need-regulative level. (shrink)

Prolonging working hours and presenteeism have been conceptualized as self-endangering coping behaviors in employees, which are related to health impairment. Drawing upon the self-regulation of behavior model, the goal achievement process, and Warr's vitamin model, we examined the antecedents and moderation effects regarding quantitative demands, autonomy, emotion regulation, and self-motivation competence of university students' self-endangering coping behaviors. Results from a cross-sectional survey of 3,546 German university students indicate that quantitative demands are positively related and autonomy has a u-shape connection with (...) self-endangering coping. Emotion regulation was shown to be a protective factor for prolonging working hours. Moreover, self-motivation moderated the relationship between quantitative demands and prolonging of working hours, but not in the assumed direction. Self-motivation showed a systematic positive relationship with prolonging of working hours, but no relationship with presenteeism. Autonomy moderated the relationship of quantitative demands with both self-endangering behaviors. We found no moderating effects for emotion regulation of quantitative demands or autonomy and self-endangering behaviors. Besides further practical implications, the results suggest that lecturers should design their courses accordingly with less time pressure and university students should be trained in the use of autonomy. (shrink)

Job crafting has been established as a bottom-up work design instrument for promoting health and well-being in the workplace. In recent years, the concepts of job crafting have been applied to the university student context, proving to be positively related to student well-being. Building on person-centered analyses from the employment context, we assessed approach study crafting strategy combinations and the relationships to students’ exhaustion, study engagement, and general well-being. Data from 2,882 German university students were examined, collected online during the (...) summer term in 2020. Using latent profile analysis, we found five distinct crafting groups, which showed discriminate validity with regard to emotional exhaustion, engagement, and well-being. The results underscore the positive role of study crafting for students’ health and well-being. They further indicate a less important role of increasing social resources for emotional exhaustion when combined with a moderate increase in structural resources and a moderate increase in challenging demands. Our findings imply that interventions to promote study crafting should be considered to promote student health and well-being. (shrink)

English summary: 'Metamorphoses of the holy' denotes the changing aesthetic presentation of the sacred which is connected to the creation and institutionalization of religion as art. The focus of the essays in this volume is the structure and dynamic of this process, something which affects all art genres. The sacralization of aesthetic subjectivity is prerequisite to religion as art as evidenced by the belief in the partaking of the sacred through aesthetic experience. On the basis of aesthetic subjectivity's sacralization, it (...) becomes possible to interpret its various forms of expression as witnesses to the holy and award them a fitting reception. These contributions dedicate themselves to an interdisciplinary scrutiny of religion as art and its cross-points of reference with political and civil religion. German description: 'Metamorphosen des Heiligen' bezeichnen hier den Gestaltwandel asthetischer Vergegenwartigung des Heiligen, der sich mit der Entstehung und Institutionalisierung von Kunstreligion verbindet. Im Zentrum der Beitrage des Bandes stehen Struktur und Dynamik dieses Gestaltwandels, der alle Kunstgattungen betrifft. Kunstreligion hat die Sakralisierung der asthetischen Subjektivitat zur Voraussetzung, erkennbar an der Uberzeugung, der Mensch konne durch das Vermogen asthetischer Erfahrung Anteil am Heiligen haben. Auf der Grundlage der Sakralisierung asthetischer Subjektivitat wird es moglich, auch deren verschiedene Ausdrucksformen als Zeugnisse des Heiligen zu deuten und eine entsprechende Rezeption dieser Zeugnisse anzusinnen. Die Beitrage widmen sich der Kunstreligion sowie ihren Interferenzen mit der politischen Religion und der Zivilreligion in interdisziplinarer Perspektive. Mit Beitragen von: Stefan Alkier, Bernd Auerochs, Manuel Bauer, Wolfgang Braungart, Reinhard Brandt, Heinrich Detering, Hermann Deuser, Carola Groppe, Gunter Hantzschel, Joachim Jacob, Markus Kleinert, Dietrich Korsch, Volkhard Krech, Johann Kreuzer, Dorit Messlin, Jurgen Oelkers, Bernhard Schafers, Magnus Schlette, Peter Steinacker. (shrink)

This essay is a contribution to a symposium on Anja Jauernig's excellent book, The World According to Kant. I discuss Jauernig's account of how Kant conceives the empirical reality of appearances.

Das Verhaltnis von Spekulation und Vorstellung in Hegels enzyklopadischem System ist von einer eigentumlichen Spannung gekennzeichnet. Spekulation ist nicht nur die kritische Reinigung der Inhalte der Vorstellung von ihren Vorurteilen und Irrtumern, sondern zugleich Anerkennung des endlichen, vorstellenden Denkens innerhalb seiner Grenzen, sowohl auf dem Gebiet der Erkenntnistheorie als auch der Religion. Wie verhalten sich aber Spekulation und Vorstellung zueinander in verschiedenen Teilen des enzyklopadischen Systems, in der Logik und der Philosophie des Geistes? Diesem Zusammenhang gehen die Beitrage des Tagungsbandes (...) im Detail nach und uberprufen kritisch das enzyklopadische Zusammenspiel von Spekulation und Vorstellung in den Spharen des subjektiven und des absoluten Geistes. Mit Beitragen von: Kazimir Drilo, Markus Gabriel, Christoph Halbig, Gunnar Hindrichs, Axel Hutter, Franz Knappik, Anton Friedrich Koch, Christian Georg Martin, Jan Rohls, Rainer Schafer. (shrink)

Psychological measurement has received strong criticism throughout the history of psychological science. Nevertheless, measurements of attributes such as emotions or intelligence continue to be widely used in research and society. I address this puzzle by presenting a new causal perspective to psychological measurement. I start with assumptions that both critics and proponents of psychological measurement are likely to accept: a minimal causal condition and the observation that most psychological concepts are ill-defined or ambiguous. Based on this, I argue that psychological (...) measurement is fundamentally different from measurement in the physical sciences but can nevertheless be useful. (shrink)

Behind the images, the actual logical work iscarried out by reasoning-specific operations on these spatial layout models.

The ArgumentContemporary natural sciences succeed remarkably well in ensuring a relatively continuous transmission of their cognitively relevant traditions and in creating a widely shared background consensus among their practitioners – hermeneutical ends seemingly achieved without hermeneutical awareness or explicitly acquired hermeneutical skills.It is a historically specific – emerging only in the nineteenth century – cultural organization of the Author-Text-Reader relation which endows them with such an ease of hermeneutical achievements: an institutionally fixed form of textual and intertextual practices, normatively posited (...) ways of adequate reception and criticism, etc. The same organization also explains a number of their often-discussed epistemic and cultural characteristics: their depersonalized objectivity, the social closure of their discourse and their reduced cultural significance, the shallow historical depth of their activated traditions, etc.The cognitive structure and the social function of contemporary natural sciences are intimately interwoven with a set of sui generis cultural relations that are partially fixed in the textual characteristics of their literary objectivations. A comparative hermeneutical analysis of natural sciences as a specifically constituted and institutionalized cultural genre or discourse-type brings into relief those contingent cultural conditions and relations to which some of their fundamental epistemological characteristics are bound, or at least with which they are historically closely associated. (shrink)

The principles of biomedical ethics – autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence, and justice – are of paradigmatic importance for framing ethical problems in medicine and for teaching ethics to medical students and professionals. In order to underline this significance, Tom L. Beauchamp and James F. Childress base the principles in the common morality, i.e. they claim that the principles represent basic moral values shared by all persons committed to morality and are thus grounded in human moral psychology. We empirically investigated the relationship (...) of the principles to other moral and non-moral values that provide orientations in medicine. By way of comparison, we performed a similar analysis for the business & finance domain. (shrink)

In The Crisis of the European Union Jürgen Habermas claims that the constituent power in the EU is shared between the community of EU citizens and the political communities of the member states. By his own account, Habermas arrives at this concept of a dual constituent subject through a rational reconstruction of the genesis of the European constitution. This explanation, however, is not particularly illuminating since it is controversial what the term ‘rational reconstruction’ stands for. This article critically discusses the (...) current state of research on rational reconstruction, develops a new reading of Habermas’ method and invokes this account for an explanation and evaluation of the notion of a European pouvoir constituant mixte. (shrink)

In this paper, we explore digitally fabricated aesthetic enhancements and modifications of the body as well as digitally fabricated fauna habitats. We will address how we utilize speculative works through our bio inspired digitally fabricated designs via two of our most recent projects: {skin} D.E.E.P. and in silico et in situ. Through these two projects we explore cultural implications of the intersection of technology and biologically inspired art/design. Technology has provided an ever increasing amount of data which has facilitated the (...) way data can be used in aesthetic explorations. Technology can redefine the human experience by enhancing our senses, experiences, and forms of expression. In our work {skin} D.E.E.P., we explore these ideas via augmentation through wearables and biomimetic expressions on the skin through digitally fabricated prosthetics. {skin} D.E.E.P. employs temporary biomimetic skin patterns via wearable 3D printed exoskeletons. The first series of this work mimics the patterns and textures of animal skin via ephemeral impressions onto human skin. Taking inspiration from shedding snakeskin, we shed the outer layer by removing the 3D printed prosthesis. The epidermis retains the negative imprint of the prosthetic mimicking the look of serpent skin. The dermis reestablishes the smooth form of the human skin as it heals itself within the hour, erasing the ephemeral imprint, symbolically representing rebirth and renewal. Investigating the ephemeral aesthetic of textured patterns on human skin will not by any means provide a solution to an engineering problem, yet acts as a larger philosophical basis to conduct a discussion about the possibilities of blending bio inspired designs. The manifestation of data into physical form occurs via digital fabrication in our most recent series in silico et in situ: fauna habitats in the age of voxels, where we aim to create a new ecosystem for animals and to potentially augment their habitat. The habitats include pollinator waterers, spider habitats and turtle basking platforms. This project pushes forward with a new piece—the development of a 20-foot avian sculpture that will solely exist to support the habitat of the Chimney Swift species. The Chimney Swift is a near-threatened bird species in the US. in silico et in situ investigates the interplay of art, nature and technology by contextualizing sculptural works and placing these sculptures into nature. The project serves as a breeding ground for a larger dialogue about nature, culture, human intervention, design art and technology. Providing the artwork in the public sphere, barrier free in nature, fosters this discourse. (shrink)

The two main domains of high culture - the arts and the sciences - seem to be completely different, simply unrelated. Is there any sense then in talking about culture in the singular as a unity? A positive answer to this question presupposes that there is a single conceptual scheme, in terms of which it is possible to articulate both the underlying similarities and the basic differences between these domains. This article argues that - at least in respect of ‘classical’ (...) modernity - there is such a framework: the normatively conceived Author-Work-Recipient relation. It allows the disclosure of the paradoxical unity of culture: its two main realms are constituted as polar opposites and thus as strictly complementary. Through such an organization, culture could fulfil an affirmative, compensatory role. At the same time however, it also allowed culture to acquire the character of social critique, a function realized through the antagonistically opposed projects of Enlightenment and Romanticism - projects whose illusions are now evident. (shrink)

Work has always been a significant source of ethical questions, philosophical reflection, and political struggle. Although the future of work in a sense is always at stake, the issue is particularly relevant right now, in light of the advent of advanced AI systems and the collective experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has reinvigorated philosophical discussion and interest in the study of the future of work. The purpose of this survey article is to provide an overview of the emerging philosophical (...) field that engages with the future of work, with a special focus on equality and justice, and to outline a research agenda that can help the field to develop further. Section 2 provides some historical context for the current surge in interest in the topic. Then, we discuss what work is and whether there is a philosophy of work (Section 3). The four main sub-debates we then turn to concern the value of work (Section 4), distributive justice and work (Section 5), productive justice (Section 6), and institutional reforms prompted by changes in how work is organized (Section 7). The final section discusses the importance of the distinction between ideal and non-ideal theory in philosophical investigations into the future of work. (shrink)

This book is based upon a lecture series that took place between September 2013 and May 2014 to inaugurate the new Canadian Museum for Human Rights. It brings together some of the most influential contemporary thinkers on the theory and practice of human rights.

One key question in the philosophy of artificial intelligence (AI) concerns how we can recognize artificial systems as intelligent. To make the general question more manageable, I focus on a particular type of AI, namely one that can prove mathematical theorems. The current generation of automated theorem provers are not understood to possess intelligence, but in my thought experiment an AI provides humanly interesting proofs of theorems and communicates them in human-like manner as scientific papers. I then ask what the (...) criteria could be for recognizing such an AI as intelligent. I propose an approach in which the relevant criteria are based on the AI’s interaction within the mathematical community. Finally, I ask whether we can deny the intelligence of the AI in such a scenario based on reasons other than its (non-biological) material construction. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie Jahrgang: 67 Heft: 2 Seiten: 282-299.

In this article I suggest that we should understand symbolic art not as some kind of wonderous prequel to classical art, but as a theory of the advent of spiritual self-reflection on a collective scale. Symbolic art is the first form of what Hegel calls ‘absolute spirit’. I understand absolute spirit as the realm of reflective social practices through which humans discuss and reflect on what it is to be human. Symbolic art is thus the first form in which spirit (...) generates genuine self-knowledge. I argue that symbolic art should be understood as the unprecedented beginning of asking what it is to be human, without having a picture of what it is to be human preceding it. The advantage of understanding Hegel's symbolic art in this way is that we are able to go beyond the narrow conception of symbolic art as existing only in the oriental world and arrive at an understanding of symbolic art which includes social practices from the deep history of our species. (shrink)

This paper analyses some current jurisprudential and conceptual issues in evidence and procedure from the perspective of a computational legal theory. It introduces a specific investigative device, Trojans operated by police during crime investigation, and analyses whether current formal approaches to legal reasoning can be modified in such a way that the software code underlying this device can represent the relevant legal constraints that should govern its operation. We will argue that traditional formalist theories of legal reasoning are typically restricted (...) to reasoning within a system, and incapable therefore of making the notion of “legal system” sufficiently explicit. We discuss possibilities to expand on these approaches and identify the necessary elements of a computational theory of legal reasoning in an age of porous borders.Resumen:En este ensayo se analizan algunos tópicos conceptuales y filosóficos de actualidad sobre el procedimiento y las pruebas desde la óptica de una teoría del derecho computacional. En él se presenta un mecanismo específico de investigación, relativo a los “troyanos” operados por la policía durante la investigación de delitos, y analiza si los enfoques formales contemporáneos sobre el razonamiento jurídico pueden ser modificados de tal modo que el código de sofware que subyace a este mecanismo puede representar las limitaciones jurídicas relevantes que deberían regir su operación. Los autores sostienen que las teorías formalistas tradicionales del razonamiento jurídico se limitan por lo general al razonamiento dentro de un sistema y, por lo tanto, son incapaces de hacer la noción de “sistema jurídico” suficientemente explícita. Asimismo, se discuten las posibilidades de ampliar estos enfoques e identificar los elementos necesarios de una teoría computacional del razonamiento jurídico en una era de fronteras porosas. (shrink)

Foundational Texts in Modern Criminal Law presents essays in which scholars from various countries and legal systems engage critically with formative texts in criminal legal thought since Hobbes. It examines the emergence of a transnational canon of criminal law by documenting its intellectual and disciplinary history and provides a snapshot of contemporary work on criminal law within that historical and comparative context. Criminal law discourse has become, and will continue to become, more international and comparative, and in this sense global: (...) the long-standing parochialism of criminal law scholarship and doctrine is giving way to a broad exploration of the foundations of modern criminal law. The present book advances this promising scholarly and doctrinal project by making available key texts, including several not previously available in English translation, from the common law and civil law traditions, accompanied by contributions from leading representatives of both systems. (shrink)

Die Frage, warum man moralisch sein soll, ist eine der ältesten und schwierigsten Fragen der Moraltheorie: Wie kann der Mensch dem moralischen Anspruch, dem er untersteht, gerecht werden? In welchem Verhältnis stehen moralische Urteile und Überzeugungen zu den Wünschen, Neigungen und Gefühlen des Menschen? Welche Rolle kommt der Vernunft in der Handlungsmotivation zu? Welche Bedeutung hat der religiöse Glaube für die menschliche Praxis? In der zeitgenössischen Moraltheologie werden diese grundlegenden Fragen weitgehend vernachlässigt. Die vorliegende Untersuchung leistet einen Beitrag, die Motivationsproblematik (...) wieder ins Zentrum der moraltheologischen Reflexion zu rücken. Ausgehend von einem Überblick über die gegenwärtige philosophische Diskussion um das Problem der moralischen Motivation wird die Motivationstheorie der Stoa rekonstruiert und ihre Rezeption durch Augustinus herausgearbeitet. Dabei erweisen sich die klassischen Motivationstheorien nicht nur als anschlussfähig an die gegenwärtige Diskussion, sondern sie bieten darüber hinaus auch wichtige Impulse für die Beschäftigung mit dem Motivationsproblem. (shrink)

Die von Kierkegaard zwischen Januar und September 1850 geführten NB-Journale enthalten autobiographische Notizen, philosophisch-theologische Reflexionen (etwa zur Hermeneutik) und Kommentare zu eigenen und fremden Werken (wobei das Spektrum der Lektüren von Hugo von St. Viktor bis zu Victor Hugo reicht). Die Texte ermöglichen so den Mitvollzug eines Denk- und Schreibprozesses, der nicht zuletzt Kierkegaards ständiger Selbstprüfung dient.

Arithmetic is one of the foundations of our educational systems, but what exactly is it? Numbers are everywhere in our modern societies, but what is our knowledge of numbers really about? This book provides a philosophical account of arithmetical knowledge that is based on the state-of-the-art empirical studies of numerical cognition. It explains how humans have developed arithmetic from humble origins to its modern status as an almost universally possessed knowledge and skill. Central to the account is the realisation that, (...) while arithmetic is a human creation, the development of arithmetic is constrained by our evolutionarily developed cognitive architecture. Arithmetic is a sophisticated cultural development, but it is ultimately based on abilities with numerosities that we already possess as infants and share with many non-human animals. Therefore, arithmetic is not purely conventional, an arbitrary game akin to chess. Instead, arithmetic is deeply connected to our basic cognitive capacities. (shrink)

Didactics of philosophy and ethics demands problem based orientation and relevance for real life experiences. However, excursions, extracurricular places of learning or 'outdoor education' have hardly been taken into account. A systematic exploration of possible cooperations, synergy effects or incompatibilities has not yet been carried out. The present volume attempts to close this gap and to create an initial basis for further research, testing and discussion. It is intended to make a contribution to teacher training at universities and study seminars (...) as well as to exploratory research in subject didactics. (shrink)

There is an urgent need for novel protection strategies to sustainably secure crop production under changing climates. Studying microbial effectors, defined as microbe‐derived proteins that alter signalling inside plant cells, has advanced our understanding of plant immunity and microbial plant colonisation strategies. Our understanding of effectors in the establishment and beneficial outcome of plant symbioses is less well known. Combining functional and comparative interaction assays uncovered specific symbiont effector targets in highly interconnected plant signalling networks and revealed the potential of (...) effectors in beneficially modulating plant traits. The diverse functionality of symbiont effectors differs from the paradigmatic immuno‐suppressive function of pathogen effectors. These effectors provide solutions for improving crop resilience against climate stress by their evolution‐driven specification in host protein targeting and modulation. Symbiont effectors represent stringent tools not only to identify genetic targets for crop breeding, but to serve as applicable agents in crop management strategies under changing environments. (shrink)

This book examines the influence of Saint Thomas Aquinas upon Nicholas of Cusa’s doctrine of human nature. It explores this influence against the background of other authors associated with Cusanus’ own generation of philosophers in order to demonstrate the uniqueness of Cusanus’ use of Aquinas.

The black hole information problem provides important clues for trying to piece together a quantum theory of gravity. Discussions on this topic have generally assumed that in a consistent theory of gravity and quantum mechanics, quantum theory is unmodified. In this review, we discuss the black hole information problem in the context of generalisations of quantum theory. In this preliminary exploration, we examine black holes in the setting of generalised probabilistic theories, in which quantum theory and classical probability theory are (...) special cases. We are able to calculate the time it takes information to escape a black hole, assuming that information is preserved. In quantum mechanics, information should escape pure state black holes after half the Hawking photons have been emitted, but we find that this get’s modified in generalisations of quantum mechanics. Likewise the black-hole mirror result of Hayden and Preskill, that information from entangled black holes can escape quickly, also get’s modified. We find that although information exits the black hole as predicted by quantum theory, it is fairly generic that it fails to appear outside the black hole at this point—something impossible in quantum theory due to the no-hiding theorem. The information is neither inside the black hole, nor outside it, but is delocalised. (shrink)

The paper introduces an approach to privacy enhancing technologies that sees privacy not merely as an individual right, but as a public good. This idea finds its correspondence in our approach to privacy protection through obfuscation, where everybody in a group takes a small privacy risk to protect the anonymity of fellow group members. We show how these ideas can be computationally realised in an Investigative Data Acquisition Platform. IDAP is an efficient symmetric Private Information Retrieval protocol optimised for the (...) specific purpose of facilitating public authorities’ enquiries for evidence. (shrink)