It is a matter of fact that Europe is facing more and more crucial challenges regarding health and social care due to the demographic change and the current economic context. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has stressed this situation even further, thus highlighting the need for taking action. Active and Assisted Living technologies come as a viable approach to help facing these challenges, thanks to the high potential they have in enabling remote care and support. Broadly speaking, AAL can be referred (...) to as the use of innovative and advanced Information and Communication Technologies to create supportive, inclusive and empowering applications and environments that enable older, impaired or frail people to live independently and stay active longer in society. AAL capitalizes on the growing pervasiveness and effectiveness of sensing and computing facilities to supply the persons in need with smart assistance, by responding to their necessities of autonomy, independence, comfort, security and safety. The application scenarios addressed by AAL are complex, due to the inherent heterogeneity of the end-user population, their living arrangements, and their physical conditions or impairment. Despite aiming at diverse goals, AAL systems should share some common characteristics. They are designed to provide support in daily life in an invisible, unobtrusive and user-friendly manner. Moreover, they are conceived to be intelligent, to be able to learn and adapt to the requirements and requests of the assisted people, and to synchronise with their specific needs. Nevertheless, to ensure the uptake of AAL in society, potential users must be willing to use AAL applications and to integrate them in their daily environments and lives. In this respect, video- and audio-based AAL applications have several advantages, in terms of unobtrusiveness and information richness. Indeed, cameras and microphones are far less obtrusive with respect to the hindrance other wearable sensors may cause to one’s activities. In addition, a single camera placed in a room can record most of the activities performed in the room, thus replacing many other non-visual sensors. Currently, video-based applications are effective in recognising and monitoring the activities, the movements, and the overall conditions of the assisted individuals as well as to assess their vital parameters. Similarly, audio sensors have the potential to become one of the most important modalities for interaction with AAL systems, as they can have a large range of sensing, do not require physical presence at a particular location and are physically intangible. Moreover, relevant information about individuals’ activities and health status can derive from processing audio signals. Nevertheless, as the other side of the coin, cameras and microphones are often perceived as the most intrusive technologies from the viewpoint of the privacy of the monitored individuals. This is due to the richness of the information these technologies convey and the intimate setting where they may be deployed. Solutions able to ensure privacy preservation by context and by design, as well as to ensure high legal and ethical standards are in high demand. After the review of the current state of play and the discussion in GoodBrother, we may claim that the first solutions in this direction are starting to appear in the literature. A multidisciplinary debate among experts and stakeholders is paving the way towards AAL ensuring ergonomics, usability, acceptance and privacy preservation. The DIANA, PAAL, and VisuAAL projects are examples of this fresh approach. This report provides the reader with a review of the most recent advances in audio- and video-based monitoring technologies for AAL. It has been drafted as a collective effort of WG3 to supply an introduction to AAL, its evolution over time and its main functional and technological underpinnings. In this respect, the report contributes to the field with the outline of a new generation of ethical-aware AAL technologies and a proposal for a novel comprehensive taxonomy of AAL systems and applications. Moreover, the report allows non-technical readers to gather an overview of the main components of an AAL system and how these function and interact with the end-users. The report illustrates the state of the art of the most successful AAL applications and functions based on audio and video data, namely lifelogging and self-monitoring, remote monitoring of vital signs, emotional state recognition, food intake monitoring, activity and behaviour recognition, activity and personal assistance, gesture recognition, fall detection and prevention, mobility assessment and frailty recognition, and cognitive and motor rehabilitation. For these application scenarios, the report illustrates the state of play in terms of scientific advances, available products and research project. The open challenges are also highlighted. The report ends with an overview of the challenges, the hindrances and the opportunities posed by the uptake in real world settings of AAL technologies. In this respect, the report illustrates the current procedural and technological approaches to cope with acceptability, usability and trust in the AAL technology, by surveying strategies and approaches to co-design, to privacy preservation in video and audio data, to transparency and explainability in data processing, and to data transmission and communication. User acceptance and ethical considerations are also debated. Finally, the potentials coming from the silver economy are overviewed. (shrink)

New perspective on Heisenberg's interpretation of quantum mechanics for researchers and graduate students in the history and philosophy of physics.

According to the standard view, the so-called ‘Copenhagen interpretation’ of quantum mechanics originated in discussions between Bohr and Heisenberg in 1927, and was defended by Bohr in his classic debate with Einstein. Yet recent scholarship has shown Bohr’s views were never widely accepted, let alone properly understood, by his contemporaries, many of whom held divergent views of the ‘Copenhagen orthodoxy’. This paper examines how the ‘myth of the Copenhagen interpretation’ was constructed by situating it in the context of Soviet Marxist (...) critique of quantum mechanics in the 1950s and the response by physicists such as Heisenberg and Rosenfeld. (shrink)

This paper presents a critical analysis of Tamar Szabó Gendler’s view of thought experiments, with the aim of developing further a constructivist epistemology of thought experiments in science. While the execution of a thought experiment cannot be reduced to standard forms of inductive and deductive inference, in the process of working though a thought experiment, a logical argument does emerge and take shape. Taking Gendler’s work as a point of departure, I argue that performing a thought experiment involves a process (...) of self-interrogation, in which we are compelled to reflect on our pre-existing knowledge of the world. In doing so, we are forced to make judgments about what assumptions we see as relevant and how they apply to an imaginary scenario. This brings to light the extent to which certain forms of skill, beyond the ability to make valid logical inferences, are necessary to execute a thought experiment well. (shrink)

In this paper, I argue that Heisenberg's mature philosophy of quantum mechanics must be understood in the context of his epistemological project to reinterpret and redefine Kant's notion of the a priori. After discussions with Weizsäcker and Hermann in Leipzig in the 1930s, Heisenberg attempted to ground his interpretation of quantum mechanics on what might be termed a 'practical' transformation of Kantian philosophy. Taking as his starting point, Bohr's doctrine of the indispensability of classical concepts, Heisenberg argued that concepts such (...) as space, time and causality can be regarded as 'practically a priori', in so far as they remain the conditions for the possibility of experience and even of 'objective reality', though they are not universal and necessary in a strictly Kantian sense. We cannot avoid using classical concepts in the description of experiments in quantum theory, despite the fact that there are limits to their applicability. Such concepts are, for Heisenberg, historically contingent, yet indispensable in our time, because we have no other language through which we can describe and conceive of the interaction between 'object' and 'measuring device'. (shrink)

Purpose This study aims to examine the individuals’ perceived usefulness and ease of use of the government’s electronic services. It also explores the effect of the social influences, as well as of the facilitating conditions, on the individuals’ intentions to use the government’s digital and mobile services. Design/methodology/approach The researcher has adapted various measuring items from the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and from the theory of acceptance model to investigate the participants’ utilitarian motivations to engage with (...) the government’s online services. The analysis involved a two-step, structural equation modeling approach that included a confirmatory factor analysis that verified the constructs’ validity and reliability. Findings There was a satisfactory fit for this study’s research model. The findings revealed that there were direct and indirect effects that predicted the individuals’ readiness to use the e-government services. The results suggest that the respondents’ perceived usefulness and ease of use of this digital technology were significant antecedents for their behavioral intention to use it. The strength of these relationships was affected by the moderating variables, including, age, gender and experience. Yet, these demographic variables did not have a significant effect on the link between social influences and behavioral intention. Originality/value This study reported that the citizens felt that the e-government systems were useful and easy to use for them. The research participants indicated that they will continue accessing their government’s online services. Therefore, this research implies that the public services should continue improving the facilitating conditions, including the provision of service quality and capability; as well as secure the accessibility to their e-government systems via digital and mobile technologies. In conclusion, this contribution identifies possible research avenues to academia. (shrink)

: This paper examines the transformation which occurs in Heisenberg's understanding of indeterminacy in quantum mechanics between 1926 and 1928. After his initial but unsuccessful attempt to construct new quantum concepts of space and time, in 1927 Heisenberg presented an operational definition of concepts such as 'position' and 'velocity'. Yet, after discussions with Bohr, he came to the realisation that classical concepts such as position and momentum are indispensable in quantum mechanics in spite of their limited applicability. This transformation in (...) Heisenberg's thought, which centres on his theory of meaning, marks the critical turning point in his interpretation of quantum mechanics. (shrink)

Cet ouvrage propose une étude de la pensée du jeune Heidegger au prisme de sa philosophie de la religion, reconstituée pour l’occasion dans ses rapports aux philosophies dominantes de son époque d’une part, et à l’histoire de la théologie et de l’exégèse d’autre part. Pour ce faire, il prend pour fil directeur le célèbre cours « Introduction à la phénoménologie de la religion » prononcé au semestre d’hiver 1920/1921 à l’Université de Freiburg, dont l’édition officielle est ici amendée en de (...) multiples endroits. Une première partie s’attache à démontrer l’antériorité et l’excès de la vie sur toute théorie en interrogeant successivement la redéfinition de l’acte de penser en tant qu’expérience sui generis, l’explication ambivalente de Heidegger avec Ernst Troeltsch, interlocuteur jadis incontournable sur le terrain de la philosophe de la religion, la quête d’une notion d’historicité plus fondamentale et plus radicale que celle en usage au sein de la philosophie de l’histoire et de la science historique, et la problématisation d’un outil méthodique énigmatique, l’indication formelle, en discussion serrée avec la doctrine de Husserl. La seconde partie suit Heidegger pas à pas dans son explication phénoménologico-herméneutique de passages choisis des Epîtres de saint Paul, son interprétation de la grande Tradition chrétienne, et son dialogue crypté avec les représentants majeurs de la théologie néo-testamentaire et de l ́histoire des dogmes et des religions dans l’Allemagne de la seconde moitié du xixe et du début du xxe siècle. L’ensemble se présente comme un commentaire critique tout à la fois historique et systématique du cours précité et veut servir de prolégomènes, non seulement à une approche originale du corpus heideggérien, mais encore à une philosophie de la religion régénérée dans la dialectique originaire entre le phénomène du vécu et le phénomène scripturaire. (shrink)

Large organizations, including listed businesses, financial service providers as well as public services entities are increasingly disclosing information on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues through corporate websites or via social media. Therefore, this research uses valid measures from the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) to explore the individuals’ attitudes toward online corporate social responsibility (CSR) communications. The data were gathered from a structured questionnaire among three hundred ninety‐two respondents (n = 392). A structural equations modeling partial least squares (SEM‐PLS (...) 3) approach was used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that the timeliness, relevance and accuracy of information as well as the source expertise were highly significant antecedents that were affecting the research participants’ attitudes toward CSR communications. This contribution implies that there is scope for content curators to publish quality online information on their business activities to improve their trustworthiness and positive credentials among stakeholders. (shrink)

Cet article interroge les tensions entre phénoménologie et herméneutique telles qu’elles se cristallisent dans le propos de Ricœur sur la religion, en particulier dans un texte tardif qui a connu plusieurs versions et qui est peut-être le seul où le philosophe aborde aussi directement les questions méthodologiques que soulève une phénoménologie de la religion. Nous tentons de montrer que Ricœur considère en quelque sorte cette dernière avec des œillères, au profit d’une herméneutique de la religion qui, pour modeste et prudente (...) qu’elle soit, se voit forcée de renoncer à prendre en charge l’élucidation de la constitution originaire de l’expérience religieuse. (shrink)

This article focuses on the last writings of Adolf Reinach (a brilliant disciple of Husserl), written around 1917, while the philosopher was on the battlefield, a few months before his death at the same place. These writings are essentially part of the phenomenological philosophy of religion and are articulated more particularly around the notion of the Absolute. Reinach is the first phenomenologist to tackle the question of the Absolute head on and to consider it directly, outside of any incarnation in (...) a particular figure : the transcendental-temporal ego, the other, the call, etc. He does this by exploring the limits of perception and working at the limits of experience. The thoughts that follow go back over the broad lines of his reflection on this subject, showing also the affinities between realistic phenomenology and phenomenology of religion. (shrink)

In the novel Die Automate (Hoffmann, 1957 ed.), the German writer Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (1776-1822) describes different kinds of musical automatons which play music with expression and musicality. The whole novel is based on the effect of the automatic performances on the feelings of the two personages and on the appearance of musical automatons which simulate, with their musical skill and expressiveness, the structures of the knowledge and feelings of human beings.

Il n’est sans doute pas exagéré de dire que les héritiers des Lumières ont dû lutter âprement pour dépasser la critique certes légitime et néanmoins destructrice de la religion léguée par leurs prédécesseurs. Tout en marquant leur accord avec le fait que nombre de doctrines, de dogmes et de règles décrétées par les « Églises » et autres autorités scolastiques ou théologiques relèvent en réalité de la pure et simple superstition, lesdits héritiers se sont positionnés fermement contre deux type...

La thématique du commencement n’est pas l’exclusivité de la philosophie et de ses multiples entreprises archéologiques. Elle a aussi son lieu originaire dans la religion. L’objet de la présente étude est le livre de la Genèse. L’intérêt va directement à la qualité poétique – au sens que Ricœur donne à ce mot – et donc à la puissance d’évocation du langage biblique. A ce titre, on verra que la phénoménologie herméneutique est susceptible de trouver dans la Genèse non seulement matière (...) à interprétation, mais également de découvrir des choses à propos d’elle-même et de ses possibilités. Il incombe aujourd’hui à la phénoménologie contemporaine de ne rien exclure trop vite de son champ d’analyse et d’être capable de se mouvoir sur deux registres à la fois distincts et complémentaires : celui des « types possibles de phénomènes » et celui des « degrés de phénoménalité ». Dans ce manifeste est contenue l’une des possibilités que cet article voudrait explorer : celle de tenter la constitution programmatique d’une phénoménologie biblique.The theme of the beginning is not limited to philosophy and its many archeological undertakings. It also has its source in religion. The object of the present study is the book of Genesis. It focuses directly on the poetic quality – in the sense that Ricoeur gives to the word – and therefore to the imaginative power of biblical language. Thus, we come to see that hermeneutical phenomenology is likely not only to find material for interpretation in Genesis, but also to discover things about itself and its own possibilities. Today it is the duty of contemporary phenomenology not to exclude anything too quickly from its field of analysis and to be capable of operating on two distinct yet complimentary levels: the level of “possible types of phenomena” and the level of “degrees of phenomenality.” This manifesto contains one of these possibilities, which this article would like to explore: the attempt programmatically to establish a biblical phenomenology. (shrink)

BackgroundThe sustained rise in negative mental health reports among university students is a source of continued global concern, and investigation continues into potential contributors to this rise. This includes the increased prevalence of risky sexual behaviors. Related is the increased prevalence of pornography use. Our study sought to explore the potential relationship between compulsive use of pornography and mental health in university students.MethodsOur sample consisted of university students from Franciscan University of Steubenville, Steubenville, Ohio. An anonymous survey was sent to (...) all students at the university over the age of 18. The survey was comprised of the following: demographic questions, questions on pornography use and perception, a modified version of the Compulsive Internet Use Scale assessing various factors associated with compulsive internet pornography use, questions assessing emotional and sexual states relative to pornography use, and the 21-question version of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale.ResultsOur results indicate that 56.6% of those surveyed reported lifetime pornography use, with a significantly higher proportion of males than females reporting such use. The majority of students reported accessing pornography through internet-related technologies. Additionally, 17.0, 20.4, and 13.5% of students reported severe or extremely severe levels of depression, anxiety and stress, respectively, with compulsive pornography use significantly affecting all three mental health parameters in both sexes. Exploratory Factor Analysis identified three factors suggesting emotional coping, dependence and preoccupation for the mCIUS items and three factors reflecting interoceptive, impotent, and extrinsic characteristics for the EmSS items. Regression analysis indicated that various demographics, items pertaining to reduced control and social impairment, and other variables pertaining to pornography use predicted mental health outcomes. Faith, morals and personal motivation were the primary variables reported to help reduce pornography use.ConclusionOur analyses indicate a significant relationship between mental health and pornography use, including behaviors reflecting behavioral addictions, highlighting the necessity for a better understanding and consideration of the potential contribution of internet pornography to negative mental health among university students. (shrink)

La philosophie développée par le jeune Heidegger constitue une pensée autonome qui dégage des réponses fortes à des questions dont l’intérêt ne dépend pas de leur lien au reste de l’oeuvre, qu’il s’agisse du maître ouvrage Être et Temps ou des méditations postérieures sur les présocratiques et les poètes. Cela vaut en particulier des travaux qui touchent ou effleurent la problématique théologico-religieuse. Dans cette étude, nous enquêtons philologiquement et philosophiquement sur les occurrences du mot «Dieu» dans le corpus proto-heideggerien afin (...) de montrer comment sa manifestation dans le texte est à chaque fois décisive. Nous postulons ensuite qu’il ne s’agit pas d’une spécificité heideggerienne, mais d’une qualité phénoménologico-herméneutique du mot lui-même. (shrink)

Cet ouvrage est le tout premier à proposer un tour d'horizon historique et systématique des multiples conceptions phénoménologiques du mouvement. Après une introduction qui s'efforce de retracer la 'Begriffs- und Wirkungsgeschichte' de cette notion de mouvement, et par là de montrer comment elle fut longtemps l'apanage de la philosophie de la nature avant que la phénoménologie ne s'en empare et lui rétrocède toute sa dimension subjective et charnelle, les auteurs livrent une série d'analyses détaillées qui se répartissent en deux grandes (...) parties. Dans la première, il s'agit d'examiner critiquement le traitement que des penseurs-clés lui ont réservé. Sont ainsi étudiés le sens et la portée des notions de kinesthèse, de géostatisme et d'a priori matériel chez Husserl, mais également le concept de mobilité chez Heidegger, la dynamique de l'existence chez Patocka ou encore l'interprétation merleau-pontienne du cas Schneider. Dans la seconde partie, il est davantage question d'explorer de nouvelles voies, d'articuler des usages neufs et de développer des interprétations inédites du mouvement à partir de la méthode et de la conceptualité phénoménologiques, en dialogue avec les sciences cognitives, la religion et les arts - en l'occurrence la danse. L'ensemble pose ainsi les jalons pour une approche phénoménologique renouvelée du mouvement vécu. (shrink)

The concept of “natural attitude” as it was developed by Husserl in the Ideas I plays a key role in the phenomenological methodology. But was it in and for itself enough investigated? Heidegger’s critics and radical transformation of it is well known, unlike its treatment by the first generation of Husserl’s student. Adolf Reinach, for a short time leader of the realist phenomenology faithful to Husserl’s breakthroughs in the Logical Investigations, is one of the latter. Within a veiled debate with (...) Husserl about possibilities and limits of transcendental idealism (e. g. a critical reception of Ideas I) he attempts a kind of rehabilitation of natural attitude by way of an original and thorough description of it. Still in a strictly phenomenological manner, it though privileges for strategic reasons the “variation” process over the “reduction” one. The result is a subtle reflection that helps us thinking lived experience exactly as we lived it and not how philosophy would have it. (shrink)

Fruit d'un colloque tenu en 2010 dans la ville de Budapest, cet ouvrage collectif introduit aux grands chapitres de l'oeuvre de l'académicien en même temps qu'elle lui adresse certaines questions permettant d'en mieux saisir les enjeux et d'en indiquer quelques prolongements possibles. Cartésianisme, phénoménologie et théologie : telles sont les trois voies thématiques empruntées afin d'interroger un travail qui a su se rendre indispensable à son époque.

In 2016, the National Book Council, the ISBN agency for Malta, released its ISBN database online. A few months later, the ISBN database was enhanced with an open-data feature that enables users to download the search results in a single file with read and write access. The database includes all the ISBN data of Malta except for some records and data that were lost during the period before 2013 when paper data storage of ISBN records was the common practice. The (...) implementation of an ISBN electronic database now ensures that no data go missing and facilitates the preservation of metadata. As added value, the open-data system provides access to all of the ISBN records as listed in the database, which means that virtually all of the ISBN data elements can be downloaded from the database. Researchers, publishers, authors, and booksellers all stand to benefit from this open ISBN data system. (shrink)

Que dire des épreuves de la vie? Nous ne savons quelles elles sont qu'à les traverser et ignorons ce qu'elles sont en les endurant. Quand surviennent-elles? Comment? Et pourquoi? Aveugles lorsqu'elles frappent, hagards lorsqu'elles cessent, comment pourrions-nous porter sur elles nos regards? Dans l'obscure nuit qu'elles répandent sur nos vies, tout n'est cependant pas que ténèbres. Car les épreuves révèlent, elles phénoménalisent. Sous leur sombre lumière, tout se montre sous son vrai jour. Condamnés par le pire à donner le meilleur, (...) nous qui les essuyons faisons alors nos preuves. Dans l'épreuve, l'ego apparaît donc comme jamais il ne le fait, non pas comme il le doit, mais toujours comme il est. Faudrait-il ajouter que d'épreuves comme de phénoménologie, il n'en est que de la vie pour que l'idée d'une phénoménologie des épreuves de la vie s'impose en philosophie? Inutile : l'irrésistible réalité de ces épreuves impose à qui les subit un inextinguible besoin de philosophie. Or qui mieux que la phénoménologie peut, en philosophie, mettre à l'épreuve les épreuves de la vie. (shrink)

Dans cet article nous esquisserons les contours d’une phénoménologie de ce que nous appellerons la tolérance « active » conçue comme une attitude consistant en l’approbation du comportement et des codes culturels d’autrui, par opposition à une tolérance « passive » plus proche de la définition classique de la tolérance comme pâtir. Pour ce faire nous nous appuierons sur un essai (1965) du phénoménologue germano-américain Herbert Spiegelberg consacré précisément à une phénoménologie de l’approbation (ou de l’appréciation). Notre principal objectif sera (...) de décrire aussi précisément que possible la structure intentionnelle relativement complexe de l’acte au cœur de la tolérance active et de le distinguer d’autres types d’acte apparemment similaires en mettant au jour ses fondements dans des états-de-choses axiologiques. Notre objectif secondaire sera de réfléchir à la manière dont cette analyse peut nourrir une phénoménologie interculturelle. (shrink)

This essay returns to the origins of the phenomenology of religion, offering an introduction to and a discussion of seminal contributions to the field. Three figures are examined: Max Scheler, Adolf Reinach and the early Martin Heidegger, who are presented as the ‘German Fathers’ of the phenomenology of religion. Each conducted a radical foray into the religious life-world, sometimes in accord with the project of their Master Edmund Husserl, sometimes opposing or radically revising his project, but typically developing new methods (...) and proposing radical insights. They attempted to define the proper attitude a phenomenologist – who might possibly also be a religious person – should adopt in the face of phenomena and lived experiences clearly beyond the ordinary. This enterprise led to heated debates and a rich analysis described here. (shrink)

Phenomenology of religion is among the oldest branches of the discipline founded by Husserl. It has always been difficult to define its outlines: from the very first essays of Scheler, Reinach and Heidegger to the so-called “theological turn” of French phenomenology, one has always feared the transformation of the phenomenology of religion in a religious philosophy that would give up the sacred principle of neutrality. This situation is perhaps behind us thanks to the recent endeavors to renew the field of (...) research. French and American specialists of Husserl’s thought Natalie Depraz and Anthony J. Steinbock try to push back the limits of and to explore new ways in genetic phenomenology by describing religious attitudes by mean of a philosophical-existential methodology especially designed for this task. This paper introduces what might open of a new era of the phenomenology of religion. (shrink)

. Over the last three decades, physicists have engaged in, sometimes heated, debates about relative merits and prospects of string theory as a viable research program and even about its status as a science. The aim of this paper is to provide a deeper understanding of this controversy as a particular form of boundary discourse. Drawing on the sociological work of Thomas Gieryn and Lawrence Prelli, we bring to light the way in which protagonists appeal to, and rhetorically construct, different (...) views about the scientific method and the scientific ethos, in an effort to legitimize or delegitimize string theory. (shrink)