We investigate an approach to improving statistical text classification by combining machine learners with an ontology-based identification of domain-specific topic categories. We apply this approach to ad hoc disclosures by public companies. This form of obligatory publicity concerns all information that might affect the stock price; relevant topic categories are governed by stringent regulations. Our goal is to classify disclosures according to their effect on stock prices (negative, neutral, positive). In the study reported here, we combine natural language parsing with (...) a formal background ontology to recognize disclosures concerning particular topics from a prescribed list. The semantic analysis identifies some of these topics with reasonable accuracy. We then demonstrate that machine learners benefit from the additional ontology-based information when predicting the cumulative abnormal return attributed to the disclosure at hand. (shrink)

Les textes les plus récents de Carlo Ginzburg développent une « théologie politique » originale, revendiquée sous ce nom et mêlant dans une synthèse nouvelle théologie de l’histoire (Augustin), exégèse biblique (Paul), théorie des cas et des exceptions (Machiavel, Pascal, Carl Schmitt). Cette théologie politique, pensée sous le signe de l’« ambivalence » et de l’ambiguïté, trouve son origine dans un aspect précis, bien que peu remarqué, des grandes enquêtes historiques de Ginzburg depuis Les batailles nocturnes (1966) : une (...) confrontation permanente avec la confession, à travers un examen attentif des pouvoirs de l’aveu. (shrink)

Par risques majeurs, on entend ceux qui s’attachent à des événements dont les conséquences défavorables, pour l’humanité ou pour l’environnement, sont d’une gravité exceptionnelle. On n’ajoutera ni que ces événements sont d’une intensité physique extrême, ni qu’ils surviennent rarement, car ce n’est pas toujours le cas. Seuls des risques majeurs de nature civile seront considérés dans cet ouvrage, et il s'agira, plus limitativement, de risques naturels, comme ceux d’inondation et de submersion marine, illustrés par la tempête Xynthia en 2010, de (...) risques technologiques industriels, comme celui d’une explosion d'usine, illustré par la catastrophe AZF en 2001, et de risques nucléaires, pour autant qu’ils mettent en jeu les dangers de la radioactivité, et qu’illustrent, hors de France, les catastrophes de Three Miles Island (1979), Tchernobyl (1986) et Fukushima (2011), -/- Conçu comme un rapport destiné au Conseil d'analyse économique (CAE) du Premier Ministre français, l'ouvrage comporte une introduction traitant du risque majeur pris en général (section 1). Dans sa partie principale, il aborde les trois risques majeurs qu'il a sélectionnés à travers les prismes successifs de la géographie et de la technologie (section 2), de l’histoire institutionnelle et juridique (section 3), enfin d’un bilan normatif accompagné de recommandations pour l'action publique (section 4). -/- Neuf compléments spécialisés, dus à d'autres auteurs, complètent l'ouvrage. Ils portent sur des aspects technologiques (F. Ménage; A. Quantin et D. Moucoulon; P. Saint-Raymond), juridiques (V. Sanseverino-Godfrin), économiques généraux (C. Grislain-Letrémy et B. Villeneuve; R. Lahidji; J. Percebois; A. Schmitt et S. Spaeter) et financiers (M. Pappalardo) et ils concernent principalement le risque nucléaire. -/- Dans cet ensemble de vaste format, on espère avoir su proposer, non seulement des évaluations et des préconisations destinées aux pouvoirs publics, comme il convenait au projet initial de rapport, mais aussi une synthèse qui soit utilisable par tous ceux - décideurs, scientifiques ou simples observateurs - que préoccupent les questions de risques majeurs. (shrink)

Denyse et Philippe Durand-Ruel commencent leur collection de tableaux et d’objets d’art au début des années soixante : ils héritent alors d’une partie de la collection de tableaux impressionnistes qui avait été constituée par l’arrière-grand-père de Philippe Durand-Ruel. Ils décident de poursuivre cette collection. Leur intention première était de faire le lien entre le temps des impressionnistes et l’époque contemporaine, mais ils se rendent rapidement compte que des peintres comme Picasso...

Philippe Urfalino sieht bei kollektiven Entscheidungen eine Verbindung zur Dramentheorie: Obwohl sie oft die Regeln der drei Einheiten befolgten, die in der französischen Tragödie im 17. Jahrhundert zu Normen geschmiedet worden seien – Einheit von Zeit, Ort und HandlungIn pandemischen und generell digitalen Zeiten könnte debattiert werden, ob die Einheit des Ortes weiterhin gilt – viele Entscheidungen werden in online-Sitzungen getroffen, wo alle im einheitlichen digitalen Raum zusammentreffen, dabei aber gleichzeitig an vielen heterogenen Orten sind. – sei ihr Ablauf doch (...) komplex genug, um undurchsichtig zu bleiben, selbst für die Beteiligten (Urfalino 2021, S. 193). Der Frage, wie Theaterkollektive Entscheidungen fällen und was diese mit Interventionen zu tun haben, nähert sich dieser Artikel anhand zweier Beispiele, um diese transparenter zu machen. Wie haben sich kollektive Entscheidungsprozesse auf die Entstehung der Protestoper Wem gehört Lauratibor? und Chöre der Angekommenen ausgewirkt? Dafür sollen drei Kollektive des Gegenwartstheaters beleuchtet werden, die intervenierende ortsspezifische Theaterdemonstrationen schaffen und verschiedene historische Bezüge aufweisen: zum einen zum AgitpropSo erinnert auch das erste Foto der Performancegruppe Schwabinggrad Ballett mit den elektronischen Megaphonen in Margarita Tsomous Artikel „Jenseits des Willkommens“ (Foto: Rasande Tysker) stark an das Filmstill aus Kuhle Wampe (1930), welches die Agitproptruppe „Rotes Sprachrohr“ mit ihren klassischen Flüstertüten zeigt in Konstanze Schmitts Essay „Staying with the trouble. Collective forms and methods in performing arts in the 1920s and today“ (vgl. Tsomou 2016, S. 23 und Schmitt 2023, S. 80). und ArbeitertheaterIm Falle von Wem gehört Lauratibor? der 1920er und 1930er Jahre, zum politischen Straßentheater der 1960er und 1970er Jahre als auch zu den neuen sozialen Bewegungen um 1968. Dabei handelt es sich um das Schwabinggrad Ballett mit ARRiVATi und das Lauratiborkollektiv. Es wird auf Urfalino 2021Titel im Dt. Gemeinsam entscheiden: Die Herstellung der kollektiven Verpflichtung (Übers. JP, wie auch alle nachfolgenden Zitate aus dem Französischen). und gegenwärtige Tendenzen im Theater eingegangen. (shrink)

Abstrakt Der vorliegende Artikel befasst sich mit der Theorie des Schönen und der Schönheit im Denken des Johannes Scottus Eriugena, basierend auf seinem Hauptwerk Periphyseon, den ‚Aulae sidereae‘, einem Gedicht Eriugenas, und dem Kommentar zur Schrift ‚Über die himmlische Rangfolge‘ des Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita. Dazu werden zunächst die metaphysischen Grundlagen für eine Theorie des Schönen im System des Eriugena, wie er sie im s.o. erarbeitet, kurz und prägnant vorgestellt: Für Eriugena ist das Seiende eine Erscheinung und Manifestation Gottes, des unsagbaren Prinzips, (...) des Einen. Danach wird aufgezeigt, wie Eriugena das Schöne als Konkretwerdung des Einen denkt, wobei zuerst die Schönheit der Natur besprochen wird, um dann einen Blick auf den Sonderfall der menschengemachten Kunst zu werfen. Das Ergebnis der Untersuchung ist, dass Eriugena die Kunst als eine reflexive Haltung des Menschen zur Welt und ihrem Ursprung versteht. (shrink)

Polysemous concepts with multiple related meanings pervade natural languages, yet some philosophers argue that we should eliminate them to avoid miscommunication and pointless debates in scientific discourse. This paper defends the legitimacy of polysemous concepts in science against this eliminativist challenge. My approach analyses such concepts as patchworks with multiple scale-dependent, technique-involving, domain-specific and property-targeting uses (patches). I demonstrate the generality of my approach by applying it to "hardness" in materials science, "homology" in evolutionary biology, "gold" in chemistry and "cortical (...) column" in neuroscience. Such patchwork concepts are legitimate if the techniques used to apply them produce reliable results, the domains to which they are applied are homogenous, and the properties they refer to are significant to describe, classify or explain the behavior of entities in the extension of the concept. By following these normative constraints, researchers can avoid miscommunication and pointless debates without having to eliminate polysemous patchwork concepts in scientific discourse. (shrink)

Übersetzt man eudaimonia mit ›Glück‹, dann ist zu berücksichtigen, dass der griechische Term weder das Zufallsglück meint noch Glück im Sinne einer Emotion. Der Ausdruck eudaimonia bezeichnet vielmehr ein insgesamt gelungenes und glückliches Leben – ein Leben, auf das die Charakterisierungen eu zên und eu prattein zutreffen. Die Frage ›Was ist das Glück?‹ entspricht also der sokratischen Frage ›Wie soll man leben?‹.

There are widely differing views on the philosophical interpretation of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. On this subject Bertrand Russell says: There has been a tendency, not uncommon in the case of a new scientific theory, for every philosopher to interpret the work of Einstein in accordance with his own metaphysical system, and to suggest that the outcome is an accession of strength to the views which the philosopher in question previously held.

A great mathematician and teacher, and a physicist and philosopher in his own right, bridges the gap between science and the humanities in this exposition of the philosophy of science. He traces the history of science from Aristotle to Einstein to illustrate philosophy's ongoing role in the scientific process. In this volume he explains modern technology's gradual erosion of the rapport between physical theories and philosophical systems, and offers suggestions for restoring the link between these related areas. This book is (...) suitable for undergraduate students and other readers. 1962 ed. Index. 36 figures. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to shed light on and develop what I call a phenomenological conception of experiential justification. According to this phenomenological conception, certain experiences gain their justificatory force from their distinctive phenomenology. Such an approach closely connects epistemology and philosophy of mind and has recently been proposed by several authors, most notably by Elijah Chudnoff, Ole Koksvik, and James Pryor. At the present time, however, there is no work that contrasts these different versions of PCEJ. This (...) paper not only bridges this gap, but also reveals problems in current versions of PCEJ. Consequently, I argue for a new version of PCEJ that focuses on what is given within experience and not on how what is given pushes me towards believing something. (shrink)

Attention has a role in much of perception, thought, and action. On the erotetic theory, the functional role of attention is a matter of the relationship between questions and what counts as answers to those questions. Questions encode the completion conditions of tasks for cognitive control purposes, and degrees of attention are degrees of sensitivity to the occurrence of answers. Questions and answers are representational contents given precise characterizations using tools from formal semantics, though attention does not depend on language. (...) The erotetic theory proposes an integrated account of attention in cognitive control and of attentional focus in perception. The functional role of attentional focus on objects, properties, and locations has to do with picking out something that corresponds to what a task is ‘about’. The erotetic theory of attention opens new avenues in theorizing about the relationship between attention, representational content, phenomenal character, and practical reason. A novel representationalist account of salience is proposed. The theory also provides an account of distraction that suggests when distraction is a defect in practical reasoning. (shrink)

The focus of this paper are the ethical, legal and social challenges for ensuring the responsible use of “big brain data”—the recording, collection and analysis of individuals’ brain data on a large scale with clinical and consumer-directed neurotechnological devices. First, I highlight the benefits of big data and machine learning analytics in neuroscience for basic and translational research. Then, I describe some of the technological, social and psychological barriers for securing brain data from unwarranted access. In this context, I then (...) examine ways in which safeguards at the hardware and software level, as well as increasing “data literacy” in society, may enhance the security of neurotechnological devices and protect the privacy of personal brain data. Regarding ethical and legal ramifications of big brain data, I first discuss effects on the autonomy, the sense of agency and authenticity, as well as the self that may result from the interaction between users and intelligent, particularly closed-loop, neurotechnological devices. I then discuss the impact of the “datafication” in basic and clinical neuroscience research on the just distribution of resources and access to these transformative technologies. In the legal realm, I examine possible legal consequences that arises from the increasing abilities to decode brain states and their corresponding subjective phenomenological experiences on the hitherto inaccessible privacy of these information. Finally, I discuss the implications of big brain data for national and international regulatory policies and models of good data governance. (shrink)

This book offers a phenomenological conception of experiential justification that seeks to clarify why certain experiences are a source of immediate justification and what role experiences play in gaining (scientific) knowledge. Based on the author's account of experiential justification, this book exemplifies how a phenomenological experience-first epistemology can epistemically ground the individual sciences. More precisely, it delivers a comprehensive picture of how we get from epistemology to the foundations of mathematics and physics. The book is unique as it utilizes methods (...) and insights from the phenomenological tradition in order to make progress in current analytic epistemology. It serves as a starting point for re-evaluating the relevance of Husserlian phenomenology to current analytic epistemology and making an important step towards paving the way for future mutually beneficial discussions. This is achieved by exemplifying how current debates can benefit from ideas, insights, and methods we find in the phenomenological tradition. (shrink)

According to orthodoxy, the most fundamental kind of causation involves one event causing another event. I argue against this event‐causal view. Instead, the most fundamental kind of causation is thing causation, which involves a thing causing a thing to do something. Event causation is reducible to thing causation, but thing causation is not reducible to event causation, because event causation cannot accommodate cases of fine‐grained causation. I defend my view from objections, including C. D. Broad's influential “timing” argument, and I (...) conclude with implications for agent‐causal theories of free will. (shrink)

Following the implementation of temporary pop-up bike lanes in Berlin, traffic counts by the city administration show an increased number of cyclists. This present paper aims to understand reasons behind this observation. To this end, we focus on the role of mobility-related descriptive social norms as mediators of this effect. Results from one correlational and two experimental online studies are reported. The correlational study confirms the expected association of mobility-related descriptive social norms and self-reported mobility behavior. Moreover, it demonstrates that, (...) as expected, mobility-related descriptive social norms reliably reflect differences in cities’ objective transport structure and mediate the impact of these infrastructural differences on mobility behavior. Results from two online experiments provide additional causal evidence that participants use the visual cues provided by manipulated photos to form their perceived mobility-related descriptive social norms. Furthermore, the second online experiment provides evidence that the combination of infrastructural cues and observable mobility behavior has the strongest impact on perceived mobility-related descriptive social norms. (shrink)

Genesis and validity ( Genesis and Geltung ) can be distinguished and even separated: genesis would be a historical or empirical question; and validity a question of pure reason. But genealogy in Nietzsche's tradition has challenged this separation. What is the validity of genesis; and what is the genesis of validity? The constellation of genesis and validity are to be analysed. Therefore the theological background has to be remembered: the »original« identity of genesis and validity (in the narration of creation (...) like in salvation). This imaginary identity is dissociated in history. That is why genesis and validity are given »for us« only in difference. Than the pretention of identity is always a little imaginary: may it be the genealogical idea (the genesis is the validity) or vice versa the idea of pure reasons (validity is indifferent to genesis). Beyond the pretention of identity or separation, it is suggested to look for dialectic and furthermore chiastic relations of validity and genesis. Than the question arises: who is in position to draw the distinction between them? Who is »the souvereign« to define the limits of genesis and validity? Is their difference a question of genesis or a question of pure reasons? I suggest: the difference is made by symbolic power and interpretation, more exactly: the relation of genesis and validity is a question of »Deutungsmacht« (symbolic or interpretational power). (shrink)

In current debates, many philosophers of science have sympathies for the project of introducing a new approach to the scientific realism debate that forges a middle way between traditional forms of scientific realism and anti-realism. One promising approach is perspectivism. Although different proponents of perspectivism differ in their respective characterizations of perspectivism, the common idea is that scientific knowledge is necessarily partial and incomplete. Perspectivism is a new position in current debates but it does have its forerunners. Figures that are (...) typically mentioned in this context include Dewey, Feyerabend, Leibniz, Kant, Kuhn, and Putnam. Interestingly, to my knowledge, there exists no work that discusses similarities to the phenomenological tradition. This is surprising because here one can find systematically similar ideas and even a very similar terminology. It is startling because early modern physics was noticeably influenced by phenomenological ideas. And it is unfortunate because the analysis of perspectival approaches in the phenomenological tradition can help us to achieve a more nuanced understanding of different forms of perspectivism. The main objective of this paper is to show that in the phenomenological tradition one finds a well-elaborated philosophy of science that shares important similarities with current versions of perspectivism. Engaging with the phenomenological tradition is also of systematic value since it helps us to gain a better understanding of the distinctive claims of perspectivism and to distinguish various grades of perspectivism. (shrink)

As is well known, the late Husserl warned against the dangers of reifying and objectifying the mathematical models that operate at the heart of our physical theories. Although Husserl’s worries were mainly directed at Galilean physics, the first aim of our paper is to show that many of his critical arguments are no less relevant today. By addressing the formalism and current interpretations of quantum theory, we illustrate how topics surrounding the mathematization of nature come to the fore naturally. Our (...) second aim is to consider the program of reconstructing quantum theory, a program that currently enjoys popularity in the field of quantum foundations. We will conclude by arguing that, seen from this vantage point, certain insights delivered by phenomenology and quantum theory regarding perspectivity are remarkably concordant. Our overall hope with this paper is to show that there is much room for mutual learning between phenomenology and modern physics. (shrink)

Foundationalism and coherentism are two fundamentally opposed basic epistemological views about the structure of justification. Interestingly enough, there is no consensus on how to interpret Husserl. While interpreting Husserl as a foundationalist was the standard view in early Husserl scholarship, things have changed considerably as prominent commentators like Christian Beyer, John Drummond, Dagfinn Føllesdal, and Dan Zahavi have challenged this foundationalist interpretation. These anti-foundationalist interpretations have again been challenged, for instance, by Walter Hopp and Christian Erhard. One might suspect that (...) inconsistencies in Husserl’s writings are the simple reason for this disagreement. I shall argue, however, that the real question is not so much how to read Husserl, but how to define foundationalism and that there is overwhelming textual evidence that Husserl championed the most tenable version of foundationalism: a moderate foundationalism that allows for incorporating coherentist elements. (shrink)

Perceptual experiences justify. When I look at the black laptop in front of me and my perceptual experience presents me with a black laptop placed on my desk, my perceptual experience has justificatory force with respect to the proposition that there is black laptop on the desk. The present paper addresses the question of why perceptual experiences are a source of immediate justification: What gives them their justificatory force? I shall argue that the most plausible and the most straightforward answer (...) to this question consists in what I call the phenomenological conception of perceptual justification. Perceptual experiences justify by virtue of their distinctive presentive phenomenology. This is a truly internalist conception that enjoys significant advantages over rival conceptions. In the course of his paper, I demonstrate the advantages of the phenomenological conception and defend it against a recent objection. (shrink)

Abstract Theories of descriptions tend to involve commitments about the ambiguity of descriptions. For example, sentences containing descriptions are widely taken to be ambiguous between de re , de dicto , and intermediate interpretations and are sometimes thought to be ambiguous between the former and directly referential interpretations. I provide arguments to suggest that none of these interpretations are due to ambiguities (or indexicality). On the other hand, I argue that descriptions are ambiguous between the above family of interpretations and (...) what may be called ‘institutional’ as well as generic interpretations. My arguments suggest that an adequate theory of descriptions may require considerable rethinking. Most contemporary theories of descriptions appear to be committed to one or more claims about the ambiguity of descriptions that I reject in this paper. I suggest that my observations provide a reason to renew efforts to develop a theory of descriptions within a representationalist theory of interpretation. Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-16 DOI 10.1007/s11098-011-9759-5 Authors Philipp Koralus, Philosophy Department, Princeton University, 212 1879 Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA Journal Philosophical Studies Online ISSN 1573-0883 Print ISSN 0031-8116. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to establish a phenomenological mathematical intuitionism that is based on fundamental phenomenological-epistemological principles. According to this intuitionism, mathematical intuitions are sui generis mental states, namely experiences that exhibit a distinctive phenomenal character. The focus is on two questions: what does it mean to undergo a mathematical intuition and what role do mathematical intuitions play in mathematical reasoning? While I crucially draw on Husserlian principles and adopt ideas we find in phenomenologically minded mathematicians such as (...) Hermann Weyl and Kurt Gödel, the overall objective is systematic in nature: to offer a plausible approach towards mathematics. (shrink)

The 1992 incorporation of an article by referendum in the SwissConstitution mandating that the federal government issue regulations onthe use of genetic material that take into account the dignity ofnonhuman organism raises philosophical questions about how we shouldunderstand what is meant by ``the dignity of nonhuman animals,'' andabout what sort of moral demands arise from recognizing this dignitywith respect to their genetic engineering. The first step in determiningwhat is meant is to clarify the difference between dignity when appliedto humans and (...) when applied to nonhumans. Several conceptions of humandignity should be rejected in favor of a fourth conception: the rightnot to be degraded. This right implies that those who have it have thecognitive capacities that are prerequisite for self-respect. In the caseof nonhuman organisms that lack this capacity, respecting their dignityrequires the recognition that their inherent value, which is tied totheir abilities to pursue their own good, be respected. This value isnot absolute, as it is in the case of humans, so it does not prohibitbreeding manipulations that make organisms more useful to humans. But itdoes restrict morally how sentient animals can be used. In regard togenetic engineering, this conception requires that animals be allowedthe uninhibited development of species specific functions, a positionshared by Holland and Attfield, as opposed to the Original Purposeconception proposed by Fox and the Integrity of the Genetic Make-upposition proposed by Rolston. The inherent value conception of dignity,as here defended, is what is meant in the Swiss Constitution article. (shrink)

Knowledge, from Plato onwards, has been considered in relation to justified belief. Current debate has centred around the nature of the justification and whether justified belief can be considered an internal or extenal matter. Epistemological internalists argue that the subject must be able to reflect upon a belief to complete the process of justification. The externalists, on the other hand, claim that it is only necessary to consider whether the belief is reliably formed, and argue that the ability to know (...) by reflection is not required for a justified belief. In the historical section of this book the three most important epistemologists, Plato, Descartes and Hume, as well as the ancient epistemologies of the stoics, Academics and Pyrhonians, are considered. In reconsidering the history of epistemology the author is led to argue against hte view that internalism is historically dominant. His critique of internalism is then developed into a sustained argument against many of its forms, and he goes onto defend an externalist, reliabilist epistemology. (shrink)

Ontic structural realism refers to the novel, exciting, and widely discussed basic idea that the structure of physical reality is genuinely relational. In its radical form, the doctrine claims that there are, in fact, no objects but only structure, i.e., relations. More moderate approaches state that objects have only relational but no intrinsic properties. In its most moderate and most tenable form, ontic structural realism assumes that at the most fundamental level of physical reality there are only relational properties. This (...) means that the most fundamental objects only possess relational but no non-reducible intrinsic properties. The present paper will argue that our currently best physics refutes even this most moderate form of ontic structural realism. More precisely, I will claim that 1) according to quantum field theory, the most fundamental objects of matter are quantum fields and not particles, and show that 2) according to the Standard Model, quantum fields have intrinsic non-relational properties. (shrink)

In this article Kant’s conception of practical reason is reconstructed in order to address a problem of effectiveness inherent in the space of reasons: How can actions be thought of as being free whilst at the same time being bound by the knowledge of practical necessity? Following Kant, the concept of law proves to be central to the transcendental cognition of the presuppositions of practical reasoning. The starting point of the transcendental argument is not the ordinary »moral« judgment, but the (...) capability of the power of choice. The power of choice is executed via practical judgments, which can be understood as a practical knowledge with more or less satisfactory reasons. By interpreting the »paradox of method in a critique of practical reason«, an indirect argument uncovering the undeniability of a lawful form of practical knowledge can be reconstructed. Therefore, actions cannot be understood as single events that direct reasons into a world lacking any reference to reason. Rather, no intentional action is conceivable without a connection to the form of practical knowledge. (shrink)

The once-lost introduction to the philosophy of science by Philipp Frank (1884-1966), a leading member of the Vienna circle of philosophers and biographer of Albert Einstein.

The aim of this note is to determine whether certain non-o-minimal expansions of o-minimal theories which are known to be NIP, are also distal. We observe that while tame pairs of o-minimal structures and the real field with a discrete multiplicative subgroup have distal theories, dense pairs of o-minimal structures and related examples do not.

Barnett and Block (Journal of Business Ethics, 2009 ) attack the heart of modern banking by claiming that the practice of borrowing short and lending long is illicit. While their claim of illegitimacy concerning fractional reserve banking can be defended, their justification lacks substance. Their claim is herein strengthened by a legal analysis of deposits and loans based on Huerta de Soto (Money, Bank Credit and Economic Cycles, 2006 ). A combined legal and economic analysis shows that while lending deposits (...) can be regarded as illicit, the maturity mismatching of loans is legitimate contrary to Barnett and Block’s claim. No over-issuance of property rights is involved with this practice once the distinction between present and future goods is taken into account. However, while the practice is not illicit per se , it is greatly assisted and developed through the presence of a fractional reserve banking system, and can sometimes breed detrimental effects. (shrink)