Acknowledged as perhaps _the_ masterpiece of materialist criticism in the English language, this omnibus ranges over British literary history from George Eliot to George Orwell to inquire about the complex ways economic reality shapes the imagination.

In this study, we propose and test a model of the effects of organizational ethical culture and organizational architecture on the perceived unethical behavior of employees towards customers. This study also examines the relationship between organizational ethical culture and moral acceptability judgment, hypothesizing that moral acceptability judgment is an important stage in the ethical decision-making process. Based on a field study in one of the largest financial institutions in Europe, we found that organizational ethical culture was significantly related to the (...) perceived frequency of unethical behavior towards customers and to the moral acceptability judgment of this type of unethical behavior. No support was found for the claim that features of organizational architecture are associated with the perceived frequency of unethical behavior towards customers. This is the first study to document the differential effects of organizational architecture and organizational ethical culture on perceived unethical behavior of employees towards customers, in wholesale banking. Implications for managers and future research are discussed. (shrink)

These are the very scholars that were involved in initiating the revolution in personal identity theory.

Considerable research on helpers-at-the-nest demonstrates the positive effects of firstborn daughters on a mother’s reproductive success and the survival of her children compared with women who have firstborn sons. This research is largely restricted to agricultural settings. In the present study we ask: “Does ‘daughter first’ improve mothers’ reproductive success in a hunting and gathering context?” Through an analysis of 84 postreproductive women in this population we find that the sex of the first- or second-born child has no effect on (...) a mother’s fertility or the survival of her offspring. We conclude that specific environmental and economic factors underlay the helpers-at-the-nest phenomenon. (shrink)

In this study meal sharing is used as a way of quantifying food transfers between households. Traditional food-sharing studies measure the flow of resources between households. Meal sharing, in contrast, measures food consumption acts according to whether one is a host or a guest in the household as well as the movement of people between households in the context of food consumption. Our goal is to test a number of evolutionary models of food transfers, but first we argue that before (...) one tests models of who should receive food one must understand the adaptiveness of food transfers. For the Ye’kwana, economies of scale in food processing and preparation appear to set the stage for the utility of meal sharing. Evolutionary models of meal sharing, such as kin selection and reciprocal altruism, are evaluated along with non-evolutionary models, such as egalitarian exchange and residential propinquity. In addition, a modified measure of exchange balance—proportional balance—is developed. Reciprocal altruism is shown to be the strongest predictor of exchange intensity and balance. (shrink)

When speakers utter metaphors, such as "Lawyers are also sharks," they often intend to communicate messages beyond those expressed by the metaphorical meaning of these expressions. For instance, in some circumstances, a speaker may state "Lawyers are also sharks" to strengthen a previous speaker's negative beliefs about lawyers, to add new information about lawyers to listeners to some context, or even to contradict a previous speaker's positive assertions about lawyers. In each case, speaking metaphorically communicates one of these three social (...) messages that are relevant to the ongoing discourse. At the same time, speaking metaphorically may express other social and affective information that is more difficult to convey using non-metaphorical speech, such as "Lawyers are also aggressive." We report the results of three experiments demonstrating that people infer different pragmatic messages from metaphors in varying social situations and that many metaphors can express additional pragmatic and rhetorical meanings beyond those conveyed by non-metaphorical language. These findings demonstrate the importance of trade-offs between cognitive effort and cognitive effects in pragmatic theories of metaphor use and understanding. (shrink)

Neofinalism offers a systematic and lucidly argued treatise that deploys the innovative concepts of self-survey, form, and absolute surface to shape a theory of the virtual and the transspatial. It also makes a compelling plea for a renewed appreciation of the creative activity that organizes spatiotemporal structures and makes possible the emergence of real beings in a dynamic universe.

There has been much debate recently about the meaning, place and function of “character” and “character traits” in Virtue Ethics. For example, a number of philosophers have argued recently that Virtue Ethics would be strengthened as a theory by the omission of talk of character traits; recent neuroscientific studies have suggested that there is scope for scepticism about the existence of such traits. I will argue that both approaches are flawed and unconvincing: in brief, the first approach tends to be (...) predicated on a narrow or insufficient conception of “character” and “character traits”; the second approach tends to go well beyond the available (empirical) evidence. Finally, I will argue that it is possible to point to a philosophy of education that is deeply informed by an understanding of virtue and ethics in which the concept of character has a coherent and meaningful role. (shrink)

Are philosophers neglecting human prehistory? A reaction In a recent issue of the ANTW, Corijn van Mazijk regrets philosophers’ complete (sic) lack of interest in human prehistory. He proposes a new (sub-) discipline: philosophy of prehistory. However, much research along these lines has already been conducted, not least from the phenomenological perspective Van Mazijk recommends, both by philosophers and archaeologists. This research can stimulate a philosophy of early hominin lifeworlds, intentionality and agency, which thus does not have to start from (...) scratch. (shrink)

A critical account of "Humanism" and some of its extreme forms and manifestations; reflection on some of the important challenges these raise in relation to higher education in the 21st century.

Recent methodology in Gospel research is casting light not only on church history, but also on the growth of theology and faith in the first century.

This book reconstructs the cornerstones of Jesus's moral teachings about how to lead a good, even exemplary, human life. It does so in a way that is compatible with the most prominent, competing versions of the historical Jesus. The work also contrast Jesus' understanding of the best way to lead our lives with that of Friedrich Nietzsche. Both Jesus and Nietzsche were self-consciously moral revolutionaries. Jesus refashioned the imperatives of Jewish law to conform to what he was firmly convinced was (...) the divine will. Nietzsche aspired to transvalue the dominant values of his time in service of a higher vision. The interplay of these radical versions of the good human life, seasoned with critical commentary from the sciences and humanities, opens lines of inquiry that can help us answer that enduring, paramoun t question, "How should we live our lives?". (shrink)

Jesus the Radical connects the lessons of six parables of the New Testament with moral issues examined by leading contemporary philosophers. The book demonstrates how deeply opposed is Jesus’ radical moral message to the dominant moral understandings of our time.

- Dites-moi au moins l'argument de la querelle. - Oh! il est si simple qu'il paraît pauvre face à tant de points de vue qui aménagent plus ou moins une dilution du cinéma dans l'art contemporain, et son histoire à l'intérieur de l'histoire de l'art. La projection vécue d'un film en salle, dans le noir, le temps prescrit d'une séance plus ou moins collective, est devenue et reste la condition d'une expérience unique de perception et de mémoire, définissant son spectateur (...) et que toute situation autre de vision altère plus ou moins. Et cela seul vaut d'être appelé "cinéma". - Vous ne suggérez tout de même pas une primauté de l'expérience du spectateur de cinéma sur les expériences multiples du visiteur-spectateur des images en mouvement de l'art dont on tend à le rapprocher? - Evidemment non. Il s'agit simplement de marquer qu'en dépit des passages opérant de l'une aux autres et inversement, ce sont là deux expériences trop différentes pour qu'on accepte de les voir confondues. On n'oblige personne à se satisfaire de la "vision bloquée" de la salle de cinéma. Ce "désert de Cameraland", disait Smithson, ce "coma permanent". On peut préférer la flânerie, la liberté du corps et de l'esprit, la méditation libre, l'éclair de l'idée. On peut aussi, comme Beckett, se sentir "mieux assis que debout et couché qu'assis". Simplement, chaque fois cela n'est pas pareil, on ne sent ni on ne pense vraiment les mêmes choses. Bref, ce n'est pas le même corps. D'où la nécessité de marquer des pôles opposés pour mieux saisir tant de positions intermédiaires. (shrink)

Antoni Muntadas aims to intensify art, and intensify perception. This leads to a life and work « on translation », which circulate between languages, institutions, countries and cities, in a generalized whirlwind through the world.

This chapter contains sections titled: The Paradox of Virgil Summary of the Paradox of Virgil The Strange Case of Cato “The Perfect Stoic” Dante's Decision Dante and Conflict.

Gathers portraits of small town clerks, children, waitresses, mechanics, grocery owners, barbers, truck drivers, movie ushers, and grain elevator workers.

Is moral evolution a mere illusion, as postmodern thinkers state or a more or less permanent feature of history though it can be thwarted by unfavorable conjunctures, as Weber or Durkheim thought? The question is tentatively answered by a reanalysis of data drawn from the World Values Survey conducted under the lead of the University of Michigan. The data on seven Western countries show, when comparing the answers of younger to older respondents and of more to less educated respondents, that (...) definite trends characterize the frequencies. On the questions regarding issues related notably to work, authority, morals, religion, politics and attitudes towards other people, the younger and the more educated appear as giving answers less inspired by tradition. On the whole, the data illustrate Weber’s notion of ratio­nalization. The same trends can be observed in countries outside the Western world as India, Russia and Turkey. Such trends may plausibly be reinforced by globalization. (shrink)