Various authors have argued that in the future not only will it be technically feasible for human minds to be transferred to other substrates, but this will become, for most humans, the preferred option over the current biological limitations. It has even been claimed that such a scenario is inevitable in order to solve the challenging, but imperative, multi-agent value alignment problem. In all these considerations, it has been overlooked that, in order to create a suitable environment for a particular (...) mind – for example, a personal universe in a computational substrate – numerous other potentially sentient beings will have to be created. These range from non-player characters to subroutines. This article analyzes the additional suffering and mind crimes that these scenarios might entail. We offer a partial solution to reduce the suffering by imposing on the transferred mind the perception of indicators to measure potential suffering in non-player characters. This approach can be seen as implementing literal empathy through enhanced cognition. (shrink)

This study examines whether corporate social responsibility performance is associated with corporate tax avoidance. Employing a matched sample of 434 firm-year observations from the Kinder, Lydenberg, and Domini database over the period 2003–2009, our logit regression results show that the higher the level of CSR performance of a firm, the lower the likelihood of tax avoidance. Our results indicate that more socially responsible firms are likely to display less tax avoidance. Finally, the results from our additional analysis show that the (...) CSR categories community relations and diversity represent particularly important elements of CSR performance that reduce tax avoidance. (shrink)

Im Blickpunkt dieses Bandes steht das Wechselverhältnis zweier prägender Traditionen moderner deutschsprachiger Philosophie: der Kritischen Theorie und der Philosophischen Anthropologie. Über das gesamte 20. Jahrhundert hinweg blieb der Austausch zwischen diesen Ansätzen, wo er überhaupt zu Stande kam, von Vorbehalten geprägt. Gegenwärtig allerdings lässt sich, jenseits überkommener schulpolitischer Gräben, ein neuartiges Interesse beider Strömungen füreinander wahrnehmen. Die Beiträge dieses Bandes treffen sich in dem Versuch, die jeweiligen Hauptanliegen und Gegenstandsfelder der Kritischen Theorie respektive der Philosophischen Anthropologie über deren direkten Dialog (...) produktiv zu aktualisieren: Inwiefern lassen sich die genuinen Themen der einen Tradition auf Seiten der je anderen rekonstruieren? Und worin bleiben sich beide Denkweisen letztlich doch fremd? Das vorliegende Buch stellt in der Forschung den ersten systematischen Versuch dar, diese Fragen für gesellschaftstheoretische und anthropologische Problemstellungen fruchtbar zu machen. (shrink)

This article will introduce Isaac Newton’s fundamental methodological concepts applied for a solution concerning a question of gravity in his Principia Mathematica. The method of deduction of propositions from phenomena can be described as demonstrative induction. The main aim is to show that this method proposed by Newton explicitly contains a criticism of hypothetico-deductive methodology as an inadequate approach to the study of nature. As opposed to hypothetico-deductive method, demonstrative induction is capable of producing theories with much richer empirical and (...) epistemological value. Delimitation against hypothetically deduced theories is closely connected with criticism of mechanical materialism, most notably in a form proposed by René Descartes. Consequently, it has led Newton to not only reject the universality of mechanical premise but also to certain level of immunization against all competitive hypothetically based theories. (shrink)

This article is a speculative review of psychology’s approach to the cultural and civilizational determinants of the development of human identity. It discusses the relation between human freedom and necessity as it is determined by culture and its alternative suggestions concerning normative human existence. As his point of departure the author adopted Feliks Koneczny’s quincunx philosophy of history together with its five basic categories of existence. One can try to transpose these categories into the factors which constitute human intra-psychic space (...) and also into measures of description of the mechanics of human behavior. Attention is drawn to the fact that, in this context, the axiological shortcomings of psychology are exposed, especially the deliberate refusal to evaluate behavior in terms of good and evil or the exclusion of ethics, moral obligations, conscience and responsibility from psychological discourse. (shrink)

Cette biographie de référence éclaire d'un jour nouveau tout un pan de la vie intellectuelle du XXe siècle, celui de ces universitaires juifs allemands obligés de fuir le IIIe Reich et qui, d'étape en étape, finirent par trouver refuge aux Etats-Unis. Le livre associe la présentation des grandes étapes de la pensée et de l'œuvre de Hannah Arendt aux événements historiques qui la sollicitent et au tableau des amitiés et des cercles successifs. Si la liaison qu'elle eut brièvement au début (...) des années 30 avec Heidegger est désormais bien connue, d'autres aspects de son existence, pourtant du plus haut intérêt, le sont moins : son rapprochement avec le sionisme sous l'égide de Kurt Blumenfeld avant et pendant la guerre, son mariage avec Günther Stern, puis avec Heinrich Blücher, sa longue amitié aux Etats-Unis avec la romancière Mary McCarthy ou avec le poète W.H. Auden. Polémiste redoutable et critique cinglante, constante dans ses fidélités, et en premier lieu dans sa relation avec cette grande conscience allemande que fut Karl Jaspers, Arendt a traversé tous les débats du siècle, sans jamais céder ni sur son indépendance d'esprit ni sur sa lucidité : face au totalitarisme, dont elle forge le concept, mais aussi face au racisme et aux mouvements pour les droits civils aux Etats-Unis, face à la création de l'Etat d'Israël et au devenir du sionisme, face à l'engagement américain dans la guerre du Vietnam, face à la révolte de la jeunesse des années 60. Ne s'abandonnant jamais à la tentation aristocratique du retrait, elle accomplit une œuvre de pensée sans avoir besoin de décrier le monde, mais en prônant l'amour de la réalité, donnant ainsi l'image rare d'une vie de penseur à la hauteur de ses accomplissements spéculatifs. Indisponible depuis une dizaine d'années, cet ouvrage a été mis à jour et enrichi d'une nouvelle préface de l'auteur. (shrink)

The concept of the corrective is among Kierkegaard’s pivotal categories of self-interpretation. Situated mainly in his journals, it is used by Kierkegaard for the purpose of specifying his task as a religious author. The overall goal of the present article is systematically to develop the concept and its relation to and relevance for Kierkegaard’s entire oeuvre. In doing so, it will contextualize the term and its use by invoking related concepts, such as the martyr, the fool in Christ or the (...) reformer, in order to shed new light on the corrective’s meaning and function/s. In particular, four motives for the usage of the „corrective“ will be distinguished; they help to identify those elements and parts of Kierkegaard’s authorship which are obviously supposed to function as a corrective to „the established order.“ The identification of these parts allows for making sense of and for critically evaluating Kierkegaard’s viewpoints, in particular those which appear to be one-sided and/or exaggerated. After all, a corrective is meant to do its job in the service of an existing order, not as its opposition or enemy. Hence, according to Kierkegaard, the task of a corrective is deeply dialectical, both affirmative and critical at the same time. And yet, considering the latter, the historical and cultural context is paramount and as such must not be overlooked; for otherwise a corrective is erroneously taken as an absolute norm—a mistake, which fatally repeats the very flaw that it is supposed to correct. (shrink)

El presente escrito tiene por objetivo demostrar cómo el estado actual del capitalismo neoliberal, entendido como una fuerza productora de la subjetividad basada en el rendimiento [síntesis de la disciplina (Foucault) y el control (Deleuze y Guattari) que se cataliza con la digitalidad (Han, Berardi, Fisher, entre otros)], se centra en ejercer una colonización frente al tiempo como concepto estructural de la existencia humana para poder desplegar un sistema de dispositivos psicopolíticos que le permitan su reproducción sistémica. Para conseguir este (...) objetivo la investigación cuenta con tres momentos: el primero expone el paso del domino espacial del capitalismo fordista al neoliberalismo actual de carácter temporal desde una disincronía del tiempo. El segundo explica la desfactificación del mundo como la pérdida del vínculo humano con la realidad, lo que perturba directamente el estado de ánimo de los sujetos desde un peso cargado de nihilismo. Finalmente, se expone la psicopolítica como un concepto que parte tanto de la disincronía como de la desfactificación para posicionar un dominio sugestivo de la psique humana. (shrink)

Surrogacy is a type of medically assisted reproduction (MAR), which is considered to be a relatively simple medical procedure. However, psychosocially, ethically and legally, it is extremely complicated. There has been a significant increase in interest in the procedure lately. This is largely due to the fact that it is now available to groups of applicants other than traditional heterosexual couples of reproductive age. Its purpose is to examine various approaches to determining what is legally acceptable as parenthood after surrogacy. (...) Our conclusion is that the wishes and rights of the individual actors (intended parent(s), surrogate mother, future child, gamete donors and society as a whole) are incompatible and contradictory. None of the probable solutions suggested from different perspectives can ensure that the wishes and rights of all are fulfilled at the same time. (shrink)

The paper aims to clarify several key aspects of Alexandru Dragomir: his amazing “technique” of keeping his entire knowledge in perfect working condition, his exceptional precision of references and his continuous disregard concerning writing. The root of all these peculiarities is traced back to Plato’s cognitive and moral arguments against writing, as expressed in Phaedrus and Seventh Letter. Finally, the article brings to light what seems to be the lesson of Dragomir’s life as a thinker: to rely only on the (...) living thought, that which is written “inside the soul”. (shrink)

The effects of time and the longitudinal course of the children’s internalizing symptoms following Intimate Partner Violence Exposure are still of great interest today. This study aimed to analyze the effect of the frequency of IPVE, adverse experiences after the cessation of the IPVE and the time elapsed since the termination of the violent relation on the prevalence of anxiety and depression among children. Participants were 107 children and their mothers who had been victims of IPV and had existing judicial (...) protection and restraining orders. Hierarchical logistic regression models were estimated to analyze children’s adjustment, considering the effect of the time elapsed since the termination, frequency of IPVE, experiences of revictimization, maternal pathology, and anxious anticipation of the mother at the prospect of future harm. Exposure to multiple events of violence at the hands of multiple ex-partners and higher scores in the mother’s anxious anticipation were significant predictors of children’s pathological depression and anxiety. Our results emphasize the need for early psychological evaluation of women and children’s victims of IPV to provide timely interventions that avoid symptoms from becoming chronic. Strategies to bring support and emotional security to the victims after the end of the violent relationship are desirable. (shrink)

A new construction of a certain conceptual space is presented. Elements of this conceptual space correspond to concept elements of reality, which potentially comprise an infinite number of qualities. This construction of a conceptual space solves a problem stated by Dietz and his co-authors in 2013 in the context of Voronoi diagrams. The fractal construction of the conceptual space is that this problem simply does not pose itself. The concept of convexity is discussed in this new conceptual space. Moreover, the (...) meaning of convexity is discussed in full generality, for example when space is deprived of it, its substitutes for concept domains are considered. (shrink)

The current monopoly of psychology in the different facets of human life becomes psychological practice care increasingly suspect. And while it states legitimate targets, they are controversial. This paper highlights the lack of an agreed target between the professionals of psychological practice care. The first part argues that psychological practice care does not provide a clear and agreed target. This dissent is due to a disciplinary problem of psychology and it damages its image of responsible profession. In the second part, (...) we propose a goal that unifies various psychological practices care beyond their differences and through which its professional action is legitimate. The hypothesis presented is that the aim of psychological practice care is what begins it, that is, relief of suffering. However, to understand the nature of suffering, psychological practice care must regain its relationship with philosophy. (shrink)

This project reflects on the way in which students in a situation of social risk construct their identity. Based on the reflections and theories originating from research conducted on individuals and collective groups in a situation of social exclusion due to disability, social class or ethnicity, this paper will analyse the conflicts these students have to deal with when constructing their identity. It also examines the challenge that education has to face to turn those conflicts into opportunities that will help (...) to build life projects with which they can freely identify. For this reason, from a critical perspective, the school’s role in constructing identity will be analysed, as will the way in which it affects children and adolescents from minority groups. In the same way, we will study and put forward some different channels aimed at providing more equal educational attention to those identities that are depreciated in neoliberal society. (shrink)

En contraste con algunas concepciones muy difundidas acerca de la razón, los análisis de Husserl subrayan tanto sus múltiples maneras de darse, es decir, su multidimensionalidad, como su entrelazamiento con la vida, lo que significa que la razón está arraigada en la vida y la vida es racional desde sus raíces. La multidimensionalidad da cuenta de sus diferenciables aspectos teoréticos, prácticos y afectivo-valorativos, mientras que el arraigo se refiere al anclaje de esos aspectos en la experiencia “anónima” que es “previa” (...) al pensamiento. Esto significa que la experiencia es racional en la medida que despliega una estructura constitutiva interna organizada en un sistema de niveles y estratos mediante los cuales se orienta hacia la racionalidad activa. Siguiendo las líneas de una articulación tripartita de la reflexión fenomenológica en los niveles estático, genético y mundovital, este trabajo procura mostrar que tales análisis, junto con este apuntar a una teleología implícita que exige una continuidad entre la vida y la razón, ponen de manifiesto el papel necesario que juega el cuerpo animado en este arraigo. La razón está arraigada en la vida por medio de la experiencia corporal en virtud de la función de “puente” que posee el cuerpo en su condición de cosa material y “órgano” estratificado del sentir y el mover del yo. Así la razón teórica está relacionada con los estratos de la sensibilidad y la cinestesia, la razón práctica se vincula con los estratos cinestésicos y volitivos, y la razón axiológica se asocia con el doble estrato de afección y sentir que subyacen y motivan la valoración. La constitución adopta nuevas formas en el tránsito de la egología a la intersubjetividad y a la experiencia completa mundovital, mientras que el arraigo puede ser ilustrado adicionalmente con el caso de la Tierra como suelo para la experiencia corporal.In contrast with widespread reductionistic conceptions of reason, Husserl’s analyses stress both its multifarious manners of givenness, i.e. its multidimensionality, and its intertwining with life, such that reason is rooted in life and life is rational from its roots. Multidimensionality accounts for distinguishable theoretical, practical and affective-valuing aspects of reason, while rootedness refers to the anchoring of these aspects in ‘anonymous’ experience ‘prior’ to thinking. This means that experience is rational insofar as it displays an inner constitutive structure organized as a system of levels and strata, by means of which it points to active rationality. Following the lines of a threefold articulation of phenomenological reflection in static, genetic and life-wordly levels, this paper aims to show that, together with this pointing to an implicit teleology, which calls for a continuity between life and reason, such analyses also unveil the necessary role played by the Body in this rootedness. Reason is rooted in life by means of Bodily experience, in virtue of the ‘bridging’ function of the Body as a material thing and as the stratified ‘organ’ of the Ego’s sensing and moving. Thus theoretical reason is related to the strata of sensibility and kinaesthesia, practical reason is related to the kinaesthetical and volitional strata, and axiological reason is related to the twofold strata of affection and feeling, which underlie and motivate valuation. This constitution takes on new forms in the transit from egology to intersubjectivity and to the full-fledged life-worldly experience, whereas rootedness can be further illustrated with the case of the Earth as basis-place for Bodily experience. (shrink)

Static phenomenological analysis discloses a tension between judgement and perception as a result of the way intentionality was developed in Husserl’s early thought: 1) The apprehension-content schema determines the way noesis is understood as sense-giving, 2) Sensuous perception models the way noema is conceived of as correlative sense. Both directions conflict with regard to the question of the ideality of their noemata. After describing this conflict, this paper aims to lay bare the static relation between judgement and perception in order (...) to follow up its transformation in genetic phenomenology. This may then help to outline a stratification of noematic ideality grounded on the intentional continuity between passive and active syntheses. (shrink)

Consumer distrust is only recently beginning to be perceived as an important e-commerce issue and, unlike online trust, the nature and role of distrust is much less established. This study examines the influence of two important consumer characteristics on consumer’s ethically-based distrust of online retailers. Also, the moderating role of consumer’s need for personal contact with sales staff is tested. Results from 409 online consumers confirm that both relativist-based ethical ideology and risk aversion are strongly and positively related to consumers’ (...) distrust. Interestingly, our findings show that positive effects of relativism and risk aversion on consumer’s distrust are moderated by consumers’ need for personal interaction, which is more pronounced for those consumers with a high need for personal interaction with retail salespeople. (shrink)