The paper discusses inappropriate (futile) treatment by analyzing the casuistics of palliative patients in the terminal stage of illness who are hospitalized at the Department of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics of the Faculty hospital with policlinic (FNsP). Our research applies the principles of palliative care in the context of bioethics. The existing clinical conditions of healthcare in Slovakia are characteristic of making a taboo of the issues of inappropriate treatment of palliative patients. Inductive-deductive and normative clinical bioethics methods of palliative (...) care and ethical strategy are applied for defining issues found in inappropriate hemodialysis treatment. An algorithm of hemodialysis treatment requires the definition of those lege artis criteria which, in the context of a patient’s autonomy and his/her decision, precondition the avoidance of the situation in which hemodialysis treatment is inappropriate (futile). Futile treatment in a terminal condition is ethically inappropriate medical treatment that extends the suffering of patients and their relatives. Its definition is determined by the relevant legislation and the methods of bioethics. An active palliative strategy is aimed at managing the process of incurable diseases in the patient’s bio-psycho-socio-spiritual continuity in the process of special bioethics. The global bioethical objective of general bioethics for palliative care is based on the paradigm of social harmony and solidarity in the context of an authentic modus of the patient’s existence as a constitutive principle for the phenomenon of the patient’s being to finite being (death). (shrink)

Hannah Arendt und ihre Schriften werden seit jeher als unkonventionell wahrgenommen, als disziplinär schwer einzuordnen. Sie haben breite Anerkennung in vielen verschiedenen Ländern erlangt und scheinen sämtliche fach- wie kulturspezifischen Grenzen zu überschreiten. Diese Studie reflektiert die materiellen Bedingungen jener Wahrnehmungen, ihre performativen Funktionen sowie ihre historischen Transformationen, die sie zwischen Deutschland und den USA von den 1940er-Jahren bis heute durchlaufen haben. Im Zentrum der Rekonstruktion stehen Arendts Begriff des Politischen und damit korrelierend sie selbst als öffentliche Figur. Beide Ideen (...) werden als Subjekte und Ergebnisse der Interaktionsverhältnisse zwischen der Akteurin, ihren sozialen und epistemischen Kontexten sowie der Gemeinschaft ihrer Leserinnen und Lesern wie auch Konkurrentinnen und Konkurrenten betrachtet. (shrink)

In an experiment on markets for services, we find that consumers are likely to stick to default tariffs and achieve suboptimal outcomes. We find that inattention to the task of choosing a better tariff is likely to be a substantial problem in addition to any task and tariff complexity effect. The institutional setup on which we primarily model our experiment is the UK electricity and gas markets, and our conclusion is that the new measures by the UK regulator Ofgem to (...) improve consumer outcomes are likely to be of limited impact. (shrink)

Quantification is particularly seductive in times of global uncertainty. Not surprisingly, numbers, indicators, categorizations, and comparisons are central to governmental and popular response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This essay draws insights from critical data studies, sociology of quantification and decolonial thinking, with occasional excursion into the biomedical domain, to investigate the role and social consequences of counting broadly defined as a way of knowing about the virus. It takes a critical look at two domains of human activity that play a (...) central role in the fight against the virus outbreak, namely medical sciences and technological innovation. It analyzes their efforts to craft solutions for their user base and explores the unwanted social costs of these operations. The essay argues that the over-reliance of biomedical research on “whiteness” for lab testing and the techno-solutionism of the consumer infrastructure devised to curb the social costs of the pandemic are rooted in a distorted idea of a “standard human” based on a partial and exclusive vision of society and its components, which tends to overlook alterity and inequality. It contends that to design our way out of the pandemic, we ought to make space for distinct ways of being and knowing, acknowledging plurality and thinking in terms of social relations, alterity, and interdependence. (shrink)

We examined how people think about how things could have turned out differently after they made a decision to cooperate or not in three social interactions: the Prisoner’s dilemma (Experiment 1), the Stag Hunt dilemma (Experiment 2), and the Chicken game (Experiment 3). We found that participants who took part in the game imagined the outcome would have been different if a different decision had been made by the other player, not themselves; they did so whether the outcome was good (...) or bad for them, their own choice had been to cooperate or not, and the other player’s choice had been to cooperate or not. Participants who only read about a fictional protagonist’s game imagined changes outside the protagonist’s control (such as the other player’s decision) after a good outcome but within the protagonist’s control (such as the protagonist’s decision) after a bad outcome. The implications for theories of counterfactual thinking and moral decision-making are discussed. (shrink)

The chemist and philosopher Michael Polanyi was one of the first twentieth-century scientists to propose a program to resolve the internal conflict of the modern Enlightenment: scientific detachment and moral nihilism with humanist values. Stefania Jha’s intellectual biography places Polanyi in the context of his time and culture, analyzes his key philosophical ideas, and explicates the application—and at times misappropriation—of his work. Polanyi’s method was not laid out in his published works, and his vocabulary tends to make his writings (...) difficult to understand. By exposing the structure of his theory of tacit knowing, and by tracing the growth of his thinking, Jha shows how the various elements of his thought are integrated. Through examination of his philosophical roots in Kant and the complexity of his evolving thought, she counteracts the popular notion that Polanyi’s philosophy stands apart from the western philosophic tradition. Jha’s deep analysis makes Polanyi’s shift of focus from science to philosophy more intelligible, his philosophy more approachable, and the causes he championed—such as the freedom of science and cultural freedom—more understandable. Applying his notion of tacit knowing in practical directions, Jha seeks to bring the study of Polanyi’s philosophy out of the specialists’ enclave and into such fields as ethics and clinical medicine. (shrink)

Uncertainty in Post-Reformation Catholicism provides a historical account of early modern probabilism and its theological, intellectual, and cultural implications. First developed in the second half of the sixteenth century, probabilism represented a significant and controversial novelty in Catholic moral theology. By the second half of the seventeenth century, probabilism became and has since been associated with moral, intellectual, and cultural decadence. Stefania Tutino challenges this understanding and claims that probabilism played a central role in addressing the challenges that geographical (...) and cultural expansions posed to traditional Catholic theology. Tutino argues that early modern theologians used probabilism to integrate major changes within the post-Reformation Catholic theological and intellectual system. Probabilist theologians realized that their time was characterized by many changes that traditional theology was not equipped to deal with, which consequently provoked an exponential growth of uncertainties, doubts, and dilemmas of conscience. Probabilism represented the result of their efforts to appreciate, come to terms with, and manage that uncertainty. Uncertainty in Post-Reformation Catholicism reinterprets probabilism as a way of dealing with moral and epistemological doubts in quickly changing times, a way that still may be useful today. Uncertainty in Post-Reformation Catholicism argues that probabilism played a central role in addressing the challenges that a geographically and intellectually expanding world posed to traditional Catholic theology. Early modern probabilist theologians realized that their time was characterized by many changes and novelties that traditional theology was not equipped to deal with, and that consequently provoked an exponential growth of uncertainties, doubts, and dilemmas of conscience. These theologians used probabilism as a means to integrate changes and novelties within the post-Reformation Catholic theological and intellectual system. Seen in this light, probabilism represented the result of their attempts to appreciate, come to terms with, and manage uncertainty. The problem of uncertainty was not only crucial then, but remains central even today. Despite the unprecedented amount of information available to us, we are becoming less able to formulate arguments based on facts, and more dependent on a cacophony of opinions that often simply reproduce our own implicit or explicit biases, prejudices, and preconceived preferences. (shrink)

In his earlyContributions to a Better-Grounded Presentation of Mathematics Bernard Bolzano tries to characterizerigorous proofs.Rigorousis,prima facie, any proof that indicates the grounds for its conclusion. Bolzano lists a number of methodological constraints all rigorous proofs should comply with, and tests them systematically against a specific collection of elementary inference schemata that, according to him, are evidently of ground-consequence-kind. This paper intends to give a detailed and critical account of the fragmentary logic of theContributions, and to point out as well some (...) difficulties Bolzano’s attempt runs into, notably as to his methodological ban on ‘kind crossing’. (shrink)

Im vierten Kapitel des ersten Teils der Allgemeinen Psychopathologie stellt Jaspers seine Analyse der sinnhaften objektiven Tatbestände vor. In diesem Abschnitt des Buches, der für die Ausgabe von 1946 stark erweitert wurde, konzentriert sich Jaspers auf die Analyse der Physiognomie, Mimik, Schreibanalyse und die Aspekte von Werken von psychisch Kranken. Er zeigt in diesem Zusammenhang, wie diese objektiven Ausdrucksformen hilfreich für das „Verstehen“ der subjektiven psychischen Phänomene sein können, unterstreicht aber auch die Grenzen dieser Methodik. In diesem Beitrag soll gezeigt (...) werden, welche Bedeutung Jaspers in seinen methodischen Reflexionen über die körperlichen Ausdruckformen und deren Sinnhaftigkeit für das „Verstehen“ von psychischen Krankheiten zuspricht. Die sinnhaften, objektiven Tatbestände weisen für Jaspers auf die Komplexität der Konstitution der verschiedenen Beziehungen zur Welt hin, mit denen psychisch Kranke der Außenwelt begegnen. (shrink)

In this paper we discuss a view of the Machine Learning technique called Explanation-Based Learning (EBL) or Explanation-Based Generalization (EBG) as a process for the interpretation of vague concepts in logic-based models of law.The open-textured nature of legal terms is a well-known open problem in the building of knowledge-based legal systems. EBG is a technique which creates generalizations of given examples on the basis of background domain knowledge. We relate these two topics by considering EBG''s domain knowledge as corresponding to (...) statute law rules, and EBG''s training example as corresponding to a precedent case. (shrink)

Cet article se focalise sur un aspect précis du concept de temps dans l’éducation, sur les priorités que les temps futurs de l’éducation doivent choisir comme les directions les plus pertinentes pour nos sociétés. Les temps structurent et accompagnent la vie de chacun, marquent le passage entre les générations et deviennent un indicateur du développement des sociétés. Le rôle de la réflexion sur l’éducation est de s’atteler aux problématiques qui se dessinent à chaque période, et lui sont liées en termes (...) d’époque spécifique. Ceci implique d’ouvrir les frontières de la recherche vers des objets toujours vus comme nouveaux, au moins en partie, et d’envisager des opportunités et des défis importants et urgents, en ce que par leur condition de nouveauté, ces éléments inattendus sont susceptibles de former un projet tourné vers l’avenir. Au cours de cette réflection, nous proposons d’imaginer des futurs dans lesquels la résilience aux changements profonds et aux mutations complexes est présente. Celle-ci implique d’engager une réflexion sur l’avenir des connaissances et des valeurs qui sont plus importantes et urgents pour les savoirs et pour les sociétés. (shrink)

Obiettivo della presente indagine è la ricostruzione di una circolarità ermeneutica tra alcune delle categorie più puramente psicologiche dell’elaborazione di Paul Ricoeur e i concetti chiave della sua analisi morale, giuridica e politica. Ciò cercando di evidenziare le ascendenze e i confronti intellettuali del Ricoeur teoretico, ritrovandone gli esiti in sede più esplicitamente giuridico-sociale, in un excursus che mira all’ipotesi di una fondazione categoriale rizomatica del pensiero politico di Paul Ricoeur.

By providing an interdisciplinary reading of advance directives regulation in international, European and domestic law, this book offers new insights into the most controversial legal issues surrounding the debate over dignity and autonomy ...

BackgroundSeveral investigations have addressed the process of balance adaptation to external perturbations. The adaptation during unperturbed stance has received little attention. Further, whether the current sensory conditions affect the adaptation rate has not been established. We have addressed the role of vision and haptic feedback on adaptation while standing on foam.MethodsIn 22 young subjects, the analysis of geometric and spectral variables of the oscillation of the centre of feet pressure identified the effects of vision, light-touch or both in the anteroposterior (...) and mediolateral direction over 8 consecutive 90 s standing trials.ResultsAdaptation was obvious without vision and tenuous with vision. With trial repetition, path length and median frequency diminished with EC while sway area and mean level of the spectrum increased. The low- and high-frequency range of the spectrum increased and decreased in AP and ML directions, respectively. Touch compared to no-touch enhanced the rate of increase of the low-frequency power. Spectral differences in distinct sensory conditions persisted after adaptation.ConclusionBalance adaptation occurs during standing on foam. Adaptation leads to a progressive increase in the amplitude of the lowest frequencies of the spectrum and a concurrent decrease in the high-frequency range. Within this common behaviour, touch adds to its stabilising action a modest effect on the adaptation rate. Stabilisation is improved by favouring slow oscillations at the expense of sway minimisation. These findings are preliminary to investigations of balance problems in persons with sensory deficits, ageing, and peripheral or central nervous lesion. (shrink)

This volume will be of particular interest to researchers working in the history, and in the philosophy, of logic and mathematics, and more generally, to ...

At a time when they had largely fallen into disrepute Bolzano reactivated the distinctions between ‚clear‘ and ‚obscure‘, ‚distinct‘ and ‚confused‘ ideas. In the central sections of this paper I offer a critical reconstruction of the explanations of these pairs of opposita which are to be found in vol. III of Bolzano's monumental Wissenschaftslehre . I then provide a detailed account of its Leibnizian counterparts that were well-known to the ‚Bohemian Leibniz‘, and finally I evaluate Bolzano's criticism thereof.

Lakatos is considered to be a Popperian who adapted his Hegelian-Marxist training to critical philosophy. I claim this is too narrow and misses Lakatos' goal of understanding scientific inquiry as heuristic inquiry—something he did not find in Popper, but found in Polanyi. Archival material shows that his ‘new method' struggled to overcome what he saw as the Popperian handicap, by using Polanyi.

Yinshun (1906–2005) is regarded as one of the eminent monks of twentieth-century Chinese Buddhism. In the mission of reinventing Chinese Buddhism Yinshun engaged particularly in the revival and restatement of Madhyamaka. His interpretation of Nāgārjuna's texts, the reassessment of the links between pre-Mahāyāna Buddhism and the Prajn˜āpāramitā tradition, and the critical analysis of the Chinese San-lun became the core of the new Mahāyāna that he planned for the twentieth-century China. Yinshun also adopted Madhyamaka criteria to reconsider the Mahāyāna schools that (...) were popular in China, and theorized a Madhyamaka-framed Pure Land based on his reading of the Shizhu piposha lun [T26 n1521]. This article discusses Yinshun's views on the Easy Path (yixing dao) and Difficult Path (nanxing dao) in the Pure Land practice, and contextualizes Yinshun's interpretation within the past history of the Chinese Pure Land School, as well as within the new debates on Pure Land that emerged in twentieth-century China. (shrink)

Stefania Tutino shows that post-Reformation Catholic culture was a rich laboratory for our current moral and hermeneutical anxieties.

Four studies show that observers and readers imagine different alternatives to reality. When participants read a story about a protagonist who chose the more difficult of two tasks and failed, their counterfactual thoughts focused on the easier, unchosen task. But when they observed the performance of an individual who chose and failed the more difficult task, participants' counterfactual thoughts focused on alternative ways to solve the chosen task, as did the thoughts of individuals who acted out the event. We conclude (...) that these role effects may occur because participants' attention is engaged when they experience or observe an event more than when they read about it. (shrink)

The notion of 'symbol' in Eriugena's writing is far from clear. It has an ambiguous semantic connection with other terms such as 'signification', 'figure', 'allegory', 'veil', 'agalma', 'form', 'shadow', 'mystery' and so on. This paper aims to explore into the origins of such a semantic ambiguity, already present in the texts of the pseudo-Dionysian corpus which Eriugena translated and commented upon. In the probable Neoplatonic sources of this corpus, the Greek term symbolon shares some aspects of its meaning with other (...) words inherited from the ancient tradition, such as synthēma , eikōn , homoiotēs. Some of them, such as eikōn and homoiotēs, belong to the field of images and are associated with linguistic semantics in the Neoplatonic commentaries not only to Plato but also to Aristotle's logical works. Among the late ancient Neoplatonists, particular attention is paid to Proclus and to his use of the term agalma. In fact, the textual history of this word seems to be a privileged perspective from which to reconstruct the Neoplatonic semantic blending of symbol and image, as well as the main role played by linguistic issues in this conflation. (shrink)

RASP is a recent extension to Answer Set Programming (ASP) that permits declarative specification and reasoning on the consumption and production of resources. ASP can be seen as a particular case of RASP. In this paper, we study the relationship between linear logic and RASP problem specification. We prove that RASP programs can be translated into (a fragment of) linear logic, and vice versa. In doing so, we introduce a linear logic representation of default negation as understood in ASP. We (...) are also able to establish a link between linear logic and here-and-there (HT) logic. (shrink)

The two extant versions of Gorgias’ Peri tou mē ontos have been preserved by an anonymous author and by Sextus Empiricus. Both versions have been differently interpreted by scholars who examine either the doctrine or the rhetorical-communicational dimen­sion. When comparing the PTMO with the rest of Gorgias’ works, the present paper aims to demonstrate that S.E. offers a more precise account of Gorgias’ modus argumentandi. Thus, S.E. shows the following, typical features of Gorgias’ demonstra­tive reasoning: 1) application of demonstrandum and (...) quod erat demon­strandum, 2) continuous employment of reductio ad absurdum and 3) a refined formulation of the principle of non-contradiction. The MXG, on the other hand, is accurate in the discussion of particular arguments, but presents an interpreter who is more interested in questioning Gorgias rather than doing justice to his thought. Hence, this article concludes that it was S.E., who had the text or at least a relatively accurate summa­ry of the PTMO. (shrink)