This article presents two studies that deepen the theme of how soundtracks shape our interpretation of audiovisuals. Embracing a multivariate perspective, Study 1 ( N = 118) demonstrated, through an online between-subjects experiment, that two different music scores (melancholic vs. anxious) deeply affected the interpretations of an unknown movie scene in terms of empathy felt toward the main character, impressions of his personality, plot anticipations, and perception of the environment of the scene. With the melancholic music, participants felt empathy toward (...) the character, viewing him as more agreeable and introverted, more oriented to memories than to decisions, while perceiving the environment as cozier. An almost opposite pattern emerged with the anxious music. In Study 2 ( N = 92), we replicated the experiment in our lab but with the addition of eye-tracking and pupillometric measurements. Results of Study 1 were largely replicated; moreover, we proved that the anxious score, by increasing the participants’ vigilance and state of alert (wider pupil dilation), favored greater attention to minor details, as in the case of another character who was very hard to be noticed (more time spent on his figure). Results highlight the pervasive nature of the influence of music within the process of interpretation of visual scenes. (shrink)

The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyse nurses’ professional dignity in their everyday working lives. We explored the factors that affect nursing professional dignity in practice that emerge in relationships with health professionals, among clinical nurses working in hospitals and in community settings in central Italy. The main themes identified were: (i) nursing professional dignity perceived as an achievement; (ii) recognition of dignity beyond professional roles. These two concepts are interconnected. This study provides insights into professional dignity in (...) nursing being perceived as an achievement linked to the intrinsic dignity of every human being. The ‘nursing professional dignity perceived as an achievement’ was perceived as having declined in different social factors. Some factors of nursing professional dignity perceived as an achievement were attained more easily in community settings. ‘Recognition of dignity beyond professional roles’ underpins the intrinsic dignity as an expression of humanity, embedded in persons regardless of any profession, and values, such as: respect, moral integrity, humility, working conscientiously and kindness. (shrink)

The proto-code of ethics and conduct for European nurse directors was developed as a strategic and dynamic document for nurse managers in Europe. It invites critical dialogue, reflective thinking about different situations, and the development of specific codes of ethics and conduct by nursing associations in different countries. The term proto-code is used for this document so that specifically country-orientated or organization-based and practical codes can be developed from it to guide professionals in more particular or situation-explicit reflection and values. (...) The proto-code of ethics and conduct for European nurse directors was designed and developed by the European Nurse Directors Association’s (ENDA) advisory team. This article gives short explanations of the code’ s preamble and two main parts: Nurse directors' ethical basis, and Principles of professional practice, which is divided into six specific points: competence, care, safety, staff, life-long learning and multi-sectorial working. (shrink)

As state-of-art technology can create artificial images that are indistinguishable from real ones, it is urgent to understand whether believing that a picture is real or not has some import over affective phenomena such as sexual arousal. Thus, in two pre-registered online studies, we tested whether 60 images depicting models in underwear elicited higher self-reported sexual arousal when believed to be (N = 57) or presented as (N = 108) real photographs as opposed to artificially generated. In both cases, Realness (...) correlated with significantly higher scores on self-reported sexual arousal. Consistently with the literature on downregulation of emotional response to fictional works, our result indicates that sexual images that are perceived to be fake are less arousing than those believed to portray real people. (shrink)

We discuss potential biorisks from large language models (LLMs). AI assistants based on LLMs such as ChatGPT have been shown to significantly reduce barriers to entry for actors wishing to synthesize dangerous, potentially novel pathogens and chemical weapons. The harms from deploying such bioagents could be further magnified by AI-assisted misinformation. We endorse several policy responses to these dangers, including prerelease evaluations of biomedical AIs by subject-matter experts, enhanced surveillance and lab screening procedures, restrictions on AI training data, and access (...) controls on biomedical AI. We conclude with a suggestion about future research directions in bioethics. (shrink)

The theme of conspiracies plays a key role in Machiavelli's writings, in which can be found considerations and analyses on the use of conspiracy as an instrument of conquest of power, and as a technique for political fighting. This volume denies an interpretation in which Machiavelli limited himself to warning against conspiracies, judging them as a dangerous and useless tool. In reality, he elaborated a real phenomenology or anatomy of the conspiracy. His thoughts on this theme represent a practical manual (...) for the "coup d'état" and the violent seizure of power. But as always, they also contain brilliant intuitions on political psychology, the sociology of power, and social anthropology. (shrink)

What exactly is going on via fornical connections? Aggleton & Brown's target article correctly stresses their importance, but a detailed understanding of their role in memory appears to require fresh research approaches.

Background Dignity is a central human value supported by nurses’ professional ethics. In previous studies, nurses in clinical practice have experienced that dignity increased their work well-being and pride of work. Dignity is also strictly interweaved to professional identity in the different nursing’ roles, but little is known about dignity among public health nurses and primary care settings. Purpose This study aimed to describe the perceptions of nursing's professional dignity of public health nurses in primary care in Finland. Research design (...) An inductive qualitative descriptive approach with semi-structured focus group interviews was utilised. Participants and research context Twenty-seven Finnish public health nurses were interviewed via eight semi-structured focus group interviews in primary health care settings. Ethical considerations Before data collection, research permissions were obtained from participating health care centres. This type of research in Finland, with competent adult participants, does not require ethical pre-assessment but written and oral informed consent obtained before the interviews. Findings Based on our findings, public health nurses perceived that professional dignity was (1) part of their self-respect, an observed daily value based on their acknowledged competence. Besides, they perceived that (2) service users’ trust in public health nurses was a strong expression of professional dignity, and it could be uncovered when recipients of care utilised their services. In addition, public health nurses experienced that (3) professional dignity was an expression of different intertwined interprofessional and social factors. Discussion and conclusion Professional dignity is simultaneously an essential prerequisite and an outcome of public health nurses’ work. In future, more information would be needed to implement strategies in primary health care to foster nurses’ professional dignity also in international public health arenas. (shrink)

The paper offers a systematic reconstruction of the relations that, in Husserl’s work, bind together our shared social world (“the spiritual world”) with shared intentionality. It is claimed that, by sharing experiences, persons create social reasons and that these reasons impose a normative structure on the social world. Because there are two ways in which persons can share experiences (depending on whether these experiences rest on mutual communication or on group’s identity), social normativity comes in two kinds. It is either (...) directed (it has an addressee) or it is collective or absolute (it applies to all group members). Social normativity should be distinguished from axiological normativity: The first is grounded in shared intentionality, the second in values. (shrink)

In his theory of truthmaker content, Kit Fine has provided many insights concerning the relation of aboutness, allowing us to understand why a unique subject matter can be associated to a sentence, what is the relation between the subject matter of a sentence and its truth conditions, and why necessary sentences can be distinguished with respect to what they are about. The aim of this chapter is to consider these insights critically, compare them to the notion of subject matter developed (...) by Lewis, and put forward a unified account giving us the resources to overcome some of their limits. The resulting theory characterizes the relation of aboutness by combining in a consistent framework Lewis’s intuition on how sentences are related to the questions they possibly answer with Fine’s intuition on how sentences are related to their truthmakers. (shrink)

Philosophers distinguish between having a property essentially and having it accidentally. The way the distinction has been drawn suggests that it is modal in character, and so that it can be captured in terms of necessity, or cognate notions. The present chapter takes the suggestion at face value by considering a number of modal characterizations of the essential/accidental distinction that have been articulated and discussed since the early 20th century, as well as some of the challenges that they face.

The value of solidarity, which implies mutual concern and support, is often conveyed in our everyday moral and political language. But what is its conceptual relationship with justice? Influential positions in this debate may argue for the opposition between the two concepts: justice is impartial and universal, while solidarity is partial and limited. The present paper aims to shortly explore a range of theories that may exemplify possible answers to this position, from communitarian and realist views, which ultimately confirm the (...) opposition, to political solidarities, which claim an instrumental need for solidarity as a reaction to injustices. Special attention will be paid to Habermas’s compatibilist account of solidarity as the “reverse side” of justice. The paper contends that a compelling answer should preserve the difference between the two spheres and the essential features of solidarity by also sketching a concept of solidarity as a social duty arising from our moral interdependence. (shrink)

The growth of consumer DNA ancestry testing has resulted in questions and critiques being raised in social and research contexts. This study examined individuals discussing their ancestry DNA testing results on YouTube by searching for the two most popular testing companies (23andMe; Ancestry) and the phrase “DNA results.” The finalized dataset consisted of 117 videos, on which directed content analysis was performed. In the videos, individuals used results to clarify, confirm, question, and re-evaluate their previously held conceptions of racial/ethnic identities. (...) Reactions were more positive than negative (88.1% vs. 8.1%), and results more commonly reaffirmed (77.8%) than re-conceptualized (40.0%) one’s racial/ethnic identity. Ancestry testing and personal social media accounts were commonly promoted, demonstrating biotechnological hype where promotion abounds and critiques are scarce. Questions persist around the impact of ancestry DNA testing in reifying a scientifically inaccurate conception of race and what impact YouTube videos might have on audiences. (shrink)

Neste trabalho, analisamos a argumentação de Girolamo Cardano presente em De subtilitate, no Livro II, em que o autor questiona a teoria dos quatro elementos. Conforme Cardano, o fogo não deveria mais ser considerado um elemento, mas apenas o ar, a água e a terra. Consideramos a maioria dos argumentos discutidos, mas nosso foco está naquele argumento de que Cardano lançou mão do processo de destilação para negar ao fogo um lugar entre os elementos. Para atingir nossos objetivos consideramos também (...) outras duas obras de Cardano: De rerum varietate e De secretis. Em De rerum varietate, encontramos estudos sobre o fogo e sobre a destilação que são relevantes para nossa análise. Por sua vez, em De secretis, identificamos considerações de Cardano sobre a forma com que investigava questões de filosofia natural. Entre outras discussões, procuramos destacar que Cardano unia em suas investigações teoria e prática, o que refletia um contexto bem determinado de uma “ciência” de caráter mais operativo, marcada pela magia natural. (shrink)

This paper presents a purely pragmatic account of quotation which, it is argued, will be able to accommodate all relevant linguistic phenomena. Given that it is more parsimonious to explain the data by reference to pragmatic principles only than to explain them by reference to both pragmatic and semantic principles, as is common in the literature, I conclude that the account of quotation I present is to be preferred to the more standard accounts (including the alternative theories of quotation, discussed (...) here). (shrink)

Este artigo pretende fazer algumas considerações preliminares e programáticas sobre a questão da cooperação entre filosofia política e ciências sociais empíricas; oferecer uma estratégia para chegar a uma definição de pobreza que independa de dados quantitativos específicos, embora aponte para a importância deles ; apontar para a necessidade de ouvir a voz dos pobres; mostrar as razões da exclusão política dos pobres. Obviamente não se pretende discutir tudo isso de forma exaustiva, mas somente indicar possíveis caminhos a serem explorados.The present (...) paper aims at presenting some preliminary and programmatic considerations on the question of the cooperation between political philosophy and empirical social sciences; offering a strategy to reach a definition of poverty that does not depend on specific quantitative data, while it recognizes their importance ; pointing at the necessity to hear the voice of the poor; showing the reasons for the political exclusion of the poor. Of course all this shall not be discussed in an exhaustive form, but only with the intention of indicating possible paths to be explored. (shrink)

In this paper I shall deal with the question of whether a State-granted minimal income (which is not the same as a basic income) is a necessary condition in order for individuals (1) to attain a basic level of autonomy; and (2) to develop capabilities that allow them to improve the quality of their life. As a theoretical basis for my analysis I shall use Honneth’s theory of recognition, Sen’s capability approach (also in the version offered by Nussbaum), and Simmel’s (...) concept of independency as developed in his Philosophy of Money. A minimal income aims at guaranteeing not only the survival of the extremely poor (this could also be achieved by emergency programs), but also – in cooperation with other State programs such as education, medical and legal assistance etc – at enabling these individuals to be more independent from their social environment, where dependence often constitutes a strong obstacle to the development of their autonomy. The social and political inclusion of millions of people, both in threshold countries and in poor countries, depends upon the existence of such programs. (shrink)

This contribution traces the interpretations of Jn 8: 32 in the first centuries up to Origen, who represents in this case, as in general for ancient patristic literature, a fundamental watershed. Each passage is illuminated by setting it in the context of exegesis and controversy. Passages which at first glance may seem unconnected are grouped together in this perspective to reveal interesting points of contact.

This contribution focuses attention on the lexical and syntactic features of the Latin version of the Letters to Cledonius: In the passages examined it highlights the differences between the translation and the Greek text, recreates the practices and the strategies of the translator, with particular reference to the two Letters and in some cases to other of Gregory of Nazianzen's texts as reported in Laur. San Marco 584. Lastly the article evaluates the genuineness of the Latin text that was handed (...) down and the possible supply to the constitution of the Greek text. (shrink)

Este artigo se propõe refletir sobre a possibilidade de uma teoria do respeito social e da solidariedade cívica. Para este, serão utilizados três conceitos introduzidos ou desenvolvidos por vários autores: o conceito de sofrimento socialmente evitável desenvolvido por Barrington Moore jr., a idéia de sociedade decente de Avishai Margalit e, finalmente, o conceito de capability assim como o utilizam Amartya Sem e Martha Nussbaum. Este último será posto em relação a uma teoria da autonomia moral que servirá de base para (...) uma teoria da solidariedade cívica que pretende ser um complemento das teorias da justiça tradicionais, não uma alternativa a elas.This paper aims at refl ecting on the possibility of a theory of social respect and of civic solidarity. To this end, three concepts, which were introduced and developed by various authors, will be used: Barrington Moore jr.’s concept of socially avoidable suffering, Avishai Margalit’s idea of a decent society and, fi nally, Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum’s capability approach. The latter will be connected to a theory of moral autonomy that will lay the groundwork for a theory of civic solidarity, which aims at complementing traditional theories of justice, without representing an alternative to them. (shrink)

Mereological atomism is the thesis that everything is ultimately composed of atomic parts, i.e., parts without proper parts. Typically, this thesis is characterized by an axiom stating that everything has atomic parts. The present paper argues that the success of this standard characterization depends on how the notions of sum and composition are defined. In particular, we put forward a novel definition of mereological sum that: (i) is not equivalent to existing definitions in the literature, if no strong decomposition principle (...) is assumed; (ii) can be used to argue that the standard characterization of atomism fails, because having atomic parts is not sufficient to be a sum of atoms; and (iii) provides a purely mereological distinction between structured and unstructured wholes, contributing to the ongoing debate on this crucial topic. (shrink)

Nel colloquio svoltosi nel 1976 tra il grande filosofo tedesco e due inviati del settimanale "Der Spiegel", Heidegger risponde alle accuse che gli sono state rivolte di collusione con il nazismo. Il volume è completato da un saggio sul suo pensiero politico.

The parallel distributed processing (PDP) perspective brings forward the important point that all semantic phenomena are based on analog underlying mechanisms, involving the weighted summation of multiple inputs by individual neurons. It falls short of indicating, however, how the essentially discrete nature of semantic processing may emerge at the cognitive level. Bridging this gap probably requires attractor networks.

This introduction first justifies the approach of this focus on the political thought of Foucault. Therefore it highlights the conditions that determine the appearance and the operation of the political discourse, then it clarifies because, according to Foucault, political discourse should not be analyzed in a format which opposes science to ideology, but as an act of discourse located in a strategic field and fighting with other discursive formations. It concludes with a look at the difference and interweaving that for (...) Foucault stand and connect political discourse and philosophy. (shrink)

The paper aims at analyzing some Wagnerian figures in order to show that the influence of Schopenhauer’s philosophy on Wagner is not as strong as commonly held – at least not in his operas. The figures that shall be considered are: Wotan and Brünnhilde, Tristan and Isolde, and finally Parsifal, who appears to be the only Schopenhauerian character of all.