Mental causation, idea that it is us – via our minds – who cause bodily actions is as commonsensical as it is indispensable for our understanding of ourselves as rational agents. Somewhat less uncontroversial, but nonetheless widespread (at least among ordinary people) is the idea that the mind is non-physical, following the intuition that what is physical can neither act nor think nor judge morally. Taken together, and cast into a metaphysical thesis, the two intuitions yield interactive dualism: the view (...) that human persons and their minds are non-physical but can nonetheless interact with their bodies, most notably through their brains. This thesis has two main objectives: first, to defend interactive dualism against objections, and second, to show how it can blend in with a physical world in which laws of nature hold. The first part (chapter 1) consists in a brief motivation of interactive dualism as opposed to non-interactive dualism. I argue that non-interactive, epiphenomenalist dualism sacrifices so many crucial aspects of our human existence that interactive dualism is highly to be preferred to it, barring even stronger counterarguments against the latter. It is those putative counterarguments I address in parts II and III. Part II takes on the philosophical objections from the causal closure of the physical and from causal heterogeneity. The former takes the success of physics and physiology as basis for the doctrine of the causal closure of the physical (CCP). I argue against this that there is not only no convincing argument for CCP, but also that any science-based belief in CCP cannot be epistemically justified. As regards the causal heterogeneity objection, it is ‘weighed and found wanting’, because it relies on unwarranted assumptions about causation. In part III, I examine the objection from energy conservation. It roughly says that if interactive dualism were true, then energy would not be conserved, which physics taught us cannot be the case. My reply is that the underlying conception of energy (and momentum) conservation is wrong-headed and not the one that actual physicists use. Instead of being categorical and global, conservation laws are conditional and local, thereby making natural room for mental interaction. Some dualists, however, have sought to make interactive dualism conservation-friendly, notably by invoking quantum physics; I show that these attempts are unnecessary and create more problems than they solve. Finally, in chapter 9, I turn the tables on non-interactionists by investigating current neurophysiological literature on volitional actions, which, though not addressing the question directly, still encourages the interactive dualist picture more than a non-interactionist one. Part IV is about the interplay between interactive dualism and the laws of nature. The ultimate goal is, if possible, to come up with a theory of the laws of nature that explains the lawlike behavior of nature and at the same time makes room for interaction. I begin by pointing out that the laws of nature are or at least should be what physicalists worry about (chapter 10). I then proceed with a historical survey on the development of the notion of laws of nature (chapter 11) that sheds light on its theistic origin. This is followed by an inquiry into the question how a law of nature could possibly be broken (chapter 12) and a survey of the extant metaphysical theories of the laws of nature with special regard to their receptivity to interaction (chapter 13). Finally, in chapter 14 I develop a theory of the laws of nature both faithful to their divine origin and the possibility of mental interaction: dispositionalist divine decretalism, a synthesis of dispositionalism and Jeffrey Koperski’s divine decretalism. (shrink)

As case management is under development in France for elderly people, this study sets out to identify and analyse key situations responsible for ethical dilemmas for French case managers. We based our study on the analyses of individual interviews made with case managers and focus-group discussions, bringing together all case managers working in local organisations running for at least a year. We identified three situations giving rise to ethical dilemmas: in the order of importance, the refusals of care, the practicalities (...) of collecting and sharing personal data and the allocation of resources. These three situations can lead to conflict between the principle of beneficence and those of respect for autonomy, non-maleficence and justice. We describe here how French case managers practically deal with these situations. (shrink)

This essay examines the fantasy of life extension enabled through the transfer of one’s consciousness to new, cloned bodies in the event of disease, accident, or old age. This vision has recently been dramatized in both fiction and film, bearing witness to the power of this imaginary scenario. This eventuality would raise wide-ranging ethical issues, which speculative bioethics should begin to contemplate. Interestingly, it is young adult fiction that has recently provided an extensive and consistent cluster of novels dealing not (...) only with this topic but also with the interrelated notion of clones purposely grown to replace a loved one, with a concomitant array of further ethical concerns. These and related topics will be examined here through the lens of fiction and recent theoretical work on future biotechnological scenarios. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Semiotica Jahrgang: 2016 Heft: 212 Seiten: 59-79.

Background: Mismatch between the perception of one’s moral duty and one’s real social contribution may trigger moral distress, especially when no specific resistance strategies are used to counteract morally distressing situations. Considering a philosophical-ethical conception, individuals need to first reflect upon themselves to later turn to the world and confront their current situation in order to change it. Objectives: To understand moral distress experienced by nursing professors teaching in higher education institutions and the use of parrhesia as a coping strategy. (...) Method: This qualitative exploratory-descriptive study addressed 33 nursing professors working in Brazilian federal public universities using an open-ended question form. Data were collected between June and December 2018 and analyzed using discursive textual analysis. Ethical considerations: The Institutional Review Board at the Federal University of Rio Grande approved this study. Findings: Three categories emerged: performance of nursing professors and potentially distressing situations, the experience of moral distress, and parrhesia as a strategy to deal with moral distress. Nursing professors face situations that cause moral distress in the context of higher education, however, those who adopt parrhesia as a coping strategy find it easier to express their beliefs from the perspective of moral duty, even in the face of conflicts. Conclusion: When the nursing professors in this study acknowledge elements in the power structure that hinder their actions, they express parrhesia, as an essential virtue in an attempt to modify unsymmetrical power relations that can trigger moral distress. (shrink)

In topical philosophy of religion the word 'given' plays an important role. However the meaning of this word is ambiguous. The word refers not only to the factual reality (datum) but also to what is given as a gift to someone (donum). This ambiguity leads toan unclear mixture of philosophical and religious positions. Therefore an analysis of such mixture is necessary. The main question of this analysis is how faith and religion on the one hand, and ontology and reason on (...) the other hand, influence each other? Isn'tit so that in the religious domain nobody can be convinced with and by rational means? In the first section, the question on the reality of the ultimate meaning as the momentfrom where man is motivated to lead his life, is explored. In the second section the idea is developed that philosophical insights are meaningful with regard to religious meaning only if they are referred back to religious faith. In the third section the question posited is whether philosophical reflection does not loose its original motivationalcontext if it isn't referred back to its original point of departure. This analysis is worked out against the background of I. Verhack's book: De mens en zijn onrust. Over het raadsel van de beweging. (shrink)

Two types of truth table task are used to examine people's mental representation of conditionals. In two within-participants experiments, participants either receive the same task-type twice (Experiment 1) or are presented successively with both a possibilities task and a truth task (Experiment 2). Experiment 3 examines how people interpret the three-option possibilities task and whether they have a clear understanding of it. The present study aims to examine, for both task-types, how participants' cognitive ability relates to the classification of the (...) truth table cases as irrelevant, and their consistency in doing so. Looking at the answer patterns, participants' cognitive ability influences their classification of the truth table cases: A positive correlation exists between cognitive ability and the number of false-antecedent cases classified as ?irrelevant?, both in the possibilities task and the truth task. This favours a suppositional representation of conditionals. (shrink)

Interest in proportionalism as an important trend in Catholic moral theology seems to have faded in the recent decade. This has led some to view it as a movement that was somehow defeated. I suggest that proportionalism's influence can still be seen in contemporary Catholic ethics, most noticeably in the current interest in virtue ethics, casuistry, and feminist ethics. I argue that proportionalism encouraged a reappraisal of the methodology for evaluating moral action in a direction that was more hospitable to (...) concerns about the particularity and context of the agent. (shrink)

The recent development of biosemiotics has revealed the achievement of knowledge and the development of science to be the results of the semiosis of all life forms, including those commonly regarded as cultural constructs. Education is thus a semiosic structure to which evolution itself has adapted, while learning is the semiotic phenomenon that determines the renewal of life itself. Historically, it was a semiotic paradigm that determined the emergence of institutions such as universities and that underpinned the development of liberal (...) education. The present article considers the history of education in terms of sign emergence and evolution, regarding education as currently being conceived and practised as a stage in the general evolutionary action of signs. This approach differs from the prevailing modern approaches to education, which are mostly applied psychology and sociology. (shrink)

At workplaces where nanomaterials are produced or used, risk assessment and risk management are extremely difficult tasks since there is still limited evidence about the risks of nanomaterials. Measurement methods for nanoparticles are contested and safety standards have not yet been developed properly. To support compliance with the legal obligation of the employer to care for safe workplaces a large number of ‘soft’ regulatory tools have been proposed (e.g. codes of conduct, benchmarks, standards). However, it is not clear whether and (...) under which conditions soft regulation is complied with. This article discusses the potential advantages and drawbacks of soft regulation. It explores compliance issues when exposure measurement devices and other technology-related factors are involved. The exploration of three examples of soft regulation on occupational health and safety (a ministerial recommendation on preliminary exposure benchmarks, a nano-specific guidance of a chemical company and a public–private OHS guideline) shows that the capacity of the regulated parties to comply depends on the availability of appropriate technological devices and methods, technical expertise and other resources. When technological prerequisites are met, compliance is likely to increase. (shrink)

This paper explores a semiotic notion of body as starting point for bridging biosemiotic with social semiotic theory. The cornerstone of the argument is that the social semiotic criticism of the classic view of meaning as double articulation can support the criticism of language-centrism that lies at the foundation of biosemiotics. Besides the pragmatic epistemological advantages implicit in a theoretical synthesis, I argue that this brings a semiotic contribution to philosophy of mind broadly. Also, it contributes to overcoming the polemic (...) in linguistics between, loosely put, cognitive universalism and cultural relativism. This possibility is revealed by the recent convergence of various semiotic theories towards a criticism of the classic notion of meaning as double articulation. In biosemiotics, the interest to explicate meaning as multiply articulated stems from the construal of Umwelt as relying on the variety of sense perception channels and semiotic systems that a species has at its disposal. Recently, social semiotics developed an unexplored interest for embodiment by starting from the other end, namely the consideration of the modal heterogeneity of meaning. To bridge these notions, I employ the cognitive semantic notion of embodiment and Mittelberg’s cognitive semiotic notion of exbodiment. In light of these, I explore the possible intricacies between the biosemiotic notion of primary modeling system and concepts referring to preconceptual structures for knowledge organization stemming from cognitive linguistics. Further, Mittelberg’s concept of exbodiment allows for a construal of meaning articulation as mediation between the exbodying and embodying directions of mind. (shrink)

Les nouveaux facteurs-clefs du succès de l'ère post-révolution numérique incluent la maîtrise de nouveaux outils de marketing, le niveau d'investissements technologiques et la compréhension de tendances globales et mondiales. La régulation pourrait être proactive pour anticiper et préparer la transition numérique dans des champs aussi décisifs que la régulation de la concurrence et des critères de concentration.New key factors in the success of the post-digital revolution include the mastery of new marketing tools, the level of investment in technology and understanding (...) of global trends and global. Regulation could be proactive to anticipate and prepare for the digital transition in fields as decisive as the regulation of competition and concentration criteria. (shrink)

There is ample evidence that in classical truth table task experiments false antecedents are judged as ?irrelevant?. Instead of interpreting this in support of a suppositional representation of conditionals, Schroyens (2010a, 2010b) attributes it to the induction problem: the impossibility of establishing the truth of a universal claim on the basis of a single case. In the first experiment a truth table task with four options is administered and the correlation with intelligence is inspected. It is observed that ?undetermined? is (...) chosen in one third of the judgements and ?irrelevant? in another third. A positive correlation is revealed between intelligence and the number of ?irrelevant? and ?undetermined? judgements. The data do not exclude that a part of the ?irrelevant? judgements in classical truth table task experiments might be caused by the induction problem. In the second experiment participants are presented with a simplified four-option truth table task and asked for a justification of their judgements. These justifications show the induction problem is not the reason for choosing the ?irrelevant? or ?undetermined? option, which is supportive for a suppositional representation of conditionals. (shrink)

A violência sexual contra meninas constitui-se em um problema de dimensões alarmantes para a sociedade. Assim, este estudo objetivou compreender as concepções e crenças sobre o abuso sexual, as relações e reações familiares de adolescentes em situação de vulnerabilidade social. Participaram 30 adole..

L’article montre tout d’abord, à travers l’étude de deux corpus de contes et de la gestion de faits récents de transsexualisme, en quoi la musique est constitutive de l’identité féminine dans l’ethnie maure de Mauritanie. La problématique est élargie au champ du religieux de l’aire arabo-musulmane, qui voit dans ce lien une menace pour l’ordre social et symbolique qu’il défend, avant d’être explicitée par le recours à des concepts issus de la psychanalyse. Puis il est question, à travers la description (...) d’un orchestre de musique confrérique uniquement composé de femmes, de l’ébranlement de ce schéma dans le Maroc contemporain, sous l’effet des idées féministes et de la généralisation de pratiques d’égalité entre les sexes. (shrink)

The question of the sense or meaning of religious behavior is something different from praying or religious activity itself. If one wants to understand religious activity (or if someone wants to explain his actions), one speaks from a distanced concern with regard to this activity or behavior. In a certain sense, activity must be postponed in order to produce an interpretation. The thinking way of giving an account is a different activity, another act, than the act (in this case the (...) religious act) to which the reflecting act of thinking refers. In the first part of this paper, the question is posed as to how religious activity can be understood in terms of hermeneutic reflection. Thisquestion arises from the insight that the rationality of onto-theological thinking is no longer able to understand religious behavior. The second part poses the question as to whether religious activity can be understood from the perspective of a hermeneutical reason. (shrink)

The principle of energy conservation is widely taken to be a se- rious difficulty for interactionist dualism (whether property or sub- stance). Interactionists often have therefore tried to make it satisfy energy conservation. This paper examines several such attempts, especially including E. J. Lowe’s varying constants proposal, show- ing how they all miss their goal due to lack of engagement with the physico-mathematical roots of energy conservation physics: the first Noether theorem (that symmetries imply conservation laws), its converse (that conservation (...) laws imply symmetries), and the locality of continuum/field physics. Thus the “conditionality re- sponse”, which sees conservation as (bi)conditional upon symme- tries and simply accepts energy non-conservation as an aspect of interactionist dualism, is seen to be, perhaps surprisingly, the one most in accord with contemporary physics (apart from quantum mechanics) by not conflicting with mathematical theorems basic to physics. A decent objection to interactionism should be a posteri- ori, based on empirically studying the brain. (shrink)

KDD (Knowledge Discovery in Databases) confronts us withphenomena that can intuitively be grasped as highly problematic, but arenevertheless difficult to understand and articulate. Many of theseproblems have to do with what I call the ``deindividualization of theperson'': a tendency of judging and treating persons on the basis ofgroup characteristics instead of on their own individual characteristicsand merits. This tendency will be one of the consequences of theproduction and use of group profiles with the help of KDD. Currentprivacy law and regulations, (...) as well as current ethical theoryconcerning privacy, start from too narrow a definition of ``personaldata'' to capture these problems. In this paper, I introduce the notionof ``categorical privacy'' as a starting point for a possible remedy forthe failures of the current conceptions of privacy. I discuss some waysin which the problems relating to group profiles definitely cannot besolved and I suggest a possible way out of these problems. Finally, Isuggest that it may take us a step forward if we would begin to questionthe predominance of privacy norms in the social debate on informationtechnologies and if we would be prepared to introduce normativeprinciples other than privacy rules for the assessment of newinformation technologies. If we do not succeed in articulating theproblems relating to KDD clearly, one day we may find ourselves in asituation where KDD appears to have undermined the methodic andnormative individualism which pervades the mainstream of morality andmoral theory. (shrink)

This paper reconsiders semiotic modelling in light of recent scholarship on Charles Peirce, particularly regarding his concept of proposition. Conceived in the vein of Peirce’s phenomenological categories as well as of his taxonomy of signs, semiotic modelling has mostly been thought of as ascending from simple, basic sign types to complex ones. This constitutes the backbone of most currently accepted semiotic modelling theories and entails the further acceptance of an unexamined a priori coherence between complexity of cognition and complexity of (...) signification. Following recent readings of Peirce’s post-1900 semiotic, we engage in a discussion as to what are the limits of this approach. From Stjernfelt’s conception of the dicisign in nature, we derive a perspective that affords understanding the practice of modelling as a reciprocal interplay between decomposition of complexity and recombination into further complexity. This discussion is facilitated by the recent extrapolation of the constructivist concept of scaffolding in biosemiotics research. Cognition, we argue, begins with a fundamental irritation of trying to make sense of a structure that is more complex than what can directly be derived from experience and, in so doing, urges meaning-seeking processes. The yet unknown object is decomposed into more tangible objects and is subsequently reassembled from these more manageable conceptions of the object. In support of our argument, we discuss the notions of semiotic competences and resources in light of such a naturalized account of meaning-making. (shrink)

This commentary addresses the concept of learning stemming from Eva Jablonka and Simona Ginsburg’s theory of the emergence of consciousness. Jablonka and Ginsburg find strong support in biosemiotics for their argument that learning offers an evolutionary transition marker for the emergence of consciousness. Indeed, biosemiotics embraces a view on evolution that integrates both phylogeny and ontogeny. It does not polarize learning and evolving. At the same time, Jablonka and Ginsburg’s argument gives both biosemiotics and learning theory a shake, forcing scholarship (...) in these fields to tackle difficult questions on agency, selfhood, consciousness and anthropological difference. I explore some of the main questions that arise from this theoretical development, particularly in reference to Andrew Stables’ semiotic learning theory, which has been easily nested in a biosemiotic framework. (shrink)

Citizen participation today needs to be understood as both an empowerment practice to create urban futures as well as the perpetuation of entrepreneurial and neoliberal modes of planning. The exponential progress of technologies and the digitalisation of everyday life have led to a surge of innovation. Since hybridity has become a key factor, citizen participation now involves citizens and governments meeting online and offline in a multi-stakeholder setting to plan the city in parallel layers, often according to controversial or even (...) contradictory logic (Horelli et al., 2015). As digital citizen participation opens up new tools and means to mobilise people and shape urban futures, this chapter analyses these new aspects through the categories of top-down/bottom-up participation as well as formal/informal practices. Using four case studies comparatively, our aim with this chapter is to find a new theoretical basis and contextualisation for digital citizen participation. The case studies are situated across Europe and North America: we study participatory budgeting in Helsinki, digitalising citizen participation in Lubbock, Texas, the National Map of Security Threats in Poland, and digital placemaking by a grassroots movement in an urban planning participation process in Zürich, Switzerland. The findings of the article show that (1) digital citizen participation fosters novel multi-actor networks negotiating governance of the urban space, (2) studies of citizen participation need to acknowledge the multi-layered hybridity and (3) new modes of governance enable novel senses of informality in participation. (shrink)

This article discusses some rather formal characteristics of possible obligations to enhance. Obligations to enhance can exist in the absence of good moral reasons. If obligation and duty however are considered as synonyms, the enhancement involved must be morally desirable in some respect. Since enhancers and enhanced can, but need not coincide, advertency is appropriate regarding the question who exactly is addressed by an obligation or a duty to enhance: the person on whom the enhancing treatment is performed, or the (...) controller or the operator of the enhancement. Especially, the position of the operator is easily overlooked. The exact functionality of the specific enhancement, is all-important, not only for the acceptability of a specific form of enhancement, but also for its chances of success for becoming a duty or morally obligatory. Finally and most importantly, however, since obligations can exist without good moral reasons, there can be obligations to enhance that are not morally right, let alone desirable. (shrink)

L’ouvrage de B. Collette propose une reconstruction inédite de la doctrine stoïcienne de la providence. Il apporte en cela une contribution majeure et sans précédent, puisqu’aucune étude n’avait jusqu’alors été consacrée à la question. La notion de providence a généralement été délaissée par les exégètes. Ceux-ci s’intéressent plus volontiers au concept voisin et complémentaire de destin, dont on s’imagine, à tort, que lui seul constitue un véritable enjeu et problème philosophique. Or l’idée...

Background: Little is known about case managers’ ethical issues and professional values. Objectives: This article presents an overview of ethical issues in case managers’ current practice. Findings are examined in the light of nursing ethics, social work ethics and principle-based biomedical ethics. Research design: A systematic literature review was performed to identify and analyse empirical studies concerning ethical issues in case management programmes. It was completed by systematic content analysis of case managers’ national codes of ethics. Findings: Only nine empirical (...) studies were identified, eight of them from North America. The main dilemmas were how to balance system goals against the client’s interest and client protection against autonomy. Professional codes of ethics shared important similarities, but offered different responses to these two dilemmas. Discussion: We discuss the respective roles of professional and organizational ethics. Further lines of research are suggested. (shrink)

O presente artigo objetivou apresentar uma revisão sistemática da produção científica brasileira sobre a inclusão de crianças autistas no ensino regular, publicada entre os anos de 2010 e 2020. As buscas foram realizadas nas bases de dados SciELO, BIREME, Redalyc, EBSCO e Scopus, tendo como descritor “a inclusão de crianças autistas”. Após a verificação dos estudos, e contemplando-se os critérios de inclusão e exclusão da presente pesquisa, foram selecionados oito artigos. Nos principais resultados, pôde-se perceber que a maioria das pesquisas (...) empíricas utilizaram-se de métodos quantitativos e buscaram investigar se a relação das escolas regulares com a inclusão de crianças autistas nesse meio ocorre de forma positiva ou negativa. Outro dado importante foi a falta de preparação dos ensinos regulares frente à inclusão dessas crianças, no sentido de que muitos professores não se sentem aptos para trabalhar com estas. Por fim, discutiram-se os achados mais relevantes e propuseram-se novos temas para futuras pesquisas acerca deste tema. (shrink)

Le présent article se propose d'examiner les défis que devra relever la Francophonie panaméricaine pour assurer son intégration dans la ZLÉA. La rencontre entre les deux Amériques, l'une francophone et centrée sur le Québec, l'autre créole et centrée sur la Caraïbe, n'est pas le moindre de ces défis puisqu'elle implique que la Francophonie panaméricaine fasse fi de la contradiction apparente qu'il existe à revendiquer l'exception culturelle pour se « protéger » tout en acceptant le métissage, la créolisation, de ses manifestations (...) linguistiques et culturelles. La Francophonie panaméricaine est-elle à la hauteur de cette épreuve? Il serait prétentieux de prétendre apporter une réponse ferme et définitive à ces vastes questions, mais la réflexion qui suit propose quelques pistes d'analyse, disons, prospective...This article explores the challenges faced by Panamerican Francophony in order to ensure its integration within the FTAA. The meeting of two Americas, one Francophone and centred on the Province of Québec, the other Creole and centered on the Caribbean, is not the least of the challenges. It also essential that Panamerican Francophony transcends the apparent contradiction which exists between, on the one hand, the need for its cultural distinctiveness to be recognised in order to be better protected and, on the other, the acceptation of the process of creolisation and métissage of language and culture. Is the Panamerican Francophony capable of rising to the challenge? It would be pretentious to say one can provide an unequivocal answer to these broad-ranging questions, but the following discussion suggests a few lines of thought and, perhaps, possible outcomes.. (shrink)

Este artigo trata da possibilidade de utilização do instituto da requisição administrativa pelos Gestores do SUS no atual cenário de crise sanitária, causado pela epidemia de Covid-19, demonstrando a necessidade da motivação dos atos administrativos se pautar nos princípios da razoabilidade e da proporcionalidade. Demonstra a necessidade da atuação da Agência Nacional de Saúde Suplementar como órgão regulador que promove o equilíbrio do mercado de saúde privada junto aos usuários e operadoras de planos de saúde privados e enfatiza a importância (...) da análise econômica do direito para tomada de decisões nas políticas públicas. (shrink)

Desde o início da teorização freudiana, inibição, defesa e censura são processos que devem incidir sobre as pulsões. O primitivo pulsional precisa ser reprimido ou transformado. Este artigo problematiza a relação entre as pulsões sexuais e a defesa psíquica, ao longo do período pré-psicanalítico e da primeira tópica freudiana. Situamos o conflito entre sexualidade e repressão, apontado por Freud como característico das psiconeuroses, enquanto que nas neuroses atuais a angústia está relacionada a um registro quantitativo e não exatamente a um (...) conflito psíquico. Nesse caso, revela-se desencontros entre um sexual corpóreo e sua representação psíquica. Pretende-se, neste trabalho, evidenciar o caráter negativo das pulsões e pôr em relevo a natureza do antagonismo que se opõe às pulsões sexuais. A formulação das pulsões de autoconservação como aquilo que deve se contrapor às pulsões sexuais não esclarece completamente porque é imperativo que algo aconteça face às vivências pulsionais fundantes do aparelho. A satisfação em estado bruto acarreta prejuízos, tanto do ponto de vista psíquico quanto social; logo, a repressão das pulsões sexuais é condição necessária para a existência individual e coletiva. Evidencia-se assim algo específico do humano, afinal, se toda a natureza funciona afirmando o instinto, a espécie humana somente se desenvolve a partir de sua negação. A partir de tais construções teóricas, questiona-se se a psicanálise ainda permanece demasiadamente tributária de uma concepção de natureza revestida de pressupostos morais, sustentando a noção de que tenha que ser continuamente negada, afastada, coagida e domesticada, em prol de construções sociais bastante questionáveis, porém acatadas como necessárias. (shrink)

ObjectivesQuality of Life depends on the discrepancy between desired and current experiences, thus in chronic illness, adjustment of expectations and interpretation of the current situation are crucial. Depression is known to influence this gap, and the present study aims to further assess the role of resilience and health locus of control.MethodsA total of 94 patients with neurological disorders were screened via telephone regarding depression, resilience and HLC. Current and desired state of several life domains were assessed, such as Fitness, General (...) Health, Pain, Daily Activities, Finances, Leisure, and Family. Elastic net regularization and analyses of variance were used to disentangle the impact of depression, resilience, HLC, and sociodemographic factors on the perception of current and desired state, and the gap between both.ResultsA gap was present for all domains but largest for pain. Interpretation of the current state was linked to desired state, HLC, and age. All gaps were related to depression; certain domains were in addition influenced by resilience, HLC and sociodemographic factors. Of note, for most domains, patients did not select the highest possible desired state.ConclusionOlder patients with neurological disorders report a gap between current and desired state for many aspects of life. Adjusting expectations is beneficial in the face of declining health, but a reasonably increased desired state may positively influence the perception of the current situation. Depression negatively influences the interpretation of the Calman gap. (shrink)

Individuals exposed to dieting-related environmental cues have been repeatedly shown to be better able to resist tempting food. This especially applies to restrained eaters who hold a chronic dieting goal. Thus far, mainly short-term effects of environmental dieting cues have been examined and the individuals were typically unaware of being influenced. Yet, it is unclear whether individuals can deliberately apply environmental dieting cues for themselves to facilitate the pursuit of the longer-term goal of losing weight. The present longitudinal study applied (...) a 2 × 2 between-subjects design for 6 months. Our results provide preliminary indications that cue, awareness, and restrained eating interact. The results suggest that high restrained eaters could deliberately apply environmental dieting cues for themselves to facilitate losing weight. However, further studies are needed to explore the effects of environmental dieting cues over a longer period of time. (shrink)