This paper presents a review of studies that were aimed at determining which brain regions are recruited during visual self-recognition, with a particular focus on self-face recognition. A complex bilateral network, involving frontal, parietal and occipital areas, appears to be associated with self-face recognition, with a particularly high implication of the right hemisphere. Results indicate that it remains difficult to determine which specific cognitive operation is reflected by each recruited brain area, in part due to the variability of used control (...) stimuli and experimental tasks. A synthesis of the interpretations provided by previous studies is presented. The relevance of using self-recognition as an indicator of self-awareness is discussed. We argue that a major aim of future research in the field should be to identify more clearly the cognitive operations induced by the perception of the self-face, and search for dissociations between neural correlates and cognitive components. (shrink)

Kuhn claimed that several algorithms can be defended to select the best theory based on epistemic values such as simplicity, accuracy, and fruitfulness. In a recent paper, Okasha :83–115, 2011) argued that no theory choice algorithm exists which satisfies a set of intuitively compelling conditions that Arrow had proposed for a consistent aggregation of individual preference orderings. In this paper, we put forward a solution to avoid this impossibility result. Based on previous work by Gaertner and Xu, we suggest to (...) view the theory choice problem in a cardinal context and to use a general scoring function defined over a set of qualitative verdicts for every epistemic value. This aggregation method yields a complete and transitive ranking and the rule satisfies all Arrovian conditions appropriately reformulated within a cardinal setting. We also propose methods that capture the aggregation across different scientists. (shrink)

Joachim Gaertner discusses the tasks of the churches in the making of Europe. He outlines that the implementation and operation of common policies within the European Community will force the churches to Iook for common border-crossing Standpoints on socio-ethical and political issues. The task of forging common positions will certainly be difficult and at times even impossible. Nevertheless the churches must try to tackle this problem. According to Gaertner this requires an instrument of coordination which is authorized and qualified for (...) joint action and is entitled to speak on behalf of the individual churches. (shrink)

In France, some institutions seem to call for the engineer’s sense of social responsibility. However, this call is scarcely heard. Still, engineering students have been given the opportunity to gain a general education through courses in literature, law, economics, since the nineteenth century. But, such courses have long been offered only in the top ranked engineering schools. In this paper, we intend to show that the wish to increase engineering students’ social responsibility is an old concern. We also aim at (...) highlighting some macro social factors which shaped the answer to the call for social responsibility in the French engineering “Grandes Ecoles”. In the first part, we provide an overview of the scarce attention given to the engineering curriculum in the scholarly literature in France. In the second part, we analyse one century of discourses about the definition of the “complete engineer” and the consequent role of non technical education. In the third part, we focus on the characteristics of the corpus which has been institutionalized. Our main finding is that despite the many changes which occurred in engineering education during one century, the “other formation” remains grounded on a non academic “way of knowing”, and aims at increasing the reputation of the schools, more than enhancing engineering students’ social awareness. (shrink)

Labor unions are key stakeholders in the field of corporate social responsibility but researchers have paid surprisingly little attention to their CSR strategies. This article extends stakeholder theory by treating unions as having stakeholders that influence their CSR strategies. Drawing on qualitative data from a longitudinal study on selected unions in France between 2006 and 2013, this paper analyzes the underlying reasons for the differences in their approaches. It finds connections between the unions’ CSR strategy, and the perception of and (...) cooperation with stakeholders. (shrink)

Wulf Gaertner provides a comprehensive account of an important and complex issue within social choice theory: how to establish a social welfare function while restricting the spectrum of individual preferences in a sensible way. Gaertner's starting point is K. J. Arrow's famous 'Impossibility Theorem', which showed that no welfare function could exist if an unrestricted domain of preferences is to be satisfied together with some other appealing conditions. A number of leading economists have tried to provide avenues out of this (...) 'impossibility' by restricting the variety of preferences: here, Gaertner provides a clear and detailed account, using standardized mathematical notation, of well over forty theorems associated with domain conditions. Domain Conditions in Social Choice Theory will be an essential addition to the library of social choice theory for scholars and their advanced graduate students. (shrink)

The series, founded in 1970, publishes works which either combine studies in the history of philosophy with a systematic approach or bring together systematic studies with reconstructions from the history of philosophy. Monographs are published in English as well as in German. The founding editors are Erhard Scheibe (editor until 1991), Günther Patzig (until 1999) and Wolfgang Wieland (until 2003). From 1990 to 2007, the series had been co-edited by Jürgen Mittelstraß.

This paper studies a ranking rule of the following type axiomatically: each voter places k candidates into n categories with ranks from n to 1 attached to these categories, the candidate(s) with the highest aggregate score is (are) the winner(s). We show that it is characterized by a monotonicity condition and a multi-stage cancellation property.

The preparation of teachers in higher education is increasingly valued in institutions around the world. On the other hand, training models are not standardized and valorization varies. Considering that the initial or professional development of teachers passes, at least in part, by the development of a reflective practice supported on basis of scientific literature, we propose to the on think on one hand about a model of reflective practice, that of Kelchtermans, through four dimensions (instrumental, moral, political, and emotional), and (...) on the other hand about training of teachers in higher education from the perspective of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. This article, which is meant to be an open discussion on the development of reflective practice in Higher education Training, is based on a review of the scientific literature on the topic, but also in large part on our teaching practice. (shrink)

L’ouvrage est constitué par les actes du séminaire du Centre de Recherches sur la Pensée Antique (Centre « Léon Robin », alors dirigé par Gilbert Romeyer Dherbey), consacré de 1998 à 2000 aux stoïciens. Doté d’indices ainsi que d’une bibliographie très complète, il regroupe des communications de très grande qualité, en majorité inédites, et se place parmi les recueils dont la consultation se révèle urgente pour qui veut avoir une idée à la fois complète et précise de la pensée du (...) Portique. Le... (shrink)

This paper discusses justice-constrained libertarian claims that were proposed as a way to circumvent the impossibility of the Paretian liberal. Since most of the results are negative in character, we suggest an alternative route: A requirement on the structure of individual orderings should be combined with the idea that under particular circumstances individual decisiveness should be controlled by higher-order principles.

This article uses Lancaster's characteristics approach to rank sets of alternative combinations of commodity characteristics. It is assumed that there exists a reference point or reference level from which the individual evaluates set expansions in appropriate directions. We provide an axiomatic characterization for such a case.

In an article from 1973, Rittel and Webber distinguished between “tame” or “benign” problems on the one hand and “wicked” problems on the other. The authors argued that wicked problems occur in nearly all public policy issues. Since different groups adhere to different value-sets, solutions can only be expressed as better or worse. By no means can they be viewed as definitive or objective. In this paper we shall consider, from this very angle, the theory of social choice which is (...) about the aggregation of individual preferences with the aim to derive a consistent social preference. We shall show that collective choice offers wicked problems of various types which differ in their degree of severity. We shall hereby concentrate on welfare functions and voting schemes of different kinds and shall discuss these in the light of various criteria such as Arrow’s independence condition, Condorcet consistency, monotonicity, manipulability, and other properties. (shrink)

Face à l’oubli relatif dans lequel est tombée aujourd’hui la pensée des économistes germanophones du XIXe siècle qui ont critiqué l’économie classique, ce livre fait le pari de « réparer l’oubli » en resituant leurs idées dans leur contexte historique. Comme le rappelle l’auteur, le point commun des économistes étudiés dans l’ouvrage ne réside pas dans l’unité de leurs positions, mais seulement dans leur opposition au classicisme. L’intérêt de cet ouvrage, au-delà du simple exposé concernant ..

This introductory text explores the theory of social choice. Written as a primer suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduates, this text will act as an important starting point for students grappling with the complexities of social choice theory. Rigorous yet accessible, this primer avoids the use of technical language and provides an up-to-date discussion of this rapidly developing field. This is the first in a series of texts published in association with the LSE.

This introductory text explores the theory of social choice. This text is an important starting point for students grappling with the complexities of social choice theory. Rigorous yet accessible, with new chapter exercises, it avoids the use of technical language and provides an up-to-date discussion of this rapidly developing field.

Fruit de la collaboration de 95 chercheurs et chercheuses de renommée nationale et internationale, cet ouvrage se compose d’une vingtaine d’articles longs et d’une centaine de notices plus courtes, illustrés par 1 200 images (peintures, dessins, gravures, sculptures, affiches, cartes postales, photographies, presse, objets du quotidien, etc.). Ce format « beau-livre»s’impose au regard par une finition soignée. Volumineux, il est structuré en quatre parties couvrant tous les empires coloniau...

This paper provides a summary of the symposium on the institutional and social construction of Responsible Investment (RI), held at the 22nd IABS conference. In the context of the symposium, we propose to move beyond the dominant focus on the financial impact of RI to consider the potential of emergent institutional and sociological perspectives to explain the practices and concepts related to RI. In doing so, our aim is to explore in greater detail the current changes in the RI infrastructure (...) and the impact of these changes on wider issues of corporate sustainability and social responsibility. (shrink)

We read Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments as a critical response to David Hume's moral theory. While both share a commitment to moral sentimentalism, they propose different ways of meeting its main challenge, that is, explaining how judgments informed by (partial) sentiments can nevertheless have a justified claim to general authority. This difference is particularly manifest in their respective accounts of ‘moral optics’, or the way they rely on the analogy between perceptual and moral judgments. According to Hume, making (...) perceptual and moral judgments requires focusing on frequently co-occurring impressions (perceptions of objects or reactive sentiments) for tracking an existing object with its perceptual properties or an agent's character traits. Smith uses visual perception for the purpose of illustrating one source of the partiality of the sentiments people feel in response to actions. Before making a moral judgment, people have to disregard this partiality and accept that they are all equally important. Smith and Hume's different ways of relying on the same analogy reveals the still-overlooked and yet profound differences between their moral theories. (shrink)

Lorsqu’il rédige son traité De officiis, Cicéron a sous les yeux le Peri kathekontos de Panétius, auquel il emprunte sa structure tripartite. Cette structure laisse pourtant perplexe, puisque le devoir (kathekon) y est envisagé sous l’angle du beau moral, puis sous l’angle de l’utile, pour en venir à une confrontation des deux. La perplexité naît de ce que le beau moral et l’utile sont interchangeables, si l’on s’en tient aux principes posés par Zénon et Chrysippe. Que signifie alors cette structure? (...) Notre hypothèse est la suivante : Panétius entend, par ce programme, résoudre le problème de l’indétermination inhérente à la définition même du devoir ; il s’efforce de refonder le devoir en remontant à son lieu d’origine, la vertu elle-même, comprise sous ses deux faces les plus claires : kalon et sympheron. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Frühmittelalterliche Studien Jahrgang: 48 Heft: 1 Seiten: 277-294.

According to Adam Smith, the acquisition of moral conscience is an essential part of a person’s moral education. I argue that moral conscience as conceived by Smith enables a person to intentionally take the role of an impartial spectator. I trace the process of moral education from the child in its family, to interaction with peers to learning and then to a self-evaluation, learning to become one’s own spectator and judge. This is a move from uncritical trust to external guidance (...) to acquiring the faculty of conscience. Smith recommends most people to rely on the ‘common rules of morality’ rather than on sympathetic processes alone. But such reliance represents merely a second best procedure for reaching a properly impartial moral judgment. While the ‘wise and virtuous’ may well improve on the impartiality of the ‘common rules of morality’, even their moral judgments will never be perfectly impartial or certain beyond doubt. (shrink)

Zur Verringerung der Knappheit an Organen wird die Einführung eines Marktes für menschliche Organe vorgeschlagen. Personen, die ihre Organe verkaufen, und Personen, die ihre Organe lebend spenden, sind medizinisch den gleichen Gefahren ausgesetzt. Der Verkaufserlös bietet für den Abgebenden eine Einkommenssteigerung, die vielfältig genutzt werden kann. Die auf Schwarzmärkten beobachteten negativen Effekte sollen durch eine strikte Überwachung und Regulierung verhindert werden. Der Markt für Organe kann von zwei getrennten Ankaufsorganisationen geprägt werden. Eine Organisation zahlt die Weiterverkaufserlöse der Organe direkt an (...) die Geber aus, eine andere Organisation investiert sie stattdessen in wohltätige Zwecke und gibt so den Gebern die Möglichkeit, ihr Organ aus rein altruistischen Motiven zu spenden. Die Finanzierung des Systems soll durch das öffentliche Gesundheitssystem bzw. die privaten Krankenversicherungen erfolgen. (shrink)

Can we have objective knowledge of the world? Can we understand what is morally right or wrong? Yes, to some extent. This is the answer given by Adam Smith and Edmund Husserl. Both rejected David Hume s skeptical account of what we can hope to understand. But they held his empirical method in high regard, inquiring into the way we perceive and emotionally experience the world, into the nature and function of human empathy and sympathy and the role of the (...) imagination in processes of intersubjective understanding. The challenge is to overcome the natural constraints of perceptual and emotional experience and reach an agreement that is informed by the facts in the world and the nature of morality. This collection of philosophical essays addresses an audience of Smith- and Husserl scholars as well as everybody interested in theories of objective knowledge and proper morality which are informed by the way we perceive and think and communicate.". (shrink)

Philosophy in nature strips away the pomp of institutions and the ideal of athleticism while creating an opportunity for a basic human exchange that is all too rare – it sets people side by side on the land to talk things over and think things through. Like any endeavor, operating philosophy tours has distinctive challenges and rewards. Doing philosophy in nature is a tour of the land and of ideas. Taking this into account might make the idea of a “philosophy (...) tour guide” sound more plausible and less bizarre. These tours usually happen on public lands, and so it is grounded in the political realities in which we live. Doing philosophy in nature is a unique opportunity to allow the amazing natural environment to facilitate personal growth and insight. (shrink)

Les sœurs Papin, auteures d’un fait divers tragique qui a sidéré la France en 1933, ont inspiré, voire fasciné, hommes de lettres, cinéastes, psychanalystes. Christine et Léa Papin seraient dépositaires des traumatismes familiaux inter et transgénérationnels non transformés et clivés. Séparées dans la petite enfance, placées par leur mère comme domestiques chez la famille Lancelin, elles reproduiraient entre elles le lien d’interdépendance symbiotique instaurée auparavant avec elle. Le retour du vécu traumatique clivé et l’ébranlement de la symbiose consécutif à la (...) rupture d’avec celle-ci seraient à l’origine du passage à l’acte criminel sauvage perpétré par les sœurs sur leurs patronnes. (shrink)

Arrow’s impossibility result not only had a profound influence on welfare economics, but was, as this paper shows, also widely discussed in philosophy of science and in the engineering design literature.

In 1981, the property of self-supporting preferences was shown to be a sufficient condition to circumvent Sen’s famous impossibility result on Paretian liberalism. A similar condition was proposed by Dougherty and Edward in a very recent issue of this journal. The present comment sheds light on the logical connection between these two findings.

Name der Zeitschrift: Frühmittelalterliche Studien Jahrgang: 47 Heft: 1 Seiten: 185-208.