At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 became a global problem. Despite all the efforts to emphasize the relevance of preventive measures, not everyone adhered to them. Thus, learning more about the characteristics determining attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic is crucial to improving future interventions. In this study, we applied machine learning on the multi-national data collected by the International Collaboration on the Social and Moral Psychology of COVID-19 (N = 51,404) to test the predictive efficacy of constructs from (...) social, moral, cognitive, and personality psychology, as well as socio-demographic factors, in the attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic. The results point to several valuable insights. Internalized moral identity provided the most consistent predictive contribution—individuals perceiving moral traits as central to their self-concept reported higher adherence to preventive measures. Similar was found for morality as cooperation, symbolized moral identity, self-control, open-mindedness, collective narcissism, while the inverse relationship was evident for the endorsement of conspiracy theories. However, we also found a non-negligible variability in the explained variance and predictive contributions with respect to macro-level factors such as the pandemic stage or cultural region. Overall, the results underscore the importance of morality-related and contextual factors in understanding adherence to public health recommendations during the pandemic. (shrink)

To model behavioral and neural correlates of language comprehension in naturalistic environments, researchers have turned to broad‐coverage tools from natural‐language processing and machine learning. Where syntactic structure is explicitly modeled, prior work has relied predominantly on context‐free grammars (CFGs), yet such formalisms are not sufficiently expressive for human languages. Combinatory categorial grammars (CCGs) are sufficiently expressive directly compositional models of grammar with flexible constituency that affords incremental interpretation. In this work, we evaluate whether a more expressive CCG provides a better (...) model than a CFG for human neural signals collected with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while participants listen to an audiobook story. We further test between variants of CCG that differ in how they handle optional adjuncts. These evaluations are carried out against a baseline that includes estimates of next‐word predictability from a transformer neural network language model. Such a comparison reveals unique contributions of CCG structure‐building predominantly in the left posterior temporal lobe: CCG‐derived measures offer a superior fit to neural signals compared to those derived from a CFG. These effects are spatially distinct from bilateral superior temporal effects that are unique to predictability. Neural effects for structure‐building are thus separable from predictability during naturalistic listening, and those effects are best characterized by a grammar whose expressive power is motivated on independent linguistic grounds. (shrink)

It is generally claimed that there exist exceptional circumstances when taking human life may be approved and when such actions may be justified on moral grounds. Precise guidelines in the medical field for making such decisions concerning patients who are terminally ill or have irreparable injuries incompatible with a bearable life, are difficult to establish. Recommendations that take the particular logical form of a rule, such as "in dubio pro vita", "when in doubt favour life") have been suggested and in (...) some countries incorporated into legal texts (Germany). We claim here that such a rule is of no value since it is open-ended and always allows for doubt, and a decision to employ measures that would support human life could always be argued to be a valid choice. Preservation of this rule could be encouraged, but giving it the force of law may put physicians at risk, as they may be challenged for choosing to terminate life in otherwise ethically and medically uncontroversial circumstances. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the hermeneutical method of Theodoret of Cyrus, who was one of the most important Biblical commentators and an influential theologian of the School of Antioch. This paper attempts to point out the fact that in the person of the Blessed Theodoret we find the first attempt of synthesis between the Antioch and Alexandria hermeneutical schools. In his hermeneutical work Theodoret attempted to overcome the contradictions existing up to that point and to follow (...) a middle way, without discarding neither the literal nor the spiritual-allegorical interpretation. It could be argued that Theodoret rejected the extreme hermeneutical trends of both the Alexandrian and Antioch inspirations; he developed his unique methods and tactics, which were rooted in the previous patristic tradition of the Church Fathers. (shrink)

Optimization, in general, is regarded as the process of finding optimal values for the variables of a given problem in order to minimize or maximize one or more objective function(s). Brain storm optimization (BSO) algorithm solves a complex optimization problem by mimicking the human idea generating process, in which a group of people solves a problem together. The aim of this paper is to present hybrid BSO algorithm solutions in the past 5 years. This study could be divided into two (...) parts: strategies and applications. In the first part, different strategies for the hybrid BSO algorithms intended to improve the various ability of the original BSO algorithm are displayed. In the second part, the real-world applications in the past five years in optimization, prediction and feature selection processes are presented. (shrink)

Although Slovenia is a small, relatively new nation-state, it has been justifiably called “neocorporatist” and a “coordinated market economy,” making it unique among postcommunist societies, including ten new EU member states. The authors explore how it became so, and in the process shed light on the debate between varieties of capitalism and power resources theories about how coordinated or neocorporatist economies emerge. Although several of the elements predicted by the varieties of capitalism perspective were present in Slovenia, others were not. (...) The authors also find that a significant mobilization by organized labor at a crucial point played an essential role, and overall find that power resources theory has greater explanatory power in this case. However, in turning from explaining how the Slovenian model was formed to why it was so unique among postcommunist cases, they find that specific historical legacies were critical, particularly those from the distinct Yugoslav form of communism. (shrink)

Human nature, regardless of how we perceive it, whether from an ethical or psychological standpoint, is arguably such that it prevents the overwhelming majority of people from killing other humans....

The main goal of this work is to present the proof-theoretical and model-theoretical approaches to probabilistic logics which allow reasoning about independence and probabilistic support. We extend the existing formalisms [14] to obtain several variants of probabilistic logics by adding the operators for independence and confirmation to the syntax. We axiomatize these logics, provide corresponding semantics, prove that the axiomatizations are sound and strongly complete, and discuss decidability issues.

Ako je u antičkom polisu Platona brinulo što se građani samodovoljno oslanjaju na vlastita uvjerenja o vrlinama, ne tragajući za znanjem, današnjeg žitelja globalnog pseudopolisa opčinjavaju simulirane informacije, slike i uvjerenja koja nezamislivim bujanjem kreiraju društvenu svijest. U sjenci masmedijskih pećina uočavaju se obrisi transformirane demokracije koja je sve izloženija silovitim naletima megakorporativnih interesa, dominantnih geopolitičkih utjecaja, kulturnog determinizma i redefiniranog vjerskog fundamentalizma. Usamljenom pojedincu na Agori sve je teže formirati i sačuvati vlastito mišljenje, ideje i vrijednosti. Infoprostor je pokriven (...) globalnom mrežom informacija i podataka, dok čin razmjene simboličkih sadržaja od čovjeka preuzimaju strojevi! Sloboda izražavanja medija je kisik otvorenog, javnog komuniciranja, stup demokratskih građevina, ali problem je u činjenici što čuvari informacijskih ulaza i dalje stražare, ovoga puta pred cyberprostorima.If Plato was upset that people leaned on their own convictions about virtues, without seeking knowledge, present resident of global pseudopolis is obsessed by simulated information, pictures and convictions, which create social consciousness with their hyperproduction. In shadow of massmedia’s caves, contours of transformed democracy can be seen. This democracy is more and more exposed to the interests of megacorporations, dominant geopolitical influence, cultural determinism, and redefined fundamentalism. Under such circumstances, to some lonely individual, “in Athena’s Agora”, is even more difficult to form and keep his or her own opinion, ideas and values. Infospace is covered by global network of information and facts; the process of symbolic exchange is taken off humans by machines. Freedom of speech in media is the air of open, public communication, the pillar of democratic structures, but problem is that watchmen of “information gates” still standing guard, but this time in front of cyber spaces. (shrink)

We present a propositional and a first-order logic for reasoning about higher-order upper and lower probabilities. We provide sound and complete axiomatizations for the logics and we prove decidability in the propositional case. Furthermore, we show that the introduced logics generalize some existing probability logics.

The main intention of the work that deals with the Nicolo Machiavelli thought is to point out the obvious paradox between the high political goal and the legitimating of all possible means for its realization. Are evil deeds inevitable in the sphere of politics and under what circumstances the immorality contained in political acts could be transformed into common good? The text asks additional questions such as about the accomplishments of ambitious political projects, the relationship among the ideologist and the (...) representative of political power, the transformations of the means into the ends, the use of violence and indoctrination in political acts, revolutionary and evolutionary political methods, etc. The author claims that political technologies recommended by Machiavelli basically haven't diminished, but have taken on more modern and more adequate forms. Osnovna namera teksta je da prateci misao Nikola Makijavelija ukaze na ociti paradoks izmedju visoko postavljenog cilja i opravdanja svih sredstava da bi se taj cilj realizovao. Da li je cinjenje zla neminovni ulog u sferi politike i pod kojim uslovima se amoralnost sadrzana u politickim cinovima moze transformisati u opste dobro? Tekst postavlja i dodatna pitanja, poput ostvarljivosti ambicioznih politickih projekata, odnosa ideologa i nosioca politicke moci, transformacije sredstava u ciljeve, koriscenja nasilja i indoktrinacije u politickim preokretima, revolucionarne i evolutivne metode politickog postupanja i sl. Autor iznosi zakljucak da politicke tehnologije koje je Makijaveli preporucavao u osnovi nisu iscezle, vec su zadobile samo zadobile modernije i adekvatnije oblike. (shrink)

Study in the period of coronavirus disease 2019 lockdown and the effect of different exercise training programs on the quality of life dimension are limited. This randomized control study as a part of which the impact of an 8-week neuromuscular training program on the 90 healthy young individuals’ QoL after COVID-19 lockdown was assessed using a short form of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire comprising of four domains. The intervention group took part in a neuromuscular training program consisting of dynamic neuromuscular stabilization (...) and whole-body vibration training. In contrast, the control group did not participate in any programmed physical activity. From pre- to post-intervention test, the NT group significantly and substantially improved [mean change ] all the QoL domains, physical for 12.78 scores, psychological for 13.12 scores, social relationships for 20.57 scores, and environmental for 24.40 scores. These results suggest that the NT program could enhance QoL in young and healthy participants following COVID-19 lockdown. (shrink)

The postmodernist view, with its emphasis on the nature of discursive practices in constructing subjectivity and reality, has found many applications. This book develops a critically informed psychoanalytic semiotic view derived from Lacan, and applies it to the study of law. It also integrates some of the central concepts of chaos theory in describing how the legal text is constructed and how it may be read. Postmodern feminist analyses focusing on a possible ecriture feminine provide key insights, and the notion (...) of an empowered democracy is offered as a potentially generating milieu for a revolutionary replacement discourse. (shrink)

The first part of this paper explores the kinship in diagnosis of contemporaneity of Hugo Ball and Martin Heidegger. Both thinkers recognize leveling as an important trait of their age. In Ball?s terms, leveling is identified with the apocalyptic abolishment of humanity. That happens by equalizing all of human creation, which becomes possible only after the abolishment of the hierarchy of values, thanks to which it was previously possible to distinguish a work of art from an average work. With Heidegger, (...) leveling is equated with the perverted forms of curiosity. Unlike the former forms of curiosity, coupled by the common desire for deeper insight, modern curiosity is fairly superficial, let loose with no boundaries to all the impressions which supersede the expected and already seen. In the second part of the paper, Husserl?s term of passive synthesis is examined, so we can observe the intervention of phenomenology from the perspective of deconstruction of the effects of leveling. I conclude with a warning that we cannot protect ourselves from the world to which we are exposed by natural subjectivity and conventional forms of knowledge. Which insight leads us to revert to the sources of subjectivity, the idea common to both the avant-garde and the phenomenologists. (shrink)

U članku se najprije tematizira diskrepancija između oštre kritike fenomenologije Edmunda Husserla u Heideggerovim ranim freiburškim i marburškim godinama, s jedne strane, i afirmativnog spominjanja Husserlova imena u "Bitku i vremenu", s druge strane. Ovaj "okret" može se interpretirati na temelju tumačenja prema kojem Heidegger u svojem glavnom djelu nije ostao pri stavu o nedostatnosti fenomenologije, zato što mu je ona služila kao polazište za izlaganje vlastite filozofske pozicije. Nakon kritičkog razmatranja onih pozicija prema kojima je Heidegger kroz kritiku Husserla (...) ciljao na ontološku kritiku spekulativnoga idealizma, autor propituje razloge odgađanja razračunavanja s Hegelom, koje je Heidegger iznio u svojem habilitacijskom spisu. Provedba ovog razračunavanja na temelju nacrta destrukcije povijesti ontologije od početka se nije trebala razvijati sistematski, budući da je prevladavanje sistematskog izlaganja povijesti filozofije i povijesti uopće bilo postavljeno u središte poželjnih učinaka destrukcije.Der Artikel thematisiert zunächst die Diskrepanz zwischen scharfer Kritik an der PhänomenologieEdmund Husserls während der frühen Jahre in Freiburg und Marburg und die affirmative ErnennungHusserls Namen innerhalb von Sein und Zeit. Diese »Kehre« kann aufgrund der Deutung in-terpretiert werden, dass Heidegger in seinem Hauptwerk nicht bei der Einsicht der Mängel derPhänomenologie stehengeblieben ist, weil sie ihm als Anfangspunkt für die Auslegung der eigenenphilosophischen Position dienen. Nach kritischen Erörterungen derjenigen Interpretationen, die behaupteten,dass Heidegger durch die Kritik an Husserl auf die ontologische Kritik des spekulativenIdealismus zielte, befragt der Autor die Gründe für die Verzögerung der Auseinandersetzung mitHegel, die Heidegger in seiner Habilitationsschrift angekündigt hatte. Die Durchführung dieserAuseinandersetzung aufgrund des Entwurfs der Destruktion der Geschichte der Ontologie solltevon Anfang an nicht systematisch entwickelt werden, da die Überwindung der systematischenAuslegung der Geschichte der Philosophie und die Geschichte überhaupt – in den Mittelpunkt derwünschenswerten Wirkungen der Destruktion gelegt wurde. (shrink)

Recent advances in the neuroscience of episodic memory provide a framework to integrate object relations theory, a psychoanalytic model of mind development, with potential neural mechanisms. Object relations are primordial cognitive-affective units of the mind derived from survival- and safety-level experiences with caretakers during phase-sensitive periods of infancy and toddlerhood. Because these are learning experiences, their neural substrate likely involves memory, here affect-enhanced episodic memory. Inaugural object relations are encoded by the hippocampus-amygdala synaptic plasticity, and systems-consolidated by medial prefrontal cortex (...) (mPFC). Self- and object-mental representations, extracted from these early experiences, are at first dichotomized by contradictory affects evoked by frustrating and rewarding interactions (“partial object relations”). Such affective dichotomization appears to be genetically hardwired the amygdala. Intrinsic propensity of mPFC to form schematic frameworks for episodic memories may pilot non-conscious integration of dichotomized mental representations in neonates and infants. With the emergence of working memory in toddlers, an activated self- and object-representation of a particular valence can be juxtaposed with its memorized opposites creating a balanced cognitive-affective frame (conscious “integration of object relations”). Specific events of object relations are forgotten but nevertheless profoundly influence the mental future of the individual, acting (i) as implicit schema-affect templates that regulate attentional priorities, relevance, and preferential assimilation of new information based on past experience, and (ii) as basic units of experience that are, under normal circumstances, integrated as attractors or “focal points” for interactive self-organization of functional brain networks that underlie the mind. A failure to achieve integrated object relations is predictive of poor adult emotional and social outcomes, including personality disorder. Cognitive, cellular-, and systems-neuroscience of episodic memory appear to support key postulates of object relations theory and help elucidate neural mechanisms of psychodynamic psychotherapy. Derived through the dual prism of psychoanalysis and neuroscience, the gained insights may offer new directions to enhance mental health and improve treatment of multiple forms of psychopathology. (shrink)

Not so long ago, a well institutionalized predatory journal exposed itself by publishing a hoax article that blew the whistle for its devastating influence on the academic affairs of a small country. This paper puts that experiment in context, gives all the important details and analyzes the results. The experiment was inspired by well-known cases of scientific activism and is in line with recent efforts against predatory publishers. The paper presents the evidence in detail and uses it to analyze the (...) publishing practices of the offending journal, using established criteria for assessing predatory publications. That journal somehow acquired an impact factor and charged money to publish thousands of “scientific” papers without any peer review. Since the impact factor is the major official evaluation criteria for scientists in Serbia, these papers disturbed the whole academic evaluation process. Credentials acquired by those publications form a strong obstacle to institutionalized reasoned efforts against such practices. This case warns the whole community of the long lasting damage when journals with low publishing ethics are taken seriously. (shrink)

This paper discusses conceptual relations between the position of relativism of values and the basic principle of tolerance, as well as both objections stated against the very conceptual framework – its wrong conclusion and insufficient grounding with regard to the presupposed readiness for tolerance. A detailed argumentation reveals that these objections are not appropriate for the actual conceptual structure of corresponding relativistic theories and their possible forms. In this way the relativistic position can be sustained.Im vorliegenden Aufsatz werden die begrifflichen (...) Verbindungen zwischen dem Standpunkt des W ertrelativismus und dem Toleranzgrundsatz erörtert sowie die beiden im gegebenen Zusammenhang vorgebrachten Einwände des Trugschlusses und der fehlenden Begründung für die vorausgesetzte Toleranzbereitschaft diskutiert. Anhand eingehender Argumentation wird gezeigt, dass jene Einwände der tatsächlichen konzeptionellen Struktur entsprechender relativistischer Lehren und ihren möglichen Ausformungen nicht ganz gerecht werden. Somit kann der relativistische Standpunkt erhalten bleiben.U članku se razmatraju pojmovne veze između stajališta relativizma vrijednosti i osnovnog načela tolerancije te se diskutiraju oba prigovora koja se iznose s obzirom na dotični pojmovni sklop – pogrešan zaključak i nedostatno utemeljenje s obzirom na pretpostavljenu spremnost na toleranciju. Podrobnom argumentacijom pokazuje se da ti prigovori nisu primjereni stvarnoj koncepcijskoj strukturi odgovarajućih relativističkih učenja i njihovih mogućih formi. Time se relativističko stajalište može održati. (shrink)