Socially responsible business and ethical behaviour of companies have been of interest to academia and practice for decades. But the focus has almost exclusively been on large corporations while small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) have not received as much attention. Thus, this paper focuses on socially responsible business practices of SME entrepreneurs or owner–managers in Germany. Based on the assumption that decision-makers in SMEs are the central point where all business activities start, members of a German entrepreneurs association were approached (...) in the course of a qualitative and quantitative survey. They were asked to assess in what way their social responsibility is expressed in specific management practices towards selected stakeholder groups. These practices in turn were assumed to result in perceived positive reactions of the respective stakeholders and subsequently to positively influence the firm's financial performance, i.e. cost reductions and increase in profits. In the paper, a research model is presented that elaborates the relationship between an SME executive's social responsibility and the value creation of a firm, i.e. whether (personal) values create (economic) value. It was found that socially responsible management practices towards employees, customers and to a lesser extent society have a positive impact on the firm and its performance. As such, values can create additional value. (shrink)

Telepsychiatry has long been discussed as a supplement to or substitute for face-to-face therapeutic consultations. The current pandemic crisis has fueled the development in an unprecedented way. More and more psychiatric consultations are now carried out online as video-based consultations. Treatment results appear to be comparable with those of face-to-face care in terms of clinical outcome, acceptance, adherence and patient satisfaction. However, evidence on videoconferencing in a variety of different fields indicates that there are extensive changes in the communication behaviour (...) in online conversations. We hypothesise that this might impact ethically relevant aspects of the therapeutic relationship, which plays a prominent role in psychiatry. In this paper, we review effects of video-based consultations on communication between therapists and patients in psychiatry. Based on a common understanding of video-based consultations as changing the lived experience of communication, we categorise these effects according to sensory, spatial and technical aspects. Departing from a power-based model of therapeutic relationships, we then discuss the ethical significance of this changed communication situation, based on dimensions of respect for autonomy, lucidity, fidelity, justice and humanity. We conclude that there is evidence for ethically relevant changes of the therapeutic relationship in video-based telepsychiatric consultations. These changes need to be more carefully considered in psychiatric practice and future studies. (shrink)

Empathy as “Feelingly Grasping” Perhaps the central question concerning empathy is if and if so how it combines aspects of thinking and feeling. Indeed, the intellectual tradition of the past centuries has been marked by a dualism. Roughly speaking, there have been two pathways when it comes to understanding each other: 1) thinking or mind reading and 2) feeling or empathy. Nonetheless, one of the ongoing debates in psychology and philosophy concerns the question whether these two abilities, namely, understanding what (...) the other is thinking and “understanding” what the other is feeling, are separate or not. Most of the authors in this volume consider the cognitive and affective dimensions at work within empathy. Each author does this within and beyond their own field. Coming from the humanities, we propose the following definition for empathy: Empathy is a social feeling that consists in feelingly grasping or retracing the present, future, or past emotional state of the other; thus empathy is also called a vicarious emotion. We would like to highlight two aspects of this definition in particular: 1.) the peculiar position of “grasping” which involves a cognitive dimension and 2.) the social dimensions of relating to the emotions of another human being. (shrink)

Analyzing the ancient Greek point of view concerning anger, shame and justice and a very modern one, one can see, that anger has a regulative function, but shame does as well. Anger puts the other in his place, thereby regulating hierarchies. Shame regulates the social relations of recognition. And both emotions also have an evaluative function, because anger evaluates a situation with regard to a humiliation; shame, with regard to a misdemeanor. In addition, attention has to be paid to the (...) correct molding of these emotions and the correct ways of using them in rearing to be good or just (i.e., in personality formation. (shrink)

Infants who suffer severe neglect fail to thrive emotionally as well as bodily. The absence of early coexistential structures that provide well-being leads to a narrowing of the child's perceptual and social developmental horizon. What is the nature of these early structures? In this essay, an ontology of well-being or housedness is elaborated through phenomenological reflections on breast-feeding and infant perception. Merleau-Ponty's ontology of the flesh makes a contribution to the ontology of well-being: it gives us a conceptual and evocative (...) language to describe human existence in its pre-verbal, syncretic, and non-dualistic manifestations. It also allows for a re-evaluation and re-interpretation of the results of current research in infant perception. Through the structures of infant perception we perceive the coexistential fit between infants, other human beings, and the world of things. An infant's fundamental housedness in the flesh is taken up and cultivated or destroyed by the child's social and cultural environment. (shrink)

Goethe belongs to the phenomenological tradition for a number of reasons: He shared Husserl's deep mistrust of the mathematization of the natural world and the ensuing loss of the qualitative dimension of human existence; he understood that the phenomenological observer must free him/herself from sedimented cultural prejudices, a process which Husserl called the epoche; he experienced and articulated the new and surprising fullness of the world as it reveals itself to the patient and participatory phenomenological observer. Goethe's phenomenological sensibilities and (...) insights become more apparent when his work is brought into dialogue with Husserl's thinking. In turn Goethe challenges Husserlian phenomenology to a more careful investigation of the natural world and human participation within its order. Both Goethe and Husserl are searching for a science of the qualitative dimension of being. (shrink)

Es ist ein zentrales Anliegen von Bildung, Sachverhalte aus verschiedenen Perspektiven zu sehen. Geht es um moralische Bildung, so ist der Wechsel der Perspektive speziell in der Goldenen Regel („Was du nicht willst, dass man dir tut, das füg auch keinem anderen zu“) das Mittel zur Erzeugung moralischer Sensibilität. Dieser Alltagsform der Erziehung steht nun die moderne Pädagogik gegenüber, die in institutionalisierter Form nicht allein mit alltagsmoralischen Formen des Appells arbeiten kann. Eva-Maria Kenngott analysiert die Verbindungslinien zwischen der Fähigkeit (...) zur Perspektivenübernahme und Moral. Klassische Methoden der Moralpädagogik und der interkulturellen Pädagogik werden auf ihren Umgang mit Perspektivenübernahme hin untersucht. (shrink)

Dieser Aufsatz untersucht einige Zusammenhänge zwischen der Zuschreibung von Intuitionen und intuitivem Wissen einerseits und epistemischen Ungerechtigkeiten andererseits. Der Aufsatz gliedert sich in zwei Teile. Ausgangspunkt ist im ersten Teil Frickers Theorie der epistemischen Ungerechtigkeit. Ich zeige auf, dass dem Verweis auf die „weibliche Intuition“ eine Schlüsselrolle in der Etablierung der Konzepte der testimonialen und hermeneutischen Ungerechtigkeit zukommt, da in ihm systematische Vorurteile über gender-codierte Denkmuster und Verhaltensweisen kulminieren, die paradigmatisch für strukturelle epistemische Ungerechtigkeiten sind. Allerdings gilt es zu betonen, (...) dass der Begriff der Intuition nicht nur im Sinne einer epistemischen Abwertung, sondern auch im Sinne einer Aufwertung höchst problematisch ist. Hierdurch wird eine Schwachstelle in Frickers Theorie deutlich, da diese durch die Annahme einer grundlegenden Asymmetrie zwischen Glaubwürdigkeitsdefiziten und -exzessen ihre Perspektive auf epistemische Ungerechtigkeiten zu weit einschränkt. Im zweiten Teil werde ich anhand zweier ausgewählter metaphilosophischer Debatten einige Verbindungen zwischen dem Intuitionsbegriff in der analytischen Philosophie und Fragen nach epistemischen Ungerechtigkeiten aufdecken. Hierbei werde ich in Bezug auf die Debatte um die sog. Expertise-Verteidigung dafür argumentieren, dass diese nicht auf epistemische Fragestellungen begrenzt werden kann, sondern auch auf eine ethische Dimension verweist. Mit Blick auf die Debatte um die Gender-Lücke in der akademischen Philosophie werde ich aufzeigen dass hier zwar epistemische und ethische Perspektiven zusammengeführt werden, dass bestimmte Argumentationsmuster aber so angelegt sind, dass sie sich implizit an eine problematische, dualistische Vorstellung von Intuition binden. (shrink)

zur fundierenden Rolle des Gefühls bei den Leistungen der Vernunft Eva-Maria Engelen. Eva-Maria Engelen Erkenntnis und Liebe Zur fundierenden Rolle des Gefühls bei den Leistungen der Vernunft Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Eva-Maria ...

Gibt es eine weibliche bzw. männliche Moral? Orientiert sich das Moralverhalten beider Geschlechter tatsächlich tendenziell an unterschiedlichen Wertvorstellungen? Diese in den letzten Jahren leidenschaftlich und äußerst kontrovers diskutierte Frage beantwortet Eva-Maria Schwickert aus der Perspektive der philosophischen Ethik. Im Blickpunkt des Interesses stehen die begriffliche Bestimmung und die moralische Legitimation beider Orientierungen. Den von Carol Gilligan erhobenen Vorwurf, die "männliche" Gerechtigkeitsmoral sei zu sehr auf Prinzipien konzentriert, findet die Autorin bestätigt und schlägt vor, das Defizit der Gerechtigkeits- durch die (...) Fürsorgeethik auszugleichen. Ziel des gesuchten Ausgleichs ist ein Vermittlungsmodell, das den berechtigten Einwänden Gilligans Rechnung trägt und dennoch nicht auf eine Prinzipienorientierung verzichtet. Das Ergebnis der Studie präsentiert sich als Brückenschlag zwischen der Kantischen Vernunftethik Kohlbergs einerseits und der Aristotelischen Wertethik Gilligans andererseits. Beide Ethiktypen – die der Gerechtigkeit und die der Fürsorge – fordern sich wechselseitig. Gemessen an diesem vertieften Ethikverständnis stellt sich das weibliche Zögern, ein moralisches Urteil zu fällen, nicht mehr als Ausdruck eines unzureichenden Prinzipienbewußtseins, sondern als das eines verantwortungsethisch reflektierten Urteilsvermögens dar. Die Untersuchung spannt einen Bogen zwischen hermeneutischen und ethischen ebenso wie zwischen historischen und systematischen Fragestellungen. Darüber hinaus bietet sie einen Einblick in die aktuelle Diskussion der Diskursethik. (shrink)

It is shown in this article in how far one has to have a clear picture of Gödel’s philosophy and scientific thinking at hand (and also the philosophical positions of other philosophers in the history of Western Philosophy) in order to interpret one single Philosophical Remark by Gödel. As a single remark by Gödel (very often) mirrors his whole philosophical thinking, Gödel’s Philosophical Remarks can be seen as a philosophical monadology. This is so for two reasons mainly: Firstly, because it (...) pictures a monadology already via its form. And secondly, because Gödel wanted to establish in his Philosophical Remarks a modern monadology in adapting the philosophical principles of Leibniz’s monadology to modern science. This article will only deal with the first aspect that has been mentioned namely that a single remark by Gödel (very often) mirrors his whole philosophy (at the time) for example: set theory, perception and intuition of mathematical objects and axioms, the nature of the human mind, the concept and existence of God, and so on. This renders it extremely difficult to interpret Gödel’s philosophical remarks but interpreting it provides also a deep insight in Gödel’s philosophical thoughts. (shrink)

Two aspects about meaning and emotion are discussed in this paper. The first, which is the main focus of this paper, addresses the semantic shaping of emotions (semanticization). It will be shown how language acquisition leads to the semantic shaping of emotions. For this purpose I will first introduce the theory of language acquisition that has been developed mainly by Michael Tomasello and also by Donald Davidson. Then I will take basic emotions into account in order to show that language (...) plays a crucial role when it comes to the shaping of emotions and how we feel. The second aspect about meaning and emotion addresses the signification that an emotion might have for a person. One could also say that this aspect addresses the meaning an emotion has for a person. This issue will only play a minor part in my investigations. (shrink)

This text reconstructs the Kohlberg/Gilligan controversy between a male ethics of justice and a female ethics of care. Using Karl-Otto Apel's transcendental pragmatics, the author argues for a mediation between both models in terms of a reciprocal co-responsibility. Against this backdrop, she defends the circular procedure of an exclusively argumentative-reflexive justification of a normative ethics. From this it follows for feminist ethics that it cannot do without either of the two types of ethics. The goal is to assure the evaluative (...) variety of different types of an ethics of the good without endangering the normative boundaries of a deontological discourse ethics. (shrink)

Is there a fundamental difference between practical and theoretical knowledge? The thesis, going back to Gilbert Ryle, that "knowing-how" is an independent form of knowledge manifesting itself in practical abilities that cannot be reduced to "knowing-that" (propositional knowledge) is a heated topic of debate in contemporary philosophy. This book presents an analysis of practical knowledge understood as an independent form of knowledge with systematic connections to knowledge, thought, and action.

Receivables transactions play an important role in modern national economies. Cross-Border Security over Receivables, which studies the law of seven European nations, provides an in-depth examination of the key substantive law issues, as well as a detailed examination of the private international law issues, particularly, the third party effects of assignments. National reports use practical cases to explore the issues and to highlight differences and similarities. The book will assist market participants and their counsel to better understand the rules of (...) their own countries and those of other countries. It will be of great value to academics in the private, comparative, and private international law fields and will assist those involved in national, EU and global reform efforts. (shrink)

This paper outlines Jesse Prinz’s theory that emotions represent values by registering bodily changes, discusses two objections, and concludes that Prinz’s theory stands in need of modification: while emotions do represent values, they do not do so in the first place by registering bodily changes, but by processing information about how things we care about fare in the world. The function of bodily changes is primarily to motivate and prepare us for action.

Artificial intelligence is currently changing many areas of society. Especially in health, where critical decisions are made, questions of control must be renegotiated: who is in control when an automated system makes clinically relevant decisions? Increasingly, the concept of meaningful human control (MHC) is being invoked for this purpose. However, it is unclear exactly how this concept is to be understood in health. Through a systematic review, we present the current state of the concept of MHC in health. The results (...) show that there is not yet a robust MHC concept for health. We propose a broader understanding of MHC along three strands of action: enabling, exercising and evaluating control. Taking into account these strands of action and the established rules and processes in the different health sectors, the MHC concept needs to be further developed to avoid falling into two gaps, which we have described as theoretical and labelling gaps. (shrink)

This paper works out which conceptual and theoretical preconditions have to be met, among others, in order for a living creature to be able to have a feeling of being alive beyond the mere capacity for sensation. For the emergence of such a feeling, which can be equated with a rudimentary phenomenal consciousness (1.), it is not enough for the organism to be alive (2. a.). Rather it has to be able to conceive its body as a unit and to (...) relate its sensations to this unit (2. b.). Moreover mobility (2. c.), a basic sense of possibility (2. d.) and a rudimentary sense of time (2. e.) are also necessary. The analysis of these preconditions relies primarily on Aristotelian theoretical approaches, encompassing both historical interpretation (3. a.), and systematic work, which includes a look at the current debates in the analytic philosophical tradition (3. b.). (shrink)

Review of "Maß und Eigensinn. Studien im Anschluß an Georges Canguilhem“, ed. by Cornelius Borck, Volker Hess and Henning Schmidgen, München (Fink Verlag) 2005.".