Behaviourism is the view that preferences, beliefs, and other mental states in social-scientific theories are nothing but constructs re-describing people's behaviour. Mentalism is the view that they capture real phenomena, on a par with the unobservables in science, such as electrons and electromagnetic fields. While behaviourism has gone out of fashion in psychology, it remains influential in economics, especially in ‘revealed preference’ theory. We defend mentalism in economics, construed as a positive science, and show that it fits best scientific practice. (...) We distinguish mentalism from, and reject, the radical neuroeconomic view that behaviour should be explained in terms of brain processes, as distinct from mental states. (shrink)

The contemporary theory of epistemic democracy often draws on the Condorcet Jury Theorem to formally justify the ‘wisdom of crowds’. But this theorem is inapplicable in its current form, since one of its premises – voter independence – is notoriously violated. This premise carries responsibility for the theorem's misleading conclusion that ‘large crowds are infallible’. We prove a more useful jury theorem: under defensible premises, ‘large crowds are fallible but better than small groups’. This theorem rehabilitates the importance of deliberation (...) and education, which appear inessential in the classical jury framework. Our theorem is related to Ladha's (1993) seminal jury theorem for interchangeable (‘indistinguishable’) voters based on de Finetti's Theorem. We also prove a more general and simpler such jury theorem. (shrink)

Dieser Band präsentiert den Text der Originalausgabe von 1907, drei weitere Arbeiten über ein optisches Paradoxon sowie sieben bisher unveröffentlichte Basisuntersuchungen zum Problem Sinneswahrnehmungen, die Brentano in eine zweite ...

Recent accounts of actual causation are stated in terms of extended causal models. These extended causal models contain two elements representing two seemingly distinct modalities. The first element are structural equations which represent the or mechanisms of the model, just as ordinary causal models do. The second element are ranking functions which represent normality or typicality. The aim of this paper is to show that these two modalities can be unified. I do so by formulating two constraints under which extended (...) causal models with their two modalities can be subsumed under so called which contain just one modality. These two constraints will be formally precise versions of Lewissystem of weights or priorities” governing overall similarity between possible worlds. (shrink)

Fusing philosophy and theology, the book assigns both Judaism and Christianity distinct but equally important roles in the spiritual structure of the world and ...

There is a surprising disconnect between formal rational choice theory and philosophical work on reasons. The one is silent on the role of reasons in rational choices, the other rarely engages with the formal models of decision problems used by social scientists. To bridge this gap, we propose a new, reason-based theory of rational choice. At its core is an account of preference formation, according to which an agent’s preferences are determined by his or her motivating reasons, together with a (...) ‘weighing relation’ between different combinations of reasons. By explaining how someone’s preferences may vary with changes in his or her motivating reasons, our theory illuminates the relationship between deliberation about reasons and rational choices. Although primarily positive, the theory can also help us think about how those preferences and choices ought to respond to normative reasons. (shrink)

(Winner of The Res Publica Essay Prize) This article defends a moderate version of state perfectionism by using Gerald Gaus’s argument for liberal neutrality as a starting point of discussion. Many liberal neutralists reject perfectionism on the grounds of respect for persons, but Gaus has explained more clearly than most neutralists how respect for persons justifies neutrality. Against neutralists, I first argue that the state may promote the good life by appealing to what can be called “the qualified judgments about (...) the good life,” which have not been considered by liberal perfectionists including Joseph Chan and Steven Wall. Then I clear up several possible misunderstandings of these judgments, and argue that: (a) moderate perfectionism does not rely on controversial rankings of values and is committed to promoting different valuable ways of life by pluralistic promotion; and (b) moderate perfectionism requires only an indirect form of coercion in using tax money to support certain moderate perfectionist measures, which is justifiable on the grounds of citizens’ welfare. Thus, I maintain that moderate perfectionism does not disrespect citizens, and is not necessarily unfair to any particular group of people. It is, in fact, plausible and morally important. The defence of moderate perfectionism has practical implications for the state’s policies regarding art development, drug abuse, public education, and so on. (shrink)

Brentanos 1904 vollendete Theorie, nur Reales sei vorstellbar und könne existieren, führte auch unter seinen Schülern zu Kontroversen. Dieser Band enthält eine umfangreiche Studie, die Einleitung der Herausgeber zu diesem Problemkreis, Auszüge aus dem Briefwechsel mit A. Marty und O. Kraus sowie die einschlägigen Abhandlungen Brentanos.

Belief revision theory studies how an ideal doxastic agent should revise her beliefs when she receives new information. In part I I will first present the AGM theory of belief revision (Alchourrón & Gärdenfors & Makinson 1985). Then I will focus on the problem of iterated belief revisions.

Belief revision theory studies how an ideal doxastic agent should revise her beliefs when she receives new information. In part I, I have first presented the AGM theory of belief revision. Then I have focused on the problem of iterated belief revisions. In part II, I will first present ranking theory (Spohn 1988). Then I will show how it solves the problem of iterated belief revisions. I will conclude by sketching two areas of future research.

T × W logic is a combination of tense and modal logic for worlds or histories with the same time order. It is the basis for logics of causation, agency and conditionals, and therefore an important tool for philosophical logic. Semantically it has been defined, among others, by R. H. Thomason. Using an operator expressing truth in all worlds, first discussed by C. M. Di Maio and A. Zanardo, an axiomatization is given and its completeness proved via D. Gabbay’s irreflexivity (...) lemma. Given this lemma the proof is more or less straight forward. At the end an alternative axiomatization is sketched in which Di Maio’s and Zanardo’s operator is replaced by a version of “actually”. (shrink)

Rational choice theory analyzes how an agent can rationally act, given his or her preferences, but says little about where those preferences come from. Preferences are usually assumed to be fixed and exogenously given. Building on related work on reasons and rational choice, we describe a framework for conceptualizing preference formation and preference change. In our model, an agent's preferences are based on certain "motivationally salient" properties of the alternatives over which the preferences are held. Preferences may change as new (...) properties of the alternatives become salient or previously salient properties cease to be salient. Our approach captures endogenous preferences in various contexts and helps to illuminate the distinction between formal and substantive concepts of rationality, as well as the role of perception in rational choice. (shrink)

First published in English in1966, _The True and The Evident_ is a translation of Franz Brentano’s posthumous _Wahrheit und Evidenz_, edited by Oscsar Kraus. The book includes Brentano’s influential lecture "On the Concept of Truth", read before the Vienna Philosophical Society, a variety of essays, drawn from the immense wealth of Brentano’s unpublished material, and letters written by him to Marty, Kraus Hillebrand, and Husserl. Brentano rejects the familiar versions of the "correspondence theory of truth" and proposes to define (...) the true in terms of the evident. In criticising the metaphysical assumptions presupposed by the correspondence theory, he sets forth a conception of language and reality that has subsequently become known as "reism". (shrink)

Den 1905 gefaßten Plan einer Gesamtdarstellung der Aristotelischen Lehre brachte Brentano nicht mehr zur Ausführung. Die hier erstmals veröffentlichten Vorarbeiten aus den Jahren 1908 bis 1911 für die Abhandlung »Aristoteles und seine Weltanschauung« bieten einen detaillierten Einblick in das Aristoteles-Bild des späten Brentano.

On Jewish Learning collects essays, speeches, and letters that express Rosenzweig's desire to reconnect the profound truths of Judaism with the lives of ordinary people.

Ein befreundeter Physiologie machte mich jüngst mit einem überraschenden Falle optischer Täuschung bekannt, der - ich erfrug nicht durch wen - erst kürzlich, ohne Beigabe eines Erklärungsgrundes, veröffentlicht worden war.

Dans son ouvrage de 1874, repris et complété en 1911, puis augmenté à nouveau par une série d’appendices tardifs, dans l’édition procurée par Oscar Kraus, en 1924, Brentano n’est pas seulement celui qui ouvre le dossier très complet des questions psychologiques débattues dans l’après-Kant et jusqu’à la fin du XIXe siècle, dans l’espace intellectuel germanique, mais aussi et principalement anglophone; pas seulement celui qui, à la faveur de la redéfinition, à la fois très ancienne et novatrice, des phénomènes psychiques, caractérisés (...) par l’inexistence intentionnelle de leur objet immanent, ouvre la voie à un nouveau développement de la psychologie, ni rationnelle, ni expérimentale, mais proprement empirique, celle-là même qui se transformera ensuite en psychologie descriptive, puis phénoménologie; par la diversité de son « École », dont on mesure mieux aujourd’hui le rayonnement et la fécondité , par la richesse et le rayonnement de sa propre pensée en philosophie morale, théorie de la connaissance, logique, ontologie, Brentano est enfin reconnu en France – comme c’est déjà le cas depuis longtemps dans beaucoup de pays anglosaxons – comme une figure majeure, après Bolzano, de l’histoire de la philosophie autrichienne et comme un puissant interlocuteur encore présent dans les débats les plus contemporains en philosophie de l’esprit ou en ontologie. (shrink)

This paper shows that causation in the sense of Lewis is a special case of causation in the sense of Spohn.

Der Band 'Versuch über die Erkenntnis' wurde von A. Kastil im Jahre 1925 in der Philosophischen Bibliothek herausgegeben. Seinen Inhalt bildet hauptsächlich Franz Brentanos nachgelassene, umfangreiche Schrift: 'Nieder mit den Vorurteilen!' Sie trägt den Untertitel: 'Ein Mahnwort an die Gegenwart, im Geiste von Bacon und Descartes von allem blinden Apriori sich loszusagen'. Die aus dem Jahre 1903 stammende Abhandlung: 'Nieder mit den Vorurteilen!' beschäftigt sich im I. und II. Teil vorwiegend mit Kants synthetischen Urteilen a priori, die mit aller (...) Entschiedenheit abgelehnt werden, weil wir - nach Brentanos Auffassung - in ihnen keine Erkenntnisse, sondern nur blinde Vorurteile gegeben haben. (shrink)

Le texte traduit ici est tiré d’un recueil réunissant plusieurs écrits du philosophe allemand Franz Brentano (1838-1917) et publié en 1925 par son disciple Alfred Kastil sous le titre Essai sur la connaissance. La pièce maîtresse du recueil est un manuscrit de Brentano intitulé « À bas les préjugés ! », portant le sous-titre : « Une exhortation pour inciter l’époque actuelle à renoncer, dans l’esprit de Bacon et de Descartes, à tous les a priori aveugles » (1903). Nous (...) avons traduit la première partie de ce texte, dans laquelle Brentano s’attaque simultanément au common sense du philosophe écossais Thomas Reid et aux jugements synthétiques a priori d’Immanuel Kant. Cet extrait constitue l’un des rares documents dans lesquels Brentano expose sans détours son opposition radicale à un certain kantisme et, plus largement, à toute forme de constructivisme. Brentano s'attaque à l'idée kantienne du synthétique a priori, en jetant les bases d'un programme gnoséologique dont l'axe central est l'exhibition des sources empiriques de nos concepts fondamentaux (substance, cause, être, nécessité, etc.). Ce programme sera développé à son tour par Carl Stumpf ('Erkenntnislehre', 1939). (shrink)

Ein unveröffentlichter Text (Nachlaß-Paginierung: 30604 – 30620) Herausgegeben und eingeleitet von Wilhelm Baumgartner -/- Wahrscheinlich Palermo, März 1900; zur Datierung vgl. die inhaltliche Übereinstimmung mit dem Brief an A. Marty vom 28.3.1900 im Anhang. -/- Emilie grüsst. -/- Emilie Brentano. Der Briefwechsel Brentano-Marty wird z.Z. bei der Franz Brentano Forschung an der Universität Würzburg von W. Baumgartner für eine kritische Edition bearbeitet.

"Aristoteles und seine Weltanschauung" ist Franz Brentanos letztes Wort in seiner lebenslänglichen Auseinandersetzung mit seinem ersten und größten philosophischen Lehrer. Indem er sich auf die aristotelische Metaphysik und hier vor allem auf die Gotteslehre konzentriert, versucht er einerseits zu zeigen, dass die oft als dunkel und widersprüchlich hingestellten Lehren des Aristoteles sich konsistent rekonstruieren lassen, und dass Aristoteles andererseits als ein Vertreter des metaphysischen Optimismus, als ein "antiker Leibniz" also, betrachtet werden kann.

Although critical differences exist between large companies and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), limited empirical research has been done on human resource (HR)-related corporate social responsibility (CSR). In this paper we study aging workforce management (AWM) as a component of CSR. Our study was conducted in the Netherlands through a randomly distributed online questionnaire. Managers and team leaders of 201 SMEs responded. The data were analyzed using multiple hierarchical regression analysis. Our results are twofold: first, findings suggest that CSR policies (...) in micro organizations with fewer than five employees seem to be strongly associated with AWM; and second, that companies with a focus on integration of older workers in daily activities do not perceive their actions as HR-related. Using AWM as part of CSR helps to give insight into the role of the owner, company size and the nature of implicit CSR practices. Our study demonstrates that the use of AWM in CSR research can lead to valuable insights and therefore, our overarching research question is answered that AWM can be used when studying CSR. (shrink)