This article traces a debate on Martin Buber and Franz Rosenzweig’s Germanization of the Bible. The trigger of the debate was Siegfried Kracauer’s infamous critique entitled “Die Bibel auf Deutsch”, published in April 1926 in the Frankfurter Zeitung. In his harsh review of the first volume of the translation, Kracauer regards the use of the German language by Buber and Rosenzweig as an archaization. Relying in part on unpublished letters, this paper presents and explores the different perceptions of the translation, (...) which embody the depths these fault lines penetrated both in general public discourse and, more specifically, in German-Jewish circles. This article also points towards the change of the German language in the 19th century that is embedded in the historical semantics of the Buber-Rosenzweig Bible. (shrink)

This review provides an overview of the research on nonverbal expressions of positive emotions, organised into emotion families, that is, clusters sharing common characteristics. Epistemological positive emotions are found to have distinct, recognisable displays via vocal or facial cues, while the agency-approach positive emotions appear to be associated with recognisable visual, but not auditory, cues. Evidence is less strong for the prosocial emotions in any modality other than touch, and there is little support for distinct recognisable signals of the savouring (...) positive emotions. In closing, some limitations of extant work are noted and some proposals for future research are outlined. (shrink)

Barnes and Možina’s metalogue is a good example of what a psychotherapeutic conversation should look like to enable the creation of new meanings both for the psychotherapist and the client, ….

ABSTRACTPosed stimuli dominate the study of nonverbal communication of emotion, but concerns have been raised that the use of posed stimuli may inflate recognition accuracy relative to spontaneous expressions. Here, we compare recognition of emotions from spontaneous expressions with that of matched posed stimuli. Participants made forced-choice judgments about the expressed emotion and whether the expression was spontaneous, and rated expressions on intensity and prototypicality. Listeners were able to accurately infer emotions from both posed and spontaneous expressions, from auditory, visual, (...) and audiovisual cues. Furthermore, perceived intensity and prototypicality were found to play a role in the accurate recognition of emotion, particularly from spontaneous expressions. Our findings demonstrate that perceivers can reliably recognise emotions from spontaneous expressions, and that depending on the comparison set, recognition levels can even be equivalent to that o... (shrink)

Goddard (2014) proposes a three-partite division of emotive interjections, which is helpful in delineating this heterogeneous set of phenomena. The distinction also explains inconsistencies between Goddard’s and previous findings: While his study demonstrates variability across languages in word-like primary interjections, previous work investigating noise-like interjections has found evidence for universality. Such cross-culturally consistent, categorical perception of emotional signals can be explained as emerging from bottom–up information without the need for top–down learning via language or interjections.

Models of dream analysis either assume a continuum of waking and dreaming or the existence of two dissociated realities. Both approaches rely on different methodology. Whereas continuity models are based on content analysis, discontinuity models use a structural approach. In our study, we applied both methods to test specific hypotheses about continuity or discontinuity. We contrasted dream reports of congenitally deaf-mute and congenitally paraplegic individuals with those of non-handicapped controls. Continuity theory would predict that either the deficit itself or compensatory (...) experiences would surface in the dream narrative. We found that dream form and content of sensorially limited persons was indifferent from those of non-handicapped controls. Surprisingly, perceptual representations, even of modalities not experienced during waking, were quite common in the dream reports of our handicapped subjects. Results are discussed with respect to feedforward mechanisms and protoconsciousness theory of dreaming. (shrink)

Das Buch behandelt die Ästhetik der tonalen Musik. Analysiert werden Klangformen wie Konsonanz, Dissonanz, Tonalität, Takt, Kontrapunkt oder Motiv. Dabei zeigt sich: Alle harmonischen, rhythmischen und melodischen Klanggestalten sind ihrem Wesen nach Verhältnisse des klanglichen Zusammenpassens. Als solche sind sie systematisch aufeinander aufgebaut und bilden ein Ensemble aus acht ästhetischen Prinzipien, denen jeweils ein Kapitel dieses Buches gewidmet ist. In der logischen Abfolge dieser Kapitel wird der innere Zusammenhang von Harmonie, Rhythmus und Melodie offen gelegt. Die Suche nach einer "Bedeutung" (...) der musikalischen Formen ist nicht die Sache dieses Buches. Dann schon eher die schonungslose Kritik der theoretischen Absurditäten, die sich aus jener musikwissenschaftlichen Unsitte ergeben. (shrink)

This article is a narrative reflection of the author’s perspective on the role of the Church in the unification process of Germany in the last part of the last decade. It is presented from his perspective of being a German citizen, as well a member of the church in Germany. The author situates this experience amidst the political and ideological movements shaping the binary notions ‘East’ and ‘West’.

Climate change and loss of biodiversity are advancing rapidly, making a transition to a more sustainable society one of the most pressing tasks facing humanity. This special section shines a spotlight on how emotions shape and are shaped by the climate and biodiversity crises, and how they intersect with pro-environmental behavior. To this end, leading sustainability scholars and policy makers articulate what they believe are the most important questions that emotion research should answer to support a sustainable societal transition. Here, (...) we first provide an overview of the articles in the special section, which include a wide range of topics including global analyses of distress related to climate change and biodiversity loss, case studies on emotional experiences toward locally specific instances of climate change consequences and adaptation or mitigation efforts, discussions of the motivational functions of emotions and their potential to drive pro-environmental action, and reflections on how we can make affective science more salient to policy makers in the sustainability domain. In the second part, we summarize the emerging overarching themes that point to promising research objectives and questions for affective sustainability science. Finally, we discuss how the study of sustainability can also be beneficial for the affective sciences. Our hope is that this special section will put sustainability on the research agenda of emotion researchers and stimulate more research in affective sustainability science. (shrink)

Crying is a common response to emotional distress that elicits support from the environment. People may regulate another’s crying in several ways, such as by providing socio-affective support (e.g. comforting) or cognitive support (e.g. reappraisal), or by trying to emotionally disengage the other by suppression or distraction. We examined whether people adapt their interpersonal emotion regulation strategies to the situational context, by manipulating the regulatory demand of the situation in which someone is crying. Participants watched a video of a crying (...) man and provided support by recording a video message. We hypothesised that when immediate down-regulation was required (i.e. high regulatory demand), participants would provide lower levels of socio-affective and cognitive support, and instead distract the crying person or encourage them to suppress their emotions, compared to when there is no such urgency (i.e. low regulatory demand). As predicted, both self-reported and behavioural responses indicated that high (as compared to low) regulatory demand led to a reduction in socio-affective support provision, and a strong increase in suppression and distraction. Cognitive support provision, however, was unaffected by regulatory demand. When the context required more immediate down-regulation, participants thus employed more regulation strategies aimed at disengaging from the emotional experience. This study provides a first step in showing that people take the context into account when attempting to regulate others’ emotions. (shrink)

Theories on empathy have argued that feeling empathy for others is related to accurate recognition of their emotions. Previous research that tested this assumption, however, has reported inconsiste...

ABSTRACTPrevious research has found that individuals vary greatly in emotion differentiation, that is, the extent to which they distinguish between different emotions when reporting on their own fe...

Excerpt from Avicennas Bearbeitung der Aristotelischen Metaphysik Innerhalb der Geschichte der Scholastik bildet das Verhaltnis der arabischen und judischen Philosophie zur christlichen das wich tigste, aber auch das am wenigsten geloste Problem. Die Haupt schuld daran tragt die sparliche Bearbeitung der arabischen Philo sophie, sowohl in ihren Originalwerken als auch in den lateinischen Ubersetzungen. Dazu kommen noch Umstande mannigfacher Art, die ein nur langsames Fortschreiten gestatten. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find (...) more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.". (shrink)

This tribute to Werner Hamacher highlights his ideas of understanding and philology, foregrounding his passion for words, his intimate close readings that reveal the hidden gems of a far-distant understanding, his radical version of philology as the love of language in its most literal sense, and his unconditional and incorruptible insistence on Eigenständigkeit: standing and understanding for oneself.

Boosting memory with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) seems to be an elegant way to optimize learning. Here we tested whether tDCS to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex or to the left posterior parietal cortex would boost recognition memory in general and/or particularly for action phrases enacted at study. During study, 48 young adults either read or enacted simple action phrases. Memory for the action phrases was assessed after a retention interval of 45 min and again after 7-days to investigate (...) the long-term consequences of brain stimulation. The results showed a robust enactment effect in both test sessions. Moreover, the decrease in performance was more pronounced for reading than for enacting the phrases at study. However, tDCS did not reveal any effect on subsequent recognition memory performance. We conclude that memory benefits of tDCS are not easily replicated. In contrast, enactment at study reliably boosts subsequent memory. (shrink)

What is the relationship between language, emotion concepts, and perceptual categories? Here I compare the strong Whorfian view of linguistic relativity, which argues that language plays a necessary role in the perception of emotions, to the alternative view that different levels of processing are relatively independent and thus, that language does not play a foundational role in emotion perception. I examine neuropsychological studies that have tested strong claims of linguistic relativity, and discuss research on categorical perception of emotional expressions, where (...) the two accounts have been directly tested against each other. As in other perceptual domains, there is little evidence that language plays a foundational role in the perception of emotion. (shrink)

ABSTRACTWhen in emotional distress, people often turn to others for social support. A general distinction has been made between two types of support that are differentially effective: Whereas socio-affective support temporarily alleviates emotional distress, cognitive support may contribute to better long-term recovery. In the current studies, we examine what type of support individuals seek. We first confirmed in a pilot study that these two types of support can be reliably distinguished. Then, in Study 1, we experimentally tested participants’ support evaluations (...) in response to different emotional situations using a vignette methodology. Findings showed that individuals perceived any type of reaction that included socio-affective support as preferable. The evaluation of cognitive support, however, was dependent on the specific emotion: Unlike worry and regret, anger and sadness were characterised by a strong dislike for purely cognitive support. Using different materials, Study 2 replicated these findin... (shrink)

The value turn in epistemology generated a particularly influential new position - virtue epistemology. It is an increasingly influential epistemological normative approach that opts for the intellectual virtues of the epistemic agent, rather than the truth-value of the proposition, as the central epistemic value. In the first part of this article we will attempt to briefly explain the value turn and outline the basic aspects of virtue epistemology, underlining the diversity of epistemic attitudes associated with this approach and their positive (...) impact on expanding epistemological horizons. The second part will be focused on the virtues of epistemic responsibility and epistemic justice as particularly appropriate for evaluating social processes such as, for example, testimony and conversational practices in general. In the third section we will show how the psychiatric and psychotherapeutic communicational act can be more efficiently analyzed and evaluated from the perspective of the virtue of epistemic justice, than from the traditional epistemic approach based on a monist concept of truth. The fourth and fifth section synthesize the discussion by introducing the concept of hermeneutic psychotherapy as a therapeutically and epistemically favorable framework for evaluating communicational acts in psychotherapy. nema. (shrink)

ABSTRACTWhen in emotional distress, people often turn to others for support. Paradoxically, even when people perceive social support to be beneficial, it often does not result in emotional recovery...

When we hear another person laugh or scream, can we tell the kind of situation they are in – for example, whether they are playing or fighting? Nonverbal expressions are theorised to vary systematically across behavioural contexts. Perceivers might be sensitive to these putative systematic mappings and thereby correctly infer contexts from others’ vocalisations. Here, in two pre-registered experiments, we test the prediction that listeners can accurately deduce production contexts (e.g. being tickled, discovering threat) from spontaneous nonverbal vocalisations, like sighs (...) and grunts. In Experiment 1, listeners (total n = 3120) matched 200 nonverbal vocalisations to one of 10 contexts using yes/no response options. Using signal detection analysis, we show that listeners were accurate at matching vocalisations to nine of the contexts. In Experiment 2, listeners (n = 337) categorised the production contexts by selecting from 10 response options in a forced-choice task. By analysing unbiased hit rates, we show that participants categorised all 10 contexts at better-than-chance levels. Together, these results demonstrate that perceivers can infer contexts from nonverbal vocalisations at rates that exceed that of random selection, suggesting that listeners are sensitive to systematic mappings between acoustic structures in vocalisations and behavioural contexts. (shrink)

We provide an overview of the life and work of Graham Barnes, who was strongly influenced by Gregory Bateson, and who collaborated with several other cyberneticians and constructivists, in particular, Gordon Pask and Heinz von Foerster. After having left the USA for Sweden, he commuted between Stockholm and Belgrade, Zagreb, Ljubljana and Rijeka, where he taught his own integration of second-order cybernetics and psychotherapy.

Making extensive use of archival and published documents from the eighteenth century, this book argues that the public sphere in eighteenth-century Prussia was a conservative realm that was deeply invested in methods of social control.

In this article we attempt a phenomenological analysis of the climate crisis. We start by arguing that the climate crisis cannot appear as a regular phenomenon. Due to its over-temporality and catastrophic character it is a non-phenomenon. However, we contend, this non-phenomenon announces itself in the hyperphenomenon of heat-waves. We analyse heat as a phenomenon and then show how it becomes a hyperphenomenon in the form of heat-waves. Besides the scientific evidence for prolongued and more extreme heat waves being due (...) to the climate crisis there is a question of how they can be experienced in everyday life as connected to climate change. We argue that, if heat-waves reach extreme temperatures, go on for an unusual long time and are combined with uncommonly high temperatures in winter, we experience, bodily and structurally, a falling apart of our normal order of experience. This experience can motivate an experienced understanding of the climate crisis because it resonates with the overtemporality and catastrophic character of the climate crisis. We therefore understand it as an announcement of the crisis despite its withdrawal. (shrink)

Differentiation of the forms and functions of different smiles is needed, but they should be based on the empirical data on distinctions that senders and receivers make and on the physical cues that are employed. Such data would allow for a test of whether smiles can be differentiated using perceptual cues alone or whether mimicry or simulation are necessary.