ABSTRACTPeople hiss and swear when they make errors, frown and swear again when they encounter conflicting information. Such error- and conflict-related signs of negative affect are found even when there is no time pressure or external reward and the task itself is very simple. Previous studies, however, provide inconsistent evidence regarding the affective consequences of resolved conflicts, that is, conflicts that resulted in correct responses. We tested whether response accuracy in the Eriksen flanker task will moderate the effect of trial (...) incongruence using affective priming to measure positive and negative affect. We found that responses to incongruent trials elicit positive affect irrespective of their accuracy. Errors, in turn, result in negative affect irrespective of trial congruence. The effects of conflicts and errors do not interact and affect different dimensions of affective priming. Conflicts change the speed of evaluative categorisation while errors are reflected in categorisation accuracy... (shrink)

During the 1980s Illich added another dimension to his thought through the study of Medieval history. In the current volume he aims to demonstrate the extent to which the groundwork for the institutions that characterize our world today was laid in the twelfth century.

This chapter contains sections titled: 1 2 3 4 5 6.

The adaptive benefits of individual specialization and how learning abilities correlate with task performance are still far from being well-understood. Red wood ants are characterised by their huge colonies and deep professional specialization. We hypothesized that red wood ants Formica aquilonia form aversive learning after having negative encounters with hoverfly larvae differently, depending on their task specialization. We tested this hypothesis, first, by examining whether hunters and aphid milkers learn differently to avoid the nuisance of contacts with syrphid larvae, and, (...) second, by analysing the difference between learning in ‘field’ and laboratory-reared (naïve) foragers. During the first interaction with the syrphid larva in their lives the naïve foragers showed a significantly higher level of aggressiveness than the members of a natural colony. Naïve foragers applied the ‘mortal grip’, ‘prolonged bites’, and ‘nibbling’ towards the enemy with a significantly higher frequency, whereas members of both ‘field’ groups behaved more carefully and tried to avoid encounters with the larva. The aphid milkers, who had a negative experience of interaction with the larva, being ‘glued’ with its viscous secretion, behaved much less aggressively in the follow-up experiments after ten minutes and even three days, thus exhibiting the shaping of both short- and long-term memories. However, both ‘field’ hunters and naïve foragers demonstrated no signs of aversive learning. These data provide some new insights into the relationship between task specialization and learning performance in ants. Given our previous results, we speculate that scouts and aphid milkers are the most cognitively gifted specialists in red wood ants, whereas hunters and guards are rather brave than smart. (shrink)

In the wake of Stalin's death, many Soviet scientists saw the opportunity to promote their methods as tools for the engineering of economic prosperity in the socialist state. The mathematician Leonid Kantorovich (1912–1986) was a key activist in academic politics that led to the increasing acceptance of what emerged as a new scientific persona in the Soviet Union. Rather than thinking of his work in terms of success or failure, we propose to see his career as exemplifying a distinct form (...) of scholarship, as a partisan technocrat, characteristic of the Soviet system of knowledge production. Confronting the class of orthodox economists, many factors were at work, including Kantorovich's cautious character and his allies in the Academy of Sciences. Drawing on archival and oral sources, we demonstrate how Kantorovich, throughout his career, negotiated the relations between mathematics and economics, reinterpreted political and ideological frames, and reshaped the balance of power in the Soviet academic landscape. (shrink)

The article analyzes a number of modern physics approaches in different aspects, which are directly or indirectly affected by the problem of space. The variations of cosmologies based on the theory of relativity, quantum mechanics, the theory of inflation, the holographic universe model, the model of the virtual universe, etc. and their scientifically validated combinations are examined for specifics of category of space interpretation in each case. In reliance to the historical and philosophical analys is the connection between the traditional (...) interpretations of the concept of space in philosophy and the modern ones in physics is established. The context of some modern physical theories is concluded to bring new dimensions to the understanding of space (while retaining certain classical concepts). (shrink)

The article presents the possible role of consciousness in quantum-mechanical description of physical reality. The widely spread interpretations of quantum phenomena are considered as indicating the apparent connection between conscious processes and the properties of the microcosm. The reasons for discrepancies between the results of observations of the microcosm and macrocosm and the potential association of consciousness with these reasons are closely investigated. The mentioned connection is meant to be interpreted in the sense that the probable requirement for a complete (...) understanding of quantum theory is the adequate description of consciousness within it and that the correct theory of consciousness should include quantum-mechanical theoretical apparatus. In this context, the question about the methods of scientific cognition is discussed, in particular, the problem of the place and the importance of intellectual intuition in science and philosophy of science. The author draws the conclusions about the current state of the “measuring” consciousness. problem in its relationship with. (shrink)

Što se može očekivati od susreta i dijaloga između kulture i Crkve ? Polazna točka u ovoj raspravi je novum kojega je iznjedrio Drugi vatikanski sabor; kulturalno gledano, on predstavlja događaj kojim su srušene umjetne prepreke između kulture i Crkve . Upravo taj događaj čini se da je širom otvorio vrata susretu i dijalogu između Crkve i kulturalnog ambijenta u kojemu se i Crkva nalazi.Crkveno-teološko zauzimanje za dijalog sa suvremenom kulturom moralo bi, prema autorovu mišljenju, ispuniti neke zahtjeve ili pretpostavke, (...) kako bi taj dijalog ne samo bilo lakše ostvariti nego da donese i određene plodove svijetu i čovječanstvu. Jedna od prvih pretpostavki jest simpatija u odnosu prema svijetu i vremenu u kojemu se živi i djeluje; to je neophodan prvi korak u uspostavljanju »prvoga kontakta« između Crkve i kulture. Druga je pretpostavka ona koja se odnosi na snažniju valorizaciju uloge lokalnih crkava koje se čine primjerenijim subjektima što će lakše naći dodirne točke između općeljudskih pitanja i kulturalno elaboriranog navještaja vjere. Nadalje, unutar Crkve sve važnije mjesto i ulogu u vođenju dijaloga sa suvremenom kulturom trebaju imati vjernici-laici, tj. muževi i žene više uronjeni u razna svjetska životna područja kao što su politika, gospodarstvo, zdravstvo, itd. Unutar same Crkve valjalo bi sjediniti tzv. »benediktinsku duhovnost«, koja privilegira autoritet , s tzv. »franjevačkom osjetljivošću« koja je više usmjerena na bratstvo/sestrinstvo , ne samo među ljudima nego i sa svim stvorenim. Konačno, ne treba zaboraviti niti razlikovanje između vjere i teologije : to razlikovanje, koje ne znači strogo dijeljenje, otvara prostore da se različitim kulturalnim načinima izrekne vjera u Isusa Krista u različitim ozemljima i ambijentima u kojima ljudi obitavaju.What is to be expected from an encounter and dialogue between culture and the Church ? The starting point of this paper is the novelty introduced by the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican; culturally speaking, it represents an event with which the artificial obstacles between culture and the Church were pulled down. It seems that it was this event precisely that fully opened the doors to the encounter and dialogue between the Church and the cultural environment which the Church is also part of.The Church and theology’s advocating of dialogue with contemporary culture must, according to the author, meet a number of requirements or presuppositions not only for this dialogue to be conducted without unnecessary difficulty, but also for it to be fruitful for the world and humanity. One of the first presuppositions is sympathy in relation to both the world and times we live in; this first step is essential in the Church’s making “first contact” with culture. The second presupposition pertains to a more potent valorisation of the role of local churches , which seem to be more appropriate subjects to be able to more easily locate connection points between universally human questions and the culturally elaborated annunciation of faith. Furthermore, those who should have an increasingly more important role within the Church itself in leading this dialogue with contemporary culture are worshiping laymen, i.e. men and women who have been deeply and greatly involved in the various universal fields of life, such as politics, economy, health services, etc. Within the Church the so-called ‘Benedictine spirituality’, which privileges authority , should be merged with the so-called ‘Franciscan sensibility’, which is more directed towards a brotherhood/sisterhood not only between people but also with all that is created. Finally, the difference between faith and theology must not be forgotten either: this difference, which does not imply a strict division, creates space for the faith in Jesus Christ to be professed in the different ways of the cultures and environments that people live in. (shrink)

The article is devoted to the problem of interpreting of the several consequences that derive from multi-world concepts of modern physics. The inflation scenario and the associated string landscape model are the objects of analysis. The reviewed multi-world concepts are exposed to presume the existence of a plenitude of various fundamental principles that govern the physics of one or another possible reality. The research is based on the hermeneutical method, comparative method, dialectical method, formal translation method, and scientific modeling method. (...) The author represents specifics of physical theories that claim to describe all possible worlds in the conclusions. In this regard, the issues of the status of “possible” and “impossible” worlds and practicable ways to determine them are discussed. The main result of the study is the justification that each type of world must correspond to a certain structure of consciousness defined by its basic physical principles. This possibly means that a unified “theory of everything” that includes all possible mathematical and physical fundamental structures cannot exist since every one of them determines a specific type of consciousness. (shrink)

The second law results in the growth of the entropy – in superficial interpretation this principle presumes that the sufficient energy inevitably turns into the substandard energy. Order turns into chaos over time; however, chaos also turns into order under certain circumstances. The first research objective is to establish the possible prescientific ideas about the phenomenon – some philosophical intuitions that have preceded the scientific discovery of the second law and have conformed to it in a certain sense. It is (...) essential because there are always certain bonds and continuity in the history of philosophy and science – the correct interpretation of the phenomenon becomes difficult, if not impossible, without the establishment of such bonds.Moreover, the main task is to understand what the second law is and which significance its principal corollaries have. We need to give the second law a correct interpretation that will allow making assumptions about its connection with time in the context of the initial state problem and about the possible new ways of modern physics development – in particular, the creation of the quantum theory of gravity. Two solutions to the entropy and initial state connection problem are proposed in the context of the time arrow discussion (G. Calender’s approach to solving the problem is disputed). (shrink)

We extend Savage et al.'s music and social bonding hypothesis by examining it in the context of Chinese music. First, top-down functions such as music as political instrument should receive more attention. Second, solo performance can serve as important cues for social identity. Third, a right match between the tones in lyrics and music contributes also to social bonding.

Many philosophers have been appointed to top-level political positions during Chile's modern history. What makes Chilean philosophers unique in the context of Latin America and beyond, is that they have developed a sophisticated rationale for both their participation and withdrawal from politics. All along, philosophers have grappled with fundamental problems such as the role of religion and politics in society. They have also played a fundamental role in defining the nature and aims of higher education. The philosophers' production constitutes a (...) substantial, albeit largely unknown, portion of the intellectual history of Chile and Latin America. This book describes in detail the evolution of philosophical work in Chile, and pays close attention to the relationship between philosophical activity and contemporary social and political events. Various Chilean philosophical sources are discussed for the first time in the literature on Chilean ideas. The work of such intellectuals as Andres Bello, Valentin Letelier, Enrique Molina, Jorge Millas, Juan Rivano, Juan de Dios Vial Larrain, and many others is examined in relation to the principal political and educational issues of their time. The book also develops a distinction between the two main currents of Chilean philosophy, namely, a "professionalist" current that seeks the independence of the field from social and political involvements, and a "critical" current that seeks to relate philosophical activity to national realities. (shrink)

The Austrian School's conventional theory of the firm is based on an attempt to synthesize Coase's concept of the firm as a centrally planned hierarchy with the Austrian theory of entrepreneurship and monetary calculation. This paper is a critique of that program as well as an attempt to outline the alternative theory of the firm, one based on the synthesis of the contractual agency theory of the firm with the same Austrian arguments about entrepreneurship and calculation. The firm in this (...) paper is defined as a nexus of various markets for goods as well as for labor and managerial services rather than as a hierarchy or “organization.” Both the neoclassical and Austrian critiques of the latter concept are utilized to prove that a clear distinction between the market and the firm cannot be established. That distinction is based on the misunderstanding of the firm's dynamics as exclusively tied to the managing/transaction costs ratio as well as on the mischaracterization of inter-firm relations as commanding ones. On the other hand, the central planning view of the firm is equally at odds with the key Mises's argument that rational economic planning is impossible in the absence of market prices. If this is so, the firm, as understood in a Coasian paradigm, would not have any reason to exist, or any reason to contribute positively to economic efficiency, because it would simply represent a centrally planned “island of incalculability” in a wider market setting. Since the firm is a nexus of various markets, its operation is contrary to the Coaseian assumptions led by the price signals. Only insofar as the internal firm's operation is driven by the price signals can the firm be efficient. (shrink)

Članak predstavlja prikaz obilježavanja 50. obljetnice Hrvatskog filozofskog društva, koje se održalo u Zagrebu od 6. do 8. prosinca 2007., a uključivalo je simpozij Suvremena hrvatska filozofija, predstavljanje novih knjiga u izdanju Hrvatskog filozofskog društva, godišnju skupštinu Hrvatskog filozofskog društva, svečanu akademiju u povodu 50. obljetnice Hrvatskog filozofskog društva, te okrugli stol o Vladimiru Filipoviću, prvom predsjedniku Hrvatskog filozofskog društva.The paper outlines the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Croatian Philosophical Society that took place in Zagreb 6–8 December, 2007. (...) The event incorporated the symposium entitled Contemporary Croatian Philosophy, the presentation of books published by the Society, the annual assembly of the Society, the formal academy to mark the 50th anniversary, and the round table on Vladimir Filipović, the first president of the Croatian Philosophical Society. (shrink)

The normalization in the path integral approach to quantum field theory, in contrast with statistical field theory, can contain physical information. The main claim of this paper is that the inner product on the space of field configurations, one of the fundamental pieces of data required to be added to quantize a classical field theory, determines the normalization of the path integral. In fact, dimensional analysis shows that the introduction of this structure necessarily introduces a scale that is left unfixed (...) by the classical theory. We study the dependence of the theory on this scale. This allows us to explore mechanisms that can be used to fix the normalization based on cutting and gluing different integrals. “Self-normalizing” path integrals, those independent of the scale, play an important role in this process. Furthermore, we show that the scale dependence encodes other important physical data: we use it to give a conceptually clear derivation of the chiral anomaly. Several explicit examples, including the scalar and compact bosons in different geometries, supplement our discussion. (shrink)

Political ecology is a recent development in contemporary scholarship. Contrary to popular belief, the French philosopher Bruno Latour was not its originator. Some scholars began to recognise that nature and politics were closely connected back to the time of Montesquieu. Nonetheless, Latour’s political ecology is original in that it features new or revamped concepts that lend it new content and meaning. It includes concepts such as ‘mode of existence,’ ‘actor/network,’ ‘humans’ and ‘non-humans,’ ‘terrestrial’ or ‘Earthbound,’ and offers a new interpretation (...) of the concepts of nature and politics. These concepts are the focus of the first and second parts of the article. The final part looks at their practical application, particularly in connection with Latour’s idea of creating a common world fit for life, or at least survival. -------------------------- Received: 24/11/2022. Reviewed: 08/03/2023. Accepted: 30/03/2023. (shrink)

Because research involving human subjects exposes people to risk not always for their own potential benefit, the question arises as to how best ensure that: research participants are protected and benefited according to the highest ethical standards, while, on the other hand, researchers are protected and free to do research that will produce clinical advances for both research participants and society as a whole.The balancing of the risk to research participants versus the benefits derived from the research is performed in (...) many counrries by a system for the protection of human research participants that is laid out in national laws and regulations. In the United States, this system is based on principles emanating from the Nuremberg Code, the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki,and the report of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. (shrink)

En la filosofía y psicología actual existe una discusión actualmente de vital importancia para la comprensión del ser humano, esto es la relación entre las emociones y la vida moral. En este contexto Martha Nussbaum ofrece importantes puntos de reflexión que nos llevan a preguntarnos por aquellas facultades cognitivas que estructuran las emociones morales como la compasión y que diferencian la expresión emocional humana de la de animales no humanos.

En los últimos años, el filósofo surcoreano radicado en Alemania, Byung-Chul Han, viene marcando nuevos derroteros para la reflexión filosófica usando el potencial teórico que surge de la comprensión de las nuevas realidades sociales, políticas y económicas, que marcan esta época de evolución neoliberal y de desarrollo tecnológico, en el contexto de la cuarta Revolución Industrial. Así, temas como la transformación de la biopolítica en psicopolítica se convierten en un punto muy relevante para el análisis de las sociedades actuales y (...) sus derivas. Con este trasfondo de pensamiento, el presente artículo tiene por objetivo sumergirseen las argumentaciones de Han, explorando el papel crucial que desempeñan las emociones en las sociedades del rendimiento, del cansancio y de la infocracia, acudiendo a la metáfora de la “rueda del hámster” como imagen evocadora de las dinámicas de las sociedades actuales. De esta forma, se presenta una perspectiva innovadora de la complejidad del siglo XXI, al adentrarnos en determinados matices del pensamiento de Han, en conexión con la realidad palpable de las emociones, que actúan como el combustible que impulsa a cada individuo en su propia “rueda existencial”. Esta articulación con las experiencias emocionales contribuyede manera significativa a las discusiones contemporáneas acerca de la naturaleza humana en contextos de innovación tecnológica. (shrink)

Martha Nussbaum es fundamentalmente una filósofa política y moral que, cimentada en la tradición aristotélica, ha logrado integrar en unapostura teórica una visión de la justicia social con una perspectiva sobre la naturaleza y el cultivo de ciertas emociones morales que resultan apropiadas para edificar una nueva ciudadanía democrática. Para nuestra autora, la justicia no puede estar desligada del accionar de las personas en la vida cotidiana, por tanto, considera que este vínculo se puede materializar mediante el cultivo de las (...) emociones, las cuales se entienden como elementos claves de la vida moral que afinan nuestra percepción del mundo y orientan nuestras elecciones. Guiados por esta noción, en este artículo presentamos algunos aspectos fundamentales del pensamiento político de Nussbaum, mostrando la transición que la autora experimenta en sus teorías desde las posturas del liberalismo de Rawls hasta consolidar su propia visión de la “justicia compasiva”, la cual es unaforma concreta de apuntalar la norma pública que defiende cómo todas las personas merecen igual respeto y dignidad. En este recorrido igualmente reflexionaremos sobre la influencia de las posturas comunitaristas de finales del siglo XX en los ideales de ciudadanía de la filósofa de Chicago. (shrink)

Virtue ethics has faced a substantial challenge in recent years from philosophical situationism. In this essay, I argue that the challenge has remained intact due to a seeming difference between the sentiments of situationists and those of virtue ethicists regarding the scope and robustness of virtues, as well as a fixation on robust character traits. Although some defenders of virtue ethics have proposed empirically plausible accounts of character traits, these tend to deflate the concept of virtue such that it loses (...) its usual scope and exemplary status. I propose my own theory of virtue as self-sustained proper deliberation in an attempt to meet the situationist challenge. I argue that we can provide a satisfactory answer to the situationist challenge if we reframe the aim of virtue ethics as therapeutic, clarify the plausible moral psychology, give an account of cultivating and sustaining virtue, and justify the morally exemplary and praiseworthy status of self-sustained virtues. To do this, I draw on the empirical and philosophical work of therapists and the later stoics such as Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius. (shrink)