While previous studies have analyzed mean neurophysiological responses to musical stimuli, the current study aimed to identify specific time courses of electroencephalography (EEG) oscillations, which are associated with dynamic changes in the acoustic features of the musical stimulus. In addition, we were interested in whether these time courses change during a repeated presentation of the same musical piece. A total of 16 subjects repeatedly listened to the well-known aria “Nessun dorma,” sung by Paul Potts, while continuous 128-channel EEG and heart (...) rate, as well as electrodermal responses, were recorded. The time courses for the EEG oscillations were calculated using a time resolution of 1 second for several frequency bands, on the basis of individual alpha-peak frequencies (theta, low alpha-1, low alpha-2, upper alpha, and beta). For all frequency bands, we identified a more or less continuous increase in power relative to a baseline period, indicating strong event-related synchronization (ERS) during music listening. The ERS time courses, however, did not correlate strongly with the time courses of the acoustic features of the aria. In addition, we did not observe changes in EEG oscillations after repeated presentation of the same musical piece. Aside from this distinctive feature, we identified a remarkable variability in EEG oscillations, both within and between the repeated presentations of the aria. We interpret the continuous increase in ERS observed in all frequency bands during music listening as an indicator of a particular neurophysiological and psychological state evoked by music listening. We suggest that this state is characterized by increased internal attention (accompanied by reduced external attention), increased inhibition of brain networks not involved in the generation of this internal state, the maintenance of a particular level of general alertness, and a type of brain state that can be described as “mind wandering.” The overall state can be categorized as a psychological process that may be seen as a “drawing in” to the musical piece. However, this state is not stable and varies considerably throughout the music listening session and across subjects. Most important, however, is the finding that the neurophysiological activations occurring during music listening are dynamic and not stationary. (shrink)

In contrast to the recent rise to economic importance of offshore finance centres (OFCs), the topic of taxation has so far created little interest among scholars of corporate social responsibility (CSR). This paper makes two contributions to addressing this lacuna. Applying a range of influential normative theories of ethics, it first offers an ethical evaluation of tax havens. Second, the paper examines what use large firms that are headquartered in two OFCs—Bermuda and the Cayman Islands—make of formal CSR tools. The (...) emerging duplicity in tax havenbased companies professing social responsibility highlights once more the political nature of CSR, where at least some firms and/or industries can successfully limit government power to enact regulation as well as shape the discourse around CSR. The study of CSR in OFC-based firms thus calls into question the usefulness of the often quoted definition of CSR as going beyond the law. (shrink)

In 1638, the Jesuit, poet, preacher, and historianJohannes Bisselius published the first volume of his seasonal poem Deliciae Veris, Pleasures of Spring. The subtly composed, stylistically unique cycle is presented here for the first time in a modern edition with a German translation and insightful commentary, including an introduction to each poem.".

Name der Zeitschrift: Das Mittelalter Jahrgang: 22 Heft: 1 Seiten: 183-196.

Studies into corporate social responsibility (CSR) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have suggested that small businesses are different to the large companies on which CSR research usually focusses. Extending this argument, this article raises the question what differences in approaches to CSR there are within the SME category. Analysing the CSR strategy and performance of a medium-sized fashion retailer in the United Kingdom through manager interviews as well as customer and employee surveys, the article develops an analytical framework of (...) CSR in small, medium and large firms. The argument is developed that medium-sized firms occupy a transition stage, where some CSR features that are reminiscent of small enterprises are still important but get overlaid with aspects that are more typical of large companies. (shrink)

Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives et Imagerie Ce´re´brale (LENA), Hoˆpital de La Salpeˆtrie`re, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS).

Syntactic approaches in the philosophy of science, which are based on formalizations in predicate logic, are often considered in principle inferior to semantic approaches, which are based on formalizations with the help of structures. To compare the two kinds of approach, I identify some ambiguities in common semantic accounts and explicate the concept of a structure in a way that avoids hidden references to a specific vocabulary. From there, I argue that contrary to common opinion (i) unintended models do not (...) pose a significant problem for syntactic approaches to scientific theories, (ii) syntactic approaches can be at least as language-independent as semantic ones, and (iii) in syntactic approaches, scientific theories can be as well connected to the world as in semantic ones. Based on these results, I argue that syntactic and semantic approaches fare equally well when it comes to (iv) ease of application, (v) accommodating the use of models in the sciences, and (vi) capturing the theory-observation relation. (shrink)

in Cambridge Handbook of Consciousness edited by Zelazo P., Moscovitch M. and Thompson E. (2007).

Speed is an obvious facet of contemporary society, whereas slowness has often been dismissed as conservative and antimodern. Challenging a long tradition of thought, Lutz Koepnick instead proposes we understand slowness as a strategy of the contemporary--a decidedly modern practice that gazes firmly at and into the present's velocity. As he engages with late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century art, photography, video, film, and literature, Koepnick explores slowness as a critical medium to intensify our temporal and spatial experiences. Slowness helps (...) us register the multiple layers of time, history, and motion that constitute our present. It offers a timely mode of aesthetic perception and representation that emphasizes the openness of the future and undermines any conception of the present as a mere replay of the past. Discussing the photography and art of Janet Cardiff, Olafur Eliasson, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and Michael Wesely; the films of Peter Weir and Tom Tykwer; the video installations of Douglas Gordon, Willie Doherty, and Bill Viola; and the fiction of Don DeLillo, Koepnick shows how slowness can carve out spaces within processes of acceleration that allow us to reflect on alternate temporalities and durations. (shrink)

Ralph Cudworth's (1617-1688) True Intellectual System of the Universe is considered the high point of philosophical production by the Cambridge Platonists. In this work, Cudworth compresses all of his era's core problems in natural philosophy and theology and attempts to find a comprehensive solution to broadly explain how God acts in nature. For the first time, the present work presents the complete story of how Cudworth developed his Neoplatonic system using a compatible combination of text form and content, and along (...) the way, it also unfolds a panoramic view of ancient classical philosophy. (shrink)

Codes of conduct have become the perhaps most often used tool to manage corporate social responsibility (CSR). Researchers have primarily analysed such documents at company-wide or trans-company levels, whereas there is a dearth of studies into the use of codes for particular corporate functions. Hence, this article will examine one particular group of sub-company level codes, namely codes of conduct that stipulate CSR criteria for suppliers. Examining such ethical sourcing policies adopted by the FTSE100 corporations, the article draws out what (...) environmental, social and economic issues large corporations perceive to be important in the management of their supply chains. At an aggregate level, the coverage of CSR issues is rather extensive, yet at the level of the individual corporation a degree of selectivity in the issues that are addressed becomes noticeable. The code content analysis furthermore confirms the business case and public pressure to be the most important drivers of CSR. Finally, the study highlights the role of isomorphic processes in the adoption of CSR tools. (shrink)

PLoS ONE 3(3): e1897. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.

ABSTRACT:The extant literature on cross-national differences in approaches to corporate social responsibility (CSR) has mostly focused on developed countries. Instead, we offer two inter-related studies into corporate codes of conduct issued by developing country multinational enterprises (DMNEs). First, we analyse code adoption rates and code content through a mixed methods design. Second, we use multilevel analyses to examine country-level drivers of differences in code content—specifically, elements of a country’s National Business System (NBS). We find that DMNEs are much more likely (...) to adopt a code of conduct than their domestic counterparts; however, this does not translate into greater code comprehensiveness. We also find support for the ‘substitute view’ of CSR in developing countries, i.e. that MNEs from poorer countries and from countries with lower governance effectiveness tend to express more comprehensive commitments. However, this dynamic does not extend to a country’s labour system; instead, CSR appears here to match the efficiency of a country’s labour market, thus reflecting the ‘mirror view’ of CSR. (shrink)

Rationality has been a principle widely assumed in economics from early on. In contrast, rationality in the formation of economic expectations is rather new. Since the term “rational expectations” has meanwhile become a kind of slogan for diverse issues in economics as in related fields, there is some danger of authors’ not always being aware of the true meaning of this technical term. Sometimes it is used, in a context where expectation formation about uncertain events is essential, as if rational (...) expectations solved this fundamental problem. (shrink)

"A commentary containing glosses on The Last Third of Book II, Book IV (De arte dialectica) entire, and approximately a third of Book V (De rhetorica) of Martianus Capella"--Introduction.

Zusammenfassung Anhand empirischer Daten zum organisationalem Verhalten von Ganztagsschulen und Sportvereinen wird der Frage nachgegangen, welche allgemeine Organisationstheorie Ansätze zur Erklärung von Kooperationen zwischen Ganztagsschulen und Sportvereinen bereitstellen kann. Nach der kriteriengestützten Identifikation erkenntnisträchtiger Organisationstheorien erfolgt eine explorative hypothesengeleitete empirische Prüfung der Transaktionskostentheorie, der Evolutionstheorie sowie der Theorie der Strukturation mit Längsschnittdaten aus Rheinland-Pfalz. Es zeigt sich, dass der Transaktionskostenansatz das Kooperationsverhalten von Sportvereinen, jedoch nicht von Ganztagsschulen, erklären kann. Die Evolutionstheorie leistet Beiträge zur Erklärung von Stabilität in der Population (...) der Ganztagsschulen sowie zum Wandel bei einem Teil der Kooperationspartner. Das Kooperationsverhalten von Ganztagsschulen kann damit ebenso wie mit der Theorie der Strukturation nicht theoriekonform interpretiert werden. (shrink)

Proponents of linguistic philosophy hold that all non-empirical philosophical problems can be solved by either analyzing ordinary language or developing an ideal one. I review the debates on linguistic philosophy and between ordinary and ideal language philosophy. Using arguments from these debates, I argue that the results of experimental philosophy on intuitions support linguistic philosophy. Within linguistic philosophy, these experimental results support and complement ideal language philosophy. I argue further that some of the critiques of experimental philosophy are in fact (...) defenses of ideal language philosophy. Finally, I show how much of the current debate about experimental philosophy is anticipated in the debates about and within linguistic philosophy. Specifically, arguments by ideal language philosophers support experimental philosophy. (shrink)

Aus dem Inhalt: I. BegriffeG. Gabriel, Begriff - Metapher - Katachrese. Zum Abschluss des Historischen Worterbuchs der PhilosophieH. Huhn, Unterscheidungswissen. Begriffsexplikation und BegriffsgeschichteC. Spoerhase, Prosodien des Wissens. Uber den gelehrten "Ton", 1794-1797 II. MetaphernP. Gehring, Das Bild vom Sprachbild. Die Metapher und das VisuelleD. Werle, Methodenmetaphern. Metaphorologie und ihre Nutzlichkeit fur die philologisch-historische MethodologieA. Ruth, Metaphern in der GeschichteR. Klausnitzer, Unsichtbare Faden, unsichtbare Hand. Ideengeschichte und Figuration eines MetaphernkomplexesR. Kany, Palimpsest. Konjunkturen einer EdelmetapherJ. de Salas, Communication and Metaphor in OrtegaIII. (...) ImaginationenJ. Anselm Steiger, Kontrafaktizitat und Kontrarationalitat des Glaubens in der Theologie Martin LuthersT. Verbeek, Einbildungskraft und "Mogliche Welten": Descartes und Spinoza. (shrink)

Heidorf, L., Moderate families in Boolean algebras, Annals of Pure and Applied Logic 57 217–250. A subset F of a Boolean algebra B will be called moderate if no element of B splits infinitely many elements of F . Disjoint moderate sets occur in connection with a product construction that is systematically studied in this paper. In contrast to the usual full direct product, these so-called moderate products preserve many properties of their factors. This can be used, for example, to (...) construct big retractive Boolean algebras that are not embeddable into interval algebras. The paper is also concerned with those Boolean algebras whose ideals are generated by moderate sets. The results may be summarized by saying that in many respects these algebras behave like countable ones. (shrink)

In recent years, the full text of papers are increasingly available electronically which opens up the possibility of quantitatively investigating citation contexts in more detail. In this study, we introduce a new form of citation analysis, which we call citation concept analysis (CCA). CCA is intended to reveal the cognitive impact certain concepts—published in a highly-cited landmark publication—have on the citing authors. It counts the number of times the concepts are mentioned (cited) in the citation context of citing publications. We (...) demonstrate the method using three classical highly cited books: (1) The structure of scientific revolutions by Thomas S. Kuhn, (2) The logic of scientific discovery—Logik der Forschung: Zur Erkenntnistheorie der modernen Naturwissenschaft in German—, and (3) Conjectures and refutations: the growth of scientific knowledge by Karl R. Popper. It is not surprising—as our results show—that Kuhn’s “paradigm” concept seems to have had a significant impact. What is surprising is that our results indicate a much larger impact of the concept “paradigm” than Kuhn’s other concepts, e.g., “scientific revolution”. The paradigm concept accounts for about 40% of the concept-related citations to Kuhn’s work, and its impact is resilient across all disciplines and over time. With respect to Popper, “falsification” is the most used concept derived from his books. Falsification is the cornerstone of Popper’s critical rationalism. (shrink)

Attention to internal body sensations is practiced in most meditation traditions. Many traditions state that this practice results in increased awareness of internal body sensations, but scientific studies evaluating this claim are lacking. We predicted that experienced meditators would display performance superior to that of nonmeditators on heartbeat detection, a standard noninvasive measure of resting interoceptive awareness. We compared two groups of meditators (Tibetan Buddhist and Kundalini) to an age- and body mass index-matched group of nonmeditators. Contrary to our prediction, (...) we found no evidence that meditators were superior to nonmeditators in the heartbeat detection task, across several sessions and respiratory modulation conditions. Compared to nonmeditators, however, meditators consistently rated their interoceptive performance as superior and the difficulty of the task as easier. These results provide evidence against the notion that practicing attention to internal body sensations, a core feature of meditation, enhances the ability to sense the heartbeat at rest. (shrink)

This essay examines relativist and fideist challenges to Alasdair MacIntyre’s theory of rationality by reading some of MacIntyre’s more recent works in thecontext of his earlier work in the philosophy of religion, Marxism, and the philosophy of the social sciences.

Das vorliegende Buch stellt die Beziehungen zwischen neuplatonischer Metaphysik und dem spätantiken Mysterienkult dar. Ausgehend von einer Analyse des platonischen Kraftbegriffs (Dynamis) in seiner Beziehung zur Lichtbegrifflichkeit zeigt sich, daß zwar die Kraftmetaphysik das allgemeinere metaphysische Konzept darstellt, das auch der Lichtmetaphysik zugrundeliegt, es selbst aber in seinen Ausdifferenzierungen und in seinen Anwendungen auf den Bereich des Religiösen auf den explikativen Wert des Lichtmodells angewiesen bleibt. Die derart wechselseitig miteinander verschränkte Licht-Kraftmetaphysik macht ein zentrales Moment der neuplatonischen Metaphysik aus, das (...) beschreibt, wie die Welt mit ihren intelligiblen und materiellen Komponenten Gestalt annimmt, und das zugleich von den späteren Neuplatonikern genutzt wird, um Phänomene innerhalb eines umfassenden Rahmens zu erklären und zu legitimieren, die wesentlich mit der religiösen Praxis der Theurgie zusammenhängen, die z.B. in den Versen der sog. Chaldäischen Orakel ihren literarischen Ausdruck findet. (shrink)

This special issue assembles contributions from the global North and South to inquire into the future of the “social” from an interdisciplinary perspective, drawing on sociology, political science and law. What does “social” mean, and do social policy and the welfare state have a future in a global age? The issue is published on the occasion of the eightieth birthday of Franz-Xaver Kaufmann, who is considered the doyen of the sociology of social policy in Germany.

The particular situation of the French administrative detention center medical units appears to be an exemplary case to study the difficulties facing medical practice. Indeed, the starting point of our inquiry was an amazing observation that needed to be addressed and understood: why are professional interpreters so seldom requested in ADC medical units, where one would expect that they would be “naturally” present? Aiming to fully explore the meanings of the “absent interpreter”, this article takes into account the possible meanings (...) of this situation: the recourse to professional interpreters in France is far from expected given cumulative evidence of its benefits; perceptions of illegal immigrants and medical habitus itself may both hamper the use of a third party; the ADCs are a very stressful place for healthcare professionals, with conflicting missions, political issues enmeshed with medical goals, and heavy affective burden that may lead to self-protection. Silencing voices of suffering others might be seen as the hidden indecent truth of the “absent interpreter”. These reflections open a window to a larger issue with regard to the full range of medicine: what are the place, the role and the function of patient’s words and narratives in contemporary medicine? The highly invested somatic perspective and its political corollary giving primacy to bare life harbor potential risks of obscuring speeches and undervaluing narratives. (shrink)

Zusammenfassung Die Überwindung von Theorie-Praxis-Differenzen wird entlang der Unterscheidung zwischen wissenschaftlicher Rigorosität und Relevanz geführt. Der direkte Übertrag von wissenschaftlichen Befunden in die Praxis könnte im Sport auch durch die Übernahme von Führungspositionen gelingen. Forschungen, in welchem Maße und warum WissenschaftlerInnen Führungspositionen im Sport parallel zu einer Position an der Hochschule begleiten, liegen bislang noch nicht vor. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass nur ein geringer Teil der Vorstandsämter in DOSB/dsb, Landessportbünden und olympischen Spitzenverbänden durch forschende WissenschaftlerInnen besetzt ist und diese bei (...) Amtsübernahme und -ausübung nicht die Lösung der Theorie-Praxis-Differenz priorisieren. (shrink)