This essay focuses on the phenomenon of synesthesia. In an attempt to differentiate between genuine synesthesia and metaphorical synesthesia, I have searched for shared traits among synesthetic visual artists, as well as among composers and performing musicians. The field of synesthesia has been rife with misunderstandings. Though ever increasing numbers of exhibitions, books, and articles have used the title or subtitle, “Synesthesia in art and/or music”, few of these adequately define synesthesia. The major cause of the problem is that art (...) and music historians and curators, as well as artists and composers themselves, have confused the desire to intermingle various art forms with the phenomenon of genuine synesthesia. I show the existence of recurrent patterns of artistic response to synesthetic experience, the evidence of shared characteristics, by taking the examples of Carol Steen, Marcia Smilack, Joan Mitchell, David Hockney, Messiaen. I also present the results of my investigation on the synesthetic perceptions of the pianist Joyce Yang. Cet essai porte sur le phénomène de la synesthésie. Pour bien différencier synesthésie authentique et synesthésie métaphorique, j’ai recherché des traits communs chez les artistes visuels synesthètes, ainsi que chez les compositeurs et les musiciens interprètes. Le champ de la synesthésie a été envahi par des malentendus. Bien que de plus en plus d’expositions, de livres et d’articles utilisent le titre ou le sous-titre « Synesthésie dans l’art et/ou la musique », peu d’entre eux définissent adéquatement la synesthésie. La principale cause du problème est que les historiens et les conservateurs d’art et de musique, ainsi que les artistes et les compositeurs eux-mêmes, ont confondu le désir d’entremêler diverses formes d’art avec le phénomène de la véritable synesthésie. Je montre l’existence de modèles récurrents de réponse artistique à l’expérience synesthésique, l’évidence de caractéristiques partagées, en prenant les exemples de Carol Steen, Marcia Smilack, Joan Mitchell, David Hockney, Messiaen. Je présente également les résultats de ma recherche sur les perceptions synesthétiques de la pianiste Joyce Yang. (shrink)

The European Commission has recently proposed the introduction of legally binding quotas for women on corporate boards of European companies. This proposal has put the spotlight on the question of whether increasing female representation on the board brings economic benefits to the firm. In order to shed light on the issue, this study investigates the direct and indirect effects of women on the board on firm value. We use a simultaneous equation model to estimate the effects of women on the (...) board on firm value, financial performance, and compliance with ethical and social principles adopted by the firm. We find no evidence that a higher female representation on the board directly affects firm’s value. However, we find indirect effects. Women on the board are positively related with financial performance (measured in terms of return on assets and return on sales) and with ethical and social compliance, which in turn are positively related with firm value. The findings in this study suggest that greater female representation on corporate boards of large European firms can increase firm value indirectly. Further, part of the indirect effect comes from stronger compliance with ethical principles, something that is not captured by accounting-based financial performance. (shrink)

There is a long-standing disagreement in the philosophy of probability and Bayesian decision theory about whether an agent can hold a meaningful credence about an upcoming action, while she deliberates about what to do. Can she believe that it is, say, 70% probable that she will do A, while she chooses whether to do A? No, say some philosophers, for Deliberation Crowds Out Prediction (DCOP), but others disagree. In this paper, we propose a valid core for DCOP, and identify terminological (...) causes for some of the apparent disputes. (shrink)

Can an agent deliberating about an action A hold a meaningful credence that she will do A? 'No', say some authors, for 'Deliberation Crowds Out Prediction' (DCOP). Others disagree, but we argue here that such disagreements are often terminological. We explain why DCOP holds in a Ramseyian operationalist model of credence, but show that it is trivial to extend this model so that DCOP fails. We then discuss a model due to Joyce, and show that Joyce's rejection of DCOP rests (...) on terminological choices about terms such as 'intention', 'prediction', and 'belief'. Once these choices are in view, they reveal underlying agreement between Joyce and the DCOP-favouring tradition that descends from Ramsey. Joyce's Evidential Autonomy Thesis (EAT) is effectively DCOP, in different terminological clothing. Both principles rest on the so-called 'transparency' of first-person present-tensed reflection on one's own mental states. (shrink)

Human flesh search engine can be a double-edged sword, bringing convenience on the one hand and leading to infringement of personal privacy on the other hand. This paper discusses the ethical problems brought about by the human flesh search engine, as well as possible solutions.

In this paper, we examine the interactive effects of positive affect and perspective-taking on workplace incivility and family incivility, through moral disengagement. We draw from broaden-and-build and moral disengagement theories to suggest a potential negative consequence of positive affect. Specifically, we argue that positive affect increases incivility toward coworkers and spouses through moral disengagement among employees with low, but not high perspective-taking. Data from two time-lagged field studies and one online experiment provide support for our hypotheses. These findings suggest that (...) the beneficial effects of positive feelings are not universal, and the fostering of positive feelings at work might have unintended negative consequences, namely moral disengagement, and increased incivility at work and at home. Implications for theory and research are discussed. (shrink)

This paper addresses the issue of finite versus countable additivity in Bayesian probability and decision theory -- in particular, Savage's theory of subjective expected utility and personal probability. I show that Savage's reason for not requiring countable additivity in his theory is inconclusive. The assessment leads to an analysis of various highly idealised assumptions commonly adopted in Bayesian theory, where I argue that a healthy dose of, what I call, conceptual realism is often helpful in understanding the interpretational value of (...) sophisticated mathematical structures employed in applied sciences like decision theory. In the last part, I introduce countable additivity into Savage's theory and explore some technical properties in relation to other axioms of the system. (shrink)

Given a Polish groupG, let$E(G)$be the right coset equivalence relation$G^{\omega }/c(G)$, where$c(G)$is the group of all convergent sequences inG. The connected component of the identity of a Polish groupGis denoted by$G_0$.Let$G,H$be locally compact abelian Polish groups. If$E(G)\leq _B E(H)$, then there is a continuous homomorphism$S:G_0\rightarrow H_0$such that$\ker (S)$is non-archimedean. The converse is also true whenGis connected and compact.For$n\in {\mathbb {N}}^+$, the partially ordered set$P(\omega )/\mbox {Fin}$can be embedded into Borel equivalence relations between$E({\mathbb {R}}^n)$and$E({\mathbb {T}}^n)$.

This paper proposes a novel robust fixed-time control for the robot manipulator system with uncertainties. Based on the uniform robust exact differentiator algorithm, a robust control term is constructed. Then, a robust fixed-time inverse dynamics control is proposed. For the proposed control method, the fixed-time stability of a closed-loop system with uncertainties is strictly proved. The newly proposed method exhibits the following two attractive features. First, the proposed control scheme extends the existing fixed-time IDC for the robot manipulator system to (...) the robust control scheme. Second, the proposed method is strictly nonsingular rather than the commonly used approximate approach. Simulation result demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme. (shrink)

A gourd is a sort of pumpkin whose shell is frequently used to keep food and water. Gourds are also used as kitchen utensils, musical instruments or decoration. This paper draws attention to the time framework in gourd image representations, which symbolize universality and immortality as well as the positive notions of regeneration and emptiness. By analyzing the artistic expressions in the form of gourd representations reflected in literature and art, this paper reveals the complex notion of time in Chinese (...) civilization. (shrink)

This paper offers a fine analysis of different versions of the well known sure-thing principle. We show that Savage's formal formulation of the principle, i.e., his second postulate (P2), is strictly stronger than what is intended originally.

As questões que norteiam esta reflexão se colocam no entrecruzamento da Arte com a Educação bem como na inserção destas no mercado influenciado pelo poder midiático. A intervenção do educador apresenta-se como mediação que irá se contrapor à velocidade técnica imposta e buscar na interação logos/pathos a experiência do olhar pensante sobre a obra de arte.

Automated moral inference is an emerging topic of critical importance in artificial intelligence. The contemporary approach typically relies on language models to infer moral relevance or moral properties of a concept. This approach demands complex parameterization and costly computation, and it tends to disconnect with existing psychological accounts of moralization. We present a simple cognitive model for moral inference, Moral Association Graph (MAG), inspired by psychological work on moralization. Our model builds on word association network for inferring moral relevance and (...) draws on rich psychological data. We demonstrate that MAG performs competitively to state-of-the-art language models when evaluated against a comprehensive set of data for automated inference of moral norms and moral judgment of concepts, and in-context moral inference. We also show that our model yields interpretable outputs and is applicable to informing short-term moral change. (shrink)

In this paper, we recover the idea cast by Graham Priest to our ears in 2000: That it was possible to experience Ontological Paraconsistency in life. He had, back then, as a translation of his thinking, a painting by Escher: The stairs could be going up or down, and one could not tell where they were going by simply examining the painting. The most obvious argument as to why that was not an instance of Ontological Paraconsistency found in reality was (...) that the perspective from which you would have to stare at the painting to see something different would be different too, so that it was impossible that we were getting up and down at the same time, that is, from the same perspective. That would happen with anything we picked in this world. We recently found something that does not entirely belong to this world, however, something that could finally satisfy the requirements of Priest, and therefore prove to us that there is a place for Ontological Paraconsistency. We observe that the paraconsistent robot, Emmy (Abe et al., 2006), is an application of the Non-ontological Paraconsistency, which we always believed to be passive of existence, but we here talk about another type of paraconsistency, which would be intrinsic to the being. The purpose of this paper is then providing a definite answer to the questions: Is there any real life instance of Ontological Paraconsistency? Is Ontological Paraconsistency a useful concept in terms of logical theories? (shrink)

This paper applies Bo Mou’s Constructive-Engagement Strategy of Comparative Philosophy (CESCP) to explore philosophical practice as a novel paradigm that applies philosophy to everyday life. The study advocates for a transformative methodology that seeks truth through critical engagement, joint contributions, and diverse methodological tools, advancing the discipline towards a comprehensive world philosophy. Philosophical practice, characterized by its engagement with human experience and existential inquiries, integrates Eastern and Western philosophies to guide individuals in the art of living. It offers a philosophical (...) alternative to psychological counseling, focusing on reasoning to address life’s challenges and ethical dilemmas. The paper examines the integration of Chinese philosophy, particularly Confucianism, into philosophical practice, highlighting its relevance for contemporary counseling. It discusses Confucianism’s impact on philosophical practice, advances in self-cultivation and gong-fu theory, and the holistic Confucian view of body-mind integration, contrasting it with some Western approaches. We conclude that the practical dimensions of Confucianism oppose Western theoretical philosophy but align with Western philosophical practice. By employing CESCP, this research enriches philosophical practice, integrating diverse philosophies while respecting each tradition’s context. The approach combines Eastern relational perspectives with Western analytical depth, enhancing philosophical counseling and contributing to a global philosophical dialogue. This fusion of horizons aims to foster cross-cultural understanding and develop universally relevant wisdom. (shrink)

It is widely taken that the first-order part of Frege's Begriffsschrift is complete. However, there does not seem to have been a formal verification of this received claim. The general concern is that Frege's system is one axiom short in the first-order predicate calculus comparing to, by now, the standard first-order theory. Yet Frege has one extra inference rule in his system. Then the question is whether Frege's first-order calculus is still deductively sufficient as far as the first-order completeness is (...) concerned. In this short note we confirm that the missing axiom is derivable from his stated axioms and inference rules, and hence the logic system in the Begriffsschrift is indeed first-order complete. (shrink)

As the per capita income level increases, both environmental quality and income inequality will change significantly, which arouses people’s attention on the relationship between income inequality and environmental quality. Based on mathematical derivations, we first prove that when the relationship between per capita income and environmental pollution is nonlinear, and environmental pollution is not only related to per capita income, but also, among other potential determinants, to income inequality. Then, we use the two-way fixed estimator to estimate the impact of (...) income inequality on environmental quality by decomposing the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology model. The impact of income inequality on environmental pollution is significantly positive, that is, as the income gap widens, industrial pollutant emissions, carbon dioxide emissions, and PM2.5 in the air will increase; there is an “Inverted U-shaped” impact relationship between income inequality and environmental quality, that is, environmental pollution increases first and then decreases with the increase of per capita GDP; per capita income is the intermediate variable between income inequality and environmental quality. The relationship between income inequality and environmental quality should be fully considered when formulating relevant policies. The government should adopt differentiated environmental policies targeted at low-and-high income groups to achieve a win-win situation of economic growth and environmental protection. (shrink)

Stanovich & West (S&W), following all relevant others, define the rationality debate in terms of human performance on certain well-known problems. Unfortunately, these problems are very easy. For that reason, if System 2 cognition is identified with the capacity to solve them, such cognition will not enable humans to meet the cognitive demands of our technological society. Other profound issues arise as well.

O presente texto procura colocar em diálogo reflexões do campo da Filosofia da Infância com os da Educação Infantil. Além das contribuições teóricas pretende fazer conexões com situações observadas em uma pesquisa de doutorado na qual as relações com o espaço e o tempo são entrelaçadas com as do corpo como experiência que surgem nas relações que as crianças estabelecem com seus machucados, ou como elas definem, seus ‘dodóis’. Nessas relações duas particularidades podem ser observadas: uma primeira é que as (...) crianças percebem o corpo como uma experiência contextualizada com o mundo social e material, ou seja, elas não percebem seus corpos separados dos espaços. Uma segunda particularidade é que as crianças trazem a possibilidade do tempo aión como uma aproximação à experiência, uma compreensão do tempo entrelaçado com pessoas, espaços, lugares e ações em que evidencia também relações, emoções e encontros. Dando seqüência as reflexões o texto pretende trazer para o diálogo também situações nas quais são tema entre as crianças as expressões dos sentimentos e das emoções e ainda situações que envolvem suas excreções como as ‘melecas’ e os ‘ranhos’ trazendo uma potencialidade para se pensar as relações entre corpo, infância e educação. A partir da compreensão de uma infância como experiência, como acontecimento que rompe com a história, pretende pensar indicações para uma infância da educação e não já apenas uma educação da infância. Essa necessidade de se pensar uma infância da educação, e não já apenas uma educação da infância parece simples, mas requer um outro ‘olhar’, requer ‘jogar fora’, ou pelo menos questionar, problematizar parte de nossa história para que seja possível pensar em condições de outras ordens, outros valores, enfim, outra educação. Ou seja, uma educação, em que se ‘olha’ não apenas os processos de desenvolvimento das crianças, mas também os seus conhecimentos, as suas produções, as suas manifestações, as suas preferências, as suas interações e particularmente as suas experiências. (shrink)

This study explored the correlation between mental toughness and physical activity, and the moderation role between PA intention and subsequent behavior among college students and wage earners. Five hundred ninety-one college students aged from 19 to 24 and 285 wage earners aged from 27 to 58 recruited from seven colleges and five cities in China. A Theory of Planned Behavior questionnaire, MT Inventory, and the International PA Questionnaire was completed online. Results showed that attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (...) explained 46.5 and 38.3% variance in PA intention among college students and wage earners separately. Intention predicted PA behavior significantly among college students and wage earners. Structural equation modeling indicated that the TPB model and the moderation model have an adequate to good fit except the TPB model among wage earners. MT was positively correlated with PA among college students and wage earners and had a significant moderation role in intention-behavior gap among college students and partially affected the transfer of PA intention to behavior among college students. Individuals with high MT had high levels of PA regardless of intention, while PA of those with low MT was low and unstable. Future research should further explore the correlation between intention and PA and the moderation role of MT in different populations using a longitudinal study in order to better understand the correlation between intention and PA, and the transition from intention to PA and better guidance PA intervention to promote PA. (shrink)

Este estudo teve por objetivo conhecer as percepções de psicoterapeutas e pacientes em psicoterapia psicanalítica acerca das características essenciais ao exercício da psicoterapia. Participaram da pesquisa cinco profissionais da área e cinco pacientes em tratamento nesta mesma abordagem teórica. O ..

O presente estudo investigou os fatores que influenciam a ocorrência do aleitamento materno exclusivo e a sua interrupção precoce, e os aspectos emocionais envolvidos nestesprocessos. Participaram do estudo 3 mães primíparas com bebês com até 18 meses de idade que diferiam noperíodo de manutenção ..

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Virtual GalleryEmoretta Yang (bio) Click for larger view View full resolutionFigure 1. Click for larger view View full resolutionFigure 2. Click for larger view View full resolutionFigure 3. Click for larger view View full resolutionFigure 4. Click for larger view View full resolutionFigure 5. Click for larger view View full resolutionFigure 6. Click for larger view View full resolutionFigure 7. Click for larger view View full resolutionFigure 8.Emoretta (...) Yang Photographs by Emoretta Yang. She lives in Ithaca, New York.Copyright © 1996 The Johns Hopkins University Press... (shrink)

Seres humanos têm necessidade perene de encontrar respostas significativas para a sua vida: as respostas implicam a espiritualidade/religiosidade/religião e as experiências culturais. Nesse contexto objetiva-se discutir na perspectiva ético-fenomenológica a atuação pública das pessoas que detêm conhecimento teológico em vista de colaborar para a vida na sociedade plural do século XXI. A literatura escolhida para pensar crítico-reflexivamente a questão tem base fenomenológica, teológico-moral, e a perspectiva pública da Teologia. Observa-se que medo e culpabilidade estão ligados às “falsas imagens” de Deus; (...) não são de poucos os prejuízos e as dificuldades causadas por esta equivocada experiência. Resulta que convém reconsiderar, em muitos casos, a vida moral a partir de um _ethos_ profético, tornando mais crível e acolhedora a presença do Divino no mundo. Ou seja, requer sair da Academia e/ou dos Templos para estar junto à sociedade que convive em interculturalidade e inter-religiosidade. (shrink)

The global signal, which was once regarded as a nuisance of functional magnetic resonance imaging, has been proven to convey valuable neural information. This raised the following question: what is a GS represented in local brain regions? In order to answer this question, the GS topography was developed to measure the correlation between global and local signals. It was observed that the GS topography has an intrinsic structure characterized by higher GS correlation in sensory cortices and lower GS correlation in (...) higher-order cortices. The GS topography could be modulated by individual factors, attention-demanding tasks, and conscious states. Furthermore, abnormal GS topography has been uncovered in patients with schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and epilepsy. These findings provide a novel insight into understanding how the GS and local brain signals coactivate to organize information in the human brain under various brain states. Future directions were further discussed, including the local-global confusion embedded in the GS correlation, the integration of spatial information conveyed by the GS, and temporal information recruited by the connection analysis. Overall, a unified psychopathological framework is needed for understanding the GS topography. (shrink)

An incline S is a commutative semiring where r+1=1 for any r \in S . We note that the ideal lattice of an S-semimodule is naturally an S-semimodule and so is its congruence lattice when S is transitive. We prove that the categories of complete S-semimodules, together with dual functor, internal hom and tensor product, is a ⋆-autonomous category. We define the locally and globally maximal congruences which are related to Birkhoff subdirect product decomposition. We show that the categories of (...) S-semimodules, algebraic S-semimodules and topological S-semimodules are equivalent. Finally, we get a sheaf representation of any S-semimodule. (shrink)

Introduction of human plasma protein genes into the mouse genome to produce transgenic mice furnishes an in vivo model for correlating chromosomal DNA sequences with developmental and tissue‐specific expression. The liver produces an array of plasma proteins that circulate throughout the body contributing to homeostasis. Non‐hepatic tissue sites of synthesis have been identified where a local provision of plasma proteins in needed. Analysis of expression of human plasma protein genes in ageing transgenic mice appears especialy promising in identifying DNA sequences (...) that respond to environmental adversities such as inflammatory factors, hormonal changes and metal toxicity. The results indicate that human genes encoding and controlling liver plasma proteins serve as useful models for studying genetic regulation in the background of development and ageing. (shrink)