A decomposition model of Net Final Values (NFV), named Systemic Value Added (SVA), is proposed for decision-making purposes, based on a systemic approach introduced in Magni [Magni, C. A. (2003), Bulletin of Economic Research 55(2), 149–176; Magni, C. A. (2004) Economic Modelling 21, 595–617]. The model translates the notion of excess profit giving formal expression to a counterfactual alternative available to the decision maker. Relations with other decomposition models are studied, among which Stewart’s [Stewart, G.B. (1991), The (...) Quest for Value: The EVA™ Management Guide, Harper Collins, Publishers Inc]. The index here introduced differs from Stewart’s Economic Value Added (EVA) in that it rests on a different interpretation of the notion of excess profit and is formally connected with the EVA model by means of a shadow project. The SVA is formally and conceptually threefold, in that it is economic, financial, accounting-flavoured. Some results are offered, providing sufficient and necessary conditions for decomposing NFV. Relations between a project’s SVA and its shadow project’s EVA are shown, all results of Pressacco and Stucchi [Pressacco, F. and Stucchi, P. (1997), Rivista di Matematica per le Scienze Economiche e Sociali 20, 165–185] are proved by making use of the systemic approach and the shadow counterparts of those results are also shown. (shrink)

v. 1. Irrat͡sionalizm v nemet͡skoĭ filosofii XIX veka -- v. 2. Navstrechu Logosu : problema poznanii͡a v ėkzistent͡sializme i germenevtike.

Christian offers us a clear and detailed analysis of Whitehead's three primary types of entities: actual occasions, eternal objects, and God. He endeavours to show how Whitehead's account satisfies his own requirements of categoreal explanation and that these three types, together with creativity, require one another. The analysis is focused by a concern for the twin concepts of transcendence and immanence which, while shown to apply to all three types, are seen to be particularly relevant to Whitehead's revision of traditional (...) theology. Christian remains faithful to the text while strenuously probing its inner structure.--L. S. F. (shrink)

The editor has been quite successful in selecting experts to write the three-to-four-page articles in this handbook, and in most cases he has chosen advocates rather than critics to expound particular concepts: e.g., Nygren on Eros and Agape, Tillich on Kairos, Dinkler on demythologizing. Each article lists one or two important books on its subject.--L. S. F.

Fürstenau systematically analyzes Heidegger's understanding of being, stressing the continuity between Sein und Zeit and his later writings. He also presents a survey of the history of philosophy as interpreted by Heidegger, summing up this discussion with an account of Heidegger's conception of Ursprünglichkeit and Verfall in philosophy. A work of explication and interpretation rather than criticism.--L. S. F.

Gilkey forcefully argues that the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo is required by the Christian view of reality. After determining the meaning and limits of this doctrine, he investigates its implications for the nature of God, the status of the world as created, the purpose of the Incarnation, the problem of evil, and the meaning of time. This is a popularization in the best sense, for the author sketches in enough background to enable him to inform the general reader without (...) falling into oversimplification.--L. S. F. (shrink)

Evelyn-White, Mair, and Brown all translated Hesiod into prose; Lattimore now offers us a very readable translation in blank verse. He writes, as Robert Lowell remarked, "the most accurate verse translations in the language." An attractive and refreshing volume.--L. S. F.

In 1917 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin wrote an essay that proposes union as a way to observe how the process of evolution takes place. He spent the remainder of his life broadening and sharpening the vision, which was based on union in nature. We propose that this vision and the historical development of thermodynamics and classical statistical mechanics offer insight into union and even into the divine life that many Christians believe to be triadic. We briefly situate union in the (...) triune divine life in early Christian tradition as it was believed and practiced. We then interpret three stages of development in the sciences of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics that support the theme of union in nature. Next we describe the development of Teilhard's thought during his scientific career and his tests of the theme of union, principally in his private journals, now being edited. We offer examples of Teilhard's application of union to his own spiritual life and compare his understanding of union with those of Paul the Apostle and John of the Cross. Finally, although the Christian God's triadic life was not a particular concern of Teilhard, we propose union in nature as a vestige of the divine life. (shrink)

Becker gives a brief survey of the philosophically relevant aspects to be found in the history of mathematics, starting with the Pythagorean conception of numbers and its fate at the hands of Plato and Aristotle. He considers the development of the exact sciences based on mathematics, paying particular attention to the problems in pure mathematics. In the final chapter the limitations of mathematical reasoning are examined. Nothing new is presented, but then that is not its purpose. The survey presupposes no (...) special competence in either mathematics or logic.--L. S. F. (shrink)

Miss Weil's perception is acute and refreshing, but also fanciful and undisciplined. Her premonitions of Christianity in the Iliad, Antigone, the Prometheus myth and Plato's Timaeus and Symposium are based on allegorical interpretations.--L. S. F.

Feibleman finds two diverse strands in Plato's philosophy: an idealism centered upon the Forms denying full ontological status to the realm of becoming, and a moderate realism granting actuality equal reality with Forms. For each strand Plato developed a conception of religion: a supernatural one derived from Orphism, and a naturalistic religion revering the traditional Olympian deities. Unfortunately, Feibleman's method of mere confrontation of conflicting statements in Plato detracts from his persuasiveness.--L. S. F.

The edicts expounding Dharma--the laws of piety and morality--which the Indian emperor Asoka caused to be inscribed on rocks and pillars set up throughout the kingdom. The editors have rearranged these edicts in an order designed to render them more accessible to the general reader in a clear, readable translation.--L. S. F.

That religion is essentially a human achievement is the central thesis of these short popular essays. The author is an enthusiastic admirer of the late Professor Garman of Amherst.---L. S. F.

Few of these essays by the late Professor of English at Calvin College are either detailed or scholarly, but all reflect the wisdom of a liberally educated gentleman, steeped in the Reformed tradition. --L. S. F.

The authors seek to remedy a double defect: the neglect by philosophers of relevant anthropological material for ethical reasoning, and the neglect by anthropologists of the ethical dimensions of culture. Aware of man's frequent tendency to moralize rather than to be moral, the authors are cautious about endorsing either cultural relativism or the view that varying moral codes each express in local concepts the same underlying morality. This is a tentative study, raising problems and specifying inquiries rather than offering conclusions. (...) Includes an extensive bibliography of the current literature.--L. S. F. (shrink)

This book is "not an 'ethics'," Mackinnon warns us, "but an attempt to study different styles of argument concerning the foundations of morality, by methods sometimes analytic and sometimes historical. It is informed by a desire to bring out some of the ways in which the problem of the possibility of metaphysics impinges on moral reflection." Among other things, he considers Utilitarianism, Kant, The Notion of Moral Freedom, and Butler.--L. S. F.

The findings from an extended series of psychological tests for extra-sensory perception, particularly with respect to psychological attitudes, are presented here. Those who believed in ESP consistently made higher scores than the non-believers. Appendices describe statistical procedures and major hypotheses employed. A careful, conservative study. --L. S. F.