Two hundred and twenty-six state employees completed a structured questionnaire that investigated their ethical values and training needs. Top management were more likely to have attitudes against cronyism and giving advantage to others. Individuals higher in the organizational hierarchy, and female employees were more likely to believe that discriminatory practices were an ethical concern. In addition, employees with a larger number of clients outside of the organization were more supportive of the need to maintain strict confidentiality in business dealings. Employees'' (...) awareness and use of the organization''s code of conduct generally proved to be poor predictors of ethical values. Other analyses revealed that a variety of sociodemographic factors, job characteristics and ethical values predicted specific areas of training needs in ethics. (shrink)

This article explores the extent to which the magnitude of harm that a person is liable to suffer to avert a threat depends on the magnitude of her causal contribution to the threat. Several different versions of this view are considered. The conclusions are mostly skeptical—facts that may determine how large of a causal contribution a person makes to a threat are not morally significant, or not sufficiently significant to make an important difference to liability. However, understanding ways in which (...) causation may be scalar helps to deepen our understanding of other morally significant facts, such as responsibility. (shrink)

Recent interpreters portray Aristotle as a Protagorean antirealist, who thinks that colors and other perceptibles do not actually exist apart from being perceived. Against this, I defend a more traditional interpretation: colors exist independently of perception, to which they are explanatorily prior, as causal powers that produce perceptions of themselves. They are not to be identified with mere dispositions to affect perceivers, or with grounds distinct from these qualities, picked out by their subjective effect on perceivers (so-called “secondary qualities”). Rather, (...) they are intrinsic qualities of objects, which are in reality just as they appear to be. At the same time, Aristotle rejects any “simple theory of color” according to which the essence and nature of colors is fully revealed in experience. Although the character of perceptibles as they are experienced is “better known to us,” their essence and nature only comes to be known through a correct theory. (shrink)

Wackenroder is a Romantic author of a metaphysical-religious orientation. For him, the creator of art and its most adequate perceiving subject is God. As for art, he sees it as most tightly connected to religion, for both help the human being to rise from the earthly hassle to the heavenly sphere. The art of all times and nations contains a common essence – the beautiful – which is expressed in a variety of ways. Therefore the human being is capable of (...) learning how to see beauty in any art medium. Wackenroder speaks of two symbolic languages that help the human being grasp heavenly matters: the language of nature and the language of art. Creativity is based on inspiration, which is a divine gift. In creating their art artists must begin with nature and present it in a transformed way. The process of creativity begins in the inner world of the artist, when he or she constructs a future painting in its completeness. The contemplation of a work of art is like prayer. Therefore perception of art requires specific training. Before contact with art, the recipient must initiate in him or herself the ability to perceive the beautiful and sublime. The grasping of a true work of art is inexhaustible. Every act of contemplating an artwork reveals to our soul something new. The process of perception of art is enthusiastic in nature; Wackenroder presents it as a confession of our spirit. In his musical aesthetics the place of honor belongs to the spiritual content of music. In painting Wackenroder most highly esteems the pacifying art of Rafael, the allegorical art of Michelangelo, and the cognitive art of Leonardo Da Vinci. (shrink)

Long after its alleged demise, phlogiston was still presented, discussed and defended by leading chemists. Even some of the leading proponents of the new chemistry admitted its ‘absolute existence’. We demonstrate that what was defended under the title ‘phlogiston’ was no longer a particular hypothesis about combustion and respiration. Rather, it was a set of ontological and epistemological assumptions and the empirical practices associated with them. Lavoisier's gravimetric reduction, in the eyes of the phlogistians, annihilated the autonomy of chemistry together (...) with its peculiar concepts of chemical substance and quality, chemical process and chemical affinity. The defence of phlogiston was the defence of a distinctly chemical conception of matter and its appearances, a conception which reflected the chemist's acquaintance with details and particularities of substances, properties and processes and his skills of adducing causal relations from the interplay between their complexity and uniformity. (shrink)

The expression of attachment to the divine in certain places among different groups has been documented by anthropologists and sociologists for decades. However, the psychological processes by which this happens are not yet fully understood. This article focuses on the concept of ‘place spirituality’ as a psychological mechanism, which allows the religious believer or non-believer to achieve an organised attachment strategy, involving the interplay of place and spiritual attachment. First, place spirituality is considered as an experience that satisfies the attachment (...) relationship criteria in that geographic places and divine entities can be perceived as ‘objects’ of attachment. Second, it is proposed that the maturational aspects of the attachment repertoire in adults make the place spirituality experience possible since adults’ cognitive abilities are much wider than those of children and can include relationships to geographical spaces and invisible divine entities. Finally, the theme of place spirituality is explored to further position the concept as a relational paradigm for understanding the relationship between place experiences and spiritual attachment. (shrink)

One of three basic types of desire, claims Aristotle, is thumos (‘spirit,’ ‘passion,’ ‘heart,’ ‘anger,’ ‘impulse’). The other two are epithumia (‘appetite’) and boulêsis (‘wish,’ ‘rational desire’). Yet, he never gives us an account of thumos; it has also received relatively little scholarly attention. I argue that thumos has two key features. First, it is able to cognize what I call ‘social value,’ the agent’s own perceived standing relative to others in a certain domain. In human animals, shame and honor (...) are especially important manifestations of social value. Second, thumos provides non-rational motivation to pursue what affirms the agent’s social value and avoid what denies it. Interpretations that hold thumos just is anger, or that its object is the fine (kalon), I argue, are mistaken. My account also explains the role of thumos in moral education. In a virtuous agent thumos will be affectively attuned to the correct social rankings; it will take the practically wise, the lovers of the fine, or moral exemplars, as authorities. (shrink)

This book explores the literature on spirituality as an important dimension of psychology, and explains the relationship between psychological treatment and ...

We establish some results on the Borel and difference hierarchies in φ-spaces. Such spaces are the topological counterpart of the algebraic directed-complete partial orderings. E.g., we prove analogs of the Hausdorff Theorem relating the difference and Borel hierarchies and of the Lavrentyev Theorem on the non-collapse of the difference hierarchy. Some of our results generalize results of A. Tang for the space Pω. We also sketch some older applications of these hierarchies and present a new application to the question of (...) characterizing the ω-ary Boolean operations generating a given level of the Wadge hierarchy from the open sets. (shrink)

Extending the literature on social capital development in the community, this article examines the impact of diverse social interactions on the development of social trust in the workplace, and investigates whether their effects differ in individualistic and collectivistic cultures. Using survey data collected in Canada and China, the authors find that the diversity of one’s social interactions in the community is positively associated with one’s social trust in the workplace, and this relationship is not significantly different between the two cultures. (...) Diversity of one’s social interactions in the workplace is also positively associated with one’s social trust in the workplace, though only in collectivistic cultures. (shrink)

Resumo: O presente artigo apresenta uma epítome da dissertação “Os pressupostos filosóficos e os imperativos fundamentais da teoria crítica incipiente de Herbert Marcuse: em torno dos ensaios da ZfS (1937-1941). (SALDANHA, 2020)”. Essa pesquisa buscou identificar os traços distintivos da teoria crítica que Marcuse esboça nos ensaios publicados na Zeitschrift für Sozialforschung entre 1937-1941, tendo acedido a duas conclusões gerais: 1) que essa teoria se baseia em dois pressupostos filosóficos maiores, a saber, a dialética hegeliana e a crítica de economia (...) política de Marx; 2) que os referidos ensaios sugerem quatro tópicos cuja crítica seria impreterível para uma teoria genuinamente crítica da sociedade capitalista. Buscarei reconstituir a análise textual que levou às conclusões acima, descrevendo o contexto histórico-filosófico dos ensaios, suas premissas filosóficas mais importantes e os seus quatro tópicos fundamentais de análise. Tais tópicos constituem uma espécie de espinha dorsal da teoria crítica marcuseana da época e nos fornecem uma adequada chave de leitura para os seus ensaios. Palavras-chave: Teoria Crítica; Trabalho Alienado; Capitalismo; Liberdade; Marcuse. A key to understand Marcuse’s essays (1937-1941) Abstract: This paper provides a synthesis of the research entitled Autor. This research sought to identify the distinctive features of critical theory that Marcuse outlines in his 1937-1941 essays, reaching two major conclusions: 1) Marcusean theory is based on two philosophical assumptions, namely, Hegelian dialectics and Marx's critique of political economy; 2) Marcuse’s essays suggest four topics whose critique is imperative for a genuinely critical theory of capitalist society. I will try to reconstruct the textual analysis that led to the aforementioned conclusions, by analyzing the essays’ historical-philosophical context, their chief philosophical premises, and their four fundamental topics. I argue these topics constitute a kind of backbone of Marcuse's critical theory, and they provide us with an adequate key to comprehend his 1937-1941 essays. Keywords: Critical Theory; Alienated Labor; Capitalism; Freedom; Marcuse. Una clave para entender los ensayos de Marcuse (1937-1941) Resumen: Este artículo presenta una síntesis de la investigación Autor. Esta investigación buscó identificar las características distintivas de la teoría crítica que Marcuse esboza en sus ensayos de 1937-1941, habiendo llegado a dos conclusiones principales: 1) la teoría marcusiana se basa en dos premisas filosóficas, la dialéctica hegeliana y la crítica de la economía política de Marx; 2) los ensayos antes mencionados sugieren cuatro temas cuya crítica es imperativa para una teoría genuinamente crítica de la sociedad capitalista. Intentaré reconstruir el análisis textual que condujo a las conclusiones antes mencionadas, analizando el contexto histórico-filosófico de los ensayos, sus principales premisas filosóficas y sus cuatro temas fundamentales. Argumento que estos temas constituyen una especie de columna vertebral de la teoría crítica de Marcuse y nos brindan una clave adecuada para comprender sus ensayos de 1937-1941. Palabras clave: Teoría Crítica; Trabajo Enajenado; Capitalismo; Libertad; Marcuse. Data de registro: 01/08/2023 Data de aceite: 20/09/2023. (shrink)

This book is an interdisciplinary study of the cultural representations of Jesus in the context of contemporary religious theory and continental philosophy. It looks at Jesus in view of an updated Derridean hauntology and spectrality, with an emphasis on the inherent plasticity of the Christian heritage. While the work engages with the recent Jesus-centered writings of Slavoj Žižek, François Laruelle, and Giorgio Agamben, it places a greater and much needed emphasis on the philosophical, theological, and cultural links between a plastic, (...) hauntological Christian heritage and Jesus's historically evolving plural subjectivity, with the latter explored in texts of popular culture. It is a multidisciplinary study of Jesus, as well as a dynamic Christian heritage that simultaneously constructs and deconstructs Jesus's philosophical, political, and cultural centrality. (shrink)

Thomas F. Yarnall’s 2003 categories of ‘modernist’ and ‘traditionist’, used to classify accounts of the origins of engaged Buddhism, have proven useful as methodological tools but today need considerable reevaluation. This article investigates two more recent accounts dealing with engaged Buddhism — David Loy’s The Great Awakening and Sallie B. King’s Socially Engaged Buddhism — in order to critique and ultimately to go beyond Yarnall’s categories. It touches on questions concerning the legitimacy and obligations of scholars in defining Buddhism for (...) practitioners and for fellow academics, and makes the case that a significant shift is needed in order to avoid problems of Orientalism at work in some academic accounts of engaged Buddhism. (shrink)

In order to facilitate the informed consent process, we suggest recording it. If investigators routinely recorded the consent process—including subsequent testing of participants’ comprehension and reeducation efforts—they could monitor the consent practices of their staff and determine what changes in procedure may be needed. In addition, should the adequacy of consent ever be challenged , investigators would have an easily accessible record of what had transpired. And finally, a pool of data would be created that could be accessed by researchers (...) who study informed consent issues and are interested in identifying ways of further improving the process. (shrink)

The eighth-century Latin manuscript Milan, Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana, L 99 Sup. contains fifteen palimpsest leaves previously used for three Greek scientific texts: a text of unknown authorship on mathematical mechanics and catoptrics, known as the Fragmentum Mathematicum Bobiense (three leaves), Ptolemy's Analemma (six leaves), and an astronomical text that has hitherto remained unidentified and almost entirely unread (six leaves). We report here on the current state of our research on this last text, based on multispectral images. The text, incompletely preserved, (...) is a treatise on the construction and uses of a nine-ringed armillary instrument, identifiable as the “meteoroscope” invented by Ptolemy and known to us from passages in Ptolemy's Geography and in writings of Pappus and Proclus. We further argue that the author of our text was Ptolemy himself. (shrink)

Personality disorders are among the most intriguing and fascinating mental disorders. As they are characterized by pathological traits, not signs and symptoms, they are unsuitable for treatment with psychotropic drugs or other biological treatments. A psychological understanding of these disorders is possible based on cognitive or psycho-dynamic explanations but the author argues that these theoretical models miss the essential point, as they Jack a foundational ground on what is specifically human in human beings, their humanitas. Any deviation from this ground (...) might lead to the so called de-humanization of medicine or other clinical disciplines. This paper proposes an existential understanding of personality disorders grounded on the being of man. A clinical practice oriented towards the phenomenological method conceives human beings as an “opening of meaning” where the entities of the world can show themselves. The “opening” however is structured and if one revealed content (for instance a biographical event) is misunderstood as a structural component that might generate a set of interrelated pathological personality traits. A clinical case is presented to illustrate this process. (shrink)

Resumen: En este trabajo se parte de las tesis de Foucault sobre la integración de ciertos dispositivos de control y de un régimen médico-sexual en el Derecho, que definieron las identidades de los sujetos, para explicar el modo en que estos mecanismos han influido en la regulación jurídica de los cambios de identidad de género. Asimismo, se detalla cómo la medicalización de las identidades por parte del Derecho contradice la evolución del concepto de género. A partir de este análisis, el (...) artículo propone una reflexión sobre algunos cambios legislativos recientes y sobre los puntos de encuentro y desencuentro entre las diversas corrientes al objeto de defender un nuevo discurso justificatorio capaz de reinterpretar los conceptos de autonomía y autodeterminación sexual.Abstract: Taking into account Foucault’s thesis about security dispositives and the medical-sexual regime within law, which have defined the identity of subjects, this paper focus on how these have influenced the legal regulation of gender identity changes. Furthermore, it also focus on how the medicalization of gender identities contrasts with the meaning of concept provided by gender studies. Thus, an examination of recent regulatory changes and the crossing points among the former theories is proposed with a view to promote new meanings and justify discourses in order to reinterpret the concepts of autonomy and sexual self-determination. (shrink)

Kill one person, and it is considered murder.Kill ten thousand person, and it is considered foreign policy.-Anonymous.

The essay is devoted to the reconstruction of the philosophy of art of Novalis, one of the prominent German Romantics, who presents it in his writings in a fragmentary way. Research of this type appears in scholarly literature for the first time; it utilizes a complex philosophical-aesthetic method of analysis of texts of the German thinker. Novalis appreciates art as one of the highest achievements of humanity, which elevates the human being from ordinary life to spiritual heights. Art is a (...) free expression of the artists' Ego. Art is simultaneously a “self-contemplating and a self-creating nature.” The creative principles of nature are transformed within the spiritual world of the artist and express themselves in art. The secrets of nature are revealed to the artist. The artists sees something great in the least significant things. The beautiful is the object of art and this creates kinship between all types of art. Artists (including painters) do not imitate the external world but they create by means of their internal world. All types of art gravitate towards mutual harmony and foreshadow a synthesis of the arts of sorts. Novalis positions poetry above all other arts. This is because according to him poetry establishes heavenly wisdom on earth, elevates the human being over everyday life, and serves as the foundation for all other arts. Philosophy is internally linked to poetry and serves as its theory. The philosopher must be a poet. The poet lives a special, contemplative life and is a wise and prophetic person. Novalis imagines the future Romantic age as fabulous, magical, poetic, ironic, alogical. “Intelligent chaos” will play a specific role in it. All earthly will be elevated to the heavenly. Novalis considers the novel as one of the principal forms of Romatic poetry and presents its chief characteristics. (shrink)

Studies of individuals under conditions of confinement or severe social and physical restrictions have consistently shown deleterious mental health effects but also high levels of adaptability when dealing with such conditions. Considering the role of physical activity and sport in psychological adaptation, this paper describes a longitudinal study to explore to what extent the imposed restrictions due to the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 may have affected athletes’ mental health outcomes and how far the process of adaptation to confinement conditions is differentially (...) affected depending on whether the sports activity was practiced individually or in a group, and outdoors, indoors, or both. Two hundred and seventy-four athletes were assessed over 7 weeks using the GHQ-28 and an ad hoc survey exploring the practice of physical activity. A mixed-model fixed effects ANCOVA was used to analyze the effects of time, place, and company in which the sport was practiced, with an index of the amount of physical activity expended as a covariate. Results show a significant effect of time in three out of four of the GHQ-28 subscales, in all cases showing a consistent adaptation to conditions over time. Results also show that playing sport indoors, outdoors, or both, and practicing alone vs. with others differentially affect the somatic symptoms exhibited during confinement: Athletes who practiced sport with others showed higher levels of somatic symptoms at the beginning of the set of data but a quicker rate of adaptation. Differences arising from practicing sport alone or with others were more pronounced in the case of indoor sports, which could be related to the fact that physical activity that can be practiced during confinement is more similar to that practiced indoors alone. Implications relating to what sport psychologists and other health professionals may offer to athletes in stressful situations are discussed. (shrink)

How do we know that particular answers in bioethical controversies are true, or are at least getting closer to the truth? We gain insight into this question by applying Alasdair MacIntyre’s work on the nature of rationality, rational justification, and tradition. Using MacIntyre’s work and the papers in this issue of The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, I propose a framework for members of particular traditions to judge whether they themselves or other traditions are getting closer to or further away (...) from the truth in particular bioethical questions. Members of different traditions—be it Confucian, Aristotelian, politically liberal, utilitarian, or something else—should look at how they and their theoretical rivals look at empirical data to address bioethical questions, the moral judgments they make, and the laws and regulations they support. Some level of agreement on these issues need not require individual traditions to eschew their foundational premises or values; recognizing the reality of moral pluralism and disagreement should not prevent us from seeing this. Neither, as MacIntyre argues, should pluralism and disagreement obscure that a necessary condition for successful rational exchange and adjudication between competing traditions is granting authority to certain norms and virtues. (shrink)

This article explores Bonaventure’s metaphysical account of creation, which holds that at the heart of every creature is a sort of metaphysical vanity. That vanity stems from the exigencies of a creation metaphysics in which the creator-God draws every creature out of nothingness into being. But, while God’s creative act sustains the creature in being, the nothingness from which God preserves creation, on Bonaventure’s view, always remains a feature of creation’s metaphysical constitution. In short, for the Seraphic Doctor, because nothingness (...) always resides in creation, creation itself is fundamentally vain. Since vanity is a central theme in the book of Ecclesiastes, concerning which Bonaventure has left us a commentary, I argue that the metaphysical vision he employs to illuminate the nature of vanity as it pertains to creation—both within his biblical commentary and beyond—can be properly described as a “metaphysic of Ecclesiastes.”. (shrink)

In this article I consider the problematic that creation ex nihilo presents for Christian metaphysicans’ speculation regarding possible being. I explore Thomas Aquinas’s doctrine of possibility and show that, while he attempts to remain faithful to a metaphysics of creation, encounters a metaphysical difficult when presenting his account in terms of imitation. Suárez, I argue, is mindful of this difficulty and offers a corrective that unites the approaches of Thomas Aquinas as well as that of Duns Scotus. In the end, (...) Suárez offers an original account of possible being that is faithful to the demands of a creation ex nihilo. (shrink)