The ratio bias––according to which individuals prefer to bet on probabilities expressed as a ratio of large numbers to normatively equivalent or superior probabilities expressed as a ratio of small numbers––has recently gained momentum, with researchers especially in health economics emphasizing the policy importance of the phenomenon. Although the bias has been replicated several times, some doubts remain about its economic significance. Our two experiments show that the bias disappears once order effects are excluded, and once salient (...) and dominant incentives are provided. This holds true for both choice and valuation tasks. Also, adding context to the decision problem does not change this outcome. No ratio bias could be found in between-subject tests either, which leads us to the conclusion that the policy relevance of the phenomenon is doubtful at best. (shrink)

Jesuit colleges and universities located in the United States in recent years have undergone profound changes. They have expanded their mission to embrace many nonCatholic students and faculty and in doing so they find themselves competing for these students with hundreds of other institutions. In seeking to appeal to this wider group of students these Jesuit schools in many cases have abandoned not merely the formal specifics of the curriculum outlined in the Ratio Studiorum but have also decreased the (...) emphasis on spiritual formation that is the reason for the existence of the Ratio. This essay does not argue for a literal return to the Ratio but for an open dialogue centering on questions of inculturation to the larger secularized academic community. It also raises the question of how faculty who have little knowledge of the Ratio can be brought into a conversation about its values. /// Os colégios e universidades dos jesuitas nos Estados Unidos sofreram em anos recentes profundas transformações. Expandiram a sua missão até abrangerem muitos estudantes e professores não Católicos e, ao procederem assim. encontraram-se a competir por estes estudantes com centenas de outras instituições. Em muitos casos. ao procurarem atrair um mais vasto numero de estudantes, estas escolas jesuiticas não apenas abandonaram os aspectos formais do curriculo contido na Ratio Studiorum. como também reduziram a importância da formação espiritual. a qual constitui a razão de ser da própria Ratio. O presente estudo não preconiza um regresso literal á Ratio, mas sim um diálogo aberto centrado em questões relacionadas com a inculturação numa mais alargada comunidade academica secularizada. Levanta-se igualmente a questão de como os docentes que mal conhecem a Ratio poderão vir a ser convertidos aos seus valores. (shrink)

1735 veröffentlichte Johann Georg Zur Linden in Jena die "Ratio meditationis hermeneuticae imprimis sacrae methodo systematica proposita". Sein Werk ist das Resultat eines unerwarteten Bündnisses zwischen der wolffschen Aufklärung und dem Pietismus nach dem harten Zusammenstoß dieser beiden Richtungen, der seinen Höhepunkt in der Verbannung Wolffs aus Halle fand. In den folgenden Jahren trat eine neue kulturelle Figur in Erscheinung, der Aufklärer-Pietist oder umgekehrt, der die Hoch- und Spätaufklärung beherrschte und zu dessen ersten Repräsentanten Zur Linden zählt. Obgleich die (...) Ratio von den Vorschriften der logischen Hermeneutik ausgeht, beruht sie auf einer Aufwertung der Themen der antiken Rhetorik und konzipiert die Hermeneutik als eine auf die Mittel-Zweck-Rationalität gestützte Technik, der die Aufgabe zukommt, die besten Mittel für das Verstehen von Texten und Reden festzulegen. Die heilige Hermeneutik von Zur Linden zeichnet sich durch wenigstens vier innovative Aspekte aus: 1. Den Vorschlag einer allgemeinen Hermeneutik probabilistischer Art. 2. Eine eingehende Untersuchung der verschiedenen Sinnbegriffe und ihrer Wechselbeziehungen. 3. Die Kritik am Besserverstehen als Auslegungsziel. Die kritischen Punkte des Textes dürfen nicht zugunsten seiner Nichtwidersprüchlichkeit ausgemerzt werden, weil jede Verbesserung leicht in eine Manipulation des Sinns ausarten kann. 4. Die mögliche Nichtübereinstimmung zwischen dem, was der Autor sagen will, und dem, was er tatsächlich sagt. Für Zur Linden hat der Textsinn unzweifelhaft Vorrang und bildet den einzigen möglichen Zugang zum Autorsinn. Seine autorbezogene Texthermeneutik stellt sich noch heute als originelle, beachtenswerte Leistung dar. In 1735 Johann Georg Zur Linden published his "Ratio meditationis hermeneuticae imprimis sacrae methodo systematica proposita" in Jena. His work was the result of an unexpected alliance between the Wolffian Enlightenment and Pietism, after the fierce clash between these two trends which had culminated in Wolff’s banishment from Halle. In the years that followed a new cultural figure appeared, the Enlightener-Pietist, or vice versa, who was to dominate the high and late Enlightenment and of whom Zur Linden was one of the first examples. Although the Ratio takes as its starting-point the rules of logical hermeneutics, it is based in an evaluation of the themes of classical rhetoric, and conceives hermeneutics as a technique, grounded in means-end rationality, the task of which is to determine the best method for understanding texts and speech. Zur Linden’s sacred hermeneutic theory is distinguished by at least four innovative aspects: 1. The proposal of a general hermeneutics of a probabilistic type. 2. An intensive examination of the different concepts of sense and their interrelationships. 3. The critique of better understanding as the goal of exegesis. The critical points of the text should not be obliterated in favour of its consistency. 4. The possible lack of agreement between what the author intends to say and what he actually says. For Zur Linden the sense of the text takes undoubted precedence and constitutes the only possible access to the author’s sense. His author-related textual hermeneutics can still be seen today as an original and noteworthy achievement. (shrink)

In the face of growing skepticism and relativism, “believe in reason” is the central message in Pope John Paul II’s Fides et Ratio. Only by the two wings of reason and faith together can the human spirit soar. The current work, Ratio et Fides, is its philosophical counterpart. It is not a watered-down introduction but a “leading-into” the heart of philosophic thinking. Firmly rooted in the phenomenological description of an ordinary artifact, a mailbox, the book uses the principles (...) involved in the description to examine key figures in the history of thought. We focus on three areas: the Soul, Morality, and God. We consider seven thinkers. Plato and Aristotle, who founded the tradition, were taken up by Augustine and Aquinas in developing their theologies. Descartes launched the distinctively modern tradition, culminating in Hegel’s systematic presentation of the whole Western tradition, philosophical and religious. More recently, Heidegger approached that tradition in terms of its hidden ground in the Mystery of Being, recalling us to meditative thinking as the secular counterpart to prayer. Armed with this background, students will be able to approach with profit the Fathers of the Church and major theologians and philosophers, past and recent. (shrink)

We present an experiment in which we add a common delay in a choice between two risky prospects. The results show that delay produces the same change in preferences as in the well-documented common ratio effect in risky lotteries. The added common delay acts as if the probabilities were divided by some common ratio. Moreover, we show that there is a strong magnitude effect, in the sense that the effect of delay depends on the magnitude of the outcome. (...) The results are consistent with the recently introduced probability time trade-off (PTT) model by Baucells and Heukamp. We present a parameterization of the model based on the experimental results, showing that the value function exhibits increasing relative risk aversion, the weighting function is s-shaped, and the intrinsic discount rate is decreasing. (shrink)

En marzo de 2021 se reformó la Constitución mexicana para transitar a un sistema de precedentes. Esta enmienda establece que las “razones” de las sentencias de la Suprema Corte serán obligatorias para los tribunales inferiores. Sin embargo, la reforma se enmarca en una arraigada práctica de tesis jurisprudenciales, i. e., enunciados abstractos identificados por la misma Corte al resolver un caso. Además, no hay consenso sobre qué son estas razones y por qué deberían ser vinculantes. El objetivo de este artículo (...) es identificar las posibles concepciones de razones para revelar los distintos roles de la Corte en la creación del derecho judicial. Se utilizan nociones de la ratio decidendi del common law como herramientas de introspección para identificar cuatro modelos de creación del derecho en la práctica mexicana, a saber: legislación judicial, reglas implícitas, justificaciones político-morales, y categorías sociales. Aunque la primera concepción parece ser la dominante, las alternativas amplían el abanico para entender cómo es que la Corte crea derecho dependiendo del contexto interpretativo en que opere. (shrink)

The ratio bias—according to which individuals prefer to bet on probabilities expressed as a ratio of large numbers to normatively equivalent or superior probabilities expressed as a ratio of small numbers—has recently gained momentum, with researchers especially in health economics emphasizing the policy importance of the phenomenon. Although the bias has been replicated several times, some doubts remain about its economic significance. Our two experiments show that the bias disappears once order effects are excluded, and once salient (...) and dominant incentives are provided. This holds true for both choice and valuation tasks. Also, adding context to the decision problem does not alter this finding. No ratio bias could be found in between-subject tests either, which leads us to the conclusion that the policy relevance of the phenomenon is doubtful at best. (shrink)

“만일 인간이 죄를 짓지 않았다면”이라는 가상적인 상황에서 제기되는 육화의 이유(ratio incarnationis) 논쟁은 중세와 그 이후 스콜라 신학의 특징을 잘 보여준다. 이 논쟁은 크게 두 단계로 구분할 수 있는데, 첫 번째 단계는 토마스와 스코투스까지의 전개 과정이고 두 번째는 이후 토마스 학파와 스코투스 학파로 대변되는 두 입장 사이의 치열한 토론이다. 본 연구는 첫 번째 단계를 다루되, 특히 토마스와 스코투스의 견해를 집중적으로 비교 분석하였다.토마스는 『명제집 주해』와 신학대전에서 이 문제에 대한 스콜라 선학(先學)들 곧 오툉의 호노리우스와 도이츠의 루퍼트, 로버트 그로스테스트, 게릭, 알베르투스 마뉴스의 견해를 (...) 비판적으로 종합하면서 본인의 입장을 제시한다. 그는 철저하게 성경과 교부들의 가르침에서 출발하여, “만일 인간이 죄를 짓지 않았다면, 하느님께서도 육화하지 않으셨을 것이라 말하는 편이 적절하다”는 결론을 도출한다. 특히 토마스는 “복된 탓”이란 말로 표현되는 죄의 역설에 주목하여, 하느님의 강생을 인간이 처한 죄의 현실과 분리해서 생각할 수 없음을 역설한다. 아울러 그는 본성적선과 본성을 넘어서는 선을 구분하여, 육화는 후자에 해당하기에 피조물에게 마땅히 주어질 수 없는 실재임을 강조한다.스코투스는 토마스를 비롯한 선학들의 가르침을 염두에 두되, 신적 예정의 순서를 목적인 개념으로 풀어내며 토마스와는 사뭇 다른 입장을 제시한다. 스코투스에 따르면 육화를 통해 성취된 선 중에 가장 위대한 선은 그리스도의 영광이다. 죄로부터의 인간 구원은 그리스도의 영광에 비해 부차적인 것이다. 그리스도의 영광이야말로 가장 탁월한 목적인이며, 그렇기에 신적 예정에서 가장 우선적인 위치를 누린다. 그러므로 인간의 범죄 여부와 상관없이, 신적 예정의 성취를 위해 하느님의 강생은 이루어져야만 했다는 것이다.육화의 이유에 대한 천사적 박사와 명민한 박사의 입장은 여러모로 비교되는데, 특히 본성적 선과 본성을 넘는 선에 대한 구분, 죄의 실재와 역설에 대한 관점, 신적 예정의 성취 등에 있어 그러하다. 각각의 입장은 마치 동전의 양면처럼 강점과 약점을 지니고 있으며, 오늘날 독자들은 그 안에서 다양한 신학적, 철학적 요소들과 뉘앙스를 발견하게 된다. 가상적인 상황을 다루고 있는 육화의 이유 논쟁은 역설적으로 지극히 현실적이고 핵심적인 논제들을 직간접적으로 포괄하며, 그런 점에서 스콜라 신학의 학문적 자유와 다양성, 역동성을 드러내준다 하겠다. (shrink)

The design argument for the existence of God took a probabilistic turn in the 17 th and 18 th centuries. Earlier versions, such as Thomas Aquinas' 5 th way, usually embraced the premise that goal-directed systems (things that "act for an end" or have a function) must have been created by an intelligent designer. This idea – which we might express by the slogan "no design without a designer" – survived into the 17 th and 18 th centuries, 1 and (...) it is with us still in the writings of many creationists. The new version of the argument, inspired by the emerging mathematical theory of probability, removed the premise of necessity. It begins with the thought that goal-directed systems might have arisen by intelligent design or by chance; the problem is to discern which hypothesis is more plausible. With the epistemic concept of plausibility characterized in terms of the mathematical concept of probability, the design argument was given a new direction. The new probabilistic perspective did not extinguish the older idea of "no design without a designer." The two conflicting approaches coexisted, often with less than perfect clarity about their fundamental difference. At the same time, the details of how the probabilistic perspective ought to be articulated were slow in emerging. These characteristics of uneven development are exemplified in a debate that took place in the 18 th century among three probabilists – John Arbuthnot, Nicholas Bernoulli, and Abraham DeMoivre – on the proper explanation of human sex ratio. Arbuthnot proposed a probabilistic version of the design argument, claiming that it is intelligent design, not chance, that provides the better explanation of why slightly more boys than girls are born each year. Bernoulli rejected Arbuthnot's argument. DeMoivre defended Arbuthnot against Bernoulli's criticisms. The problem of explaining sex ratio, both in human populations and in the rest of nature, experienced another transformation after 1859 --it became a problem for the theory of evolution by natural selection. Darwin (1871) addressed the question in the first edition of The Descent of Man but withdrew his suggestion in the second (Darwin 1874). Carl Düsing (1884) provided a mathematical model that moved beyond the explanation Darwin offered. Fisher (1930) added the new idea of parental expenditure. Williams (1966) argued that the sex ratios found in nature provide the opportunity to test hypotheses of group selection against hypotheses of individual selection. Hamilton (1967) constructed a model that generalizes Fisher's approach and represents the effects of both group and individual selection. The theory of natural selection gradually developed the ability to predict sex ratios, not just explain them post hoc. (shrink)

Recensione ad un volume collettaneo sulla Fides et ratio.

In this paper, I delineate two major problems facing reliabilist approaches in epistemology. I argue that Alvin Goodman's (1986) position fails to solve either problem. I then suggest an alternative reliabilist approach that ties truth-ratio assessments to particular, well-specified cognitive tasks. I claim that a well-specified cognitive task is an empirical hypothesis about a system that involves the specification of input and output types and nomic correlations (including statistical correlations) that underlie the system's performance. On my approach, one characterizes (...) processes by reference to the system's dispositions across the situations consistent with the task. Characterization is best understood as revealing a strategy or a set of strategies for generating outputs from inputs relying on certain nomic correlations associated with the task. (shrink)

Throughout Anselm’s writings one can trace what seems to be a paradoxical inconsistency in his treatment of reason (ratio), understanding (intelligere) andthought (cogitare). The Monologion begins by proposing that even an unbeliever can convince himself of truths about God, “simply by reason alone,” while in theProslogion Anselm claims, to the contrary, “I believe so that I may understand.” Much of this confusion can be resolved by clarifying Anselm’s distinctions betweenreason, understanding and thought. Thought follows reason, but reason can surpass (...) understanding; one need not understand a conclusion reached through reason. Ultimately, one must understand what God is—‘that-than-which-a-greater-cannotbe-thought’—in order to prove through reason that one cannot think of God as non-existent, but the deeper understanding that God exists must come, not from reason, but through God’s illumination of one’s soul. (shrink)

In the homogeneous case of one-dimensional objects, we show that any relation that is positive and homothetic can be represented by a ratio-scale and a unique and constant biasing factor. This factor may favor or disfavor the preference for an object over another. In the first case, preferences are complete but not transitive and an object may be preferred even when its value is lower. In the second case, preferences are asymmetric and transitive but not negatively transitive and it (...) may not be sufficient for an object to have a greater value to be preferred. In this manner, the biasing factor reflects the extent to which preferences may depart from a maximization process. (shrink)

The book is dedicated to the theoretical problems concerning ratio legis. In the contexts of legal interpretation and legal reasoning, the two most important intellectual tools employed by lawyers, ratio legis would seem to offer an extremely powerful argument. Declaring the ratio legis of a statute can lead to a u-turn argumentation throughout the lifespan of the statute itself – in parliament, or in practice during court sessions, when it is tested against the constitution. Though the (...) class='Hi'>ratio legis argument is widely used, much about it warrants further investigation. On the general philosophical map there are many overlapping areas that concern different approaches to human rationality and to the problems of practical reasoning. Particular problems with ratio legis arise in connection with different perspectives on legal philosophy and theory, especially in terms of the methods that lawyers use for legal interpretation and argumentation. These problems can be further subdivided into particular aspects of activities undertaken by lawyers and officials who use the ratio legis in their work, and the underlying theories. In short, this book examines what ratio legis is, what it could be, and its practical implications. (shrink)

Clarke and Beck suggest that the ratio processing system may be a component of the approximate number system, which they suggest represents rational numbers. We argue that available evidence is inconsistent with their account and advocate for a two-systems view. This implies that there may be many access points for numerical cognition – and that privileging the ANS may be a mistake.

Clarke and Beck propose that the approximate number system (ANS) represents rational numbers. The evidence cited supports only the view that it represents ratios (and positive integers). Rational numbers are extensive magnitudes (i.e., sizes), whereas ratios are intensities. It is also argued that WHAT a system represents and HOW it does so are not as independent of one another as the authors assume.

In March 2021, the Mexican Constitution was amended to transition to a system of precedents. This amendment mandates that the “reasons” of Supreme Court rulings will be binding on the lower courts. However, the reform is rooted in a long-standing practice of ‘Tesis’, i.e., abstract statements that the Court itself identifies when deciding a case. Moreover, there is no consensus as to what these reasons are and why they should be binding. The aim of this article is to identify the (...) possible conceptions of reasons to explore the Court’s different judge-made law roles. Different common law conceptions of the ratio decidendi are used as “mirrors” to identify four models of judicial lawmaking in Mexican practice, namely: judicial legislation, implicit rules, moral-political justifications and social categories. Although the first model seems to prevail, the others provide means for a broader understanding of how the Court creates law depending on the interpretative context in which it operates. (shrink)

This essay endeavours to follow my reading of the argument in Bernard Lonergan’s quite brief discussion of the above topic, to be found in Macroeconomic Dynamics: An Essay in Circulation Analysis, Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan 15 (Toronto: Toronto University Press, 1999), as §28 (pages 156-162). Apart from minor changes in notation, etc., and some greater detail in the use of mathematical arguments, there is little that is novel in what is offered. It merely reflects what I found helpful, and (...) the augmentations I needed, in my own attempts to grasp Lonergan’s arguments. The essential point made by Lonergan is that the cyclical variations in the ratio under discussion are treated as signals of what is happening in the economy. It is because these in practice are often misinterpreted (primarily because of misleading underlying theory rather than as a result of malevolent greed) that the ongoing ‘pure cycle’ becomes corrupted into the boom and bust of the ‘trade cycle’. (shrink)

Von der Grundlegung des Wissenschaftsbegriffs vor allem bei Descartes ausgehend wird ein Begriff der Rationalität exemplarisch entwickelt. Von da aus wird die Differenz zwischen wissenschaftlicher und allgemeiner Rationalität mittels der Unterscheidung der Funktion individueller Einbildungskraft innerhalb wissenschaftlicher und außerwissenschaftlicher Rationalität näher bestimmt, u.a. mit dem Ergebnis,daß individuelle Kunst und Geschieht lichkeit philosophisch als "Substanz” wissenschaftlichen Wissens zu begreifen sind.

"From his geometrical method to his theory of mind and body and from his account of the emotions to his doctrine of how to live well, Spinoza's philosophy is a philosophy of ratio"--Back cover.

The 2D:4D-Ratio, as an indirect measure of the fetal testosterone to estradiol ratio, is potentially very important for understanding and explaining different personality traits. It was the aim of the present study to replicate the findings from Fink et al. (2004) about the relation between individual differences in 2D:4D-Ratios and the Five Factor Model in different cultural groups. Therefore a sample of n = 78 Chinese and n = 370 German participants was recruited. Every participant provided hand scans (...) of both hands, from which 2D:4D-Ratios were computed. Moreover, all participants filled in the NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Significant sex differences were found for ratios of both hands in the expected direction, with females showing higher ratios than males. With respect to links between personality and the digit ratio, a positive association was observed between 2D:4D-Ratio and Neuroticism in females, as shown in the earlier study. These findings were observed in both female subsamples from China and Germany, as well as in the full sample of participants. But in contrast to the results for the whole and the German female sample, where 2D:4D-Ratio of both hands were related to Neuroticism, in the Chinese female sample only left hand 2D:4D-Ratio was significantly and positively related to Neuroticism. There were no significant correlations found in any of the male samples. Thus, prenatal exposure to sex steroids appears to influence the personality factor Neuroticism in females specifically. This finding potentially has implications for mental health, as Neuroticism has been shown to be a risk factor for various forms of psychopathology. (shrink)

This paper addresses the question, which sex ratio will evolve in a population that is subject to mutation and drift. The problem is analyzed using a simulation model as well as analytical methods. A detailed simulation model for the evolution of a population's allele distribution shows that for the sex ratio game a wide spectrum of different population states may evolve from on the one hand a monomorphic state with one predominant allele and with all other alleles suppressed (...) by the forces of selection, to on the other hand a polymorphism determined by recurrent mutations. Which of these states will evolve depends on the population size, the mating system and the rate of mutations. For the sex ratio game the evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS), as defined by evolutionary game theory, can only predict the population sex ratio but not the underlying stable population state. A comparison of different approaches to the problem shows that false predictions of the stable population states might result from two simplifying assumptions that are fairly common in evolutionary biology:a) it is assumed that mutations are rare events and there is never more than one mutant gene present in a population at any one time; b) a deterministic relationship is assumed between the fitness assigned to an individual's strategy and the individual's contribution to the gene pool of future generations. (shrink)

This dissertation sets out to discuss some features of Spinoza's concepts of conatus and causation, through a discussion of the overall structure of the Ethics. ;The major portion of the dissertation is devoted to Spinoza's method, as employed in the Ethics, the notorious geometric method. I argue against the traditional reading of the method as a simple geometric device, and for a position which emphasizes how the method itself leads the reader to come to the highest kinds of knowledge. This (...) is accomplished both with reference to Spinoza's early modern contemporaries, and older Jewish antecedent. ;The reconsideration of method leads, respectively, to a discussion of the conatus in Spinoza's philosophy, and the centrality of adequate cause. The conatus is viewed as a way of making Spinoza's philosophy jibe with our phenomenal world, and to show how we express ourselves through the metaphysical, physical and rational structures detailed in the first two books of the Ethics. Hence it allows us to view the work itself as a way of coming to terms with, and moving towards, knowledge sub specie aeternitatis. ;The centrality of adequate cause similarly helps us to see that Spinoza's interest is not so much in detailing the metaphysical structure of the world, but teaching us to express ourselves in and through it. That is the ultimate goal of the method itself. (shrink)

A sample from the Ubatuba fragment collected in Brazil in 1957 was tested with the intent of examining the isotope ratios of its primary element, magnesium, and the trace elements strontium, barium, copper, and zinc. As background, the history of chemical testing of the Ubatuba fragments during the 1960s-1980s at multiple labs with varying capabilities is reviewed and then the remainder of the paper examines recent tests completed in 2017 and 2018 that for the first time used HR-ICPMS techniques to (...) look at the isotopic ratios of the minor constituents as well as the primary magnesium makeup of the sample. The magnesium isotope ratios were found to fall within terrestrial limits while the results on the isotope ratios of the trace elements was inconclusive. Recommendations are made for improving the process of examining the trace elements. Keywords: Ubatuba, isotope, magnesium, HR-ICPMS, UFO. (shrink)