Drawing on philosophy, social and psychoanalytic theory, popular culture, and her own experience, Salecl explores how the passion for ignorance plays out in many different aspects of life today, from love, illness, trauma, and the fear of failure to genetics, forensic science, big data, and the Incel movement-and she concludes that ignorance is a complex phenomenon that can, on occasion, benefit individuals and society as a whole.

Choice explores how late capitalism_s shrill exhortations to _be oneself_ can be a tyranny which only leads to ever-greater disquiet.Drawing on diverse examples ...

We frequently hear that we live in an age of anxiety, from 'therapy culture', the Atkins diet and child anti-depressants to gun culture and weapons of mass destruction. While Hollywood regularly cashes in on teenage anxiety through its Scream franchise, pharmaceutical companies churn out new drugs such as Paxil to combat newly diagnosed anxieties. On Anxiety takes a fascinating, psychological plunge behind the scenes of our panic stricken culture and into anxious minds, asking who and what is responsible. Putting anxiety (...) on the couch, Renata Salecl asks some much-needed questions: Is anxiety about the absence of authority or too much of it? Do the media report anxiety or create it? Are drugs a cure for anxiety or its cause? Is anxiety about being yourself or someone else, and is anxiety really the ultimate obstacle to happiness? Drawing on vivid examples from films such as the X Files and Cyrano de Bergerac , drugs used on soldiers to combat anxiety, the anxieties of love and motherhood, and fake Holocaust memoirs, Renata Salecl argues that what really produces anxiety is the attempt to get rid of it. Erudite and compelling, On Anxiety is essential reading for anyone interested in philosophy, psychology and the cultural phenomenon of anxiety today. (shrink)

The rise of nationalist, racist and anti-feminist ideologies is one of the most frightening repercussions of the collapse of socialism. Using psychoanalytic theories of fantasy to investigate why such extremist ideologies have taken hold, Renata Salecl argues that the major social and political changes in post-communist Eastern Europe require a radical re-evaluation of notions of liberal theories of democracy. In doing so she offers a new approach to human rights and feminism grounded in her own active partipation in (...) the struggles, first against communism and now against nationalism and anti-feminism. (shrink)

The popular fascination with forensic science, DNA bio?banks and TV shows such as CSI have created a belief that the law can track down any criminal and that only a small sample from his or her body is needed to prove whether he or she is guilty or innocent. In recent years, however, there were a number of cases of forensic scientists tampering with DNA evidence. Psychoanalysis raises the question of whether such cases present us with individuals who derive a (...) perverse pleasure from making "mistakes" in their testimonies. For a pervert is not only someone who seeks a particular sexual pleasure , a pervert might very well be someone who enjoys the empowerment of speaking from a position of self-righteousness. When a forensic scientist goes to the extreme of making false claims about DNA evidence, we have the right to ask just why he or she relishes being an authority who can manipulate other people's lives. The question also exists as to why the legal profession has such a hard time questioning expert testimonies and why the public places such faith in the power of DNA. (shrink)

The popular fascination with forensic science, DNA bio?banks and TV shows such as CSI have created a belief that the law can track down any criminal and that only a small sample from his or her body is needed to prove whether he or she is guilty or innocent. In recent years, however, there were a number of cases of forensic scientists tampering with DNA evidence. Psychoanalysis raises the question of whether such cases present us with individuals who derive a (...) perverse pleasure from making "mistakes" in their testimonies. For a pervert is not only someone who seeks a particular sexual pleasure, a pervert might very well be someone who enjoys the empowerment of speaking from a position of self-righteousness. When a forensic scientist goes to the extreme of making false claims about DNA evidence, we have the right to ask just why he or she relishes being an authority who can manipulate other people's lives. The question also exists as to why the legal profession has such a hard time questioning expert testimonies and why the public places such faith in the power of DNA. (shrink)

Today's society is often referred to as the era of anxiety, since people increasingly experience uncertainties in their everyday lives. This article explores first the differences between fear and anxiety. Second, with the help of Lacanian psychoanalytic definition of anxiety, some examples of psychological breakdowns in wars are analyzed. And third, the attempts of contemporary military to create anxiety-free wars are confronted with similar trends in contemporary arts which try to decrease the viewer's sensitiveness to anxiety with regard to his/her (...) perceptions of the body and of death. (shrink)

It has been argued that belief in free will is socially consequential and psychologically universal. In this paper we look at the folk concept of free will and its critical assessment in the context of recent psychological research. Is there a widespread consensus about the conceptual content of free will? We compared English “free will” with its lexical equivalents in Lithuanian, Hindi, Chinese and Mongolian languages and found that unlike Lithuanian, Chinese, Hindi and Mongolian lexical expressions of “free will” do (...) not refer to the same concept free will. What kind people have been studied so far? A review of papers indicate that, overall, 91% of participants in studies on belief in free will were WEIRD. Thus, given that free will has no cross-culturally universal conceptual content and that most of the reviewed studies were based on WEIRD samples, belief in free will is not a psychological universal. (shrink)

Nichols and Bruno claim that the folk judge that psychological continuity is necessary for personal identity. In this article, we evaluate this claim. First, we argue that it is likely that in thinking about hypothetical cases of transformations, the folk do not use a unitary concept of personal identity, but instead rely on different concepts of ‘person’, ‘identity’, and ‘individual’. Identity can be ascribed even when post-transformation individuals are no longer categorized as persons. Second, we provide new empirical evidence suggesting (...) that the folk do not consider psychological continuity to be necessary for an individual to be categorized as a person or for ascribing identity over time and through transformations. In this, we assume, along with Nichols and Bruno, that folk judgments about identity can be read off the use of proper names. Furthermore, we raise some doubts about the ability of current experimental designs to adequately distinguish between qualitative and numerical identity jud.. (shrink)

In this paper we report a study conducted in Mongolia on the scope of morality, that is, the extent to which people moralize different social domains. Following Turiel’s moral-conventional task, we characterized moral transgressions (in contrast to conventional transgressions) in terms of two dimensions: authority independence and generality of scope. Different moral domains are then defined by grouping such moral transgressions in terms of their content (following Haidt’s classification of morally relevant domains). There are four main results of the study. (...) First, since all five Haidtian domains were moralized by the Mongolian participants, the study provides evidence in favour of pluralism about moral domains. However, the study also suggests that the domain of harm can be reduced to the fairness domain. Furthermore, although the strong claim about reduction of all moral domains to the domain of fairness does not seem to hold a significant number of participants did indicate considerations of fairness across domains. Finally, a significant amount of participants moralized conventional transgressions a la Turiel, but it did not reach a statistical significance. (shrink)

In the current study, we examine the changes in disclosure practices on compliance and the fight against corruption at Siemens AG, a large German multinational corporation, over the period 2000–2011 during which a major corruption scandal was revealed. More specifically, we conduct a content analysis of the company’s annual reports and sustainability reports during that period to investigate the changes of Siemens’ corruption and compliance disclosure using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Through the lens of legitimacy theory, stakeholder analysis, and (...) organizational façades, we find evidence that Siemens changed its compliance and corruption disclosure practices to repair its legitimacy in the wake of the 2006 corruption scandal. We analyze these strategies more closely by using the rational, progressive, and reputation façades framework. Our primary findings suggest that the annual reports show peaks of disclosure amounts on corruption and compliance disclosures earlier than sustainability reports, which can be partly explained by analyzing the disclosures made about—and to—the different stakeholder groups. We find that the annual report focuses more on internal stakeholders such as employees, while the sustainability report focuses more on external stakeholders such as suppliers. We also find that the company uses the façades differently depending on which report is being analyzed. (shrink)

Gadamer pretende realizar uma defesa da tradição, reabilitando-a no cenário filosófico como elemento fundamental do conhecimento em geral. Para tanto, o filósofo procura refutar a tese de que os sentidos herdados constituem uma determinação acrítica de nossas compreensões. Como mostraremos, a resposta gadameriana a tal problema deve ser extraída da sua análise da linguagem, que podemos encontrar, de maneira especial, na terceira parte de Verdade e Método . Assim, esta análise condicionaria a verdadeira reabilitação da tradição, uma vez que o (...) estudo do fenômeno da compreensão levaria Gadamer a considerar linguagem e compreensão como essencialmente relacionados. (shrink)

Resumo: Discuto a abordagem de Darwin sobre meios e finalidades de expressões emocionais, com destaque para o choro e sorriso dos bebês; e apresento algumas contribuições, que se depreendem desse conteúdo, para a reflexão das práticas educativas direcionadas à estas crianças que se encontram na primeira etapa da vida. Para tanto, utilizo de descrições e análises apresentadas por Darwin em “A expressão das emoções nos homens e animais”, publicado em 1872 (2009); apresento perspectivas de estudiosos contemporâneos, que tratam das expressões (...) emocionais, tais como: Tomasello (2003) e Damásio (2011). Com base nessas considerações, abordo sobre a importância das expressões emocionais no desenvolvimento de práticas educativas dirigida aos bebês, adicionando ao debate comentários de estudiosos que tratam da primeira infância. Enfatizo o choro e o sorriso como meios naturais de expressão das emoções, que são acionados por estímulos e se dirigem à manifestação de necessidades básicas e estados emocionais, quer sejam excitantes ou deprimentes. Nos bebês, estes meios se apresentam, inicialmente, como ações reflexões; progressivamente, tais meios se mostram cada vez mais complexos. As contribuições que se depreendem dessa discussão podem ser refletidas por cuidadores, no desempenho de suas práticas educativas junto aos bebês, em sintonia com a relação corpo-mente. Palavras-chave: Darwin; Emoções; Bebês; Prática Educativa. Darwin's perspective on babies' emotional expressions: contributions to the development of educational practices Abstract: I discuss Darwin's approach to the means and ends of emotional expressions, with emphasis on babies' crying and smiling; and I present some contributions, which are deduced from this content, for the reflection of educational practices aimed at these children who are in the first stage of life. For that, I use descriptions and analyzes presented by Darwin in “The expression of emotions in men and animals”, published in 1872 (2009); I present perspectives of contemporary scholars who deal with emotional expressions, such as: Tomasello (2003) and Damásio (2011). Based on these considerations, I address the importance of emotional expressions in the development of educational practices aimed at babies, adding comments from scholars who deal with early childhood to the debate. I emphasize crying and smiling as natural means of expressing emotions, which are triggered by stimuli and are directed towards the manifestation of basic needs and emotional states, whether they are exciting or depressing. In babies, these means appear, initially, as reflective actions; progressively, such means are becoming more and more complex. The contributions that emerge from this discussion can be reflected by caregivers, in the performance of their educational practices with babies, in tune with the body-mind relationship. Keywords: Darwin; Emotions; Babies; Educational practice. La perspectiva de Darwin sobre las expresiones emocionales de los bebés: aportes al desarrollo de las prácticas educativas Abstracto: Analizo el enfoque de Darwin sobre los medios y fines de las expresiones emocionales, con énfasis en el llanto y la sonrisa de los bebés; y presento algunos aportes, que se deducen de este contenido, para la reflexión de las prácticas educativas dirigidas a estos niños que se encuentran en la primera etapa de la vida. Para ello, utilizo descripciones y análisis presentados por Darwin en “La expresión de las emociones en hombres y animales”, publicado en 1872 (2009); Presento perspectivas de estudiosos contemporáneos que se ocupan de las expresiones emocionales, tales como: Tomasello (2003) y Damásio (2011). Con base en estas consideraciones, abordo la importancia de las expresiones emocionales en el desarrollo de prácticas educativas dirigidas a los bebés, agregando al debate comentarios de estudiosos que se ocupan de la primera infancia. Destaco el llanto y la sonrisa como medios naturales de expresión de emociones, que son desencadenados por estímulos y se dirigen a la manifestación de necesidades básicas y estados emocionales, ya sean estos excitantes o deprimentes. En los bebés, estos medios aparecen, inicialmente, como acciones reflexivas; progresivamente, tales medios son cada vez más complejos. Los aportes que emergen de esta discusión pueden ser reflejados por los cuidadores, en el desempeño de sus prácticas educativas con los bebés, en sintonía con la relación cuerpo-mente. Palabras clave: Darwin; Emociones; bebés; Práctica educativa. Data de registro: 18/02/2022 Data de aceite: 17/08/2022. (shrink)

Les réseaux personnels sont des ensembles de relations interpersonnelles dans lesquelles les personnes sont engagées. Toutes les études sur ces réseaux montrent l’existence de variations dans leur taille et leur composition selon les indicateurs de hiérarchie sociale, le niveau d’études, la profession ou le revenu. Ces variations peuvent être interprétées comme des « inégalités relationnelles » dans la mesure où les relations sont des ressources essentielles pour de nombreux aspects de la vie sociale. Ces ressources jouent un rôle particulièrement important (...) pour les personnes âgées lorsqu’elles sont confrontées aux diverses difficultés liées au vieillissement. À partir d’une étude sur les parcours et les réseaux de 342 personnes de soixante ans et plus, cet article évalue l’évolution de ces inégalités relationnelles selon différents types de contenus relationnels associés aux questions sur les relations. Au-delà de ces variations, les inégalités tendent à s’accroître avec l’âge, notamment entre les personnes les moins diplômées et les autres, ce qui fait apparaître des temporalités différentes du « vieillissement relationnel ». (shrink)

The AGM paradigm for belief revision provides a very elegant and powerful framework for reasoning about idealized agents. The paradigm assumes that the modeled agent is a perfect reasoner with infinite memory. In this paper we propose a framework to reason about non-ideal agents that generalizes the AGM paradigm. We first introduce a structure to represent an agent's belief states that distinguishes different status of beliefs according to whether or not they are explicitly represented, whether they are currently active and (...) whether they are fully accepted or provisional. Then we define a set of basic operations that change the status of beliefs and show how these operations can be used to model agents with different capacities. We also show how different operations of belief change described in the literature can be seen as special cases of our theory. (shrink)

The books of the Old Testament contain elements of oral communication as well as the characteristic features of written elaboration. S. Niditch attempts to determine the probable oral-literate processes leading to the formation of the biblical message but does not answer the question concerning the history of the creation of any of the books. Biblical scholars examine the process of the shaping of the books as redaction criticism. This shaping, however, progressed according to different standards as evidenced by the literary (...) characteristics of the text and literary “deficiencies” as well explicit elements of oral communication. The use of the term “editing” in relation to the process evokes inadequate ideas drawn from contemporary literary culture.Attempts to discover the essential elements of the processes shaping the biblical books, based on the, to some extent, recreated history of The Gilgamesh Epic, leads us to a new concept of what such a book is. The discovered specificity of the biblical books can consequently propose a new, more adequate perspective of interpretation—the interpretation which has the characteristics of a discourse. (shrink)

Este artículo tiene como objeto de estudio la concepción sobre fotografía que desarrolló el grupo LEF. El estudio muestra que sus miembros, pese a sus diferencias teóricas, abogaron por una noción de la imagen fotográfica como texto visual siguiendo con los lineamientos teóricos del constructivismo como estilo artístico formal pero, también, formador de la Revolución Rusa. La primera parte desarrolla la conformación del grupo y sus principales fundamentos teóricos. La segunda parte recupera específicamente la noción de fotografía del grupo y (...) analiza, a través de los documentos e imágenes fuentes, la visión amplia que de la fotografía tuvo el grupo como proceso semiótico. La tarea realizada tiene como fin impulsar un campo de investigación aún poco explorado, el de la estética fotográfica. (shrink)

El presente trabajo examina las imágenes fotográficas publicadas en la revista prerrevolucionaria Mir iskusstva, entendida como uno de los íconos del simbolismo ruso de fin de siglo, y las compara con las fotografías de las revistas constructivistas LEF y Novyy LEF, revistas emblemáticas de la vanguardia soviética de principios de siglo XX. La investigación sostiene como hipótesis principal que cada revista definió a la fotografía según las creencias y convicciones de cada contexto artístico. Como hipótesis secundaria, se afirma que la (...) fotografía se encuentra íntimamente ligada a su tiempo y que fueron los discursos de cada contexto histórico los que determinaron su ontología. (shrink)

The effects of breast-feeding and supplementation practices on recent diarrhoea occurrence and stunted growth are modelled using logistic regression techniques. Data from the Demographic and Health Survey of Bolivia, 1989, show that, among children aged 3-36 months at the date of interview, the benefits of breast-feeding to child health were most pronounced among children living in rural poverty. Reduced breast-feeding among these children increased the likelihood of diarrhoea and stunted growth. In addition, the introduction of solid foods to currently lactating (...) infants negatively influenced child health. (shrink)