Name der Zeitschrift: Semiotica Jahrgang: 2016 Heft: 213 Seiten: 123-164.

Name der Zeitschrift: Semiotica Jahrgang: 2015 Heft: 206 Seiten: 13-35.

When we use secure computer systems, we engage with carefully orchestrated and ordered interactions called “security ceremonies”, all of which exist to assure security. A great deal of attention has been paid to improving the usability of these ceremonies over the last two decades, to make them easier for end-users to engage with. Yet, usability improvements do not seem to have endeared end users to ceremonies. As a consequence, human actors might subvert the ceremony’s processes or avoid engaging with it. (...) Here, we consider whether beautification could be one way of making ceremonies more appealing. To explore beautification in this context, we carried out three studies. Study 1 surveyed 250 participants to derive a wide range of potential dimensions of “beautiful ceremonies”. These statements were sorted into dominant themes and converted into statements, which fed into the second study, with 309 respondents, to reveal the dominant dimensions constituting beauty. Study 3 asked 41 participants to carry out a Q-sort, which revealed the ways that people combine the identified dimensions when characterising security ceremonies as “beautiful”. These studies have allowed us to pin down the perceived dimensions of beauty in the context of security ceremonies, and also to understand how people combine these dimensions in different ways in judging security ceremonies to be beautiful, confirming the old adage of beauty being “in the eye of the beholder”. We conclude by highlighting the constraints imposed by the overarching requirement for security to be maintained in the face of any usability improvements and beautification endeavours. (shrink)

The recent global outspread of the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the lives of people across multiple countries including athletes, coaches, and supporting staff. Along with everybody else, coaches found themselves constrained to an at-home self-isolation, which limited their ability to normally engage with their profession and to interact with their athletes. This situation may also have impacted their own psychological well-being. With this study, we explored coaches’ perceptions of stress in relation to their emotion regulation strategies depending upon their gender (...) and competitive level. A sample of 2272 Italian coaches were surveyed during the period of lockdown. Mean values for perceived stress and emotion regulation strategies were compared to normative data of the two instruments as reported in the original studies. Furthermore, two Multivariate analyses of variance were completed to observe the potential differences in the coaches’ emotion regulation strategies and perception of stress. Finally, a blockwise regression analysis was run to assess how coaches’ emotion regulation strategies impacted upon their perception of stress. Both women and men reported higher levels of perceived stress than those reported in the normative data. Similarly, average scores for emotion regulation strategies were significantly different from those reported for normative data, in particular, coaches reported slightly higher use of emotion regulation strategies than participants in the original study. Significant gender-based differences emerged in terms of emotional regulations, with men adopting more suppression than women. No differences by competitive level were found. In terms of perceived stress, male coaches and elite coaches showed to be more in control of the situation than female coaches and non-elite coaches, respectively, while women experienced more negative stress than men. The blockwise regression evidenced how reappraisal resulted to be predictive in helping coaches to reduce their perception of stress, while suppression predicted higher stress perceptions. (shrink)

Il programma di ricerca filosofica di Maurizio Ferraris può essere ricapitolato, come egli ha scritto, in tre fasi in cui ha proposto: una estetica come teoria della sensibilità, una ontologia naturale come teoria dell’inemendabilità e una ontologia sociale come teoria della documentalità (cfr. Ferraris 2012a: x-xi). Tra queste, è stata soprattutto la prima fase del suo pensiero a influenzare i miei studi. In essa sono presenti talune delle principali tesi della sua filosofia positiva che, a mio modo di vedere, possono (...) essere sviluppate anche nell’ambito delle ricerche sulle arti contemporanee. Al fine di mostrare questa possibilità, il testo è organizzato come segue. Nei primi due paragrafi mi soffermo sulla concezione dell’estetica come teoria della sensibilità e su alcuni dei principali nuclei teorici della sua filosofia positiva. I tre successivi mirano a portare in primo piano alcune questioni concernenti la delicata relazione tra estetica e arte, e ad affrontarle tenendo conto sia della natura della prima sia delle incessanti evoluzioni della seconda. I due conclusivi offrono i lineamenti della proposta che penso possa essere formulata mantenendo come riferimento due insegnamenti tratti dalla filosofia positiva di Ferraris. (shrink)

During a Barolo en primeur tasting session, a seasoned wine taster is assailed by a procedural unease which leads him to question the foundations on which his work rests. Sparked off by his reading of Michel Le Gris’ pamphlet Dionysos crucifié, the taster’s objections and perplexities are directed towards teasing out the rules and coordinates of a tasting aesthetic which has become tamed and domesticated, at the service of a narcissistic “tyranny of instant gratification”. Such an approach translates into wines (...) that are beaten into submission by interventionist winemakers, wines that derive from a tasting model that has been pre-emptively cleansed of tension or dissonance so as to exalt products that are easy, reassuring, docile to marketing logic, and increasingly similar. What sort of doubts, what interpretative friction can hope to reacquaint wine criticism with its true and original aims? What relations between the tongue that tastes and the tongue that speaks can respond to the needs of a new approach to wine appreciation, a ‘tasting different’? (shrink)

Ugo Nespolo (1941) ha attraversato gli ultimi cinquant’anni sperimentando in quasi tutti i campi dell’arte ed esprimendo con ironia e atteggiamento ludico la propria poetica di confine, tra avanguardia e pop. Alla sua ricerca artistica - che spazia dalle installazioni oggettuali ai dipinti, dalle performance alle sculture, dalla produzione cinematografica a quella grafica e illustrativa - è dedicato questo numero speciale “Rivista di estetica” che offre riflessioni di carattere critico/letter...

Aristotle�s account on natural slavery is neither misleading nor paradoxical, but plausible even though controversial, unlike many commentators think of. On his view natural masters are essentially the virtuous people, viz. those who have been perfected in their process of growing, and natural slaves are essentially the vicious people, viz. those who have been injured or corrupted in some way in their growing up so as to suffer from a lack of autonomous practical rationality. Of course, many barbarians are in (...) this state, but there is no need to presume that all of them are. More to the point, some Greeks will be in this state, especially the many and he who the many have a high regard for. Because of this state, slavery is for the better allowing a slave�s life to become more worthwhile as an instrumental part of the master�s living a good life. Particularly, nature requires that some humans will be able to attain happiness some other will not. Masters and slaves are linked through the rational pursuit of happiness by the political community where they play different roles but equally required. Thus, master and slave will form a single system whose working unity does confirm that a clear separation between that which dominates and that is being dominated must always take place for natural things to be according the best standard. (shrink)

‘Nomofanie’ sta per “manifestazioni del nómos”. Nel libro si presentano configurazioni concettuali, problemi teoretici e contesti empirici che sono altrettanti dispositivi nomofanici, cioè produttivi di varie e molteplici manifestazioni di quel nómos che la filosofia del diritto è chiamata ad indagare. Quattro i filosofi più richiamati: Aristotele, Tommaso d’Aquino, Kant e Hegel, che costituiscono una sorta di “quadratura” per pensare alcune questioni critiche del vivere-insieme anche nelle società presenti.

The investigation that can be carried out on a given problem often requires taking into account both its characteristics and the theoretical tools that make the investigation possible, as well as the resources that can contribute to feeding and developing it. The research work – or, to use an oxymoron, theoretical practice – is based both on the quality and rigour of the investigation that is conducted on the possibilities and limitations that it encounters while being as coherent and reliabl...

This essay has two aims. The first is to offer an explanation concerning the problem of form in Umberto Eco’s philosophical research, showing that he deals with it while admitting that form can be a temporary element connected to a system of relationships which may be subject to variability. Namely, his reflection is open to the issue of structure. The second aim is to identify some principles that, according to this theoretical approach, may be considered a basis for a positive (...) philosophy of the arts whose adoption might also lead to the understanding of their most recent evolutions. Focusing above all on the work Eco carried out in the years preceding the elaboration of his semiotic theory, I will pursue the following two objectives. After introducing some aspects of Eco’s philosophical methodology, I will focus on the theme of form, considering it in meta-operative terms in light of Luigi Pareyson’s ‘theory of formativity’ and in relation to the issue of structure. In the final part of the essay, I will then show how this theoretical approach provides significant resources for a positive philosophy that can successfully address the evolution of the arts. (shrink)

A reciprocal symmetry between art and culture, the reductionism and the impoverishment of the artistic practices are all consequences of the establishment of the new conceptualist paradigm in art since the 60s. Nespolo’s artistic production in that period exemplifies this features being thus conceivable as a variant of conceptualism since he adopts its new experimental rules mixing them with the traditional ones of the visual artistic paradigm.

This research explores the marginal stakeholder engagement and propensity to value cocreation in the fast-fashion industry by taking Generation Z consumers (GZCs) as observation unit and social networking sites (SNSs) as context of investigation. By undertaking 24 in-depth interviews with US and Italian GZCs, the study uncovers the main elements that influence their engagement generation on SNSs and highlights that at least four main paradoxes (PXs) exist in this scenario. Specifically, the interviewees reported that they do not trust those brands (...) that make them feel as marginal consumers (PX1) and that they are likely to be extremely loyal to those brands that actively take them into consideration in their activities on SNSs (PX2). In addition, although GZCs concerned about the environment, in most cases, they will buy repeatedly from fast-fashion brands for convenience reasons (PX3). Finally, social dimension of GZCs engagement appears to be influenced by their peers' preferences (PX4). This research is the first that explored GZCs by considering them under the lenses of stakeholder engagement and offering novel insights about common believes on this generation of consumers. Therefore, theoretical and managerial implications are discussed to advance current knowledge on GZCs and to help the development of new strategies to engage them on SNSs. (shrink)

In the present article, we introduce an ethical evaluation methodology for clinical cases. Although rejecting proceduralism as a system, we develop a procedure that eventually could be formalized as a flow chart to help carry out an ethical evaluation for clinical cases. We clarify the elements that constitute an ethical evaluation: aim, integration, and how the action is performed. We leave aside the aspect of intentions, focusing on the object of a medical action, arguing that the internal aim of a (...) clinical action carries a moral value per se. Our evaluation system takes into account only objects and circumstances and their intrinsic morality, since we are dealing with the evaluation of a clinical case, and not with a personal and complete clinical action. DOI: 10.5294/pebi.2016.20.1.5. (shrink)

Background:Nurses and nursing students appear vulnerable to moral distress when faced with ethical dilemmas or decision-making in clinical practice. As a result, they may experience professional dissatisfaction and their relationships with patients, families, and colleagues may be compromised. The impact of moral distress may manifest as anger, feelings of guilt and frustration, a desire to give up the profession, loss of self-esteem, depression, and anxiety.Objectives:The purpose of this review was to describe how dilemmas and environmental, relational, and organizational factors contribute (...) to moral distress in undergraduate student nurses during their clinical experience and professional education.Research design:The research design was a systematic literature review.Method:The search produced a total of 157 articles published between 2004 and 2014. These were screened with the assessment sheet designed by Hawker and colleagues. Four articles matched the search criteria (one quantitative study and three qualitative), and these were separately read and analyzed by the researchers. The process of review and analysis of the data was supervised by a colleague experienced in moral distress who provided an independent quality check.Ethical consideration:Since this was a systematic review, no ethical approval was required.Findings:From the analysis, it emerged that inequalities and healthcare disparities, the relationship with the mentor, and students’ individual characteristics can all impact negatively on the decisions taken and the nursing care provided, generating moral distress. All these factors condition both the clinical experience and learning process, in addition to the professional development and the possible care choices of future nurses.Conclusion:Few studies dealt with moral distress in the setting of nurse education, and there is a knowledge gap related to this phenomenon. The results of this review underline the need for further research regarding interventions that can minimize moral distress in undergraduate nursing students. (shrink)

Este artículo discute el comentario de Alejandro a Aristóteles, Metafísica V.8 1017b23-26. Allí Aristóteles sostiene que la sustancia se dice de dos maneras: (i) el sustrato último, y (ii) la estructura y la forma de cada cosa. En cuanto al primer significado, el comentador apropiadamente pone énfasis en el hecho de que hay una perfecta biunivocidad entre ser sustancia y ser sustrato. Esta biunivocidad, sugiere Abbate, puede verse en las tres entidades que, según el mismo Aristóteles, desde las Categorías –una (...) fórmula reescrita por Alejandro que puede llamarse, en orden creciente, materia, compuesto y forma. De hecho, tales entidades muestran cómo ser el sustrato último significa no ser predicado de nada, un carácter que la forma se realiza por completo cuando es absolutamente inmaterial, en la medida en que no está constituida por referencia de una cosa a otra, menos aún cuál es su sustrato, esto es, la forma como esencia. En cuanto al segundo significado, el comentador parece individualizar tres acepciones diferentes, según las cuales la forma puede llamarse 1) solamente puede ser tal como una forma natural que es inmanente a los cuerpos; 2) como simplemente separada, en un sentido pasivo, de la materia la que se encuentra constitutivamente vinculada. Ésta es la razón por la cual no puede subsistir separadamente, si no virtualmente; como una forma eterna de los cuerpos divinos, no subsistente en relación a cualquier sustrato. De acuerdo con la última acepción, la forma como un motor divino indica una separación completa: tanto la individualidad de una sustancia primera como la trascendencia como una forma pura en acto. Es una sustancia suprasensible, que está separada tanto como el primer motor. Abbate concluye argumentando que Alejandro, por ende, nos autoriza a pensar que el primer carácter, esto es, el carácter que más que cualquier otro acepta la distinción entre aquello que es sustancia y todo lo que no es sustancia, si es cierto que las sustancias más elevadas, las inmateriales, se distinguen de las sustancias materiales en llevar al máximo cumplimiento este carácter. (shrink)