The concept of “predatory” publishing, despite many studies of the phenomenon, continues to be unclear. This paper visualizes this topic through an epistemological perspective, claiming that these limitations emerge from an impressionism of idealization, the entrapment of cause and effect induced by a journalology-based perspective, and entrenched fantasized extraction, imagination and divination of what constitutes the truth, in essence, a path never followed by an _epistēmōn_. Reality, proof, verification, recorded observations and their interpretations have been pivoted to fit the theoretical (...) flavor of the day, an entity one day being predatory, the next not. Perhaps ephemeral judgements of predatory have been built on boundless disregard for common sense. Yet, these have led to scientists’ apotheosis, almost oblivious of the intangibility of “valid”, or the infinitesimal continuum of “predatory”. Perhaps their fault-ridden authoritarian argumentative disabilities is at fault. (shrink)

Chronic deficiencies of the Greek welfare state and the introduction of austerity measures as part of the international financial bailout agreements have created an explosive cocktail of poverty and social exclusion that severely tested the resilience of the frail social safety net and the demands of equity. The score on the indicators of social quality has worsened considerably as the Greek welfare system was overhauled. This article examines the four conditional factors of social quality from the viewpoint of socio-economic policies (...) and everyday experiences in Greece during the crisis. (shrink)

BackgroundThe Asclepion of Epidaurus is one of the first healing environments in the world. Descendants of Asclepius, specifically medical students, have been singularly deprived of any information concerning this legacy. This article illuminates the role of Asclepion of Epidaurus and examines the view of medical students upon the subject and the possible benefits of this knowledge in their medical education.MethodsThe participants were 105 senior-year students from the Athens Medical School, who attended a multi-media assisted lecture related to the structure and (...) the role of the Asclepion of Epidaurus. Afterwards, they answered anonymously a questionnaire of 12 pairs of opposite adjectives in order to describe their view regarding the meaning of Asclepion. The method used in the evaluation of their answers was that of semantic differential.ResultsThe attitude of the students towards the meaning of Asclepion was positive, showing interest and excitement about a powerful, though unfamiliar piece of knowledge.ConclusionToday’s novice doctors have welcomed the concept of Asclepion as essential knowledge for the service they will be called to fulfill. The potential benefits of the Asclepian ideals in medical education and ethos are thoroughly discussed. (shrink)

Modelling consent is a process prior to any discussion about it, be it theoretical or practical. Here, after examining consent, I shall attempt to present a “logical generator” that produces all different cases of consent, so that afterwards we may articulate a two-dimensional model which will enable us to coherently demonstrate all possible types of consent. The resulting model will be combined with Aristotle’s square of opposition, offering us even greater insight. I shall claim that full informed consent is an (...) archetype, not realized in most cases; it is just one case out of hundreds more. I shall conclude with an educational model for consent, the principle of specificity, arguing that if we wish to both understanding consent and become more adept in exercising it, we need a targeted educational system – not just “better education” in general. (shrink)

Artificial Intelligence is making rapid and remarkable progress in the development of more sophisticated and powerful systems. However, the acknowledgement of several problems with modern machine learning approaches has prompted a shift in AI benchmarking away from task-oriented testing towards ability-oriented testing, in which AI systems are tested on their capacity to solve certain kinds of novel problems. The Animal-AI Environment is one such benchmark which aims to apply the ability-oriented testing used in comparative psychology to AI systems. Here, we (...) present the first direct human-AI comparison in the Animal-AI Environment, using children aged 6–10. We found that children of all ages were significantly better than a sample of 30 AIs across most of the tests we examined, as well as performing significantly better than the two top-scoring AIs, “ironbar” and “Trrrrr,” from the Animal-AI Olympics Competition 2019. While children and AIs performed similarly on basic navigational tasks, AIs performed significantly worse in more complex cognitive tests, including detour tasks, spatial elimination tasks, and object permanence tasks, indicating that AIs lack several cognitive abilities that children aged 6–10 possess. Both children and AIs performed poorly on tool-use tasks, suggesting that these tests are challenging for both biological and non-biological machines. (shrink)

The Consequentialist Scale (Robinson, 2012) [89] assesses the endorsement of consequentialist and deontological moral beliefs. This study empirically investigated the application of the Greek translation of the Consequentialist Scale in a sample of native Greek speakers. Specifically, 415 native Greek speakers completed the questionnaire. To uncover the underlying structure of the 10 items in the Consequentialist Scale, an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted. The results revealed a three-factor solution, where the deontology factor exhibited the same structure as the original (...) work by Robinson (2012) [89], while the original consequentialism factor split into two separate factors. Significant Pearson's r correlations were observed between age and responses to the Consequentialist Scale. Separate EFAs were conducted for two age groups based on a medial split: younger (36 years old or less) and older (more than 36 years old). Interestingly, the younger group exhibited a two-factor solution with the same structure as the original work, while the older group showed a three-factor solution. A hierarchical k-means cluster analysis revealed that the cluster of participants who scored higher in deontology compared to consequentialism primarily consisted of older participants, whereas the two other clusters comprised of younger participants exhibited the reverse pattern. Neither gender nor previous experience with philosophy significantly affected scores on the Consequentialist Scale. Overall, our study provides evidence that the Consequentialist Scale is suitable for use in the Greek population. (shrink)

Empathy is essential in story comprehension as it requires understanding of the emotions and intentions of the characters. We evaluated the sensitivity of an emotional perspective-taking task using Aesop’s Fables in relation to empathy. Participants (N = 301) were presented with 15 short fables and were asked to rate the intensity of the emotions they would feel (anger, sadness, disgust, fear, surprise, joy, trust, and anticipation) by adopting the perspective of one of the characters (offender, victim) or the observer’s perspective. (...) A data-driven approach revealed that participants’ responses were aligned with the characters’ intentions, suggesting successful emotional perspective-taking. Participants sympathized with the victim rather than the offender, demonstrating affective sharing processes. Further, participants with higher empathy scores exhibited stronger negative emotions from the victim’s perspective, independently of their level of distress. Our task was not influenced by gender effects. We suggest that the Aesop’s Fables task could provide an indirect instrument to study empathy. (shrink)

The five of us research and teach risk analysis with an eye towards decision support. Our work has been dedicated to taming risks and helping to make challenging decisions. But nothing had prepared us for the Covid-19 pandemic. We first had to grapple with the news coming from abroad, including, for some of us, our home countries. Then, some information and research, but mostly opinions, started coming in from our academic community, and we felt the tensions. Finally, the UK went (...) into an unofficial and then official lockdown, and all University staff were asked to redirect their research capacity so as to support the national effort for risk analysis and decision support. As we write this on the 20th of April, many countries, including the UK, are starting to consider how to get out of lockdown. Like the previous stages of the pandemic, there is little data, perhaps a bit more research, surely many more opinions, and definitely an overwhelming amount of personal experiences and thoughts. Here we reflect on all of the above, just in case it can help the readers of this Minds in Society flash editorial to think and act, or at least, to not have to do so entirely on their own. As it can be expected, our collage introduces more questions than it can answer. (shrink)

In an earlier paper, we introduced the following pre-order on the subgroups of a given Polish group: if G is a Polish group and \ are subgroups, we say H is homomorphism reducible to L iff there is a continuous group homomorphism \ such that \\). We previously showed that there is a \ subgroup L of the countable power of any locally compact Polish group G such that every \ subgroup of \ is homomorphism reducible to L. In the (...) present work, we show that this fails in the countable power of the group of increasing homeomorphisms of the unit interval. (shrink)

In F. Nietzsche’s philosophical thought, there is a profound link between European Nihilism and the task of modern philosophy to produce new Platos. The current article demonstrates how G. Deleuze uses the Nietzschean term Unzeitgemäβ – (Untimely – Unfashionable) in his attempt to overturn nihilistic Platonism. Deleuze enriches the Stoic paradox of [non-] when seeking an image of thought without image for the sake of what he calls the “untimely creative intensity,” an affirmative power in immanence. I argue that Deleuze (...) reads the Stoic [non-] using the lens of the Nietzschean untimely to construct the technique of reversibility in his philosophical plane. Following the cartography of Deleuze’s philosophical route, I first examine two problems caused by Platonic nihilism: the destruction of the form in anonymity and the noiseless transmutation of copies into simulacra. Second, I discuss Deleuze’s two types of nihilism: (i) the cruciform structure of the Platonic and (ii) the use of the paradox of the [non-] upon the surface by Stoics. Finally, I comment on Deleuzian nihilism as the birthplace of creation. (shrink)

A paradigm shift in the human chronotoxicity of xenobiotics would study two‐sided desynchronized phenomena of interfacial interactions between cyclic or periodic environmental insults and the endogenous response and recovery profile. These systems‐based networks are under the influence of well‐synchronized biological clocks and their metabolic regulators. This perspective argues in favor of addressing the concept of synchronization in studies involving critical life windows of susceptibility, or circadian rhythms, or 24‐hour (periodic) diurnal rhythms and answering whether these disruptions in synchronization would affect (...) response and recovery or disease phenotypes associated with environmental insults, e.g., xenobiotics. Synchronization or synchrony is defined as the totality of elements that appear during the same time period within a system, including the network of interactions between the system's elements. Desynchronized interfaces during critical life windows or in time‐repeated exposure events would likely lead to initiating a cascade of adverse health effects associated with differentiated disease phenotypes. (shrink)

We show that Gabbay’s nonmonotonic consequence relations c an be reduced to a new family of relations, called entrenchment relations. Entrenchment relations provide a direct generalization of epistemic entrenchment and expectation ordering introduced by G ̈ardenfors and Makinson for the study of belief revision and expectation inference, respectively.

Rational inference relations were introduced by Lehmann and Magidor as the ideal systems for drawing conclusions from a conditional base. However, there has been no simple characterization of these relations, other than its original representation by preferential models. In this paper, we shall characterize them with a class of total preorders of formulas by improving and extending G ̈ardenfors and Makinson’s results f or expectation inference relations. A second representation is application-oriented and is obtained by considering a class of consequence (...) operators that grade sets of defaults according to our reliance on them. The finitary fragment of this class of consequence operators has been employed by recent default logic formalisms based on maxiconsistency. (shrink)

Responsible research and innovation (RRI) is a governance framework promoted by influential policy makers such as the European Commission and academics from the fields of science and technology studies and management. This book is the first text to serve industry. Inspired by existing Corporate Responsibility standards and principles, it offers a selection of tools that can assist practitioners in implementing RRI in business and industry. -/- Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is integrative. It is a convergence of Technology Assessment (TA) (...) and Ethics, including corporate responsibility. The task of linking RRI to existing frameworks has only just begun. This book is a welcome example, showing how Corporate Responsibility tools can drive the implementation of RRI. Prof. Armin Grunwald, Head of the Office of Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag and Head of the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany. -/- This is a simple, short, yet encyclopaedic work designed to help business implement RRI using the many tools of Corporate Responsibility (CR) already in place, everything from ISO9001 to the Ceres Roadmap for Sustainability. It makes clear the ways in which RRI is an extension of ideas already well-developed in CR. I learned a lot reading it. Prof. Michael Davis, Senior Fellow, Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions, Illinois Institute of Technology, USA. (shrink)

This paper analyses the role of external pressures, internal motivations and their interplay, with the intention of identifying whether they drive substantive or instead symbolic implementation of ISO 14001. The context is one of economic crisis. We focus on Greece, where the economic crisis has weakened the country’s institutional environment, and analyse qualitatively new interview data from 45 ISO 14001 certified firms. Our findings show that weak external pressures can lead to a symbolic implementation of ISO 14001, as firms can (...) defend their legitimacy without incurring the costs of internalization in the local market; weak external pressures can lead to substantive implementation of ISO 14001 when firms have strong internal motivations seeking to strategically differentiate from competitors in international markets. Firms internalize ISO 14001 so as to restore their legitimacy and reputation in foreign markets and stimulate their competitiveness; and strong internal motivations pave the way for companies to stimulate their competitiveness by enhancing their efficiency, as some companies might strengthen their position in the local market by implementing ISO 14001 substantively. The contribution of this paper to the literature on ISO 14001 internalization lies in refining existing theory on the importance of internal motivations for the substantive implementation of ISO 14001 in the context of economic crisis. In addition, this paper extends current theory by challenging studies that dismiss the importance of external pressures. We argue that the intensity of external pressures influences the internalization of ISO 14001, but propose that this relationship might not be linear. (shrink)

Over every and each sport event, a dark veil spreads and obfuscates the celebration: doping. Although anti-doping policies have been widely applied, controlling and diminishing this phenomenon has not been achieved yet and the use of doping is commonplace. In this article, I propose the concept of narcissistic civilization as a tool to interpret this phenomenon. I seek for a parallel reading between the Freudian idea of narcissism and its extension to social narcissism by Fromm, together with Heidegger’s analysis of (...) technology, keeping in mind that doping is a technological application. In this way I point out that both theories share a common view in that humans tend to fail in the distinction between the external reality as an object and their own self as the interpreter, that is between the ¨I¨ and the ¨not I¨. By making this fusion of the two theories that originate from different intellectual traditions, I aspire to provide an interpretation tool for the broad use of doping: I conclude that doping can be understood with the assumption of a narcissistic civilization, focused on technology, that calls for the use of PEDs. (shrink)

Over every and each sport event, a dark veil spreads and obfuscates the celebration: doping. Although anti-doping policies have been widely applied, controlling and diminishing this phenomenon has not been achieved yet and the use of doping is commonplace. In this article, I propose the concept of narcissistic civilization as a tool to interpret this phenomenon. I seek for a parallel reading between the Freudian idea of narcissism and its extension to social narcissism by Fromm, together with Heidegger’s analysis of (...) technology, keeping in mind that doping is a technological application. In this way I point out that both theories share a common view in that humans tend to fail in the distinction between the external reality as an object and their own self as the interpreter, that is between the ¨I¨ and the ¨not I¨. By making this fusion of the two theories that originate from different intellectual traditions, I aspire to provide an interpretation tool for the broad use of doping: I conclude that doping can be understood with the assumption of a narcissistic civilization, focused on technology, that calls for the use of PEDs. (shrink)

Important to the essays here is the possibility of using logos without the negative, restricting and violent aspects of logos. In this respect I speak about affirmation and about tragic awareness rather than about the tragic itself or tragic conflict, as I read texts of a literary democracy that is already here, texts by Don DeLillo, Tomas Transtromer, John Ashbery and Thanasis Valtinos, or see arrangements by Lo Snofall. Indeed it is all about arrangements, about knowing how to affirm and (...) doing it rather than using language and its codes in order to transcribe, however accurate this might be. Arrangements say yes, since they do not raise any absolute boundaries. The arrangement is a logos without logos: it is a cosmos, where affirming is a tragically aware cosmetics. Cosmos is neither the world nor any ordering or embellishment of this world, but an openness as the incalculable accumulation of arrangements that say yes in their awareness that they do not amount to an ontology. (shrink)

In this paper, we study some new examples of ideals on $$\omega $$ with maximal Tukey type (that is, maximal among partial orders of size continuum). This discussion segues into an examination of a refinement of the Tukey order—known as the weak Rudin–Keisler order—and its structure when restricted to these ideals of maximal Tukey type. Mirroring a result of Fremlin (Note Mat 11:177–214, 1991) on the Tukey order, we also show that there is an analytic P-ideal above all other analytic (...) P-ideals in the weak Rudin–Keisler order. (shrink)

Misgendering is perceived as the use of incorrect pronouns and gender categories when addressing Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming people. This common habit is widely observed in reports, surveys and assessments, where the pressures to comply with a binary understanding of gender are high and alternative options for self-identification are not frequently offered. The present study reads misgendering as a manifestation of epistemic injustice, and uses resources from Science, Technology and Society Studies in order to highlight the importance of situated perspectives (...) on the matter. After being analysed as a commonplace microaggression, misgendering is conceptualised as an act of structural hermeneutical marginalisation that is not usually intentional but product of society’s lack of sensibility towards gender diversity. Finally, a reparative approach against misgendering is offered through the Gender Fair Language model, which involves relational and situated contributions in order to prevent already marginalised people and experiences from being further excluded. (shrink)

The covid-19 pandemic has supposed a greater marginalization of sexual and gender minorities. This marginalization has been an effect both of the public management’s prioritization of the epidemiological situation, and of a generalized social backlash attributed to the unprecedented lockdown conditions. Within this framework, and among other vulnerable social collectivities, trans people have seen their testimonies particularly unaddressed and exempt of credibility. Group dynamics of reinforcement of categories, as well as the dissemination of fake news through the Internet and the (...) reactivation of outdated debates on legitimacy within the public sphere, have given rise to a generalized mistrust and polarization. The present text utilizes qualitative data obtained through a larger research project on accessibility of trans people to psychological services, to conflate barriers to health services, with infodemia on social media, social distancing, the uprising of conservative discourses, and minority stress. (shrink)

Centré sur l’univers polytechnicien de la première moitié du xixe siècle, le présent article souhaite mettre en regard les échanges scientifiques – oraux, épistolaires, ou liés à la diffusion de textes – développés au sein d’un « monde social » particulier avec les caractéristiques spécifiques de ce monde. En faisant dialoguer des considérations générales sur les différentes composantes de l’univers polytechnicien et une série de « vignettes » qui donnent à ces considérations de la chair historique, nous concluons à l’existence (...) d’un monde social dont les règles de fonctionnement – sociales, intellectuelles et morales –, l’équipement matériel, ainsi que les traits anthropologiques de ceux qui l’habitent font de lui un univers particulièrement propice au développement des échanges entre ses membres. (shrink)

Centré sur l’univers polytechnicien de la première moitié du xixe siècle, le présent article souhaite mettre en regard les échanges scientifiques – oraux, épistolaires, ou liés à la diffusion de textes – développés au sein d’un « monde social » particulier avec les caractéristiques spécifiques de ce monde. En faisant dialoguer des considérations générales sur les différentes composantes de l’univers polytechnicien et une série de « vignettes » qui donnent à ces considérations de la chair historique, nous concluons à l’existence (...) d’un monde social dont les règles de fonctionnement – sociales, intellectuelles et morales –, l’équipement matériel, ainsi que les traits anthropologiques de ceux qui l’habitent font de lui un univers particulièrement propice au développement des échanges entre ses membres. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a form of update based on the minimization of the geodesic distance on a graph. We provide a characterization of this class using set- theoretic operators and show that such operators bijectively correspond to geodesic metrics. As distance is generated by distinguishability, our framework is appropriate in contexts where distance is generated by threshold, and therefore, when measurement is erroneous.

ABSTRACT:Existing research on certifiable management standards (CMS) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) tends to focus on large companies and is characterised by disagreement about the role of these standards as drivers of CSR. We contribute to the literature by shifting the analytical focus to the behaviour of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that subscribe to multiple CSR related standards. We argue that, in respect of motive and commitment, SMEs are not as different from large companies as the literature suggests, as (...) they are guided by similar institutional and economic motives. Results, based on ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certified SMEs in Greece, demonstrate that later adopters are more susceptible to coercive and mimetic motives and are less likely to commit fully to the CMS requirements, while earlier adopters react to normative motives and considerations of internal efficiency gains and tend to carry out CMS requirements with greater diligence. (shrink)

A central concept for information retrieval is that of similarity. Although an information retrieval system is expected to return a set of documents most relevant to the query word(s), it is often described as returning a set of documents most similar to the query. The authors argue that in order to reason with similarity we need to model the concept of discriminating power. They offer a simple topological notion called resolution space that provides a rich mathematical framework for reasoning with (...) limited discriminating power, avoiding the vagueness paradox. (shrink)

Given a class${\cal C}$of subgroups of a topological groupG, we say that a subgroup$H \in {\cal C}$is auniversal${\cal C}$subgroupofGif every subgroup$K \in {\cal C}$is a continuous homomorphic preimage ofH. Such subgroups may be regarded as complete members of${\cal C}$with respect to a natural preorder on the set of subgroups ofG. We show that for any locally compact Polish groupG, the countable powerGωhas a universalKσsubgroup and a universal compactly generated subgroup. We prove a weaker version of this in the nonlocally compact (...) case and provide an example showing that this result cannot readily be improved. Additionally, we show that many standard Banach spaces have universalKσand compactly generated subgroups. As an aside, we explore the relationship between the classes ofKσand compactly generated subgroups and give conditions under which the two coincide. (shrink)

We consider some natural sets of real numbers arising in ergodic theory and show that they are, respectively, complete in the classes${\cal D}_2 \left( {{\bf{\Pi }}_3^0 } \right)$and${\cal D}_\omega \left( {{\bf{\Pi }}_3^0 } \right)$, that is, the class of sets which are 2-differences (respectively,ω-differences) of${\bf{\Pi }}_3^0 $sets.

In this thesis we present two logical systems, $\bf MP$ and $\MP$, for the purpose of reasoning about knowledge and effort. These logical systems will be interpreted in a spatial context and therefore, the abstract concepts of knowledge and effort will be defined by concrete mathematical concepts.

This manuscript, divided into two parts, provides a contextual and historiographical analysis of Edwin Arthur Burtt's classic The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science. My discussion corroborates the sparse technical literature on Burtt (Moriarty, 1994; Villemaire, 2002), positioning his work in the aftermath of American idealism and the rise of realist, pragmatist and naturalist alternatives. However, I depart from the existing interpretations both in content and focus. Disagreeing with Moriarty, I maintain that Burtt's Metaphysical Foundations is not an idealist work. (...) Moreover, I provide an alternative to Villemaire's mainly Deweyite/pragmatist reading, emphasizing the import of new realism and naturalism. Burtt's historical thesis should not be viewed as outlining a systematic philosophical position, but rather as a (coherent) culmination of numerous philosophical problematics. To support my conclusion, I provide a substantial summary of Burtt's text alongside a contextual analysis of the philosophical issues that preoccupied his teachers and peers in Columbia's philosophy department. I conclude with a historiographical section, rendering explicit the connections between Burtt's understanding of the scientific revolution, and his distinctive early 20th century American intellectual context. (shrink)

The article explores a particular mode of time synthesis as carried out in the field of Islamic micro-finance in Indonesia. It approaches this financial experiment through Deleuze's tripartite division of time and the concept of promise advanced here. I argue that the analytical promise the concept of promise holds is partly related to its ability to circumscribe a field of practice that is at once theological and economic and partly to its privileging of the time of the future. What the (...) study of Islamic micro-finance offers to studies of Deleuze is a timely reminder that this explicit privileging is not adequate in and of itself for ‘relativising’ the effects of habit and memory on time, thought and politics. This is primarily because promising has a dual, ‘schizoid’ and distressed constitution: it is motivated as much by the affirmative ‘will to power’ as by the negative ‘will to improve’. (shrink)

This article explores the intertextual connection between Eteocles’ dream in Statius’ThebaidBook 2 and the brief reference to his ambiguous dream at Aesch.Sept.710−11. In Aeschylus’ play, Eteocles understands the true meaning of the dream belatedly, as he is about to enter into a duel with his brother Polynices. The article argues that the ambiguous character of the Aeschylean dream forms the basis of the dream in Statius, and that the poet develops the scene further through elements of epic dream sequences that (...) align his narrative with the epic tradition. However, Statius emphasizes even more the ambiguity of Eteocles’ dream to highlight the tragic nature of his character. Following ancient dream theorists, the discussion shows next that the obscurity of the dream in theThebaidcan be understood as the product of the fusion of different dream classes, which are evoked in the description of the dream in Statius. The proposed interpretation suggests that, on the basis of their personal experience of dreams and their familiarity with popular dream theories, Statius’ readers would have been able to perceive the irony between Laius’ message and Jupiter's true intentions, all of which enhance Eteocles’ tragic character. (shrink)

Psychology’s emphasis on individual experience has created idealised prototypes for gender identity, promulgated through traditional tools of psychological evaluation. Transgender and gender nonconforming people have been urged to fit into binary conceptions of such evaluations, at least until the recent depathologisation approved by the World Health Organization. The present theoretical study examines how psychological discourses around gender diversity and corporeality have been transformed. To this effect, it appeals to four arguments: to the activist mobilisation against homogeneous definitions of transness, to (...) the applicability of taxonomic systems’ categories, to the resistances against psychometric tests’ validity scales, and lastly, to issues concerning cross-cultural adaptation of terms, measurements and conceptions of bodily and gender identity. (shrink)