Vers la fin des années 1750, une Académie de Mathématiques fut créée au sein de l’Académie Militaire de la Garde du Corps à Madrid, dirigée par Pedro Padilla jusqu’à sa fermeture en 1760. En 1753, Padilla commença à publier son Cours Militaire de Mathématiques pour l’usage de cette Académie. Le besoin de textes mathématiques en espagnol dans le domaine militaire a conduit à la création en 1757 de la Société Royale Militaire de Mathématiques à Madrid sous la direction de Pedro (...) de Lucuce, lui aussi directeur de l’Académie Militaire de Mathématiques de Barcelone depuis 1738. Les membres de la Société ont été chargés de l’élaboration d’un cours complet dans lequel les mathématiques étaient considérées comme essentielles à la formation militaire des officiers artilleurs et des ingénieurs militaires. La Société, supprimée en 1760, a réussi à réunir une excellente bibliothèque scientifique et technique servant à son tour à fournir des futures bibliothèques militaires. Le but de cette contribution est d’explorer et de comparer la manière dont l’étude des mathématiques a été abordée dans ces deux cas. Toward the end of 1750, an Academy of Mathematics was established within the Military Academy of Royal Guards of Madrid that was managed by Pedro Padilla until it closed in 1760. In 1753, Padilla authored and published his Military Course of Mathematics for the specific use by this Academy. The further need for mathematical texts in Spanish for military training coursework led to the founding of the Royal Military Society of Mathematics of Madrid in 1757 under the direction of Pedro de Lucuce, the headmaster of the Barcelona Military Academy of Mathematics since 1738. The members of this Society were entrusted with producing a comprehensive course program in which mathematics was considered and presented as essential to training of military engineers and gunners. The Society of Mathematics was dissolved in 1760 but had succeeded in building an extensive scientific and technical book depository that later served as a valuable resource supplying other military libraries. The aim of this contribution is to explore and compare how the study of mathematics was approached in these two cases. (shrink)

Vers la fin des années 1750, une Académie de Mathématiques fut créée au sein de l’Académie Militaire de la Garde du Corps à Madrid, dirigée par Pedro Padilla (1724-1807?) jusqu’à sa fermeture en 1760. En 1753, Padilla commença à publier son Cours Militaire de Mathématiques (1753 -1756) pour l’usage de cette Académie. Le besoin de textes mathématiques en espagnol dans le domaine militaire a conduit à la création en 1757 de la Société Royale Militaire de Mathématiques à Madrid sous la (...) direction de Pedro de Lucuce (1692-1779), lui aussi directeur de l’Académie Militaire de Mathématiques de Barcelone depuis 1738. Les membres de la Société ont été chargés de l’élaboration d’un cours complet dans lequel les mathématiques étaient considérées comme essentielles à la formation militaire des officiers artilleurs et des ingénieurs militaires. La Société, supprimée en 1760, a réussi à réunir une excellente bibliothèque scientifique et technique servant à son tour à fournir des futures bibliothèques militaires. Le but de cette contribution est d’explorer et de comparer la manière dont l’étude des mathématiques a été abordée dans ces deux cas. Toward the end of 1750, an Academy of Mathematics was established within the Military Academy of Royal Guards of Madrid that was managed by Pedro Padilla (1724-1807?) until it closed in 1760. In 1753, Padilla authored and published his Military Course of Mathematics (1753-1756) for the specific use by this Academy. The further need for mathematical texts in Spanish for military training coursework led to the founding of the Royal Military Society of Mathematics of Madrid in 1757 under the direction of Pedro de Lucuce (1692-1779), the headmaster of the Barcelona Military Academy of Mathematics since 1738. The members of this Society were entrusted with producing a comprehensive course program in which mathematics was considered and presented as essential to training of military engineers and gunners. The Society of Mathematics was dissolved in 1760 but had succeeded in building an extensive scientific and technical book depository that later served as a valuable resource supplying other military libraries. The aim of this contribution is to explore and compare how the study of mathematics was approached in these two cases. (shrink)

The present article deals with a kind of parapsychology called metapsychics ( metapsíquica) as conceived and practised in Spain between 1923 and 1925. First we focus on the reception of a treatise by Richet that evoked both support (Ferrán) and criticism (Mira). Then we examine some experiments on clairvoyance performed at the Marquis of Santa Cara’s home, dealing chiefly with the rise and fall of a case of prodigious vision. The analysis gives special attention to the question of how metapsychics (...) was understood and to which discussions it gave rise. The authors argue that the project of metapsychics must be understood within a frame of two tendencies, namely, the increasing popularization and the demarcation of science that were under way in modern society. (shrink)

This article reconstructs the reception of Fichte’s philosophy in the works of the physician and philosopher A.K.A. Eschenmayer between 1796 and 1801. In 1796/97, Eschenmayer was working on his project of a metaphysics of nature which would be capable of constituting a middle term between the empirical sciences and the transcendental philosophy. In doing so, he explicitly engaged with Kant, on the one hand, and with scientists of the time, on the other hand, while the influence of Fichte is comparatively (...) slight and less easily discerned. In 1798, however, he introduced into his studies of magnetism an explicit recognition of Fichte and a reference to the third principle of the Wissenschaftslehre. In 1799, Eschenmayer adopted a higher standpoint from which it was possible to conceive the genesis of the concepts which up to that point had been merely analysed. This change of viewpoint coincided with a deeper engagement with the works of Fichte. The analysis of the Dedukzion and of Eschenmayer’s explicit references to Fichte that is attempted in the present study leads to the conclusion that Eschenmayer not only adopted some terminology typical of Fichtean philosophy but also integrated into his deduction several theoretical elements developed by Fichte. The reconstruction of the influences that Fichte exercised on Eschenmayer’s thought is fundamental to an understanding of the theoretical position of Eschenmayer and the point of view from which in 1801 he formulated his criticism of Schelling’s idea of nature as autarchic and as its own legislator.Der Beitrag rekonstruiert die Rezeption der Philosophie Fichtes in den Werken des Arztes und Philosophen A.K.A Eschenmayer aus den Jahren 1796 bis 1801. 1796/97 verfolgt Eschenmayer das Ziel, eine Naturmetaphysik zu entwickeln, die als Mittelglied zwischen den empirischen Wissenschaften und der Transzendentalphilosophie fungieren soll. Dabei setzt er sich einerseits mit Kant und andererseits mit den Wissenschaftlern seiner Zeit auseinander. Der Einfluss von Fichte auf Eschenmayer ist hingegen vergleichsweise gering und nicht leicht festzustellen. Dennoch erkennt Eschenmayer bereits in seiner Studie zum Magnetismus aus dem Jahr 1798 das Verdienst Fichtes an und verweist auf den dritten Grundsatz der Wissenschaftslehre. Im Jahr 1799 erhebt sich Eschenmayer insofern zu einem höheren Standpunkt, als er nun die Genese der Begriffe entfaltet, die er vorher bloß analysiert hatte. Diese Änderung des Standpunktes führt Eschenmayer zu einer tieferen Auseinandersetzung mit den Werken Fichtes. Die in diesem Beitrag durchgeführte Untersuchung der Passagen aus Eschenmayers Dedukzion, in denen sich explizite Verweise auf Fichte finden, hat zu dem Schluss geführt, dass Eschenmayer sich nicht nur Fichtes Terminologie zu eigen macht, sondern auch mehrere von Fichte aufgestellte Theorien in seine eigene Deduktion integriert. Die Rekonstruktion der Einflüsse Fichtes auf Eschenmayer ist nicht nur für ein besseres Verständnis der Philosophie Eschenmayers unentbehrlich, sondern trägt auch zum Verständnis des Standpunktes bei, von dem aus Eschenmayer im Jahre 1801 Kritik an Schellings Idee der Natur als ihrer eigenen Gesetzgeberin übt. (shrink)

The time marked by the clock hands, the so-called “objective time,” is deeply different from the one perceived by the individual. Starting from this hypothesis, directly connected to the subjective modality of “living” the time and defined as time perspective, we will try to understand how much it affects the various domains of people's lives, attitudes, and experiences. Therefore, the research investigates whether all our decisions can be influenced by one or more time perspectives beyond our awareness. Last, but not (...) least, we will try to understand if some time perspectives in specific contexts are more functional and adaptive than others. (shrink)

Despite the lack of invariance problem (the many‐to‐many mapping between acoustics and percepts), human listeners experience phonetic constancy and typically perceive what a speaker intends. Most models of human speech recognition (HSR) have side‐stepped this problem, working with abstract, idealized inputs and deferring the challenge of working with real speech. In contrast, carefully engineered deep learning networks allow robust, real‐world automatic speech recognition (ASR). However, the complexities of deep learning architectures and training regimens make it difficult to use them to (...) provide direct insights into mechanisms that may support HSR. In this brief article, we report preliminary results from a two‐layer network that borrows one element from ASR, long short‐term memory nodes, which provide dynamic memory for a range of temporal spans. This allows the model to learn to map real speech from multiple talkers to semantic targets with high accuracy, with human‐like timecourse of lexical access and phonological competition. Internal representations emerge that resemble phonetically organized responses in human superior temporal gyrus, suggesting that the model develops a distributed phonological code despite no explicit training on phonetic or phonemic targets. The ability to work with real speech is a major advance for cognitive models of HSR. (shrink)

The human being can be divided into body and mind, two inextricably linked aspects influencing each other. From birth, the body is the site of emotional experiences thanks to cellular memory. The t...

The objective of this study was to address the paradox of citizenship cost by hypothesizing an indirect rather than a direct effect of altruistic citizenship behavior on employee work–family conflict through coworker support. Data were gathered in a three-wave longitudinal survey of employees from private commercial banks. A multiple linear autoregressive longitudinal mediation model was analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results indicate that rather than directly, ACB affects indirectly employee WFC through CWS. This indirect effect is (...) negative, which reflects that the costs of citizenship behavior are paradoxical. The present study contributes to the ongoing debate on the positive and negative outcomes of employee citizenship behavior by providing empirical evidence on the beneficial rather than harmful effect of performing such behavior. For organizational managers, promoting a culture of CWS by encouraging altruistic behaviors can be a most viable strategy to reduce WFC among their employees. The study discusses its limitations and provides future research directions. (shrink)

Knowledge brokers are among the main channels of communication between scientists and the public and a key element to establishing a relation of trust between the two. But translating knowledge from the scientific community to a wider audience presents several difficulties, which can be accentuated in times of crisis. In this paper we study some of the problems that knowledge brokers face when communicating in times of crisis. During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, we collected interviews with Italian (...) experts that played a major role as knowledge brokers in the local media. We asked them questions about five main topics: the features and role of science communicators; the use of language in communicating science; the importance of the relation of trust with the public; the peculiarity of communicating in a context of emergency; the problem of disagreement among experts, and its public perception and communication. The goal of this paper is to understand, through the words of knowledge brokers themselves, what they consider as best practices (and obstacles) to create trust between scientists and the public. Our empirical work can inform normative accounts of what knowledge brokering should be about. (shrink)

In the Reality we know, we cannot say if something is infinite whether we are doing Physics, Biology, Sociology or Economics. This means we have to be careful using this concept. Infinite structures do not exist in the physical world as far as we know. So what do mathematicians mean when they assert the existence of ω? There is no universally accepted philosophy of mathematics but the most common belief is that mathematics touches on another worldly absolute truth. Many mathematicians (...) believe that mathematics involves a special perception of an idealized world of absolute truth. This comes in part from the recognition that our knowledge of the physical world is imperfect and falls short of what we can apprehend with mathematical thinking. The objective of this paper is to present an epistemological rather than an historical vision of the mathematical concept of infinity that examines the dialectic between the actual and potential infinity. (shrink)

This study explored perceived benefits and risks of participation in HIV research among 33 female sex workers in Tecún Umán, Guatemala. Stigma associated with sex work and HIV was a critical barrier to research participation. Key benefits of participation included access to HIV/sti prevention and testing, as well as positive and trusting relationships between sex workers and research teams. Control exerted by managers had mixed influences on perceived research risks and benefits. Results underscore the critical need for HIV investigators to (...) develop population-tailored procedures to reduce stigma; engage managers; and reinforce trusting, reciprocal relationships between sex work communities and researchers. (shrink)

Siguiendo la definición de Osvaldo Pessoa Jr., un “escenario contrafáctico” sería “una situación posible que no se realizó, como una posibilidad futura en algún instante del pasado”. Este concepto no es nuevo. De hecho, tiene una presencia significativa en campos como la filosofía analítica, la economía, las ciencias experimentales o la psicología. La pretensión de este texto es presentar, mediante el rigor teórico, conceptual, y el método inductivo, una reflexión no derivada de investigación. Esta reflexión es la importancia de la (...) relación entre los escenarios contrafácticos y el mundo del arte desde una perspectiva institucional. La observación inicial en la que se sustenta este texto es que, en una época en la que cualquier cosa puede ser arte y, sin embargo, no todo lo es, las razones por las que algo pudo ser arte, pero no lo fue, cobran una gran importancia para comprender la base de su valor económico y cultural y ahondar en nuestras categorías lingüísticas del presente; en este caso, la de arte. (shrink)

Blumenthal-Barby et al. (2022) are right. Philosophers should pay greater attention to bioethics and bioethicists should pay greater attention to insights from philosophy. This commentary extends t...

Inspired by the Studies on authoritarian personality and based on contemporary research on authoritarianism in Brazil, we will analyze the construction of the idol aura surrounding former president Bolsonaro, which allowed the far right to be elected and remain in power until the last elections in 2022. We see his rise as mostly due to the digital violence that largely benefited his campaign and was directed against the block of left-wing candidates. So as to clarify this issue, we will revisit (...) the sociohistorical and psycho-political fundamentals of the antidemocratic and ethnocentric behaviors spurred by that leadership that became idolized. We will also outline an emancipatory, antiracist, culturally relevant and decolonial education, as a way to provide what Adorno regarded as being the antidote to the reemergence of a regressive barbarism. In the case of Brazil, barbarism refers to the remnants of the slave system implemented in the country for three and a half centuries, whose destructive potential was awakened under Bolsonaro’s government, given the latent antidemocratic and authoritarian tendencies in our society. (shrink)

Human language has the characteristic of being open and in some cases polysemic. The word “infinite” is used often in common speech and more frequently in literary language, but rarely with its precise meaning. In this way the concepts can be used in a vague way but an argument can still be structured so that the central idea is understood and is shared with to the partners. At the same time no precise definition is given to the concepts used and (...) each partner makes his own reading of the text based on previous experience and cultural background. In a language dictionary the first meaning of “infinite” agrees with the etymology: what has no end. We apply the word infinite most often and incorrectly as a synonym for “very large” or something that we do not perceive its completion. In this context, the infinite mentioned in dictionaries refers to the idea or notion of the “immeasurably large” although this is open to what the individual’s means by “immeasurably great.” Based on this linguistic imprecision, the authors present a non Cantorian theory of the potential and actual infinite. For this we have introduced a new concept: the homogon that is the whole set that does not fall within the definition of sets established by Cantor. (shrink)

O presente artigo trata da relação entre teoria e prática no pensamento de Theodor W. Adorno com o objetivo de analisar as possibilidades de emancipação do sujeito no âmbito da sociedade capitalista contemporânea, questionando sobre um suposto pessimismo do autor. Para tanto, serão contextualizadas as relações entre sujeito e objeto, natureza e razão, teoria e prática e formação e semiformação, com a finalidade de pensar a importância fundamental da teoria para a transformação do mundo a partir de uma análise crítica (...) da sociedade, bem como a pertinência dessa análise ao atual momento brasileiro. A transformação do mundo será pensada a partir das possibilidades de emancipação do sujeito e o papel da formação humana nesse processo no interior de um modelo educacional cada vez mais determinados pelos interesses do capital que direcionam a educação a aspectos meramente práticos de adaptação ao mercado de trabalho. A conclusão aponta no sentido da necessidade imperativa da manutenção da formação teórica e crítica diante dos constrangimentos de ordem prática de um mundo administrado pelos valores capitalistas. Palavras-chave: Theodor W. Adorno. Relação teoria e prática. Semiformação. Pessimismo teórico. Critical Theory and Educational Practice: On the relationship between theoretical pessimism and the transformation of the world to T.W. Adorno Abstract: This article deals with the relationship between theory and practice in the thought of Theodor W. Adorno with the aim of analyzing the possibilities of the subject's emancipation in the context of contemporary capitalist society, questioning the author's supposed pessimism. Therefore, the relationships between subject and object, nature and reason, theory and practice, and Bildung and Halbbildung will be contextualized, with the purpose of thinking about the fundamental importance of theory for the transformation of the world from a thought marked by a critical analysis of the society, as well as the relevance of this analysis to the current Brazilian moment. The transformation of the world will be thought from the possibilities of emancipation of the subject and the role of human formation in this process within an educational model increasingly determined by the interests of capital that led education to merely practical aspects of adaptation to the labor market. The conclusion points towards the imperative need to maintain theoretical and critical education in the face of practical constraints in a world managed by capitalist values. Key-words: Theodor W. Adorno. Theory and practice relationship. Semi-formation. Theoretical pessimism. Teoría, Crítica y Práctica Educativa: Sobre La Relación Entre Pesimismo Teórico Y Transformación Del Mundo En T.W. Adorno Resumen: Este artículo aborda la relación entre teoría y práctica en el pensamiento de Theodor W. Adorno con el objetivo de analizar las posibilidades de emancipación del sujeto en el contexto de la sociedad capitalista contemporánea, cuestionando el supuesto pesimismo del autor. Para eso, se contextualizarán las relaciones entre sujeto y objeto, naturaleza y razón, teoría y práctica, y formación y semiformación, con el propósito de pensar la importancia fundamental de la teoría para la transformación del mundo a partir de una análisis crítica de la sociedad, así como la relevancia de este análisis para el momento brasileño actual. La transformación del mundo se pensará desde las posibilidades de emancipación del sujeto y el papel de la formación humana en este proceso dentro de un modelo educativo cada vez más determinado por los intereses del capital que dirigen la educación a aspectos meramente prácticos de adaptación al mercado laboral. La conclusión apunta hacia la imperiosa necesidad de mantener una formación teórica y crítica frente a las limitaciones prácticas en un mundo gestionado por valores capitalistas. Palabras-clave: Theodor W. Adorno. Relación teoría y práctica. Semiformación. Pesimismo teórico. Data de registro: 08/09/2021 Data de aceite: 19/01/2022. (shrink)

RESUMOO presente artigo tem como objetivo analisar os meandros da composição e suas intertextualidades na polêmica do samba entre Noel Rosa e Wilson Batista, observando o dialogismo na interação verbal e musical entre os autores e os diversos textos da década de 1930. Ao apurar os ouvidos sobre a "polêmica do samba" observa-se que as composições revelam tensões inexoráveis entre um mundo festivo do "malandro" e os limites da realidade da época. Desse modo, com suporte em estudos que tratam deste (...) tema, busca-se trazer à tona um insight sobre este "duelo" musical que está, certamente, muito mais disseminado na sociedade que restrito a questões puramente estéticas.ABSTRACTThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the meanders of composition and their intertextuality in the samba controversy between Noel Rosa and Wilson Batista. We observe dialogism in the verbal and musical interaction between the samba writers and several texts of the 1930s. When ears are in tune with the "samba controversy," one observes that the compositions reveal inexorable tensions between the festive world of the "malandro" and the limits of the reality of the time. Accordingly, based on studies that address this theme, we aim to present an insight into this musical "duel," which is not restricted to purely aesthetics issues, but certainly disseminated in society. (shrink)

The present study examined the role of morality, competence, and attractiveness as perceived from faces in predicting hiring decisions for men and women. Results showed that for both female and male applicants, facial competence significantly predicted the hiring decision directly and indirectly, through the mediation of the overall impression. Decisions concerning female applicants were, however, significantly predicted by multiple dimensions—that is, facial morality, facial competence, and attractiveness—with the mediation of the overall impression. Facial competence was the only significant predictor of (...) impression and, in turn, hiring decision about men. These findings resonate the mottoVirtutem forma decorat, “Beauty adorns virtue,” painted by Leonardo da Vinci on the reverse side of the portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci, and suggest that women’s chances of getting a job are less than those of men whenever they do not show a moralandcompetentandattractive face. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to analyse the opinions of journalists and citizens regarding the interdependence of public media and the official sources of political power in Spain. Little research of this kind has been done in the Spanish context. Journalists and citizens representing four Spanish regions?Catalonia, Madrid, the Basque Country, and Andalusia?were questioned about their opinions regarding this interdependency. The methodology used in this research is based on quantitative techniques (surveys) and qualitative techniques (in-depth interviews and focus groups). (...) The results prove that the opinions of journalists differ from those of citizens for the majority of questions asked. Citizens are more inclined to follow directions from official sources than are journalists. The geographical background of the respondents proved to be a significant factor in terms of variation in answers. Journalists from Catalonia and the Basque country are much more reluctant to follow government directives on issues of counter terrorism or in cases of national emergency. (shrink)

Nesta comunicação, discutimos os discursos intolerantes e privilégios religiosos que circulam no contexto prisional baiano, que por um lado afeta a presença e expressão de religiosidades de matriz africana através de processos de demonização, desqualificação e desautorização religiosa, por outro, produz privilégios direcionados a cristãos, em especial, vinculados as vertentes evangélicas/protestantes. Os dados apresentados são oriundos de parte da dissertação intitulada “nome suprimido”, desenvolvida no Programa. Adotamos a perspectiva da psicologia social, sustentada teórico-metodologicamente no movimento do Construcionismo Social. Além disso, (...) utilizamos contribuições mais específicas que situam os processos de racialização e seus efeitos para a compreensão do tema desse estudo, em especial de Franz Fanon. Os dados foram produzidos através de entrevistas, via roteiro semiestruturado, de quatro custodiados, três agentes penitenciários/as e um agente religioso no Complexo Penitenciário Lemos Brito na cidade de Salvador, analisadas à luz da análise categorial temática. Concluímos que a instituição prisão ainda funciona de forma preponderadamente colonial, onde a reatualização da hegemonia cristã, com a roupagem atual das vertentes evangélicas/protestantes. Esse horizonte localiza o corpus religioso de matriz africana, importante e fundamental prisma de resistência identitária negra diaspórica, como algo a ser neutralizado, incidindo maior vulnerabilidade da população negra ao discurso cristão que produz auto-ódio, desvinculação social, com base em intolerância religiosa, racismo religioso e institucional. (shrink)

Trafficking in persons is a multi-sided phenomenon accompanying the current migration flows, therefore, the actions that must be undertaken in order to prevent, combat the phenomenon as well as to assist the victims of trafficking require a large partnership between all the actors involved: international organisations, governmental institutions and representatives of civil society. The special psychological, ethical issues raised especially by trafficking prevention and assistance to victims make the church and various religious organisations play a very important role in the (...) corresponding networks at both international and national level. Even if the integration of the church in the networks fighting against trafficking in persons has been quite largely addressed worldwide, there are but few studies undertaken in Romania in this area. Our paper opens the room for dialogue among the researchers interested in this topic from an interdisciplinary perspective to discuss the possibilities to establish sustainable partnerships between the state and the church against rafficking in persons. With this aim in view, we have first carried out a quantitative analysis of the scope and dynamics of trafficking in persons in Romania focusing on the victims’ profile by exploitation type. The main socio-demographic characteristics (gender, age, schooling, area of origin) have been considered in order to identify the vulnerability factors related to the risk involved by trafficking, both at national and regional level. We have also examined the responses in legislative and institutional terms, with a special emphasis on the collaboration between the state and the church in preventing and combating trafficking in persons. Of special relevance are the conclusions resulted from the field research undertaken in the area covered by the Diocese of Maramures and Satu Mare. (shrink)

Innovations in aligning investment with sustainability led to impact investing, enabling investors to achieve conventional financial returns and measurable social and environmental returns. Since its inception in 2007, it has grown manifolds, with significant efforts being made to create a global ecosystem. However, due to limited academic literature, the theme is yet to garner the scholarly interest it deserves. In this study, we analyse and visualise a knowledge map of the impact investment research field through a comprehensive bibliometric analysis by (...) employing a research corpus of 421 studies sourced from Web of Science and Scopus. We identify the growth trajectory, geographical concentration, productive and influential authors, journals and significant articles and examine the inter-disciplinarity of the field. The major research themes interlinked with impact investing included; social entrepreneurship, social innovation, social finance, impact investment market, innovative financial instruments, financialisation of essential services and impact reporting. To drive the field forward, future research needs to develop an impact investment ecosystem, address behavioural issues, stakeholder management and institutional context in impact investment theme, develop and diffuse innovative financial instruments, develop a framework for standardised accounting and reporting practices to measure financial and non-financial dimensions, tackle impact washing by fund managers, address lack of financial access to the third sector and develop the legal and regulatory framework for third sector organisations. (shrink)

Through cultural transmission, repeated learning by new individuals transforms cultural information, which tends to become increasingly compressible . Existing diffusion chain studies include in their design two processes that could be responsible for this tendency: learning and reproducing . This paper manipulates the presence of learning in a simple iterated drawing design experiment. We find that learning seems to be the causal factor behind the increase in compressibility observed in the transmitted information, while reproducing is a source of random heritable (...) innovations. Only a theory invoking these two aspects of cultural learning will be able to explain human culture's fundamental balance between stability and innovation. (shrink)

During the last third of the 19th century, the ‘new’ French psychology developed within ‘the hypnotic context’ opened up by Charcot. In spite of their claims to the scientific nature of their hypnotic experiments, Charcot and his followers were unable to avoid the miracles that had accompanied mesmerism, the forerunner of hypnosis. The hysterics hypnotized in the Salpêtrière Hospital were expected to have supernormal faculties and these experiments opened the door to psychical research. In 1885 the first French psychology society (...) was founded. The research carried out by this society may seem surprising: its members – Charles Richet in particular – were interested in strange phenomena, like magnetic lucidity, ‘mental suggestion’, thought-reading, etc. Very quickly, psychologists applied themselves to finding rational explanations for these supposedly miraculous gifts. Generally, they ascribed them to unconscious or subconscious perceptual mechanisms. Finally, after a few years, studies of psychical phenomena were excluded from the field of psychology. However, during the 4th International Congress of Psychology, which took place in Paris in 1900, the foundation of an institute devoted to the study of psychical phenomena was announced, but Pierre Janet and Georges Dumas founded within it the Société Française de Psychologie, from which psychical research was excluded. As for Charles Richet, disappointed by the psychologists, he devoted himself to the development of a new ‘science’ which he called ‘Métapsychique’. Several hypotheses have been put forward to account for this early research undertaken by the French psychologists, pertaining as much to parapsychology as to scientific psychology. (shrink)

Orphan drug policy often gives ‘special treatment’ to rare diseases, by giving additional priority or making exceptions to specific drugs, based on the rarity of the conditions they aim to treat. This essay argues that the goal of orphan drug policy should be to make prevalence irrelevant to funding decisions. It aims to demonstrate that it is severity, not prevalence, which drives our judgments that important claims are being overlooked when treatments for severe rare diseases are not funded. It shows (...) that prioritising severity avoids problems caused by prioritising rarity, and that it is compatible with a range of normative frameworks. The implications of a severity-based view for drug development are then derived. The severity-based view also accounts for what is wrong with how the current system of drug development unfairly neglects common diseases that burden the developing world. Lastly, the implications of a severity-based view for current orphan drug policies are discussed. There are no data in this work. (shrink)

Blockchain is an open digital ledger technology that has the capability of significantly altering the way that people operations operate in organizations. This research takes a first step in proposing several ways in which the blockchain technology can be used to improve current organizational practices, while also considering the ethical implications. Specifically, the paper examines the role that blockchain technology plays in three primary areas of people operations: entry to the organization, intraorganizational processes, and exit. In each section, the paper (...) reviews the ethical implications from the lenses of virtue ethics, utilitarianism, deontology and contractarianism. The paper concludes that in whole the implementation of blockchain technology in people operations processes can create a more ethical work environment. However, careful implementation is necessary and requires extensive examination of ethical implications in advance. (shrink)

This text, commissioned by the OSUN Global Observatory of Academic Freedom, discusses how the concept of academic freedom is codified in Colombian Law and regulations of public and private higher education institutions. It also explores common conceptions of academic freedom among Colombian scholars, as well as commonly observed threats to it.

Recent years have witnessed an escalation in corporate social reporting (CSR) by UK companies (Gray, Kouhy and Lavers 1995). Whilst some elements of CSR reporting are required by law, much of it represents voluntary reporting. By investigating the non‐mandatory reporting of two aspects of social responsibility, corporate community involvement (CCI) and environmental impact, this paper seeks to explore why companies choose to make such disclosures. It specifically asks whether companies are primarily motivated by the strategic need to manage their reputation (...) and legitimacy rather than by the recognition of their ethical accountability, which is the stated purpose of reports produced by cutting edge companies (Clarke 1998). (shrink)