In diesem Aufsatz soll der Takt als ein moral- und tugendrelevantes Phänomen bestimmt werden. Ausgehend von einer kontrastierenden Abgrenzung gegenüber anderen Umgangsformen, wendet er sich wichtigen Theoriestücken zu, die sich explizit mit dem Takt befassen, um an ihnen entscheidende problematische Aspekte aufzuzeigen und zu korrigieren. Anschließend erfolgt die handlungstheoretische Erklärung als einer Form des Perspektivenwechsels. Diese erlaubt es zugleich, auch die moralische Dimension des Takts und seinen Status als Tugend zu fokussieren, die zwar nicht nur, aber vor allem in einer (...) multidimensional charakterisierbaren demokratischen Gesellschaft ihren relevanten Ort hat. (shrink)

In vision research metacontrast masking is a widely used technique to reduce the visibility of a stimulus. Typically, studies attempt to reveal general principles that apply to a large majority of participants and tend to omit possible individual differences. The neural plasticity of the visual system, however, entails the potential capability for individual differences in the way observers perform perceptual tasks. We report a case of perceptual learning in a metacontrast masking task that leads to the enhancement of two types (...) of adult human observers despite identical learning conditions. In a priming task both types of observers exhibited the same priming effects, which were insensitive to learning. Findings suggest that visual processing of target stimuli in the metacontrast masking task is based on neural levels with sufficient plasticity to enable the development of two types of observers, which do not contribute to processing of target stimuli in the priming task. (shrink)

The problem of finding sufficient doxastic conditions for backward induction in games of perfect information is analyzed in a syntactic framework with subjunctive conditionals. This allows to describe the structure of the game by a logical formula and consequently to treat beliefs about this structure in the same way as beliefs about rationality. A backward induction and a non-Nash equilibrium result based on higher level belief in rationality and the structure of the game are derived.

A syntactic formalism for the modeling of belief revision in perfect information games is presented that allows to define the rationality of a player's choice of moves relative to the beliefs he holds as his respective decision nodes have been reached. In this setting, true common belief in the structure of the game and rationality held before the start of the game does not imply that backward induction will be played. To derive backward induction, a “forward belief” condition is formulated (...) in terms of revised rather than initial beliefs. Alternative notions of rationality as well as the use of knowledge instead of belief are also studied within this framework. Footnotes1 I would like to thank Wlodek Rabinowicz and three anonymous referees for very helpful comments. (shrink)

In metacontrast masking target visibility is modulated by the time until a masking stimulus appears. The effect of this temporal delay differs across participants in such a way that individual human observers’ performance shows distinguishable types of masking functions which remain largely unchanged for months. Here we examined whether individual differences in masking functions depend on different response criteria in addition to differences in discrimination sensitivity. To this end we reanalyzed previously published data and conducted a new experiment for further (...) data analyses. Our analyses demonstrate that a distinction of masking functions based on the type of masking stimulus is superior to a distinction based on the target–mask congruency. Individually different masking functions are based on individual differences in discrimination sensitivities and in response criteria. Results suggest that individual differences in metacontrast masking result from individually different criterion contents. (shrink)

ABSTRACTDepression is marked by rigid thinking and the inability to generate different and more positive views on the self. The current study conceptualises this a perspective-taking deficit, which is defined as a deficit in the ability to overcome one’s egocentrism. Previous research has demonstrated that individuals with depression are impaired in Theory of Mind reasoning and empathy – two social cognitions that involve cognitive and affective perspective-taking. Here, it was investigated whether these deficits generalise to visuo-spatial perspective-taking. To test this, (...) a convenience sample completed a test-battery including measures of cognitive and visuo-spatial perspective-taking and closely matched cognitive and visuo-spatial control tasks. The results showed that individuals exhibiting high levels of depressive symptoms were specifically impaired on both perspective-taking tasks but performed equally well on the cont... (shrink)

The author argues that there is no such thing as a unique and general taxonomy of non-at-issue contents. Accordingly, we ought to shun large categories such as “conventional implicature”, “F-implicature”, “CI”, “Class B” or the like. As an alternative, we may, first, describe the “semantic profile” of linguistic devices as accurately as possible. Second, we may explicitly tailor our categories to particular theoretical purposes.

In this paper, I develop a syntactic framework for the analysis ofstrategic form games that is based on a straightforward combination ofstandard systems of doxastic, probabilistic and conditionalpropositional logic. In particular, for the probabilistic part I makeuse of the axiomatization provided in Fagin and Halpern (1994). The use ofconditionals allows to represent a strategic form game by a logicalformula in a very natural way. Also expected utility maximization can benaturally captured. I use this framework to prove a version of a (...) resulton Nash equilibrium conjectures first presented in Aumann and Brandenburger (1995). (shrink)

Many scholars claim that Frege's theory of colouring is committed to a radical form of subjectivism or emotivism. Some other scholars claim that Frege's concept of colouring is a precursor to Grice's notion of conventional implicature. I argue that both of these claims are mistaken. Finally, I propose a taxonomy of Fregean colourings: for Frege, there are purely aesthetic colourings, communicative colourings or hints, non-communicative colourings.

In this issue of Consciousness and Cognition, Bachmann comments on our study , which revealed two groups of observers with qualitative individual differences in metacontrast masking that are enhanced by perceptual learning. We are pleased that our study receives this attention and even more about Bachmann’s extremely positive comments. In this invited reply we argue that observers seem to be similar only at the beginning of the experiment but they have no choice as to which group to join. Findings strongly (...) recommend to look at the data of individual subjects. (shrink)

Why did Frege offer only proper names as examples of presupposition triggers? Some scholars claim that Frege simply did not care about the full range of presuppositional phenomena. This paper argues, in contrast, that he had good reasons for employing an extremely narrow notion of ‘Voraussetzung’. On Frege’s view, many devices that are now construed as presupposition triggers either express several thoughts at once or merely ‘illuminate’ a thought in a particular way. Fregean presuppositions, in contrast, are essentially tied to (...) names. (shrink)

What, exactly, is the difference between words such as ‘dead’ and ‘deceased’? In this paper, I argue that such differences in register, or style, ought to be construed as genuine differences in non-truth-conditional meaning. I also show that register cannot plausibly accounted for in terms of either presupposition or conventional implicature. Register is, rather, an instance of what I call pure use-conditional meaning. In the case of register, a difference in meaning does not correspond to a difference in the contents (...) speakers intend to convey. (shrink)

In the so-called “international credit market crisis,” which started in the second half of 2007 in the US subprime mortgage market, financial derivatives, most notably credit default swaps (CDS), have been publically blamed for having caused, or at least aggravated, the economic and monetary debacle. However, sound economic [...].

This paper offers a detailed reconstruction of Frege’s theory of side-thoughts and its relation to other parts of his pragmatics, most notably to the notion of colouring, to the notion of presupposition, and to his implicit notion of multi-propositionality. I also highlight some important differences between the subsemantic categories employed by Frege and those used in contemporary pragmatics.

In this paper, we apply imprinting theory to examine how institutional transformation substantially influences perceptions of corruption that we argue to be incorporated to a varying extent in organizations founded in that period. For this purpose, we compare the effect of a sudden shock (dissolution of the Soviet Union) on the managers' present perceptions to that of a steady transition (EU accession). We consult the 5th round of the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey from 2012 to 2014 analyzing 4715 (...) interviews with managers of organizations from twelve Central and Eastern European countries. Our results reveal striking differences in the present perception of corruption for organizations founded immediately before and immediately after these institutional transitions. The study's results contribute to the research on imprinting theory regarding the relationship between organizations and institutional conditions that constitutes a lasting effect on organizational structures. Thus, applying an institutional perspective that considers less stable periods for organizations yields a promising avenue in research on organizational behavior. (shrink)

This article challenges the view that sociological explanation is based on methodological individualism and suggests using relational concepts for constructing explanations of social phenomena. It develops a relational concept of social mechanisms based on sociological systems theory and illustrates its explanatory power by drawing on research on changes in educational organizations in Germany.

On the basis of comparative views on social theories that deal with the normative foundations of modern societies (such as those of Bourdieu, Durkheim and Luhmann), the genesis of law is examined in the light of Norbert Elias’ reflexions on the process of civilization. One crucial element is the surmounting of the traditional division between micro and macro structures, which, in Elias’ thought, can be achieved by taking into account the relation between sociogenesis and psychogenesis. The psychogenetic development serves as (...) main focus, which - with regard also to Philosophical Anthropology - is examined in it’s effects on the emergence of legal awareness. (shrink)

Frege's mature writings apparently contain two different criteria of sense identity. While in "Über Sinn und Bedeutung" (1892) and in "Kurze Übersicht meiner logischen Lehren" (1906?) he seems to advocate a psychological criterion, his letter to Husserl of December 12, 1906 offers a thoroughly logical criterion of sense identity. It is argued that the latter proposal is not a "momentary aberration", but rather Frege's official criterion; his psychological criteria only serve as a way of illustrating questions of sense identity by (...) appealing to the thoughts of completely rational thinkers. (shrink)

This conceptual article discusses strategies of corporations in the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector and their role in the conflict over access to knowledge in the digital environment. Its main hypothesis is that ICT corporations are very capable actors when it comes to bridging digital divides in both developed and developing countries—maybe even the most capable actors. Therefore, it is argued that ICT corporations could use their capabilities to help citizens gain sustainable access to knowledge in order to enable (...) them to lead self-sufficient lives. In a nutshell, capabilities are presented as both the input (capabilities of ICT corporations) as well as the output (capability building for empowering citizens) of corporate strategy-making focusing on fair ICT. Corporate citizenship is put forth as the theoretical concept bridging corporate strategies and access to knowledge: If ICT corporations act in accordance with their self-understanding of being ‘good corporate citizens’, they could be crucial partners in lessening digital divides and helping citizens gain access to knowledge. From the perspective of ‘integrative economic ethics’ (Ulrich 2008), it is argued that ICT corporations have good reason to actively empower citizens in both developed and developing countries by pursuing ‘inclusive’ strategies in many fields, such as open-source software development. That way, ICT corporations could enable, support and provide citizens with capabilities enabling them to help themselves. In order to make inclusive business models work, the rules and regulations companies find themselves in today must enable them to act responsibly without getting penalized by more ruthless competitors. This article explores several cases from the ICT field to illustrate the interplay between a responsible business model and the rules and regulations of the industry. From a capabilities perspective, the most desirable mix of corporate strategies and industry regulation is one that results in the highest level of generativity (Zittrain 2008). Thus, ICT should not be closed systems only driven by the company behind them. Instead, they need to be open for the highest possible level of third-party innovation. (shrink)

The relation between conscious recollection and source memory for perceptual details was investigated in three experiments that combined the remember–know paradigm with a multidimensional source monitoring test. Experiment 1 replicated that source memory for perceptual details is better in the case of “remember” than “know” judgments. Experiment 2 showed that the relation between “remember” judgments and source memory for perceptual details is diminished by a semantic orienting task during encoding. Experiment 3 demonstrated that “remember” judgments are related to enhanced source (...) memory for specific and unique kinds of perceptual source information, whereas memory for incomplete and global perceptual source information does not differentiate between “remember” and “know” judgments. The results show that the attentional focus during encoding and the specificity of retrieved source information form boundary conditions for the use of source memory for perceptual details as a basis of “remember” judgments. (shrink)

To analyze the role of automatic processes in the fulfilment of delayed intentions, we extended a typical prospective memory setting with a context signal to indicate whether the intended action is to be carried out or not. Building on dual-process models of cognition, we hypothesized that automatic and controlled processes are in opposition when the action is to be suppressed, because automatic processes trigger the associated response whereas controlled processes exert inhibition. Experiment 1 demonstrates the occurrence of false prospective memory (...) responses to cues with the “suppress” signal. Experiment 2 shows that the rate of false prospective memory responses is sensitive to a manipulation that strengthens the role of automatic processes in prospective memory. The findings support the use of false prospective memory responses for the study of automatic processes in the execution of delayed intentions. (shrink)

“Prizeworthy Research?” Wilhelm Roux and His Program of Developmental Mechanics. The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine is awarded annually to a maximum of three laureates. Not surprisingly, the number of nominees is much larger. Drawing on Nobel Prize nominations in the Nobel archives in Sweden, the core of this paper deals with the nomination letters for the physiologist Wilhelm Roux to discuss competition and some controversies among German physiologists around 1900 in this particular context. The paper elucidates the arguments (...) brought forward to portray Roux as a scientist who had conferred “the greatest benefit to mankind” in the field of physiology or medicine ; examines some other runners-up, and reconstructs why Roux as well as some of his peers were not awarded the Nobel Prize. On a more general level, we argue that an analysis of Nobel Prize nominations contributes to a broader history of excellence in science and medicine in the twentieth century. (shrink)

Cilj je ovoga priloga, u osvrtu na glavno teorijsko djelo Der Arbeiter. Herrschaft und Gestalt Ernsta Jüngera iz 1932., razlučiti jake i slabe strane. Polazeći od rekapitulacije njegova misaonog slijeda, kao slabost ispostavlja se nedostatna samorefleksija autorske instancije Jüngerova eseja u povezanosti s nedostatnom refleksijom u pogledu njegova odnosa prema povijesnometafizičkoj tradiciji. Zaključno se također pokazuje i jedna sadržajna prednost koja, upravo na početku 21. stoljeća i unatoč svim rezervama, pretvara lektiru Jüngerova djela u isplativo ohrabrenje – naime, njegova dijagnostička (...) aktualnost u vremenu »ratova protiv međunarodnog terorizma«. (shrink)

Neuerdings ist dem Begriff der Langeweile viel philosophische Aufmerksamkeit gewidmet worden. Dieser Beitrag zeigt, wie stringent sich seine anthropologischen, ontologischen und theologischen Implikationen nachzeichnen lassen, wenn man von dem wohlbekannten Augustinus-Diktum ausgeht, ruhelos sei unser Herz, bis dass es ruhe in Gott. Das menschliche Personsein wird hier aufgrund der Erbsünde als unzufrieden oder auch gelangweilt dargestellt, und diese Darstellung radikalisiert sich durch die späteren Theorien der acedia als Unzufriedenheit oder Langeweile angesichts des bonum divinum selbst. Die neuzeitliche philosophische Rede von (...) ennui, Langeweile usw. übernimmt die wesentlichen Implikationen von inquietudo cordis und acedia auch dort, wo sie diese am entschiedensten verkehrt - mit Pascal beginnend über den deutschen Idealismus bis zur Quasi-Gnosis von Cioran und Heideggers Versuch, das Herz des Menschen als auf dessen endgültige Ruhe im „letzten Gott" hin ausgerichtet zu verstehen. In the past decades, the concept of boredom has been attracting much philosophical attention. The aim of this article is to show how concisely a summary of its anthropological, ontological and theological implications can be drawn if one starts from the famous phrase in St. Augustine's "Confessions" that our heart is restless until it rests in God. Human personal being is conceived of here as dissatisfied or bored because of the original sin, and this conception sees its radicalization in the theory of the acedia as a being dissatisfied or bored by the bonum divinum itself. The modern philosophical discourse on ennui, Langeweile and the like inherits very truly the basic implications of inquietudo cordis and acedia even where they are the most decisively inverted, as is shown beginning with Pascal, across the very centre of German Idealist philosophy, until Cioran's quasi-Gnostic turn and Heidegger's attempt to understand the heart of man as directed towards its ultimate rest in the "last God". (shrink)

Dieser Beitrag hat zum Ziel, in einem Rückblick auf Ernst Jüngers theoretisches Hauptwerk Der Arbeiter. Herrschaft und Gestalt aus dem Jahre 1932 Stärken und Schwächen zu unterscheiden. Ausgehend von einer Rekapitulation seines Gedankenganges wird insbesondere die unzureichende Selbstreflexion der Autorinstanz von Jüngers Essay im Zusammenhang mit dessen unzureichender Reflexion auf sein Verhältnis zur geschichtsmetaphysischen Tradition als Schwäche herausgestellt. Schließlich aber wird auch eine inhaltliche Stärke aufgewiesen, die gerade zu Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts und bei allen Vorbehalten die Lektüre von Jüngers (...) Werk zu einer lohnenden Zumutung macht – nämlich seine diagnostische Aktualität im Zeitalter des „Krieges gegen den internationalen Terrorismus“. (shrink)

In der neueren Sprachphilosophie ist wiederholt der soziale Charakter des Redens betont worden. Das Buch versucht, diese These auf der Grundlage einer genauen Untersuchung der Abfolge einzelner sprachlicher Handlungen zu verteidigen. Die orthodoxe Sprechakttheorie hat sich bislang weitgehend auf die Gelingensbedingungen einzelner sprachlicher Vollzüge konzentriert. Isolierte Redehandlungen stellen allerdings in der kommunikativen Praxis einen Ausnahmefall dar: Ein kompetenter Sprecher muss nicht nur die vom sprachlichen Kontext unabhängigen Korrektheitsstandards kennen; vielmehr muss er auch in der Lage sein, die eigenen Sprechakte im (...) Rahmen eines Textes kohärent miteinander zu verknüpfen und auf Redehandlungen anderer so zu reagieren, dass ein genuiner Diskurs zwischen den Parteien entsteht – im Gegensatz zu einer bloßen Aneinanderreihung “für sich” korrekter Äußerungen. Das Buch verfolgt das Ziel, das für die Struktur derartiger Rede(handlungs)sequenzen einschlägige Reglement in seinen wesentlichen Aspekten zu rekonstruieren und insbesondere die für ein solches Projekt relevanten sprachphilosophischen Grundfragen zu klären. (shrink)