Human-Computer Interaction and games set a new domain in understanding people’s motivations in gaming, behavioral implications of game play, game adaptation to player preferences and needs for increased engaging experiences in the context of HCI serious games. When the latter relate with people’s health status, they can become a part of their daily life as assistive health status monitoring/enhancement systems. Co-designing HCI-SGs can be seen as a combination of art and science that involves a meticulous collaborative process. The design elements (...) in assistive HCI-SGs for Parkinson’s Disease patients, in particular, are explored in the present work. Within this context, the Game-Based Learning design framework is adopted here and its main game-design parameters are explored for the Exergames, Dietarygames, Emotional games, Handwriting games, and Voice games design, drawn from the PD-related i-PROGNOSIS Personalized Game Suite holistic approach. Two main data sources were involved in the study. In particular, the first one includes qualitative data from semi-structured interviews, involving 10 PD patients and four clinicians in the co-creation process of the game design, whereas the second one relates with data from an online questionnaire addressed by 104 participants spanning the whole related spectrum, i.e., PD patients, physicians, software/game developers. Linear regression analysis was employed to identify an adapted GBL framework with the most significant game-design parameters, which efficiently predict the transferability of the PGS beneficial effect to real-life, addressing functional PD symptoms. The findings of this work can assist HCI-SG designers for designing PD-related HCI-SGs, as the most significant game-design factors were identified, in terms of adding value to the role of HCI-SGs in increasing PD patients’ quality of life, optimizing the interaction with personalized HCI-SGs and, hence, fostering a collaborative human-computer symbiosis. (shrink)

ObjectiveHopelessness and depression are strongly associated with suicidality. Given that physical and psychological outcomes can be altered with hope, hope is a therapeutic goal of increasing importance in the treatment of brain tumor patients. Moreover, it is not yet understood which factors affect the perception of hope in brain tumor patients. In addition, it remains uncertain whether lower-grade brain tumor patients suffer less from psycho-oncological distress than higher-grade brain tumor patients.MethodsNeuro-oncological patients were examined perioperatively with the Distress Thermometer and the (...) Herth Hope Index. In addition, psychological comorbidities and an assessment of general psycho-oncological distress were recorded.ResultsSixty-six brain tumor patients were included. No differences between higher- and lower-grade brain tumor patients were observed for general psycho-oncological distress and hope. However, higher-grade brain tumor patients showed a significantly higher level of depression and more negative expectations regarding therapeutic success. The extent of depression correlated negatively with hope.ConclusionUnexpectedly, higher-grade brain tumor patients remained as hopeful as lower-grade brain tumor patients despite the devastating diagnosis, higher levels of depression, and a worse expectation of therapeutic success. Conversely, lower-grade brain tumor patients experience as much psycho-oncological distress as patients with a higher-grade brain tumor, underpinning the imperative need for comprehensive psycho-oncological screening. For all brain tumor patients, considering hope is important to avoid suicides resulting from hopelessness and depression. (shrink)

The author of the paper presents some critical opinions (including her own) on Habermas' conception of language and discourse. At the same time she strives to explain the main controversies which arise from Habermas' key categories. For example Habermas seems to compare the structure of society with the structure of language, underlining the importance of common practice of speech acts. But is there still any room for such communicative activity in the modern postindustrial world? And, first of all, must we (...) really concentrate all our efforts on promoting the communicative rationality? The results of universalization principle, as well as the interrelations between communicative action and discourse (both highlighted in the paper) belong to other problems of Habermas' philosophy. The paper discusses weak points or even inconsistencies which can be noticed in these conceptions. Finally the author reflects on Habermas' ideal speech situation and on "the utopia touch" in Habermas' seemingly practical concepts. (shrink)

This paper focuses on the major work of Edith Stein, Finite and Eternal Being. It seeks to determine whether her mature philosophical synthesis is correctly viewed as Thomist. It strives to accomplish this by focusing mainly on her treatment of the problem of individuation.

Haunted by dreams of a powerful red tide, Odd Thomas, accompanied by two otherworldly sidekicks--his dog Boo and the Chairman of the Board--is drawn to a small California coastal town, where nothing is at it appears and where he confronts overwhelming and sinister forces out to stop his quest.

Der Streit um die Prinzipien der Theorienentwicklung hat in den Jahren seit dem Erscheinen von TH. S. KUHNS "Die Struktur wissen schaftlicher Revolutionen" mannigfache und lebhafte AufSerungen pro und contra hervorgerufen. Die Gegenposition wird im wesent lichen durch die Namen POPPER und LAKATOS charakterisiert. Die Kontroverse erweist sich als eine solche zwischen synchronischer und diachronischer, zwischen systematischer und historischer Betrach tungsweise. 1st die Entwicklung der Wissenschaften, wie man es nach KUHN glauben kann, in entscheidendem MafSe aufSeren Einfliissen und Zufalligkeiten ausgesetzt, (...) oder gibt es nicht doch rationale, rein wissenschaftsimmanente Kriterien, auf Grund derer eine Entwicklung im Sinne eines Fortschrittes zu immer besseren, richtigeren und lei stungsfahigeren Theorien moglich ist? Eine wesentliche Schwierigkeit, um dabei weiterzukommen, besteht darin, dafS es keine Moglichkeit zu geben scheint, eine Theorie zu bewerten, zu entscheiden, welche von zwei Theorien "wahrscheinlicher, richtiger, besser oder leistungs fahiger" ist. Wenn es geiange, eine numerische Bewertung von Hypothesen und Theorien in dieser Richtung zu finden, so ware damit auch ein Weg gewiesen, die Entwicklung der Theorien nicht nur zu rekon struieren, sondern vielleicht auch zu lei ten. Die Bewertung einer Theorie im Sinne ihrer Richtigkeit ist bisher nicht gelungen. Wenn POPPER, insbesondere in seinen spaten Arbeiten ("Objective Knowl edge"), die Auffassung vertritt, dafS die Entwicklung der Wissen schaften im Sinne einer immer grofSeren Wahrheitsahnlichkeit von statten gehe, so ist das bei ihm ein reiner Glaube, der auf Grund seines Modells von Versuch und Irrtum postuliert wird. (shrink)

Justice, Sustainability, and Security not only enhances our knowledge of these issues, but it teases out our moral dimensions and offer prescriptions for how governments and global actors might craft their policies to better consider their effects on the global human condition.

This junior/senior level text is devoted to a study of first-order logic and its role in the foundations of mathematics: What is a proof? How can a proof be justified? To what extent can a proof be made a purely mechanical procedure? How much faith can we have in a proof that is so complex that no one can follow it through in a lifetime? The first substantial answers to these questions have only been obtained in this century. The most (...) striking results are contained in Goedel's work: First, it is possible to give a simple set of rules that suffice to carry out all mathematical proofs; but, second, these rules are necessarily incomplete - it is impossible, for example, to prove all true statements of arithmetic. The book begins with an introduction to first-order logic, Goedel's theorem, and model theory. A second part covers extensions of first-order logic and limitations of the formal methods. The book covers several advanced topics, not commonly treated in introductory texts, such as Trachtenbrot's undecidability theorem. Fraissé's elementary equivalence, and Lindstroem's theorem on the maximality of first-order logic. (shrink)

Among the more significant developments of the twentieth century, the widespread attention given to 'rights issues' must surely justify ranking it somewhere near the top. Never before has the issue of rights attracted such a wide audience or stirred so much controversy. Until very recently 'rights' were traditionally recognized as attributable only to humans. Today, we increasingly are hearing a call to extend 'rights' to the nonhuman animal and, on occasion, to the environment. In this book, James B. Reichmann, (...) S.J., undertakes an investigation of the metaethical grounds of 'rights' theory, with special focus on the controversial issue of whether creatures other than humans can and should be considered true subjects of 'rights.' He contends that before assigning rights to this or that individual or group, whether human or not, we need to be very clear about what it is we are assigning, to whom, and why. The book argues forcefully that the various recent efforts to build a case supporting animal and environmental 'rights' fail in their quest, and that any such effort resting on a Darwinian evolutionary base is likewise condemned to fail. In furtherance of this claim the author first investigates life phenomena, followed by a detailed comparative study of knowing, communicating and doing, as these are observed in the human and the nonhuman animal. This in turn is followed by an overview of diverse views advanced by contemporary environmental ethicists and animal 'rights' advocates, including Peter Singer, Tom Regan, J. Baird Callicott, Laura Westra, and Don E. Marietta, Jr. Representative though doubtless provocative conclusions drawn from this study include the claims that: (1) Classic Darwinian theory provides no admissable premise from which to derive a theory of inherent, inalienable rights. (2) No satisfactory explanation of the origin of rights and obligation can derive save from within the context of natural law theory. (3) The human person alone unqualifiedly possesses rights. (4) The view that vegetarianism is an ethical mandate is neither compatible with the Christian world view, nor philosophically sound. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: James B. Reichmann, S.J., is professor emeritus of philosophy at Seattle University where he continues to teach. (shrink)

This study compares the teachings of Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus on the issue of being and individuality. Its primary aim is to contrast Scotus’s individuating principle, haecceitas, with Aquinas’s actualizing principle, esse, attending both to their rather striking similarities as well as to their significant differences. The article’s conclusion is that, while Scotus’s crowning principle, haecceitas, is the unique entity internal to each thing, rendering the nature complete and singular as nature, Aquinas’s crowning principle, esse, actualizes the nature (...) without individualizing it. This is not to imply that Scotus overlooked the importance of a thing’s being, any more than Aquinas overlooked the importance of a being’s singularity. It does mean, however, that the primal integrating focus and the resulting philosophical synthesis of these two seminal thinkers of the Middle Ages did significantly differ. The conclusion of the paper might be stated thus: what most distinguishes their respective philosophies is that, while Scotus’s primary concern was with the existing individual, Aquinas’s was with the existing individual. (shrink)

The article contrasts descartes's and aquinas's theories on truth, Tracing their basic difference to a divergent view concerning the act of judgment. Descartes's '"cogito"' is held to be internally inconsistent precisely because it strives to unite an aprioristic "intellectus" with a reasoning process. Such an attempt is made, It is claimed, Because, Artificially separating understanding and judgment, Descartes misreads the hidden presuppositions of the act of reasoning as a way to fuller understanding. This occurs because descartes, Unlike aquinas, Seeks to (...) ground human knowing upon a theory of pure essences. (shrink)

Einleitung. A. Das Problem eines Systems der Philosophie als solchen - B. Das System der Philosophie von 1800 bis 1804 im Grundriss - C. Methodischer Ausgangspunkt und sachliche Problematik der Darstellung dieses Systems Erster Teil. Logik und Metaphysik als Grundlegung des Systems - A. Die Einleitung - B. Die Logik - C. Die Metaphysik Zweiter Teil. Philosophie der Natur als sachlicher und methodischer Schwerpunkt der Entfaltung des Systems - A. Der Naturbegriff als Grundbegriff des Systems nach den Ausserungen der Jahre (...) 1801-1802 - B. Die zusammenhangende Entfaltung der Naturphilosophie von 1803/04 und von 1804 - C. Die Begrenzung der systematischen Bedeutung der Naturphilosophie auf Grund ihrer zusammenhangenden Entfaltung Dritter Teil. Die Entwicklung von der Philosophie der Intelligenz zur Philosophie des Geistes als Ausgangspunkt fur den Umbildungsprozess des Systems im ganzen - A. Der Plan der Philosophie der Intelligenz als in sich begrenzter Gegenseite zur Philosophie der Natur in den Jahren 1800-1801 - B. Die Entfaltung des praktischen Teils der Philosophie der Intelligenz als Naturrecht (1802-1803) - C. Die Entstehung der Philosophie des Geistes aus der Philosophie der Intelligenz und der Philosophie des Absoluten in den Fragmenten des Systementwurfs von 1803/04 Vierter Teil. Philosophie des Absoluten als Abschluss des Systems in sich selbst - A. Die spekulative Erfassung der Wahrheit der Religion als Voraussetzung fur die Philosophie des Absoluten (1800-1801) - B. Die Anschauung des sich selbst gestaltenden Absoluten in Kunst und Spekulation im Anschluss an Schellings Systemkonzeption (1801-1803) - C. Das Sichbegreifen des Absoluten als absolutes Bewusstsein innerhalb der Philosophie des Geistes (1803/04) Schluss. A. Das System von 1800-1804 als Entwicklung zur Abgeschlossenheit des Denkens in sich selbst - B. Die Philosophie als System und die Frage nach der Philosophie uberhaupt Anhang. Zum Verhaltnis von Geschichte und Philosophie im D". (shrink)

In Thomas Thomson's System of chemistry of 1802 Bergman and Scheele are actually considered as creators of the analytical concept of an element. With regard to this, a detailed investigation of the work of Bergman and Scheele shows that Thomson's statement contains mistakes as well as inadmissable simplifications and generalizations. It is correct, however, that Bergman in 1774–1777 specifically anticipated in essential aspects the analytical element concept proposed by Lavoisier in 1787–1789.

This is one of the most important books on quantum mechanics ever written for lay readers, in which an eminent physicist and successful science writer, Heinz Pagels, discusses and explains the core concepts of physics without resorting to complicated mathematics. "Can be read by anyone. I heartily recommend it!" -- New York Times Book Review. 1982 edition.

Die hundertste Wiederkehr des Geburtstages Max Schelers war im Jahre 1974 der Anlaß zu zahlreichen Gelegenheitsveröffentlichungen, die jedoch wahrscheinlich lediglich als ein kurzes Auffiammen des Interesses an der Philosophie dieses Denkers eingeschätzt werden dürfen. Sowohl die Reichhaltigkeit wie die Vielseitigkeit seines Werkes dürfte der vornehmlichste Grund für die Tatsache sein, daß nur wenige Denker und um Darstellung bzw. Interpretation bemühte Forscher sich ein gehend und umfassend mit Schelers Philosophie befaßt haben. Hinzu kommt die Unvollendetheit dieses Schaffens, die einerseits auf seinen (...) frühen Tod zurückzuführen ist, die andererseits aber wesentlich in der Eigenart seines Philosophierens verankert ist. Es besteht jedoch die berechtigte Hoffnung, daß die Herausgabe des unveröffentlichten Nach lasses diese Unvollendetheit zwar nicht aufheben, sie aber in ihren Grenzen präziser als bisher möglich umreißen wird, und dies insbeson dere in bezug auf die von ihm geplante Metaphysik und Anthropologie. Vorliegender Arbeit lag der Versuch zugrunde, zwei der wesentlich sten Grundpfeiler dieser Philosophie freizulegen und somit zur Ausar beitung der diesem Denken "noch fehlenden architektonischen Ordnung" beizutragen. Abgesehen von einigen geringfügigen Änderungen für den Druck wurde diese Arbeit im Juni 1974 von der Philosophischen Fakultät der Universite Catholique de Louvain als Doktoratsthese angenommen. Für die Ausarbeitung dieser Dissertation steht der Autor in tiefster Dankesschuld vor allem bei seinem Promotor, Herrn Professor Dr. (shrink)

This book presents a range of essays on the conceptual foundations of physicalism, mental causation and human agency, written by established and leading authors ...