As colleges and universities seek to invigorate ethics education, they need methods to identify where and describe how ethics is already present across their curricula. Meeting this need is complicated by the fact that much ethics education occurs in courses not explicitly focused on ethics or morality. In this paper, we review recent methodological advances before presenting a new Ethics Course Identification Tool (ECIT) that combines application of an expert-derived weighted dictionary and natural language processing methods to identify ethics-related courses (...) based on their titles and course catalog descriptions, even when the terms “ethic” or “moral” are not present. Two studies, the second a pre-registered replication, revealed considerable interrater reliability among experts in ethics education regarding the ethical relevance of courses. Critically, both studies revealed strong correlations between expert judgments and ECIT scores. This empirical evidence points to a shared understanding of ethics education among experts, and it supports the valid use of the ECIT to rapidly and reliably identify ethics-related courses. Based on these findings, we propose that the ECIT can be used both to advance research on trends in ethics education and to help target interventions to improve ethics education at colleges and universities. (shrink)

This study was aimed at predicting individual differences in text reading fluency. The basic proposal included two factors, i.e., the ability to decode letter strings (measured by discrete pseudo-word reading) and integration of the various sub-components involved in reading (measured by Rapid Automatized Naming, RAN). Subsequently, a third factor was added to the model, i.e., naming of discrete digits. In order to use homogeneous measures, all contributing variables considered the entire processing of the item, including pronunciation time. The model, which (...) was based on commonality analysis, was applied to data from a group of 43 typically developing readers (11- to 13-year-olds) and a group of 25 chronologically matched dyslexic children. In typically developing readers, both orthographic decoding and integration of reading sub-components contributed significantly to the overall prediction of text reading fluency. The model prediction was higher (from ca. 37% to 52% of the explained variance) when we included the naming of discrete digits variable, which had a suppressive effect on pseudo-word reading. In the dyslexic readers, the variance explained by the two-factor model was high (69%) and did not change when the third factor was added. The lack of a suppression effect was likely due to the prominent individual differences in poor orthographic decoding of the dyslexic children. Analyses on data from both groups of children were replicated by using patches of colours as stimuli (both in the RAN task and in the discrete naming task) obtaining similar results. We conclude that it is possible to predict much of the variance in text-reading fluency using basic processes, such as orthographic decoding and integration of reading sub-components, even without taking into consideration higher-order linguistic factors such as lexical, semantic and contextual abilities. The approach validity of using proximal vs distal causes to predict reading fluency is discussed. (shrink)

A noção de “interesse público” parece ter uma tradição antiga e profícua nos estudos políticos, em particular nas pesquisas sobre mídia, comunicação e política. No entanto, parece haver um aparente paradoxo entre a própria noção de “interesse” e a ideia de algo “público”: como uma ação ou decisão política pode contemplar a miríade de interesses de grupos e indivíduos diversos? Este artigo delineia alguns aspectos da noção de “interesse” no debate atual sobre comunicação política. Com base em uma pesquisa bibliográfica, (...) este artigo argumenta que, nas últimas décadas, as principais obras sobre o tema têm dedicado menos espaço à noção de 'interesse público' como uma entidade única em favor de uma visão mais nuançada e identitária cultural, noção que contempla a pluralidade de uma esfera pública repleta de novas formas de ativismo e demandas coletivas por espaço, igualdade e visibilidade. (shrink)

Brouwer's theorem of 1927 on the equivalence between virtual and inextensible order is discussed. Several commentators considered the theorem at issue as problematic in various ways. Brouwer himself, at a certain time, believed to have found a very simple counter-example to his theorem. In some later publications, however, he stated the theorem in the original form again. It is argued that the source of all criticisms is Brouwer's overly elliptical formulation of the definition of inextensible order, as well as a (...) certain ambiguity in his terminology. Once these drawbacks are removed, his proof goes through. (shrink)

La storia della nascita, utilizzo e declino delle notazioni scientifiche costituisce un’area di indagine importante che può aiutare le nostre analisi del pensiero scientifico e la sua evoluzione. […] this history constitutes a mirror of past and present conditions in mathematics which can be made to bear on the notational problems now confronting mathematics. The successes and failures of the past will contribute to a more speedy solutions of the notational problems of the present times.Questa storia, ovviamente, coinvolge anche le (...) notazioni della logica. Il presente contributo intende proporre un nuovo insieme di simboli per una particolare teoria logica: la Mereologia Formale, in considerazione del fatto che questa teoria, pur avendo avuto trattazioni sistematiche, non ha allo stato attuale ancora raggiunto un sistema di notazioni condiviso dagli studiosi. Tale stato dell’arte è espressione, da un lato, di un legame della teoria al suo nascere con la notazione polacca, e del suo confronto con la Teoria Assiomatica degli Insiemi; dall’altro, del fatto che essa ha ricevuto solo in tempi recenti sistematiche applicazioni alle scienze.94 In tale prospettiva ho ritenuto necessario definire in primo luogo dei criteri attraverso cui procedere alla costruzione del sistema di simboli. Criteri desunti in parte dalla storia delle notazioni scientifiche nella loro evoluzione, in parte dalla pratica personale nell’uso di strumenti formali. (shrink)

In this article the author provides new external evidence demonstrating that the correspondence between the philosopher Seneca and the apostle Paul is a forgery. The author compares archaeological data offered by inscriptions, graffiti and regionarii with information conveyed by the apocryphal letters. The setting of the epistles, as well as information about the duration and damages of the Neronian fire, contrast with the archaeological data, indicating that the text should be considered a forgery. The contribution shows that the forger worked (...) rather in a literary mode. Conversely, the only archaeological date that scholars have brought to support authenticity is probably not a Christian inscription and does not prove anything regarding a meeting between Seneca and Paul or Seneca’s conversion. The origin of the correspondence should instead be traced to the cult of the apostles Paul and Peter during the 3rd and 4th centuries. (shrink)

In recent years, the veracity of the tradition of the martyrdom of the apostles Peter and Paul has been disputed; recently, Brent Donald Shaw denied the historicity of the persecution of Christians. In this article, the author analyzes the texts of Tacitus and Suetonius as well as other texts omitted by Shaw and demonstrates the inconsistency of the hypotheses put forward by negationist scholars from a theoretical and historical point of view.

This volume presents philosophy of science at its best, i.e. as a philosophical questioning informed by current scientific research, which carefully assesses and evaluates its commitments and consequences. As such it represents philosophy simpliciter at its best, for it is concerned with and dares to ask fundamental questions about the nature of the results of the natural sciences, arguably our most reliable sources of knowledge of the world. The contributions collected in this volume make clear that a philosophy that is (...) disconnected from science is sterile and that the practice of science that is disconnected from a philosophical attempt to understand the natural world in its most general features is blind. Throughout the book we are confronted with questions about the nature of species, numbers, space, time, matter, consciousness and so on. Taking seriously these questions, along with other open problems in philosophy of sciences, and keeping the dialogue between science and philosophy wide open, is likely to be our best bet for a deeper understanding of what surrounds us. The book has a further, deeply important merit. Being the result of a post-graduate conference, it brings together not only leading, long established experts in the field but also new, young researchers, who usually find too small a place within the academic environment. Promoting exactly this kind of interaction is an essential step in constructing a new paradigm for an open, collaborative and fruitful scientific community. (shrink)

How the cilium appeared is still such a poorly defined question that current hypotheses range from a symbiotic spirochaete to a cellular eye. In this paper, the whole question is subdivided into a list of problems which are morphological, physiological and temporal. These problems are examined one by one, in order to analyse the most popular exogenous hypothesis of Margulis as well as other recent exogenous and endogenous hypotheses. To overcome fundamental topological and temporal difficulties, a new endogenous hypothesis is (...) expounded, according to which the cilium derives from a cellular peduncle reinforced with microtubules. This hypothesis implies a geometrical rationale for the ninefold symmetry. In the last paragraph the consequences of the various hypotheses are compared. (shrink)

More than many other Austrians, Mises tried to found aprioristic methodology on a well defined and developed epistemology. Although references to Kant are scattered rather unsystematically throughout his works, he nevertheless used an unequivocal Kantian terminology. He explicitly defended the existence of ‘a priori knowledge’, ‘synthetic a priori propositions’, ‘the category of action’, and so forth.

This book engages in an analytical and realistic enquiry into legal interpretation and a selection of related matters including legal gaps, judicial fictions, judicial precedent, legal defeasibility, and legislation. Chapter 1 provides an outline of the central theoretical and methodological tenets of analytical realism. Chapter 2 presents a conceptual apparatus concerning the phenomenon of legal interpretation, which it subsequently applies to investigate the truth-in-legal-interpretation issue. Chapters 3 to 6 argue for a theory of legal interpretation - pragmatic realism - by (...) outlining a theory of interpretive games, revisiting the debate between literalism and contextualism in contemporary philosophy of language, and underscoring the many shortcomings of the container-retrieval view and pragmatic formalism. In turn, Chapter 7, focusing on comparative legal theory, advocates an interpretation-sensitive theory of legal gaps, as opposed to purely normativist ones. Chapter 8 explores the connection between judicial reasoning and judicial fictions, casting light on the structure and purpose of fictional reasoning. Chapter 9 provides an analytical enquiry into judicial precedent, examining a variety of ideal-typical systems in terms of their normative or de iure relevance. Chapter 10 addresses defeasibility and legal indeterminacy. In closing, Chapter 11 highlights the central tenets of a realistic theory of legislation. (shrink)

In a previous study we examined reading, spelling, and maths skills in an unselected group of 129 Italian children attending fifth grade by testing various cognitive predictors; results showed a high degree of predictors’ selectivity for each of these three behaviors. In the present study, we focused on the specificity of the predictors by performing cross-analyses on the same dataset; i.e., we predicted spelling and maths skills based on reading predictors, reading based on maths predictors and so on. Results indicated (...) that some predictors, such as the Orthographic Decision and the Arithmetic Facts tests, predicted reading, spelling and maths skills in similar ways, while others predicted different behaviors but only for a specific parameter, such as fluency but not accuracy, and still others were specific for a single behavior. To interpret these results, we propose a novel model of learning skills separately considering factors in terms of competence, performance and acquisition. Reading, spelling and calculation skills would depend on the development of discrete and different abstract competences. By contrast, overlap among behaviors would be accounted for by defective acquisition in automatized responses to individual “instances”; this latter skill is item specific but domain independent. Finally, performance factors implied in task’s characteristics may contribute to the partial association among learning skills. It is proposed that this new model may provide a useful base for interpreting the diffuse presence of comorbidities among learning disorders. (shrink)

Who or what is morally considerable? That is to say, what merits direct moral consideration—consideration in light of what it is? Mark Bernstein steers a middle course between the extremes he labels “chauvinism” and “deep ecology.” Chauvinists hold that, at most, all human beings are morally considerable. Deep ecologists are either individualists who hold that every living thing is morally considerable or holists who hold that ecosystems but not their constituent parts are considerable in themselves.

In recent years, the fight against money laundering has emerged as a key issue of financial regulation. The Wolfsberg Group is an important multistakeholder agreement establishing corporate responsibility principles against money laundering in a domain where international coordination remains otherwise difficult. The fact that 10 out of the 25 top private banking institutions joined this initiative opens up an interesting puzzle concerning the conditions for the participation of key industry players in the Wolfsberg Group. The article presents a fuzzy-set analysis (...) of seven hypotheses based on firm-level organizational factors, the macro-institutional context, and the regulatory framework. Results from the analysis of these 25 financial institutions show that public ownership of the bank and the existence of a code of conduct are necessary conditions for participation in the Wolfsberg Group, whereas factors related to the type of financial institution, combined with the existence of a black list, are sufficient for explaining participation. (shrink)

Pierluigi Piovanelli | : Tacite est le seul témoin explicite d’une persécution des « chrétiens » de Rome à la suite du célèbre incendie de la capitale, en 64 de notre ère, une catastrophe dont la population aurait attribué la responsabilité criminelle à l’empereur Néron, si les adeptes de cette « superstition pernicieuse » originaire de la Judée n’avaient pas été opportunément identifiés comme les coupables. Si, d’un côté, il est facile de comprendre la nécessité pour le pouvoir impérial (...) de trouver rapidement des boucs émissaires, de l’autre, il n’est pas aisé de concevoir les raisons qui firent que le choix se porte sur les membres d’un groupe sectaire judéen tout à fait marginal. L’examen de quelques textes clés de Flavius Josèphe et des écrits apocalyptiques contemporains permet de mieux comprendre quelles étaient les attentes des milieux radicaux judéens et quelle était la perception que les Romains pouvaient avoir de ceux qui, à leurs yeux, n’étaient que des agitateurs et des brigands. | : Tacitus is the only witness to the persecution of the “Christians” in Rome following the famous fire of 64 CE that severely burned the capital city ; a catastrophe for which Nero would have been considered responsible had the followers of that “most mischievous superstition” of Judean origins not been identified as the culprits. If, on the one hand, it is easy to understand the urgency for the imperial power to find scapegoats, on the other hand, it is not so easy to imagine the reasons why the members of a Judean sectarian, marginal group were eventually chosen. A new look at a series of key passages from the writings of Josephus and contemporary apocalyptic texts allow us to have a better understanding of the expectations at work among the members of Judean radical groups, as well as the perception that Romans could have had of those who, in their opinion, were simply agitators and bandits. (shrink)

The paper purports to provide an analytical treatment of the truth and legal interpretation issue. In the first part, it lays down a conceptual apparatus meant to capture the main aspects of the legal interpretation phenomenon, with particular attention paid to the several kinds of linguistic outputs resulting from interpretive activities. In the second part, it recalls three different notions of truth, focussing, so far as systemic truth is concerned, on the difference between deductive and rhetorical normative systems. In the (...) third, and last, part, it shows in which ways the phenomenon of legal interpretation encompasses truth-apt entities, leaving the choice between austere and liberal alethic pluralism to the reader. A few, final remarks address the formalism/scepticism problem. (shrink)

La brillantezza di molti edifici contemporanei può essere espressa attraverso l'immagine di uno specchio che riflette ciò che sta intorno, impedendo ogni contatto tra interno ed esterno. Ciò porta verso uno scenario articolato e ambiguo, che rappresenta il punto di contatto tra la riflessione architettonica e le formule sempre più spettacolarizzanti della comunicazione mediatica. L'estetica che prende forma da questo “paradigma dello specchio” perde il suo riferimento a una nozione pubblica e condivisa di bellezza, a favore di una sua considerazione (...) come oggetto di scambio individuale. Il concetto di “i-Aesthetics” prova a sintetizzare tale quadro, che diventa sempre più influente in riferimento al giudizio sull'architettura e al legame complessivo che instauriamo con lo spazio. (shrink)

Erleichtert die Konzeptualisierung der Patientenverfügung als bloßes Indiz für den mutmaßlichen Willen die notwendige Einbeziehung eines relationalen Autonomieverständnisses in eine zunehmend kulturübergreifende Bioethik? Ich lege dar, dass die Berücksichtigung relationaler Autonomiekonzepte kein überzeugendes Argument für die Bestimmung der Patientenverfügung als bloßes Indiz für den mutmaßlichen Willen ist, sondern vielmehr – neben einer Reihe anderer Argumente – für die Patientenverfügung als verbindliche Willensbekundung spricht. Diese erweist sich als flexibel genug, um unterschiedlichen Formen von Autonomie gerecht zu werden.

Erleichtert die Konzeptualisierung der Patientenverfügung als bloßes Indiz für den mutmaßlichen Willen die notwendige Einbeziehung eines relationalen Autonomieverständnisses in eine zunehmend kulturübergreifende Bioethik? Ich lege dar, dass die Berücksichtigung relationaler Autonomiekonzepte kein überzeugendes Argument für die Bestimmung der Patientenverfügung als bloßes Indiz für den mutmaßlichen Willen ist, sondern vielmehr – neben einer Reihe anderer Argumente – für die Patientenverfügung als verbindliche Willensbekundung spricht. Diese erweist sich als flexibel genug, um unterschiedlichen Formen von Autonomie gerecht zu werden.

The aim of our study is to test the fit of an explanatory model of the frequency of the phenomenon of choking under pressure in archers, focusing on both the individual components and environmental components. 115 competitive athletes including 72 males and 43 females participated in the study, with average age of 39 years. Participants reported personal data and completed measures of self-consciousness, anxiety, coping styles, and decentering. The ruminative component of concern was found to be the factor directly influencing (...) the frequency of choking episodes in performance. Two significant mediations of personal coping style were also identified on the effects of anxiety on brooding thinking and on the athlete's ability to decentralize. The latter personal self-regulative component has been shown to be able to strongly limit the frequency of choking under pressure. Finally, among the environmental components, a further facilitating influence for the athlete resulted in the perception of being supported by the coach. The results therefore suggest that the athlete in choking should not face alone the hard upcoming period, but should preferably be supported with an articulated program focused on the cognitive remodeling of disturbing thoughts, on the strengthening of the capacity of decentralization, on the enhancement of the relationship of support and trust with the coach. (shrink)

The prevalence of overweight and obesity in young adults has increased dramatically in recent decades. The unhealthy eating habits that develop at this time can often lead to negative health consequences in the future. It is therefore important to learn about self-regulation and self-control strategies and help young adults to have healthy eating behaviours. This study aims to present an Italian version of the Tempest Self-Regulation Questionnaire for Eating adapted for young adults. The instrument assesses self-regulation and self-control strategies to (...) counteract the desire and temptation to eat unhealthy food and to choose healthy foods. A total of 645 students took part in the study. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis supported the six first-order factors model concerning specific self-regulation strategies and a higher-order structure of the TESQ-E [χ2 = 336.480, p < 0.001; CFI = 0.95; RMSEA = 0.04; SRMR = 0.04]: three correlated second-order factors and one-third-order factor. The results also confirmed the strong measurement invariance of the TESQ-E across gender. To have reliable comparisons across males and females, the latent mean differences tests were performed on the six specific self-regulation strategies. The analysis showed that females appear to prefer strategies that directly address the goal by expressing explicit intentions or plans to eat in a healthy way. Convergence validity was tested through correlations with Eating-Self-Efficacy Brief Scale, Emotional Eating Scale, Scale of Attitudes towards Healthy Eating, and Body Mass Index. In conclusion, the TESQ-E appears to be a psychometrically sound questionnaire that can be effectively used with young adults to measure self-regulation strategies in eating in order to plan personalised interventions for the prevention and control of the metabolic syndrome, and to reduce a wide range of diet-related diseases. (shrink)

Endurance sports certainly require an important and delicate task of mental and physical reintegration from the impact of the fatigue induced by the exertion of the sport performance. The topic of the resilience of athletes has been the theme of numerous studies, however, there are few specific works on the psychological resilience of runners. Our study aimed to investigate Resilience in Endurance Runner related to the role of Self-Regulation Modes and Basic Psychological Needs. Especially, the aim of our work was (...) presenting a model where the gratification of the Needs of Autonomy and Competence and the level of Locomotion were the predictors of the two main components of Richardson’s resilience: Homeostatic and Resilient Reintegration. The present study involved 750 endurance runners, members of the Fidal. A SEM analysis was performed combining into one explanatory model the following variables: Autonomy and Competence Satisfaction, Self-Regulatory Locomotion Mode, Homeostatic and Resilient Reintegration. The model showed overall acceptable fit measurements: χ2 = 872.152; CFI = 0.966; TLI = 0.952; RMSEA = 0.058. Results indicated that BPNs and SRMs are predictors of the level of resilience in endurance running athletes. In particular, Resilient Reintegration was mainly affected by Locomotion Mode, which in turn received a major influence from Autonomy Satisfaction. Homeostatic Recovery was found to be affected by Competence Satisfaction. The study pointed out the importance of supporting in endurance runners the gratification of the needs of Autonomy and Competence as key factors capable of enhancing perseverance, timely recovery and psychophysical balance. (shrink)

The Decision Regret Scale was assessed for its psychometric qualities in measuring decision regret in ordinary life scenarios. Although the scale has typically been used with patients and in the context of medical decision-making in earlier studies, this contribution shows that the instrument may have a variety of uses, retaining excellent metric properties even in non-medical contexts. The tool showed good fits with both the CFA and the gender Measurement Invariance. A non-probabilistic selection of 2,534 Italian university students was conducted. (...) The internal consistency measures were found to be completely appropriate. Correlations with the General Decision-Making Style and Scale of Regulatory Modes were used to check for convergent validity. Convergence analysis showed that participants with higher regret scores were those who favored a rational decision-making style, while lower regret scores correlated with avoidant and spontaneous styles. With regard to the regulatory modes, the relationship between regret and locomotion was positive. Overall, the directions of association point to an interesting predictive measure of a person’s decision-making and self-regulatory orientation through the evaluation of regret using the DRS. The excellent psychometric properties found foreshadow a reliable use in various contexts where knowledge of post-decisional attitude becomes important: school, university, professional orientation, marketing studies, relationship choices, as well as for use in research. (shrink)