Search

The article discusses the Theory of Positive Disintegration, which describes different levels of personality development. It also mentions instruments used to measure D¿browskian constructs. The text explores the limitations and potential improvements of a commonly used tool in trauma-related research and the use of narrative identity models in personality development research. The document includes a list of references related to measuring personality development and post-traumatic growth, covering various aspects of the topic. These resources provide valuable insights for researchers and individuals interested in understanding and studying these topics. [Extracted from the article]

This article aims to identify the problems of implementing inter-regional cooperation from the widest possible autonomy perspective. This becomes important because cooperation between regions seems to run well shortly after policies in the form of laws and government regulations are enacted. However, in regional cooperation, many problems lurk and can lead to the failure of cooperation between regions. This research is legal research using a statute approach, a conceptual approach, and a historical approach. This research method and approach are appropriate to explain the problematic phenomenon of cooperation between regions in Indonesia based on Law No. 23 of 2014 concerning Regional Government. Based on the results of preliminary research, several problems arise in the implementation of regional cooperation, especially cooperation between regions, including the following: First, cooperation between regions whose object is related to income sharing often experiences difficulties in its implementation, especially in determining the amount of income/profits for each region; Second, the emergence of regional egoism, especially in the cooperation between the Parent Region and the regions resulting from the expansion; Third, the lack of data and information about the object of cooperation that has the potential to be better if implemented through cooperation between regions that are geographically close together; Fourth, the lack of initiation to carry out cooperation between regions due to the mindset of each region to deal with internal affairs only; and Fifth, no institution/agency specifically handles inter-regional cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Artefactos: Revista de Estudios Sobre La Ciencia Y La Tecnologia is the property of Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Kırıkkale University Journal of Social Sciences is the property of Kirikkale University Journal of Social Science (KUJSS) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Consumer polarization leading to buycotts and boycotts was magnified by the global crisis of 2020–2021 which changed consumer priorities and business practices: in-person shopping decreased, while social distancing, remote work, and media consumption increased. In this context, we examined the relationships among egoism, empathy, and consumer interest in social topics. These topics included employee treatment, social justice, and the environment. We highlighted aligning Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts with consumer values. Using a survey method and structural equation modeling, we found such efforts increased consumer buycott. In this research we addressed whether consumers were motivated by empathy or egoism to engage in buycotting during global crisis. Consumers reacted to a firm's adherence to health and safety guidelines, respect for human rights, and engaged in environmental protection. This study contributes to the literature on CSR and prosocial behavior. It examined the relationships among key consumer characteristics and corporate behavior in times of crisis and expands the existing literature on psychological factors that play a role in buycotting. The findings are applicable to policy makers, academic literature, and practice as it offers practical recommendations on how companies might consider realignment of CSR activities during crisis. It also suggests directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The authors draw on this approach to explore the consequences of compassion and altruism in the workplace for firm performance, using organizational resilience as a mediating variable. Design/methodology/approach: In recent years, a paradigm shift has been proposed in the organizational sciences that includes a change from self-centeredness to interconnectedness. This emergent management paradigm considers that employees are not only motivated by self-interest but also by other-centered values, such as altruism and compassion for others. This alternative proposal suggests the need for a more humanistic perspective for management. To carry out the research, the authors applied a structural equation model to a sample of highly innovative companies from different sectors. Findings: The results confirm that compassion at work leads to a climate based on altruism, which indirectly increases firm performance by means of organizational resilience. This study contributes to the organizational literature by revealing some benefits of promoting altruism and compassion in organizations. Originality/value: This study therefore provides a detailed analysis of the consequences of altruism and compassion in organizations and reveals some organizational conditions that can drive firm performance. Moreover, this study is the first to suggest and empirically validate that a work climate based on altruism enhances organizational resilience. In turn, organizational resilience enables the firm to take appropriate actions to convert unexpected and adverse situations that potentially threaten its survival into sources of opportunity and growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractTechnological advancements and augmenting technologies foster competitiveness and improved performance for businesses, nations, and individuals. The potential of memory implants offers a competitive edge to individuals seeking higher performance levels. The present study investigates whether the trait of competitiveness predicts the intention to use memory implants and explores how moral equity, egoism, and utilitarianism moderate this relationship. A total of 402 digital native technology users from four countries participated in the study. The results revealed a significant positive relationship between competitiveness traits and the intention to use memory implants. Furthermore, this relationship is weaker for individuals scoring high on moral equity against memory implants but stronger for those scoring high on utilitarianism in favor of memory implants. Egoism did not influence this relationship. This research improves the understanding of how competitiveness traits and ethical judgments influence the acceptance of human–machine hybrid technologies, enhancing competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voluntary simplicity (VS) refers to a minimalistic lifestyle of conscious, ecological, and ethical consumption, which is conducive to individual, societal, and environmental well-being. For policymakers and business managers, a key to leveraging this consumer shift is to promote persuasive appeals effectively. This research theorizes that the two forms of VS appeals are systematically associated with distinct temporal landmarks. In particular, we demonstrate that consumers are more likely to engage in biospheric voluntary simplicity (BVS) when priming a temporal landmark as the start of a time period. In contrast, consumers are more likely to participate in egoistic voluntary simplicity (EVS) when priming a temporal landmark as the end of a time period. Notably, the matching effects are driven by distinct mechanisms, such that the effect of a match between a start temporal landmark and BVS appeals is driven by self-transcendence, whereas the effect of a match between an end temporal landmark and EVS appeals is motivated by self-enhancement. Beyond their substantive theoretical significance, our findings provide marketing campaigns with tools to enact strategies that support voluntary simplicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific scepticism, fundamentally, questions the veracity and epistemic value of claims not supported by scientific evidence. Motivated by the assumption that only the empirical investigation of reality leads to the truth, the scientific sceptics often maintain that only scientific method is best suited for this purpose. Claims found to be wanting in scientific evidence are considered untrue, and of little or no epistemic consequence. Using the analytical and critical methods, this paper interrogates this epistemic criterion of justification of scientific scepticism. It shows the inherent epistemic deficits in this criterion of the scientific sceptics, and how absolutizing its demands in such a manner as to undermine the veracity and epistemic significance of claims outside the mainstream discipline of science is not only to entrap themselves in many epistemic burdens, but also to sink under the unsavoury weight of criteriological egocentrism, detrimental to cognitive progress. As a credible alternative, this paper explores the epistemic fecundity of contextualistic pluralism - the pluralism of contextually underwritten cognitive positions - in truth and knowledge justification. It concludes with the relevance of this approach in epistemic justification as evident in its inclusive nature as well as its shift of the focus of philosophical thinking from identity to diversity in an interculturality society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accompanying dialogue (realized while the participants are engaged in work activities together) provides very suitable material for the in-depth analysis of interaction and its relational, content, self-presentation and conative aspects, above all in the case of asymmetrical roles (superior – inferior). This contribution uses a video recording and a transcript of two collaborators in a violin workshop and, in addition, a follow-up interview, which forms an interesting complement to the original recording. Here it is possible to trace how, in the interview, the workshop leader tries to balance out the relational, content and conative aspects, weaken the expressions of his own superiority, mitigate the command-like tone of the communication, and to cooperate with his partner as much as possible; however, he himself labels these methods as "manipulation". Methods of interactional linguistics were utilized in the analysis of both interviews. The theoretical framework for the empirical analysis consists of ego-linguistics as conceived by J. Dolník (emphasis on the egocentrism of the participants, their ego-motivation and ego-mobility) and language management theory with a focus on communicative (organized, trans-interactional) management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our selves are characterized by inner multiplicity (Elster 1986). Our raced, classed, gendered, and sexed identities are intersectional (Crenshaw 1991; Wojciechowska 2019). Depending on the context and our state of mind, we are parents, employees, dancers, slackers, victims, perpetrators, players, hosts, explorers, altruists, or egoists. We are all these things at once and consecutively. We change and grow. Our identities are never permanent but always in motion, being transformed through our performative engagements (Lloyd 2005). We are constantly becoming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A person is biased toward the future when she prefers, other things being equal, bad events to be in her past rather than her future, or good ones to be in her future rather than her past. In this paper, I explain why both critics and defenders of future bias have failed to consider the best version of the view. I distinguish external time from personal time, and argue that future bias is best construed in terms of the latter. This conception of future bias avoids several standard objections. I then consider a new justification of future bias which is consistent with that construal. My discussion points to a new position regarding the basic relation that grounds rational egoistic concern over time, according to which that relation is asymmetric between persons-stages. I also explain how this way of justifying future bias would resolve the apparent tension between the future bias that we display in our own case and our relative indifference to the timing of good and bad things that happen to other people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest in The German Ideology has largely focused on the 'chapter' on Feuerbach—invariably the focus of the various abridgements in which the work is usually read. But this does not reflect the weighting of the text itself, which is dominated by Marx and Engels's critique of the radical egoist philosopher Max Stirner. Which begs the question: just why did they spend so much time and effort writing about Stirner? In this paper, I will provide an answer—which comes down to three related points. The first concerns the critique of reason; the second, egoistic self-interest. On both of these two points, Stirner makes a novel contribution—contributions which Marx and Engels feel clear affinities with. However, Stirner can ultimately be seen to get these two points, as it were, the wrong way around. This then leads to the third point: Stirner's misunderstanding of the nature of Communism. To clarify the nature of Communism, then, Marx and Engels were compelled to turn Stirner on his head. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unrealistic optimism bias appears when a person perceives oneself – in comparison to peers – as less at risk from threats. This bias has been widely reported and the consequences are clear: it puts one's health in danger. The existing body of literature proposes egocentrism as a mechanism leading to a reduction in this bias. The present paper tests a novel mechanism orienting a person toward others – thus linked with egocentrism – i.e., mimicry. Results showed directly opposing effects: mimicry induced a stronger tendency to perceive oneself as less threatened. This result is not only surprising but especially alarming since mimicry may be used in patient-doctor dialogue which may backfire, leading to resistance to medical recommendations provided by the doctor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relation between Kant’s philosophy and the “philosophy of balance” as it is described in the report Come on! Capitalism, Short-termism, Population and the Destruction of the Planet, delivered to the Club of Rome in 2018, requires some analysis. The authors of the report consider Kant to be a philosopher of European Enlightenment which laid the foundations of the modern world, but also proved to be the source of global problems. The report characterises the philosophy of the Enlightenment as lop-sided rationalism which dismisses everything that does not possess desirable properties. In exchange, the authors offer a philosophy of balance, described in several points as the balance between conflicting values. The overarching problem of the philosophy of balance is the restraining of egoism. For this reason I first examine the relationship between duty and human inclinations in Kant’s ethics. I then demonstrate that the topic of political forecasts and the recommendations which Kant prescribes both in his philosophy of history and in his reflections on politics, right and justice, essentially boils down to three points of the philosophy of balance: the balance between development and justice (Kantian republicanism), between the speed and stability of development (external policy, the Kantian peace project), and between the short-term and long-term perspectives (reform policy). I then touch upon the problem of the implementation of Kantian principles in politics in the light of the reception of Kant in the modern theories of social conflicts, the communication theory of J. Habermas and the justice theory of J. Rawls. The overall conclusion is that Kant’s philosophy is not a philosophy of exclusion, capitalist values and utilitarianism and is not their ideological basis.

Appreciating and critiquing Sigmund Freud's contributions and psychoanalysis, Jean Piaget explored children's dreams from the perspective of developmental cognitive psychology. Jean Piaget's concern is to arrive at a meaningful theory of cognitive development, and he proposed a comprehensive theory about the nature and development of human intelligence. For him, dreams are part of our cognitive processes. And they are a reflection of our thoughts and experiences. Piaget's fundamental aim is to comprehend what meaning children get from their dreams and how they understand the genesis, character, and nature of dreams. Piaget examined childhood dreams and explained how they develop in children's growing competence in symbolic reasoning. One of the central theses of Jean Piaget is that children arrive at diverse conceptualizations and meaning constructions concerning dreams on their own. He strongly believed that to understand children's dreams, it is necessary to explore their conceptions of dreams in relation to their other characteristics, like egocentrism, animism, moral heteronomy, dreams as external, a lack of classification and conservation abilities, etc. Jean Piaget explains dreams by referring to the child's mental processes and associating thinking with their dreams. This paper attempts to reconstruct Piaget's theory of dreaming and symbolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychopaths exhibit diminished ability to grieve. Here I address whether this inability can be explained by the trademark feature of psychopaths, namely, their diminished capacity for interpersonal empathy. I argue that this hypothesis turns out to be correct, but requires that we conceptualize empathy not merely as an ability to relate (emotionally and ethically) to other individuals but also as an ability to relate to past and present iterations of ourselves. This reconceptualization accords well with evidence regarding psychopaths' intense focus on the temporal present and difficulties in engaging in mental time travel, as well as with the essentially egocentric and identity-based nature of grief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guided by previous work investigating media as a socializing agent for individuals' expectations about gender roles in society and the model of intuitive motivation and exemplars, the present study investigated the extent to which television programing recommended as socially educational by Common Sense Media depicts male and female characters with certain altruistic (i.e., other-focused) and egoistic (i.e., self-focused) motivations for behavior. Specifically, the current study content analyzed 147 children's television episodes to assess whether main characters were (a) male or female and (b) primarily motivated by one of 11 altruistic or egoistic motivations. Results revealed that (1) main male characters exemplified authority, security, and hedonism most often, whereas main female characters exemplified care, autonomy, and relatedness most often, (2) programming recommended for boys featured more portrayals of the authority and security motivations, whereas programming recommended for girls featured comparatively more portrayals of care, fairness, autonomy, and relatedness, and (3) main characters across socially-educational television programs were more likely to be women/girls than men/boys. Results are discussed in terms of their potential for gendered motivations emphasized in popular entertainment media to shed light on (a) how motivations for different genders are valued by content curators and (b) what motivations male or female audiences of this content would be expected to value after viewing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a new egocentric metaphor for graph visualization that consists in positioning a graph between two concentric spheres of different radii. It improves the expansion of nodes in space, contrary to 3D spatialization algorithms. The edge drawing is optimized by pushing all the edges into the area delimited by our two concentric spheres so that a user can move freely without being encumbered by edges. Our new metaphor also makes it possible to reduce the display angles in order to have a global view of the graph without leaving the egocentricity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a normative ethical theory, ethical egoism may seem compatible with the metaethical theory of moral realism. However, in this article, I will problematize such an assumption. The reason is that an important motivation for rejecting moral anti-realism by many moral realists—like Derek Parfit, Torbjörn Tännsjö, and Erik J. Wielenberg—is that such a view entails that not even cruel or horrendous acts are to be called wrong by any universal or objective standard. I suggest that this motivation also applies to the ethical theory of egoism, as it may imply that no one has any obligation to refrain from cruel or horrendous acts as long they are beneficial to the agent. On that basis, I will demonstrate that egoism is a problem for robust moral realists that also, to a large degree, is being overlooked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both altruism and egoism are two types of motivations for action. An altruistic action is performed to benefit the other, whereas egoistic action is performed to benefit oneself. The strict definition of altruism states that an action ceases to be altruistic if the actor receives the benefit of his action as a consequence directly or indirectly. On the other hand, egoism particularly psychological egoism presupposes that all actions, whether performed for oneself or the other, are always self-interested in nature and hence, egoistic. Given the dichotomous existence between the two types of actions, which on many occasions create conceptual misapprehension, a different alternative will be explored. The new inquiry will throw light on the possibility that we commit some kind of motivational extremism on a conceptual level. It will further be argued that altruism and egoism may have one singular motivational source through which various actions emerge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study looked to explore the access to academic social capital for those who have considering dropping out. The research utilized social network analysis, specifically ego networks, to explore how four individuals from an alternative school perceived their own social networks. Name generators, name interpreters, and name interrelators were used to determine the size, composition, and structure of these networks. Everyone's network differed in either the number of connections, who was within the network, and what resources those people offered. The results were then organized by the potential benefits and problems of the four networks, focusing specifically on the size, composition, and structure. Practitioners can see how to effectively utilize egocentric cognitive social structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spinoza's views on friendship have been a relatively overlooked aspect of his ethical thought. Even though commentators such as Andrew Youpa and Steven Nadler shed significant light on the significance of Spinoza's views, they do not provide a detailed examination of the possibility of friendship between people who are not similar to one another. In considering to what extent (if at all) a virtuous person can join ordinary people who are dissimilar to her in friendship, my paper attempts to reach a better understanding of the limits, as well as the power, of friendship for Spinoza. First, I show that we can make a meaningful distinction between two kinds of friendship, which I call active friendship and coincidental friendship. Then, I argue that in Spinoza besides these two kinds of friendships, there is also a group of social interactions wherein the virtuous wants to bring the non-virtuous to enlightenment. In examining the nature of these interactions, I conclude that in Spinoza in addition to what we can call the Socratic quest of bringing people to enlightenment, we also find a strategy of insulation, which consists in taking measures so that ordinary people do not pose a threat to the virtuous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concepts, such as ecology and environment, central to contemporary ethical reflection applied to the ecosystem, were unknown to the ancient Greeks, but they demonstrated, through literature and legislation, a marked sensitivity to such questions. It may be interesting to focus on the myth of Erysichthon, transmitted by Callimachus and Ovid, but also by Dante in The Divine Commedy. The egoism of Erysichthon appears extremely current, especially with regard to human responsibility in the destiny of the planet. The awareness demonstrated in classical Greece for the negative consequences of human action on the environment has significant repercussions in the institutional and regulatory contexts of the ancient city-states. Aristotle (Politics 6, 1321b 30), for example, recalls the presence in some Greek states of foresters, called ὑλωροι􀊆. Similarly, particular attention was paid to the regulation of certain economic activities (IG I3 257). This article intends to investigate the most recent issues related to environmental ethics with the aim of overcoming modern subjectivism: the main causes of the environmental emergency can be neutralized taking into consideration the consequences of our actions on the environment, the non-human entities that populate the earth and the life of future generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recall that my key claim about Mel and Nell - that Mel morally ought to climb to the mountain peak and Nell morally ought to prevent him from doing so - is true from the perspective not just of one, but of multiple normative moral theories. This objection fails because an element of Mel and Nell's situation is that Mel will try to climb to the peak. They provide detailed support for the claim that despite the impossibility that Mel climbs to the peak and Nell prevents him from doing so, Mel morally ought to climb to the peak and Nell morally ought to prevent him from doing so. In Mel and Nell's situation, only Mel, not Nell, will try to do his morally required act. [Extracted from the article]

The Teopráxis Magazine of the Faculty of Theology and Human Sciences, Itepa Faculties, has published an editorial that rescues Pope Francis' theological-social-pastoral thinking contained in the Encyclical "Fratelli Tutti". The magazine highlights the importance of fraternity, social friendship, and solidarity as evangelical principles to overcome inequalities, divisions, and violence. The Pope emphasizes the need to promote social friendship as a path to overcome conflicts and divisions, and highlights the importance of global solidarity to face common challenges. The magazine addresses different topics related to the Encyclical, such as global solidarity, defense of life, migration, interreligious dialogue, overcoming egocentrism, economy and social justice, synodality, and education. The goal is to promote a formation for the realization of pastoral praxis based on a more inclusive, compassionate, and supportive worldview. [Extracted from the article]

Phubbing among undergraduate has become an area of increasing research interest in recent years. In recent years, studies on phubbing have increased. However, no empirical study has deal with the mediating effect of fear of missing out (FoMO) on the relationship between dark triad and phubbing. The dark triad refers to three personality traits: Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism. Machiavellianism is characterized by prioritizing one's own wishes and desires. Psychopathy, is a personality trait where lack of emotion and self-control is seen. Narcissism is characterized by low empathy and egocentrism. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine whether FoMO mediator between dark triad and phubbing among undergraduates. For this purpose, structural equation modeling and bootstrapping method was used. Mediation analyses were performed using AMOS 22.00. The present study comprised 506 undergraduate (%70.7 female; %29.3 male). The age of the participants ranged between 18 and 29 (x = 22.41).The measures used included the General Scale of Phubbing, Fear of Missing Out Scale, and Dirty Dozen Scale. The results showed that FoMO mediated the relationship between dark triad and phubbing. The results of bootstrapping procedure indicated that the indirect effect of FoMO on the relationship between dark triad and phubbing was significant. In conclusion, the study suggests that FoMO is a meaningful mediator in the relationship between dark triad and phubbing. Research results are discussed in the light of the related literature and suggestions are presented for future researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay focuses on the autobiographical writings of Swami Satyadev 'Parivrajak' (1879–1961), a prolific Hindi writer, and a charismatic modern-day worldly political ascetic in the early twentieth-century north India. It discusses three central pillars of his ineradicably political autobiography: first, the performance of an exemplary celibate Hindu masculinity; second, the conceptualization of a segmented and exclusionary freedom, unencumbered by the presence of Muslims; and third, his deep antagonism towards Gandhi, and defence of his assassination. Taken together, his autobiography is a critical contribution to the intellectual history and genealogy of sectarian Hindi–Hindu literature, while also showcasing cultivated precursors of a modern, monolithic and militant Hindu nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article adopts an ecolinguistic approach to study the thematic choices in the General Debate statements by the US and China at the United Nations General Assembly (2017–2020) to reveal the eco-characteristics of the two countries' thematic choices and their impacts on the constructions of international relations. Findings suggest that, from the perspective of ecosophy, a significant proportion of the US's thematic choices are destructive to international relations, while China's thematic choices are mostly beneficial and ambivalent. The US's thematic choices are frequently used to portray "us versus them" and "America first", which displays a message of egocentrism instead of ecocentrism. China's thematic choices are typically used to show China's willingness to undertake global responsibility and to jointly work with other stakeholders to safeguard our planet, echoing China's global vision of "building a shared future for mankind". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout his career, Alexis de Tocqueville was deeply concerned about the replacement of public-minded politics by materialistic egoism in modern democratic societies. Though there is a substantial literature on his response to democratic materialism, the poetic aesthetic category of the ideal and beautiful has been rarely discussed as a major element of his remedy for the crisis. Contrary to a common scholarly assumption, this article argues that Tocqueville conceived democratic individuals' poetic taste for the ideal and beautiful as a key source of materialistic democracy's political redemption. Focusing on his poetic idealisation of the French revolutionaries of 1789, the article recovers a branch of his political aesthetics according to which the beauty of a heroic moral ideal inspired by revolutionary political actors can play a significant role in generating public-spirited politics in a democratic society. Unlike contemporary neo-Tocquevillian scholars who tend to privilege the language of interest or duty in reinvigorating the public life of liberal democracy, Tocqueville believed in an alternative strategy premised on the essentially poetic nature of democratic citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Lubelski Rocznik Pedagogiczny is the property of Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Scientific scepticism, fundamentally, questions the veracity and epistemic value of claims not supported by scientific evidence. Motivated by the assumption that only the empirical investigation of reality leads to the truth, the scientific sceptics maintain that only scientific method is best suited for this purpose. Claims found to be wanting in scientific evidence are considered untrue, and of little or no epistemic consequence. Using the analytical and critical methods, this paper interrogates this epistemic criterion of justification of scientific scepticism. It shows the inherent epistemic deficits in this criterion of the scientific sceptics, and how absolutizing its demands in such a manner as to undermine the veracity and epistemic significance of claims outside the mainstream discipline of science is not only to entrap themselves in many epistemic burdens, but to sink under the weight of criteriological egocentrism, detrimental to cognitive progress. As a credible alternative, this paper explores the epistemic fecundity of contextualistic pluralism - the pluralism of contextually underwritten cognitive positions - in case of truth and knowledge justification. It concludes with emphasis on the relevance of this approach to epistemic justification in our age of interculturality, by shifting the focus of philosophical thinking from identity to diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Philologist / Filolog: Journal of Language, Literary & Cultural Studies is the property of University of Banja Luka, Faculty of Philology / Univerzitet u Banjoj Luci, Filoloski Fakultet and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The starting point for this paper is the anthropology of Viktor E. Frankl, which, in addition to the physical and psychological dimensions, also considers the third one, the spiritual dimension of human being. Frankl believes that the most important motivation of man is to be found in his constant search for the meaning of life. In this context, the research question posed in this paper is: can finding concrete answers to the question of the meaning of life make man happy? In the first part of the paper, the concepts of "pleasure", "joy", and "happiness" are distinguished in the light of Frankl's writings. In the second section, and in the light of the initial question posed, we come to the realization that the most important characteristic of people who have emerged unscathed from the most adverse circumstances is a kind of individualism and a strong sense of purpose, which, unlike narcissism and egocentrism of any kind, can forget itself. These are the people who have found joy in situations that ordinary people would have found unbearable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Colombiana de Psicologia is the property of Universidad Catolica de Colombia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Psychedelic experiences have been shown to both facilitate (re)connection to one’s values and change values, including enhancing aesthetic appreciation, promoting pro-environmental attitudes, and encouraging prosocial behavior. This article presents an empirically informed framework of philosophical psychology to understand how self-transcendence relates to psychedelic value changes. Most of the observed psychedelic value changes are toward the selftranscendent values of Schwartz’s value theory. As psychedelics also reliably cause various self-transcendent experiences (STEs), a parsimonious hypothesis is that STEs change values toward self-transcendent values. I argue that STEs indeed can lead to value changes, and discuss the morally relevant process of selftranscendence through Iris Murdoch’s concept of “unselfing”. I argue that overt egocentric concerns easily bias one’s valuations. Unselfing reduces egocentric attributions of salience and enhances non-egocentric attention to the world, widening one’s perspective and shifting evaluation toward self-transcendent modes. Values are inherently tied to various evaluative contexts, and unselfing can attune the individual to evaluative contexts and accompanying values beyond the self. Understood this way, psychedelics can provide temporarily enhanced access to self-transcendent values and function as sources of aspiration and value change. However, contextual factors can complicate whether STEs lead to long-term changes in values. The framework is supported by various research strands establishing empirical and conceptual connections between long-term differences in egocentricity, STEs, and self-transcendent values. Furthermore, the link between unselfing and value changes is supported by phenomenological and theoretical analysis of psychedelic experiences, as well as empirical findings on their long-term effects. This article furthers understanding of psychedelic value changes and contributes to discussions on whether value changes are justified, whether they result from cultural context, and whether psychedelics could function as tools of moral neuroenhancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study explores the realizing mechanisms of deliberate misinterpretation, by examining the specific situations of deliberate misinterpretation in fictional conversation, from the perspective of socio-cognitive pragmatics, so as to shed light on human daily conversations. The results of analyzing dialogs in the sitcom Friends show that deliberate misinterpretation has to do with the possibility of ambiguity on the speaker's side and deliberate divergence on the hearer's side. It is also argued that in these circumstances egocentrism on the hearer's side is manifested consciously and deliberately. Unlike generally discussed, the deliberate breakdown of communication usually has a positive influence on the communication, and certain communicative goals of the speaker may thus be fulfilled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China underwent a major change in population policies, from "more is better" during the 1950s-70s to the one-child policy that began in the early 1980s and ended in 2016. With reference to Agamben's and Foucault's theories of biopolitics, this article considers population policies as biopolitical mechanisms that subject individuals to national interest. Mo Yan is one of the contemporary Chinese writers who reflect on the sacrifice of individual rights and freedom for the common good, which is problematic in that it leads to objectification and politicization of female bodies and collective guilt on the part of executors and supporters of the policy. Resistance against collectivism, represented by Wang Dan in Mo Yan's novel Frog (Wa, 2012), is a recurring theme in contemporary Chinese literature. While the Western literary tradition frequently celebrates individualism, some works like Emile Zola's Fruitfulness (Fécondité, 1899) show concerns for extreme individualism that causes social alienation, self-centeredness, and personal guilt. Through a comparative reading of Frog and Fruitfulness from the perspectives of biopolitics, gender, and ethics, I argue that Frog, as a representative work of contemporary Chinese rural literature, engages in a dialogue with Fruitfulness and enriches world literature by providing a critical insight on population crisis and exploring tensions between individualism and collectivism and between public and private spheres, serving as a reference for reconsidering current demographic issues around the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]