Action

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Brain-computer interfaces allow agents to control computers without moving their bodies. The agents imagine certain things and the brain-computer interfaces read the concomitant neural activity and operate the computer accordingly. But the use of brain-computer interfaces is problematic for criminal law, which requires that someone can only be found criminally responsible if they have satisfied the actus reus requirement: that the agent has performed some (suitably specified) conduct. Agents who affect the world using brain-computer interfaces do not obviously perform any conduct, so when they commit crimes using brain-computer interfaces it is unclear how they have satisfied actus reus. Drawing on a forthcoming paper by Allan McCay, I suggest three potential accounts of the conduct that satisfies actus reus: the agent’s neural firings, his mental states, and the electronic activity in his brain-computer interface. I then present two accounts which determine how actus reus may be satisfied – one a counterfactual and the other a minimal sufficiency account. These accounts are lent plausibility because they are analogous to the but-for and NESS (Necessary Element in a Sufficient Set) tests for causation which are generally accepted tests for causation in legal theory. I argue that due to the determinations of these accounts and considerations regarding the relationship between the mind and brain, actus reus is satisfied by either the agent’s neural activity or brain-computer interface electrical activity. Which of these satisfies actus reus is determined by how well the brain-computer interface is functionally integrated with the agent.

Motor Imagery provides a special context for representation of movements. This feature has been investigated in typical developing children in several studies, but there is little information in the field of motor imagery in children with autism. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate this component in children with autism spectrum disorder aged 8 to 12 years compared to typical developing peers.
40 ASD children and 40 TD children who were age and IQ matched, purposefully and available selected and participated in the research voluntarily. To investigate motor imagery, the hand rotation paradigm in 3D software was used. The task involves two blocks of 12 hand-pattern which rotates randomly three times at six angles. The reaction time and error numbers were recorded as the performance scores of each subject. In order to analyze the data, two analysis of variance tests were used to evaluate and compare the reaction times and the U-man Whitney test used for the number of errors separately for back and palm view of hand.
The findings confirmed that children with autism are able to use this feature same TD, although this operation is less accurate and longer. So that in the reaction time and the number of error variables, the ASD group performed worse than TD peers.
Although the disorder may effect on cognitive function underlying motor behaviors in these children, nevertheless the capacity required to learn and develop motor skills in these children is developed, usable, and exploitable.

The aim of this research was to study the influence of exposure duration and the spatial-frequency composition of faces in a «same-different» judgment task. Subjects had to match two faces presented successively. The recognition rate depended on the spatial-frequency composition of the target face, and on exposure duration only for high-frequency stimuli. This effect was observed only for durations which were greater than Bloch's psychophysics threshold and only concerned the «same» face pairs. These results are quite consistent with the hypothesis that exposure duration has a differential effect on low and high frequency integration. They are discussed in relation to the single and dual-process models of the «same-different» judgment task (Farell, 1985). Potential consequences on the format of facial representations in memory are proposed

One of the central features of Kant's moral theory is the sharp distinction he draws between the moral Tightness (legality) of actions and their moral worth or goodness (morality). As we know from the first pages of the Groundwork, the rightness of an action is determined by the conformity of the agent's maxim to the categorical imperative; the moral goodness or worth of an action is determined by the agent's motives, by whether the agent acted from the motive of duty or from some other (non-moral) empirical motive. Morally good actions must be morally right, according to Kant, whereas morally right actions are not necessarily morally good.

Abstract. Concerns regarding the safety of nifedipine emerged in 1995 with the report of an increased risk of myocardial infarction associated with adult patients receiving short-acting calcium channel blockers. There have been few case reports of adverse events in children ...

Let us define entrepreneurship as creativity and the evolution of novelty. Let us suppose, the main thesis of the chapter, that entrepreneurship is an action that does not differ from everyday action such as walking, driving, or chewing gum. If the definition and supposition are granted we can conclude that the theory of everyday action, such as walking or chewing gum, is one and the same as the theory of evolution. The conclusion is definitely strange if not extraordinary. It is based on a subtle but subversive thesis: There is no difference between everyday action and creativity or evolution. This conclusion is extraordinary only because it goes against the dominant dogmas in economics (i.e., neoclassical theory) and evolutionary biology (i.e., neo-Darwinian theory). Both dogmas draw a radical divide between action and evolution. For neo-Darwinian theory, action is phenotype ultimately determined by genotype—while the genotype evolves according to another mechanism. For neoclassic...

Aims: The purpose of this paper is to argue that it is important to recognize that addicts are morally accountable even for their addictive action, as moral agency is more generally an important factor in full-blown human agency. The challenge is to identify the problems that addicts have in their agency without discarding their potentially full-blown agency. Design: In philosophy of agency, moral responsibility and accountability, in particular, may refer to control over one’s action. I discuss this control as reason-responsiveness and, on a more general level, illustrate the importance of moral agency to human agency with a contrasting example of psychopaths and addicts as agents. Measures: A philosophical analysis is carried out in order to argue for the relevance and importance of moral accountability in therapeutic models of addiction. Findings: The example of psychopaths and addicts illustrates that moral agency is part of full-blown human agency, as psychopaths are generally ...

Recent experimental research in the field of neurophysiology has led to the discovery of two classes of visuomotor neurons: canonical neurons and mirror neurons. In light of these studies, we propose here an overview of two classical themes in the cognitive science panorama: James Gibson's theory of affordances and Eleanor Rosch's principles of categorization. We discuss how theoretical perspectives and neuroscientific evidence are converging towards the current paradigm of embodied cognition. From this perspective, we discuss the role of action and simulation in cognitive processes, which lead to the perceptual recognition of objects, and actions and to their conceptual categorization.

In an effort to carve a distinct place for social facts without lapsing into a holistic ontology, John Greenwood has sought to define social phenomena solely in terms of the attitudes held by the actor(s) in question. I argue that his proposal allows for the possibility of a “lone collectivity” that is (1) unpalatable in its own right and (2) incompatible with the claim that sociology is autonomous from psychology. As such, I conclude that the relevant beliefs need to be held by more than one person.

The article discusses how music therapy, considered as a discipline as well as arenas of different practices and theoretical models, may contribute to our understanding of how music may influence our actions. Among the many models of music therapy the author discusses an ontology of music which is compatible with a contextual understanding of how musical meanings are produced and performed. The article further presents how theories from receptive music therapy (The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music), improvisational music therapy (Creative Music Therapy), Community Music Therapy, and more resource-oriented ways of working may provide new insights into how music in therapy works in giving us new possibilities for action.

This study aims to determine the coping strategies, resilience and stress among single mothers. The data was collected through surveys using three sets of questionnaires which were Perceived Stress Questionnaire, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and Coping Strategies Inventory. The research samples included 328 single mothers in the Kuala Nerus District of Terengganu, Malaysia where purposive sampling was applied. The result of this study shows that there is negative relationship between resilience and stress. The analysis also shows that there were three different coping strategies which were problem-centred behavior, avoidance behavior and social support behavior as a result of a positive significant relationship with stress. Problem-centred behavior, avoidance behavior and resilience are predictor factors for stress. Therefore, resilience and action among single mothers must be increased or improved to enable them to cope with stress. A few recommendations were proposed based on the findings of this study.

Cette these interdisciplinaire traite de l'oeuvre artistique de Christo et Jeanne-Claude. Elle investit la dimension spatiale de la production artistique et la dimension spatiale de la reception esthetique d'un objet d'art textile in situ outdoors. Elle met en oeuvre pour ce faire des references aux theories de l'action et une approche phenomenologique. En travaillant les articulations entre objet textile, objet d'art et oeuvre d'art, elle montre que la dimension spatiale de l'objet d'art, celle qui est donnee a l'experience, n'est pas pensable independamment de la dimension spatiale de l'oeuvre d'art, celle qui est construite dans l'action artistique. Elle montre, par ailleurs, que l'objet textile est utilise par le spectateur, dans le cadre de l'objet-lieu d'art, pour une experience esthetique qui n'est pas seulement visuelle mais tactile. Cette utilisation d'objet explique le recours a la psychanalyse transit...

Résumé: Les recherches portant sur la dynamique concurrentielle des firmes sont examinées dans cet article sous deux angles: le niveau d'analyse adopté et la méthodologie employée. Le travail mené montre que les recherches étudiées constituent un ensemble ...

'Reason, voluntariness and moral responsibility' argues against the theory of responsibility and blame of T.M. Scanlon, that reduces moral responsibility to a form of rational appraisability for our psychological attitudes generally - as opposed to leaving it a distinctive kind of responsibility for how we act, dependent on a power to determine for ourselves which actions we perform.

Scanlon's theory is shown to ignore obvious and central features of blame; and to be the result of a theory of action defended by Hobbes, Davidson and others, and widely held in English-language philosophy - a 'voluntariness-based' theory that action is by its nature an expression and effect of prior motivating pro attitudes to its performance.

To accommodate our ordinary understanding of blame and moral responsibility, we need instead to adopt a 'practical reason-based' theory of action: intentional action consists in a distinctively practical mode of exercising reason.

We are moving from the Grand Theories of the past (marxism, touraine, tilly) toward a move concrete, interactional, and micro-level approach to understanding protest, which is more likely to acknowledge the perspectives and feelings of the actual human beings involved.

This volume breaks new grounds b< bringing together a great variety of innovative contributions on triangulation, epistemology, and mind. The notion of "triangulation", developed by Donald Davidson (1917-2003) during the last two decades of his life, has changed our understanding of the relationship between subjective, intersubjective, and objective , and shed new light on concepts such as externalism, internalism, communication, interpretation, and language.

At the same time, however, it has been strongly criticized for several aspöects. The papers collected in this volume—wirtten by established contributors—aim to provide new insights into the contemporary debate on  triangulation. The upshot is not only a deeper understanding of Davidson's ideas but also a new apprecciation of some central problems of epistemology and the philosophy of mind with regard to adjoining disciplines auch as, for instance, cognitive sciences and the philosophy of language.

In the file:

Contents
Introduction
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The Externalism of Triangulation
Gerhard Preyer

The goal of my paper is to consider how one chooses one’s own action. First, I will try to understand how both his past and his environment can condition someone's action. According to Sartre, we can act without being determined by our past which is always separated from us. It will be important to understand how such a process is possible. Is man completely free to act? Then I will raise the question of our reasons for acting in order to show that reasons do not pre-exist in the world. Motives are always motives for an agent who gives them meaning. They never condition the action completely. By his project, the agent reveals some reasons to act and these reasons have a value only in relation to the project adopted by the agent. Therefore, we can say that everyone is condemned to be free.