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La présente thèse expose, analyse et critique les positions classiques et modernes à l’égard de la nature et des causes de la faiblesse de volonté. L’identification du problème par Platon et Aristote a donné lieu à l’explicitation de principes et propositions portant sur la rationalité pratique en général et la motivation en particulier. Une discussion de ces principes et propositions est faite dans la mesure où ils ont conservé une certaine pertinence pour les théories modernes. Ce qui est devenu la conception standard de la stricte akrasie ainsi que son caractère prétendument paradoxal sont mis de l’avant. Nous argumentons qu’une position sceptique à l’égard de la stricte akrasie ne peut pas reposer sur une version ou une autre de la théorie des préférences révélées et montrons qu’une description du processus décisionnel est nécessaire pour attribuer une préférence synthétique ou un meilleur jugement. Nous abordons le débat philosophique qui oppose une conception internaliste du lien entre le meilleur jugement et la décision à une conception externaliste, et soutenons, sur la base de résultats expérimentaux en psychologie cognitive et en neuroscience, que cette dernière conception est plus robuste, bien qu’imparfaite. Ces résultats ne vont pas toutefois à l’encontre de l’hypothèse que les agents sont des maximisateurs dans la satisfaction de leur préférence, laquelle hypothèse continue de justifier une forme de scepticisme à l’égard de la stricte akrasie. Nous exposons, par contre, des arguments solides à l’encontre de cette hypothèse et montrons pourquoi la maximisation n’est pas nécessairement requise pour le choix rationnel et que nous devons, par conséquent, réviser la conception standard de la stricte akrasie. Nous discutons de l’influente théorie de Richard Holton sur la faiblesse de volonté non strictement akratique. Bien que compatible avec une conception non maximisante, sa théorie réduit trop les épisodes de faiblesse de volonté à des cas d’irrésolution. Nous exposons finalement la théorie du choix intertemporel. Cette théorie est plus puissante parce qu’elle décrit et explique, à partir d’un même schème conceptuel, autant la stricte akrasie que l’akrasie tout court. Ce schème concerne les propriétés des distributions temporelles des conséquences des décisions akratiques et les attitudes prospectives qui motivent les agents à les prendre. La structure de ces distributions, couplée à la dévaluation à l’égard du futur, permet également d’expliquer de manière simple et élégante pourquoi la faiblesse de volonté est irrationnelle. Nous discutons de l’hypothèse qu’une préférence temporelle pure est à la source d’une telle dévaluation et mentionnons quelques éléments critiques et hypothèses concurrentes plus conformes à une approche cognitiviste du problème. / This thesis explains, analyses and examines the classical and modern positions on the nature and causes of the weakness of will. Since Plato and Aristotle’s identification of the problem, many principles and propositions on the subject of practical rationality in general and motivation in particular have been examined in details. These principles and propositions are being discussed on the basis that they are still somewhat relevant to modern theories. An emphasis is made on what is now known as the standard conception of strict akrasia and its supposedly paradoxical nature. We argue that a skeptical position toward strict akrasia cannot be based on one version or another of the preference-revealed theory and we demonstrate that a description of the decision process is necessary to assign an overall preference or a better judgment. We discuss the philosophical debate on internalist and externalist conceptions of the connection between better judgment and decision. We then argue that, based on experimental results in cognitive psychology and neuroscience, the externalist conception, although imperfect, is stronger. But these experimental results are not incompatible with the hypothesis that agents are maximizers when it comes to the satisfaction of their preference. This hypothesis continues to justify a form of skepticism toward strict akrasia. However, we strongly argue against this hypothesis and we demonstrate why maximization is not absolutely necessary to rational choice; therefore, we have to revise the standard conception of strict akrasia. We then discuss Richard Holton’s influential theory on non-strictly akratic weakness of will. Although compatible with a non-maximizing conception, Holton’s theory tends to reduce episodes of weakness of will to irresolution cases. Lastly, we introduce the theory of intertemporal choice, a more potent theory that describes and explains, with the same conceptual schema, both strict and non-strict akrasia. This schema concerns the properties of temporal distribution of akratic decision’s consequences and the prospective attitudes that motivate agents to make those decisions. Also, the structure of these distributions, along with the devaluation of the future, allows us to explain, clearly and simply, why weakness of will is irrational. We discuss the hypothesis that this devaluation of the future is due to a pure temporal preference and we mention a number of critical elements and rival hypothesis more in keeping with a cognitive approach to the problem.

The advent of digital typography has seen the printed letter permeate many aspects of our world, due to its function as the visual manifestation of verbal language. However, few scientific researchers have paid attention to these innocuous and ubiquitous characters. Furthermore, existing typeface research has generally been divided into two strands: For nearly ninety years, communicators (writing, marketing, business, and design professionals) have made attempts to investigate how typefaces of different classes and styles might indicate different personalities to the viewer, and explored the notion of typeface appropriateness. More recently, psychologists have taken advantage of word processing software to manipulate perceptual fluency by changing the fonts of different documents, finding several interesting effects. In this study, two experiments were conducted, with the aim of acknowledging and synthesizing both lines of inquiry. In Experiment 1, a restaurant menu was printed with either an easy-to-read, fluent font or a difficult-to-read, disfluent font. It was expected that reading the disfluent font would influence participants’ (n = 110) choices from the menu as well as certain judgments about the dishes. However, there was only one significant effect, whereby participants who read the disfluent font expected to enjoy their chosen dessert less than those who read the fluent font. In Experiment 2, participants (n = 94) judged a person of the opposite sex using the Big Five Inventory, a measure of human personality. The target photograph was paired with a name set in one of two fonts (familiar and unfamiliar). Female participants rated the target higher on the factor of Openness when the name was printed in the novel font. The results of the current study indicate that to some extent, document designers may safely continue selecting typefaces through intuition, and do not necessarily need the supplementation of additional empirical research.

The municipalities in Sweden can use the PBL-legislation to request a land developer to fund new public infrastructure in the dwelling area where the developer are active. The municipality have had two options to choose between. To purchase a contract with an entrepreneur that build the infrastructure paid by the developer, or let the developer both build and pay the infrastructure. The La Scala-judgment came 2001 from the EG-tribunal. This judgment have by many people been interpreted as that as public infrastructure in Sweden should be purchased by the municipalities through LOU. Therefore, the purpose of this report is to discuss how the land development process has changed and which problems that have arisen since 2010, when it became customary that the municipality should procure public streets and sewage facilities under the Swedish Public Procurement Act (“LOU”). The purpose is also to discuss if this way to proceed satisfies the purpose of LOU and also discuss if their can be any alternative interpretations of the La Scalajudgment than have been done so far for Swedish conditions. The questions that became a consequence of the purpose where answered as follow in the report: Changes Today, the general rule is that the municipality is to purchase all public streets itself in the land development process. This rule has replaced the freedom of choosing whether to do so, that previously existed. Necessary land transfers take place today at an early stage of the process, often when the zoning plan becomes valid, as compared to before when it took place late in the land development process. Problems Some problems have arisen in cases when the municipality procures. This leads to the conclusion that the land development process today has become more risky, significantly more expensive, and that it takes longer time before the houses are ready for occupants to move in to, than previously was the case. To what extent does this new procedure implement LOU’s purpose? LOU's purpose, to get an effectively use of tax money, is not fulfilled by this procedure because the municipalities do not have any expenditures, which means that there are no funds which can be considered “effectively used”. As the municipality has no cost, it is questionable whether it really is to the municipality that an entrepreneur sells his services, rather than to the land developer paying for the services. Overall, this means that the purpose is probably not fulfilled by this new procedure. In what situations can the LOU procedure be questioned? The consequences of LOU can be questioned where it leads to major problems that would not occur if the legislation was more flexible. An example of this is when there is a lone land developer, who builds on his own property. If the municipality procures this, as happens today, problems arise in terms of money, time and coordination problems. This because it is more efficient if the developer that are already active in the area build all necessary infrastructure. Can any other interpretations of the La Scala-judgment and it´s relationship to the Swedish development process be found? One alternative interpret is that the municipal should use LOU on this kind of contracts when there is a risk that the municipal lose financial resources if they don´t do it. In the Italian development process there is always a risk that the municipal lose financial resources if they don´t purchase the contracts. The Swedish land development legislation are structured so the municipality never take a risk to lose financial recourses if they let the developer build everything in the area and therefore the municipality never can lose financial recourses in these cases. The Swedish municipalities don’t get any advantages if they use LOU here because the developer pays the real cost for all parts of the contract. Therefore, LOU is irrelevant in this part of the development process. / I Sverige kan en kommun med stöd av PBL begära att en exploatör ska bekosta utbyggnad av allmänna platser där exploatören bygger nya bostadsområden. Kommunen har historiskt haft två utförandealternativ att välja mellan. Man har haft möjlighet att själv upphandla en entreprenör med LOU som bygger och som bekostas av exploatören eller låta exploatören både bygga och bekosta anläggningarna. År 2001 kom en dom från EG-domstolen som av många tolkats som att allmänna platser ska upphandlas via LOU av kommunen. Som en konsekvens har det de senaste åren skett en övergång där kommunen idag som huvudregel tillämpar LOU på utbyggnad av allmänna platser. Syftet är därför att diskutera hur exploateringsprocessen har förändrats och vilka problem som uppstått sedan 2010 då kommuner som en konsekvens av La Scala-domen upphandlar allmänna platser enligt LOU. Syftet är även att diskutera om detta förfarande uppfyller LOU:s syfte och om det finns några alternativa tolkningar av La Scala-domen än dem som hittills gjorts i Sverige. De frågor som följde på syftet besvaras i rapporten enligt följande Förändringar Huvudregeln är idag att kommunen ska upphandla alla allmänna gator själv i exploateringsprocessen istället för som tidigare när det som huvudregel var exploatören som upphandlade dessa. Erforderliga marköverföringar sker idag i ett tidigt skede, ofta i samband med att detaljplanen vinner laga kraft, istället för som tidigare när det skedde i slutet av exploateringsprocessen. Problem Det finns risk för problem som tidigare inte funnits i lika stor utsträckning när kommunen upphandlar. Exempel är samordningsproblem och tidsproblem. Dessa leder sammanfattningsvis till att exploateringsprocessen idag riskerar att bli dyrare samt att det tar längre tid innan husen står inflyttningsklara än vad fallet var tidigare. Hur väl uppfyller detta nya förfarande LOU:s syfte? LOU:s syfte, att få ett effektivt utnyttjande av skattemedel, uppfylls inte eftersom det i dessa fall saknas skattemedel att få ett effektivt utnyttjande av. Syftet att alla företag ska ha möjlighet att sälja sin tjänst till kommunen kan starkt ifrågasättas eftersom det är exploatören som betalar för upphandlingen. I vilka situationer kan LOU-förfarandet ifrågasättas? De situationer där LOU-förfarandet kan ifrågasättas är där det uppstår stora problem som inte skulle uppstå om lagstiftningen medgav flexibilitet. Ett exempel på detta är de fall där det är en ensam exploatör som bygger på sin egen fastighet. Om kommunen upphandlar allmän gata, så som sker idag, uppstår problem i termer av pengar, tid och samordningsproblem eftersom det är mer effektivt att den exploatör som redan är verksam i området bygger all nödvändig infrastruktur. Finns alternativa tolkningar av La Scala-domen och dess förhållande till den svenska exploateringsprocessen? En alternativ tolkning är att kommuner ska upphandla den här typen an entreprenader i de fall kommunen kan förlora ekonomiska medel på att inte göra det. Så som den italienska exploateringsprocessen är uppbyggd finns alltid en risk att italienska kommuner gör en förlust i ekonomiska termer i de fall man väljer att inte upphandla infrastruktur offentligt. I Sverige är exploateringslagstiftningen däremot utformad så att kommunen aldrig tar någon ekonomisk risk och därför inte kan förlora ekonomiska medel i de fall man låter en exploatör upphandla en entreprenör. Kommunen har i det svenska fallet inte något att vinna på en offentlig upphandling eftersom det är exploatören som betalar den faktiska kostnaden. Offentlig upphandling saknar därför relevans och betydelse i den här delen av exploateringsprocessen.

Hannah Arendt argues that political action is only meaningful through the disclosure of who the actor uniquely is, and that this disclosure is the basis of human dignity. Arendt’s notion of performative disclosure helps us to rethink the individuated actor, not as a sovereign and self-transparent subject whose action expresses an authentic individual essence or constative what, but rather as a decentered and ecstatic who whose action reveals meaningful dimensions of the world and of the actor’s unique situation in history, through the performance of acts and speech before public spectators. The idea that no actor can stand in a position of control with respect to his life story extends to a critical displacement of the notion of freedom understood as sovereignty and of political projects that attempt to make history. Action, as praxis and not poiesis, is best understood through Arendt’s metaphor of performance, rather than productive art. There are new interpretive possibilities for Arendt’s theory of action, especially if we trace appearances of the ancient Greek daimon in Arendt’s publications and lecture notes, and among works that Arendt confronted: Plato’s Socratic dialogues and the myth of Er, Heidegger’s notion of aletheia as Dasein’s disclosure of Being, Jaspers’ valid personality, and Kant’s notion of aesthetic genius. The daimon implies that the public realm is a spiritual realm, that action is a form of connection to the divine, and that the actor is a decentered discloser of transcendent meanings and new possibilities within the world. The daimon also shows moral deliberation to be more vital to meaningful action than Arendt suggests prior to The Life of the Mind, so that the distinctions usually read in Arendt between actor and spectator, as well as those between acting, thinking, and judging, may be productively occluded. Arendt’s struggle to re-invigorate action’s disclosive capacity is at the center of her entire project. It sheds light on her critique of the world-alienating aspects of Marx, her insistent protection of a distinct political sphere from the private and the social spheres, and her rejection of Hegel’s philosophy of history in favor of a fragmentary historiography inspired by Kafka and Benjamin.

本研究旨在探究康德與孟子對於「道德判斷之根據」的論述。首先討論康德在前批判時期的道德思考歷程，發現其思考兼具理性主義和經驗主義之色彩。但到了〈論感性世界與智思世界的形式及其原則〉一文發表，康德已經確立兩重世界觀，將倫理學領域歸屬在智思世界。在批判時期，康德明確地以「道德法則」為核心，而將其視為倫理學上最後的評斷規準，其中，康德談論了諸多人類不同的心智狀態，俱是其論道德判斷之根據的不同說法。復次，在孟子哲學方面，本研究將其定位在「一接續人心與他者、萬物、天地間之歷程」。第三，關於康德與孟子之對比下，本研究以兩種模式作為對比之進路：一是「文化類型」；另一是「生活世界」，結果指出，可以「基督宗教倫理觀影響」和「存有的相契與連續性」作為兩者道德思考的關鍵性因素。基於以上所述，本研究嘗試說明康德與孟子哲學之道德教育意義及其限制性。 / This thesis studies the ground of moral judgment of Immanuel Kant and Mencius. I'll divide it into three parts. In the first part, I attempt to explicate the process of moral thinking of Immanuel Kant in his pre-critical period. In this period, it is proved that both idealism and empiricism are included in his thinking. After the paper On the Form and Principles of the Sensible and the Intelligible World (Kant, 1770) was presented, Immanuel Kant firmly established the theory, dualism of world, in which the sphere of ethics is classified under an intelligible world. After that, in his critical period, the moral law is much emphasized and considered the last standard for ethic judgment. Besides, it is also indicated that there are many different states of human mind underpinning the distinct statements of what the ground of moral judgment is. In the second part, the moral thinking of Mencius is under discussion. Mencius argues that there is a process of human mind connecting others, all things on earth and heaven and earth. In the third part, I try to compare Immanuel Kant with Mencius by two approaches: “cultural type” and “life-world.” The conclusion is drawn that the impact of ethical viewpoints of the Christian religion and the connection and continuity of being are the crucial factors in their moral thinking. Therefore, on the basis of the mentioned above, the implication and limitation of moral education of Immanuel Kant and Mencius are explained.

How do experienced lenders make decisions? This dissertation addresses this question by investigating judgment and decision-making behavior of loan officers in banks as well as credit managers in supplying companies. The dissertation applies an integrated economic-psychological perspective and consists of seven parts: a comprehensive literature review and six separate empirical papers. Reviewed areas are research on judgment and decision-making (JDM), research on expert decision-makers, and earlier empirical work on experienced lenders. The six papers shed light on: (1) desirable personal attributes of expert credit analysts; (2) the use of software to track JDM behavior; (3) differences between novices' and experienced loan officers' JDM behavior; (4) the relationships between information acquisition, risk attitude, and experience; (5) attitudes towards credit decision support systems; and (6) attitudes towards requesting collateral. Employed methods were in-depth interviews, a nation-wide survey, and a computer-based experiment.On the whole, the empirical findings give an ambiguous picture of the alleged superiority of experienced lenders' judgment and decision-making behavior. On the one hand, experienced lenders seem to be capable, careful, and conscious of their responsibility. On the other hand, they tend to disagree and make contradictory judgments and decisions. The applied perspective and methodology are not only aimed at providing better insights into how experienced lenders make decisions, but can also stimulate future research on how professionals in other domains than credit granting make decisions. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk., 2001

Doctor of Philosophy / The aim of the research presented in this thesis was to come to a deeper understanding of clinical decision making from within the interpretive paradigm. The project draws on ideas from a number of schools of thought which have the common emphasis that the interpretive use of language is at the core of all human activity. This research project studied settings where health professionals and medical students engage in clinical decision making in groups. Settings included medical students participating in problem-based learning tutorials and a team of health professionals working in a multidisciplinary clinic. An underlying assumption of this project was that in such group settings, where health professionals are required to articulate their clinical reasoning for each other, the individuals involved are likely to have insights that could reveal the nature of clinical decision making. Another important assumption of this research is that human activities, such as clinical reasoning, take place in cultural contexts, are mediated by language and other symbol systems, and can be best understood when investigated in their historical development. Data were gathered by interviews of medical students and health professionals working in the two settings, and by non-participant observation. Data analysis and interpretation revealed that clinical decision making is primarily a social and linguistic skill, acquired by participating in communities of practice called health professions. These communities of practice have their own subculture including the language game called clinical decision making which includes an interpretive repertoire of specific language tools and skills. New participants to the profession must come to embody these skills under the guidance of more capable members of the profession, and do so by working through many cases. The interpretive repertoire that health professionals need to master includes skills with words, categories, metaphors, heuristics, narratives, rituals, rhetoric, and hermeneutics. All these skills need to be coordinated, both in constructing a diagnosis and management plan and in communicating clinical decisions to other people, in a manner that can be judged as intelligible, legitimate, persuasive, and carrying the moral authority for subsequent action.

Thesis (DPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Après une introduction historique sur l'évolution du système de la CEDH, cette thèse s'intéresse au thème des «violations structurelles» dans la jurisprudence de la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme en raison d'un contexte de crise de la CEDH, essentiellement dûe à une charge de travail excessive. Les violations structurelles ne sont certes pas un phénomène nouveau dans l'histoire de la Convention et dans la jurisprudence internationale des droits de l’homme, en particulier celle de la Cour interaméricaine des droits de l'homme. C'est pourquoi ce thème permet d'aborder plusieurs questions de taille : l'exécution des arrêts de la Cour européenne dans les ordres juridiques internes, l'avenir du système de la CEDH et encore la nature «constitutionnelle» de la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme. L'ensemble de cette recherche met en évidence la tension récente entre «justice individuelle» et «justice collective» à la lumière du débat sur la «constitutionnalisation» du droit européen des droits de l'homme, dont le thème représente ici le fil conducteur. / After an historical introduction on the evolution of the ECHR system, this thesis deals with the theme of "structural violations" in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in the context of the crisis of the ECHR, principally due to an excessive workload. Structural violations are not a new phenomenon in the history of the Convention and in the jurisprudence of international human rights, especially that of the Inter-American Court. The theme is therefore an opportunity to tackle key issues: the European Court's execution of judgements in internal legal orders, the future of the ECHR system, but also the "constitutional" nature of the European Court of Human Rights. All of this highlights the recent tension between "individual justice" and "collective justice" in the debate on the "constitutionalization" of European Human Rights Law, which is here the common thread. / Dopo un’introduzione storica sull’evoluzione del sistema CEDU, il lavoro affronta il tema delle « violazioni strutturali » nella giurisprudenza della Corte europea dei diritti dell’uomo, nel quadro della crisi del modello CEDU, dovuta principalmente all’eccessivo carico di lavoro. Si tratta di un fenomeno non nuovo nella storia della Convenzione e nella giurisprudenza internazionale dei diritti umani, specie in quella della Corte interamericana. Il tema rappresenta inoltre lo spunto per affrontare questioni problematiche: il profilo dell’esecuzione delle sentenze della Corte europea negli ordinamenti interni, il futuro dello stesso sistema CEDU e la natura “costituzionale” della Corte EDU. Tutto questo evidenzia anche la recente tensione tra “giustizia individuale” e “giustizia collettiva”, nell’ambito del dibattito sulla “costituzionalizzazione” del diritto europeo dei diritti dell’uomo, fil rouge dell’intera trattazione.