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{font-family:Garamond; panose-1:2 2 4 4 3 3 1 1 8 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:9.0pt; margin-left:0cm; text-align:justify; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Garamond","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:SV;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family:"Tms Rmn"; mso-hansi-font-family:"Tms Rmn";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <mce:style><! /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} --> <!--[endif]--> In The Myth of the Rational Voter, Bryan Caplan concludes that irrational public opinion leads to bad policies, that are overall bad for the country and the citizens. By irrational public opinion, he essentially means that people have opinions that are plain wrong. By taking a stand against the government based on these faulty opinions, the government is forced to adopt bad policies, in order to stay in power. By looking at four different cases, I attempt to see if the situation can be deemed to be similar in Sweden, albeit with a different approach to what is rational, than the one used by Caplan. The question I ask is if irrational public opinion forces the government to adopt bad policies? I expand the view of rationality from the economic view to be more considerate of other factors and priorities that are very much part of everyday life. The emphazis is on the gathering of information, which is facilitated by widespread access to the Internet and relatively high levels of education. The aspect of leadership, or the possible lack thereof, is also considered. The examined issues are; The new law about communication surveillance (FRA-lagen), the lowered limit on health insurance, the changes in unemployment compensation and the vote to enter the European Monetary Union. While it can be seen that there were likely arguments antagonistic to the viewpoint of the government, they are unlikely to have had any major effect. Instead, the protests that were possibly of any consequence, were typically well-informed, from sources that we would expect to be familiar with the issue at heart. As for leadership, it is more often than not the case that the intentions are good, but the “sales-effort” is lacking. In some aspects, we might even claim that the government failed at its job. Ultimately, the conclusion we reach is more optimistic than the one Bryan Caplan reached. While it is true that this might be mainly because we use different definitions of rationality and different sources of evidence (and examine different countries), it does not serve to undermine the result. Despite the fact that the cases were chosen on the basis that they were likely to prove the existence of irrationality, they did not.

Le problème de la duperie de soi constitue un défi majeur pour toute théorie de la rationalité, attendu que le sujet qui se dupe lui-même semble adhérer à une croyance illusoire tout en étant conscient de son caractère illusoire. C’est en tout cas ce que prétend la tradition « intentionnaliste » qui domine parmi les philosophes (Sartre, Davidson, Pears, Talbott, Scott-Kakures, Bermudez), qui tend à décrire la duperie de soi comme un acte intentionnel dont l’agent serait entièrement responsable. Nous soutenons au contraire une conception dite « émotionnaliste » selon laquelle la duperie de soi est un phénomène sub-intentionnel et involontaire d’illusion cognitive qui trouve son explication dans l’influence des émotions sur notre faculté de juger. Cela nous amène à développer une théorie « cognitivo-hédonique » des émotions qui vise à rendre compte du rôle que jouent ces dernières non seulement dans la naissance des croyances irrationnelles, mais même des actions irrationnelles (acrasia). / Self-deception poses a notable challenge for any theory of rationality, given that the self-deceiver appears to embrace a deceptive belief knowing of it’s deceptive nature. This is at least what is claimed by those who hold an « intentionalist » account (Sartre, Davidson, Pears, Talbott, Scott-Kakures, Bermudez), who tend to portray self-deception as an intentional act for which the self-deceiver should be held accountable. Instead, I hold a so-called « emotionalist » account according to which self-deception is a sub-intentional and involuntary process of cognitive illusion which stems from the influence our emotions may insidiously exert on our cognitive faculties, and thereby on our judgments. That leads me to develop a « cognitive-hedonic » theory of emotions with the purpose of showing how exactly our emotions are capable of inducing not only irrational beliefs, but even irrational actions (acrasia).

The focus of this study is marketing and consumer behavior. The research is done within context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The theoretical framework is based on theories about hoarding and irrational purchase decisions. Further on theories from other areas, such as psychology, has been added to gain a more thorough understanding of the subject. The study is conveyed through a web-based survey distributed on social media where the researchers used their own social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram to find the respondents, as the study is based on social media users. The pandemic also caused restrictions in what ways the research could be executed. The result of the questionnaire cannot support either of the hypotheses that stress, worry and trust for information conveyed through different media and authorities influences consumers to make more irrational purchase decisions. One explanation could be that the respondents do not believe hoarding is considered irrational, due to the fact there is an ongoing crisis. Another explanation for this is that the respondents could have had a social desirability bias due to our research approach. This creates a possibility to expand this research with a different approach, presumably through observations. The reason to claim social desirability bias as a crucial factor is that there has been scarcity of products in stores, which became a real problem due to some consumers having bought more than needed. Another explanation for not achieving the results intended could be that the results cannot be generalized to a greater population due to the sampling method used. Through the empirical background and theoretical framework, it becomes evident that there are problems with irrational purchasing decisions and hoarding due to crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. This study produces indications for future research to continue upon. This thesis is written in Swedish. / Den här studien sätter fokus på konsumentbeteende som en del av marknadsföring och forskningen utförs i kontext till pandemin COVID-19. Genom teorier inom konsumentbeteende under stressfyllda situationer där bunkring (hoarding) förekommit undersöks hur irrationella köpbeslut föranleder detta. Tillsammans med forskning från andra områden, såsom psykologi, presenteras teorier vilka kan skapa en ytterligare förståelse för konsumentbeteende. Studien genomfördes i form av en webbaserad enkätundersökning som distribuerades på Facebook och Instagram via forskarnas egna sociala medier då studien ämnade att nå ut till användare av sociala medier. Dessutom bidrog den rådande pandemin till att tillvägagångssättet begränsades, vilket föranleder metodvalet. Vad som framkommer av studien är att det beteende som genom enkätundersökningen uppgavs av respondenterna inte stödjer de uppsatta hypoteserna om att stress, oro och förtroende för olika medier och myndigheter är något som påverkar konsumenter till att fatta irrationella köpbeslut. Det förklaras med att respondenterna inte ansåg sig ha ett irrationellt beteende, där en möjlig förklaring är att ett bunkringsbeteende inte anses vara irrationellt under kriser. En annan möjlig förklaring till detta är respondenternas partiskhet (bias) att svara på ett sätt som uppfattas vara socialt accepterat (social desirability). Det gör att framtida forskning förslagsvis bör ta sig an dessa frågor genom andra tillvägagångssätt, såsom genom observationer för att undersöka konsumenters faktiska beteende snarare än hur de uppger att de beter sig. Detta eftersom både studiens empiriska bakgrund samt teoretiska referensram tyder på ett problem då irrationella köpbeslut och bunkringsbeteende är något som uppvisats under pandemin COVID-19. De resultat som presenteras går inte att generaliseras till en större population, men studiens resultat ger en indikation på ett beteende som fördelaktigen kan ligga till grund för framtida studier kring konsumentbeteende under kriser.

Ce mémoire s’intéresse au rôle que jouent les deux aspects « irrationnels » de l’âme humaine, l’epithumetikón et le thymoeidês, au sein de la cité platonicienne. Ce qui nous intéresse plus particulièrement est la question de savoir si ces parties de l’âme peuvent être éduquées dans le cadre du programme éducatif octroyé par la cité. Par la suite, nous examinons la philosophie éducative platonicienne telle qu’elle est exposée dans la République et les Lois afin de découvrir si les appétits et les affects peuvent être éduqués dans le cadre d’un programme pédagogique structuré. Notre analyse vise à répondre aux deux questions suivantes : i) si les aspects irrationnels de l’âme sont candidats à recevoir une éducation, de quel type serait-elle ? Et (ii) quel impact aura une telle éducation sur eux ? Bien que la République et les Lois esquissent une paideia qui vise à atteindre un même but (à savoir, produire des citoyens vertueux), lorsque nous analysons sa caractérisation dans chaque dialogue, nous nous apercevons que l’irrationalité ne joue un rôle essentiel que dans les Lois. Notre analyse révélera donc que, dans son ensemble, le programme pédagogique platonicien possède en effet une certaine unité méthodologique : il vise à former les meilleurs citoyens possibles. Or, la République Platon se concentre sur l’aspect « divin » de l’éducation (la formation des meilleurs dirigeants), tandis que dans les Lois le philosophe se penche plutôt sur la possibilité de fournir une éducation plus populaire, adaptée à la mesure de l’humain ; une paideia qui s’adresse à la plus grande partie des citoyens qui composent la Magnésie et les persuade de suivre la loi. Cependant, en dépit de ces particularités, nous conclurons que le parcours musical et gymnique est non seulement l’outil par excellence pour éduquer l’irrationalité, mais aussi le fondement même de toute la paideia platonicienne. / This dissertation examines the role that the two irrational aspects of the human soul, the epithumetikón and the thymoeidês, play in the Platonic City. What interests us is determining whether irrationality can be educated within the framework of the educational program granted by the city or not. To assess this, we will examine Plato’s educational philosophy as outlined in both the Republic and the Laws to clarify whether appetites and affections can be educated. Thus, our analysis seeks to answer the following two questions: (i) if the irrational aspects of the soul are potential candidates for education, what kind of education would this be? Furthermore, (ii) what would be the effect of such an education? Although both the Republic and the Laws outline a paideia that pursues the same goal (namely, to breed virtuous citizens), when analyzing the characterization of this educational program in each dialogue, it seems that irrationality only plays a determining role in the Laws. Therefore, we will claim that while the Platonic educational program possesses a certain methodological unity (for it aims to form the best possible citizens), the latter operates differently in both dialogues: while in the Republic Plato focuses on the “divine” aspect of education (the training of the best leaders), in the Laws he is keener on providing a popular education, one tailored to immediate human needs. A paideia that can indeed appeal and entice the large mass of ordinary citizens who make up Magnesia to follow the law willingly. Following this line of thinking, we will conclude that despite these methodological particularities, music and gymnastics are not only the primary way for educating irrationality, but also the very same foundation of the platonic educational program.

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Die term "volkspoesie" is reeds in die agtiende eeu deur Johann Gottfried Herder gebruik. Dit kom steeds in Europese tale soos Nederlands en Dui ts voor en word oak in Afrikaans gebruik. Belangstelling in die genre word in twee verskillende vakgebiede aangetref: die volkskunde en die letterkunde. Volkspoesie is poesie wat deur 'n individu geskep word, maar soveel aanklank vind by die "gewone publiek" dat hulle dit as 11volksbesit 11 aanvaar en mondel ing oordra. Die oorspronklike skepper raak dus vergete, die kunswerk bestaan anoniem voort en variante ontstaan. Volkspoesie het verskeie verskyningsvorme soos die volkslied( jie), die ballade, rympies en raaisels. Eiesoortige kenmerke is: spontaneiteit, eenvoud, die irrasionele. Alhoewel volkspoesie oor "landsgrense11 heen kan swerf, is bepaalde vorme daarvan dikwels streekgebonde. Nieteenstaande sy bevraagtekening van die term in die vyftigerjare het N.P. van Wyk Louw dit ook self gebruik. Sy gedigreeks 11 Klipwerk uit Nuwe verse (1954) het 'n nuwe belangstelling in volkspoesie gewek. Later het hy die reeks bestempel as 'n "soort volkspoesie wat hy doelbewus wou skep: volksversagtige" gedigte, gebind aan die digter se jeugwereld. D.J. Opperman het in sy proefskrif van 1953 ook ender meer 'n belangstelling in volkspoesie geopenbaar en in 1962 gewys op die volkse in moderne Afrikaanse digkuns. Sy laaste digbundel, Kamas uit 'n bamboesstok ( 1979), word as 'n volksboek met volkspoesie-eienskappe aangebied. Die vorm en eienskappe van volkspoesie vind neerslag in beide Van Wyk Louw en Opperman se werk. Aanvanklik skryf Van Wyk Louw heelwat volksversagtige gedigte en later gebruik hy ook volksballade-eienskappe in sy ballades. Ook in Tristia (1962) kom eienskappe van volksliedjies en rympies voor. Opperman verwerk meermale bestaande volksliedjies en -rympies in sy poesie en gebruik dit betekenisverruimend as verwysingsveld. Die twee digters se belangstelling in volkspoesie het gelei tot 'n verdere ontginning van die "volkse" vers in Afrikaans, onder andere deur digters soos Boerneef, Adam Small en Breyten Breytenbach. Volkskundige navorsing deur P.W. Grobbelaar en andere het in die moderne tyd ook die aandag op hierdie onderwerp gevestig. In die tagtigerjare is mondelinge Afrikaanse poesie selfs deur swartmense in hulle politieke stryd gebruik! / The term "folk-poetry" had already been used by Johann Gottfried Herder in the eighteenth century. It has ever since prevailed in European languages such as Dutch and German and is also found in Afrikaans. Interest in this genre occurs in two different fields of study: folklore and literature. "Folk-poetry" is poetry created by the individual and accepted by the "general public" to a large extent. Therefore it is acknowledged as common property and passed on by word of mouth. The original creator is thus forgotten, the work of art prevails anonymously and different versions come into being. "Folkpoetry" appears in a variety of forms: the folk-song( s), the ballad, rhymes and riddles. Particular characteristics are: spontaneousness, simplicity, the irrational. Although "folkpoetry" may cross "national borders", some forms are often regional. Despite his questioning the term in the fifties, N.P. van Wyk Louw used it himself. His poetry series "Klipwerk" from Nuwe verse (1954) gave rise to a new interest in ''folk-poetry". He afterwards labelled the series as "a kind of folk-poetry" which he deliberately wanted to create: "folksy" poems, relating to the world of the poet's youth. In his 1953 thesis D.J. Opperman also showed amongst others an interest in "folk-poetry" and in 1962 pointed out the "folksy" identity in contemporary Afrikaans poetry. His last anthology, Kamas uit 'n bamboesstok (1979), is presented as a folk book with "folk-poetry" characteristics. The form and characteristics of "folk-poetry" are embedded in both Van Wyk Louw's and Opperman's work. Initially Van Wyk Louw wrote quite a number of "folksy" poems and afterwards also used folk-ballad characteristics in the ballads he wrote. Characteristics of folk-songs and rhymes also occur in Tristia (1962). Opperman adapts existing folk-songs and rhymes in his poetry and uses it as framework to broaden the meaning. These two poets' interest in "folk-poetry" resulted in further exploration of the "folksy" verse in Afrikaans, among others by poets like Boerneef, Adam Small and Breyten Breytenbach. Folk research by P.W. Grobbelaar and others focused attention on this subject. In the eighties even blacks used oral Afrikaans poetry in their political struggle! / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / D. Lit. et Phil. (Afrikaans)

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate whether abnormal return patterns can occur on different share indices, as a result of the outcome in national team matches. The subordinary aim is to investigate whether there are differences between the three share indices, (small-, mid- and large cap) depending on the match category and how it relates regarding the five countries in the study. Method This study has a positivistic and deductive approach, using a modified event study methodology. The event period is one day after the event. For each nation, year and share index, different estimation periods have been created. The study comprises 760 national team football matches and is investigating how each different share index is affected by match outcomes in championship matches, qualifying matches and friendlies. Results Upon compilation of all 760 matches, the result of this study shows a statistically significant impact on two of the three possible match outcomes, regarding small cap index. Furthermore the result also shows a connection between friendly matches and small cap index. The match categories championship matches and qualifying matches demonstrates no connection to the three diffrent kind of share indices. Regarding the different nations, Spain and their small- and large cap index shows the most significant connection between the match outcome and abnormal return. Conclusions The small cap share index is basically the only index that is affected by the all the matches that is involved in this study (after a victory or a loss). The magnitude of a match does not seem to have a greater influence on investor rationality. Over all, the match outcome draw does not lead to negative abnormal return. Of this studys five surveyed countries (England, France, Spain, Sweden and Germany), the english and german share indicies seems to be least likley to be affected by the outcome in national team football matches.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Cette thèse s'inscrit dans le prolongement du résultat d'Apéry donnant l'irrationalité de ζ (3) et de celui de Ball-Rivoal prouvant qu'il existe une infinité d'entiers impairs en lesquels la fonction zêta de Riemann prend des valeurs irrationnelles. Un outil crucial dans la démonstration de Ball-Rivoal est le critère d'indépendance linéaire de Nesterenko, qui a été généralisé par Fischler et Zudilin pour exploiter sous des hypothèses très restrictives la présence de diviseurs communs aux coefficients des formes linéaires. Une généralisation ultérieure due à Fischler s'applique lorsqu'on dispose d'approximations simultanées des nombres réels en question (et non plus de combinaisons Z-linéaires petites de ces nombres).Dans cette thèse, on améliore ce dernier résultat en affaiblissant considérablement les hypothèses sur les diviseurs. On démontre aussi un critère d'indépendance linéaire analogue, dans l'esprit de celui de Siegel. Dans une autre partie en commun avec Zudilin, on construit, en utilisant des identités hypergéométriques, des approximations simultanées de ζ (2) et ζ (3) qui permettent de démontrer en même temps l'irrationalité de ces deux nombres. En appliquant essentiellement le critère démontré précédemment, on en déduit une minoration des combinaisons Z-linéaires de 1, ζ 2) et ζ (3), sous des hypothèses de divisibilité très fortes sur les coefficients (si bien que l'indépendance linéaire sur Q de ces trois nombres est toujours conjecturale). / This Ph.D. thesis lies in the path opened by Apéry who proved the irrationality of ζ(3) andalready followed by Ball-Rivoal who proved that there are infinitely many odd integers at which Riemann zeta function takes irrational values. A fundamental tool in the proof of Ball-Rivoal is Nesterenko’s linear independence criterion. This criterion has been generalized by Fischler and Zudilin to use common divisors of the coefficients of linear forms, under some restrictive assumptions. Then Fischler gave another generalization for simultaneous approximations (instead of small Z-linear combinations).In this Ph.D. thesis, we improve this last result by greatly weakening the assumption on thedivisors. We prove also an analogous linear independence criterion in the spirit of Siegel. Inanother part joint with Zudilin, we construct simultaneous linear approximations to ζ(2) and ζ(3) using hypergeometric identitites. These linear approximations allow one to prove at thesame time the irrationality of ζ(2) and that of ζ(3). Then, using a criterion from the previouspart, we deduce a lower bound on Z-linear combinations of 1, ζ(2) and ζ(3), under somestrong divisibility hypotheses on the coefficients (so that the Q-linear independence of thesethree numbers still remains an open problem).

Diese Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit asymptotischen Syzygien und Gleichungen Abelscher Varietäten, sowie mit deren Anwendung auf zyklische Überdeckungen von Kurven von Geschlecht zwei. Was asymptotischen Syzygien angeht, zeigen wir für beliebige Geradenbündel auf projektiven Schemata: Wenn die asymptotischen Syzygien von Grad p eines Geradenbündels verschwinden, dann ist das Geradenbündel p-sehr ampel. Darüber hinaus verwenden wir die Bridgeland-King-Reid-Haiman Korrespondenz, um zu zeigen, dass dieses Ergebnis auch umgekehrt wahr ist, wenn es um eine glatte Fläche und kleine p geht. Dies dehnt Ergebnisse von Ein-Lazarsfeld und Ein-Lazarsfeld-Yang aus. Wir verwenden unsere Ergebnisse, um zu untersuchen, wie Syzygien verwendet werden können, um den Grad der Irrationalität einer Varietät zu begrenzen. Ferner, beweisen wir eine Vermutung von Gross and Popescu über Abelsche Flächen, deren Ideal durch Quadriken und Kubiken erzeugt wird. Außerdem verwenden wir die projektive Normalität einer Abelschen Fläche, um die Prym Abbildung, die mit zyklischen Überdeckungen von Geschlecht zwei Kurven assoziert ist, zu untersuchen. Wir zeigen, dass das Differential der Abbildung generisch injektiv ist, wenn der Grad der Überdeckung mindestens sieben ist. Wir dehnen damit Ergebnisse von Lange und Ortega aus. Abschließend zeigen wir, dass das Differential genau für bielliptische Überdeckungen nicht injectiv ist. / In this thesis we study asymptotic syzygies of algebraic varieties and equations of abelian surfaces, with applications to cyclic covers of genus two curves. First, we show that vanishing of asymptotic p-th syzygies implies p-very ampleness for line bundles on arbitrary projective schemes. For smooth surfaces we prove that the converse holds, when p is small, by studying the Bridgeland-King-Reid-Haiman correspondence for the Hilbert scheme of points. This extends previous results of Ein-Lazarsfeld and Ein-Lazarsfeld-Yang. As an application of our results, we show how to use syzygies to bound the irrationality of a variety. Furthermore, we confirm a conjecture of Gross and Popescu about abelian surfaces whose ideal is generated by quadrics and cubics. In addition, we use projective normality of abelian surfaces to study the Prym map associated to cyclic covers of genus two curves. We show that the differential of the map is generically injective as soon as the degree of the cover is at least seven, extending a previous result of Lange and Ortega. Moreover, we show that the differentials fails to be injective precisely at bielliptic covers.

The thesis discusses the concept of man in the standard economic thinking. It focuses on a critical evaluation of the selected fundamentals. It presents some possible alternative views which show deficiencies in axiomatics of the main currents of economic modeling. Emphasizing the interdisciplinary connections of knowledge about human thought and behavior the thesis is trying to suggest some directions for further development in the approach to human beings in economics to better reflect their defining natural characteristics. It also mentions some of the manifestations of these characteristics, which can be obtained by drawing on the knowledge of psychology, behavioral economics, neuroeconomics and other disciplines and which are inconsistent with standard models, because they lead to errors and irrationality, implicitly produce bounded rationality or attribute the constitutive importance during the formation of thought to completely different elements. In conclusion, the thesis passes to reflect the position of irrationality in the inner world of human's brain and also in the outside world - the economy.