Associationism

Uncorreted proofDefines "associationism" and discusses historical and contemporary issues with associationist explanation

The Olson - Putnam Controversy: Some Empirical Evidence

This paper explores the causal link between associationism and general trust. First we study the principal components that constitute social capital. Then we contrast a structural model identifying the relations between the relevant variables in the so-called Olson-Putnam aporia. The results of the empirical test on the determinants of social capital allow us to conclude that the extension of horizontal networks maintains a direct relation with this form of capital, but not those of vertical type.Associationism Olson-Putnam controversy Social Capital Trust.

Une approche de la théorie institutionnelle à la réglementation de l'audit légale et statutaire

En tant que cadre d'analyse, la théorie institutionnelle a été utilisée pour expliquer les différentes manières que les organisations développent et évoluent à travers le temps, en réponse à différents types de pressions institutionnelles. Cet article contribue à la littérature de la théorie institutionnelle de plusieurs façons. Tout d'abord, l'objet de l'étude est sur les récents changements dans les structures de régulation de l'audit légale et statutaire, une fonction importante dans le capitalisme contemporain. Deuxièmement, nous étendons la théorie institutionnelle par le biais d'une analyse comparative internationale des changements dans les structures de réglementation de l'audit légale et statutaire aux Etats-Unis, la France et le Canada. Troisièmement, d'une manière analogue à Dillard et al. (2004), nous étendons la théorie institutionnelle à travers une plus grande focalisation sur les aspects politiques de changement institutionnel en ce qui concerne la réglementation de l'audit légale et statutaire. Notre constat est qu'il y a eu des changements significatifs dans les structures de réglementation de l'audit légale et statutaire au cours des dernières années, entraînant une augmentation des niveaux d'isomorphisme institutionnel. Pressions, surtout à l'extérieur de cadres réglementaires nationaux, ont abouti à un plus grand légalisme dans la régulation de l'audit légale et statutaire dans les trois pays étudiés. La mondialisation des marchés de capitaux internationaux explique en partie ce phénomène, mais l'isomorphisme coercitif et isomorphisme mimétique sont également considérés comme jouant un rôle important dans ce processus.Audit légale et statutaire; réglementation; la théorie institutionnelle

Information Processing, Computation and Cognition

Computation and information processing are among the most fundamental notions in cognitive science. They are also among the most imprecisely discussed. Many cognitive scientists take it for granted that cognition involves computation, information processing, or both – although others disagree vehemently. Yet different cognitive scientists use ‘computation’ and ‘information processing’ to mean different things, sometimes without realizing that they do. In addition, computation and information processing are surrounded by several myths; first and foremost, that they are the same thing. In this paper, we address this unsatisfactory state of affairs by presenting a general and theory-neutral account of computation and information processing. We also apply our framework by analyzing the relations between computation and information processing on one hand and classicism and connectionism/computational neuroscience on the other. We defend the relevance to cognitive science of both computation, at least in a generic sense, and information processing, in three important senses of the term. Our account advances several foundational debates in cognitive science by untangling some of their conceptual knots in a theory-neutral way. By leveling the playing field, we pave the way for the future resolution of the debates’ empirical aspects

Social Capital, Institutions and Collective Action Between Firms

This work is based on the hypothesis that explanation of collective action between firms requires partly different variables from that used in explaining collective action between individuals. In order to look at the problem of what determines collective action, a model has been built using alongside social capital, the historical tradition of collective action and the activism of institutional actors as explicative variables of associationism between firms. The empirical results confirm the theoretical hypotheses put forward in the first part of the paper. First, social capital, institutional activism and experience accumulation, all together, enhance the propensity to collective action between firms. Each variable plays a significant role in explaining inter-firm co-operation. Secondly, these variables, however, affect the behaviour of small firms while the large ones appear to follow a different pattern of conduct. Thirdly, the empirical findings seem also to suggest that social capital and institutional proactive initiative produce synergic effects on collective action. The two variables reinforce each other in their effects on co-operation. Finally, the positive correlation between social capital and institutional initiative emerging from the empirical results suggests that an increase in the endowment of social capital tends to rise the level of institutional activity and the other way round.social capital, economic institutions, firms co-operation

Thought Stopping

Excerpt: A behavioral technique used to help persons troubled by recurring uncontrolled thoughts and worries. Examples include obsessive rumination about cleanliness that persists even after careful washing, excessive fear of riding in automobiles or planes, and extreme fearfulness about being robbed or assaulted

Kaila's Reception of Hume

In this paper, I discuss Eino Kaila's (1890-1958) understanding of David Hume. Kaila was one of the leading Finnish philosophers of the 20th century and a correspondent of the Vienna Circle. He introduced logical empiricism into Finland and taught Georg Henrik von Wright. Final draf

Unconscious Rationalization, or: How (Not) to Think about Awfulness and Death

Many contemporary epistemologists take rational inference to be a conscious action performed by the thinker (Boghossian 2014; 2018; Valaris 2014; Malmgren 2018). It is tempting to think that rational evaluability requires responsibility, which in turn requires conscious action. In that case, unconscious cognition involves merely associative or otherwise arational processing. This paper argues instead for deep rationalism: unconscious inference often exhibits the same rational status and richly structured logical character as conscious inference. The central case study is rationalization, in which people shift their attitudes in logically structured, reason-responsive ways in response to evidence of their own incompetence or immorality. These attitude shifts are irrational in a way that reflects on the thinker. Thus rationally evaluable inference extends downward into the unconscious. Many take the sole aim of belief to be truth (Velleman 2000) or knowledge (Williamson 2000), but the prevalence of rationalization suggests that belief updating often aims instead at preserving our positive conceptions of ourselves—that is, belief updating is part of a psychological immune system (Gilbert 2006; Mandelbaum 2019). This paper argues that the psychological immune system comprises a suite of distinct cognitive mechanisms, some (ir)rational and some arational, which are united by a common function of avoiding the maladaptive predomination of negative affect and maintaining stable motivation. Other aspects of the psychological immune system include (i) a domain-general positive bias in evaluative attitudes and (ii) “terror management,” i.e., the systematic strengthening of meaning-conferring beliefs to avoid death anxiety. The multiplicity of processes underlying the psychological immune system point toward an irrational but adaptive function of cognition to keep us motivated in a world rife with negativity and death