1,573 research outputs found
Pietro Verri’s Contribution to the Economic Theory of the 18th Century: Commercial Society, Civil Society and Governance of the Economy
No full text'Count Pietro Verri (1728-97) - Schumpeter writes (History, p. 178) - - would have to be included in any list of the greatest economists'. Within the Milanese school, he certainly stands out, alongside with Cesare Beccaria, during one of the most interesting periods from a history of analysis point of view. Luigi Cossa's famous introduction to the study of political economy rates Pietro Verri to be inferior to Beccaria in ingenuity and scientific cultivation, but greatly to be ahead of him as an economist.1 This judgement by Cossa, in particular, seems to echo the relative position of the two men in the history of ideas, particularly after Beccaria's rise to fame with a book - On crimes and punishments - which had in fact been largely inspired by Verri himself and defended by him.2 It is proposed in the present paper to revisit some of the basic tenets of Pietro Verri's political economy, with more in view than dwell on specific intuitions and theorems: namely relate those to Verri's own - quite original - conception of the economy. The scholarly work of Pietro Verri - with a special reference to his Meditazioni sulla economia politica of 1771 - provides the first systematic contribution stemming from the quarters of Lombard enlightenment in the field of political economy, especially so if one considers that Cesare Beccaria's parallel work - namely his Elementi di economia pubblica, conceived and drafted at the same time as Verri's Meditazioni - would only be published posthumously several years later. From the vantage point afforded by Verri's political economy, we gain a considerably attractive view of the most significant elements and characteristic concepts of Lombard enlightenment during the latter half of the 18th century; Verri, moreover, as we shall see, builds on a number of them in a new and original way. This paper is aimed at discussing Verri's political economy mainly along two distinct, but related, lines. In the first place the conception of commercial society is considered such as it is treated by the author particularly in his Meditazioni. In this perspective the analysis of such issues as competition and the market or money and taxation occupy a central place. Secondly it will be necessary to emphasise that Verri's approach has little to do either with forms of pure economics on one side - largely yet to be born throughout the 18th century - or, on the other side, with such conceptions of the polis - contrariwise well alive among his own contemporaries - as are founded on a sovereign authority conceived to be situated above the law. What Verri's political economy ultimately amounts to is an economic conception of civil society. The latter has natural strong connections with his own fact-mindedness - emphasised by Schumpeter - as well as with his deep practical involvement in administrative affairs and in the reforming process taking place during the latter half of the 18th century in Milan. In our view, a thorough investigation along the mentioned lines is the precondition for an understanding of the intellectual stature and of the scholarly contribution of Pietro Verri. His main ground is distinctly analytical and only by appreciating his analysis is it possible to shed light on the meaning and intellectual significance also of his practical contributions. Moreover Verri's pronouncements on the criticism of despotic government, the relevance of intermediate powers or bodies and on multiple levels of governance will be examined in a new and original light, showing how close they are to the gist of his analysis.
Embodied Mentalization – The Case of Human Movement in the Rorschach
No full textHuman movement responses (M) to the Rorschach Test have been retained in all coding systems and captivated clinicians and researchers for over a century. M seems to rest both in the card and in the subject and neither completely in the blot nor in the mind. Neurobiological and clinical studies as well as meta-Analytic evidence show that M is not a one-dimensional code only but a complex, multidetermined class of neuropsychological mechanisms embedding constructs such as the mirror neuron system, embodied cognition, mentalization, and referential activity. The recent generative predictive model of perception offers a new angle for conceiving M as an affordance that is balanced between high precision of the sensory signal (perceptual processing of blot features) and stored knowledge or internal mental images of self and others (priors). Within this conceptual framework, this study suggests a novel perspective for M based on the four gradients of levels of embodied mentalization, M frequency, M complexity, and level of reality testing
A MULTI-CONTRIBUTORS DATABASE FOR ALL ASPECTS OF THE BIOLOGY AND CONTROL OF THE DIASPIDIDAE.
No full textA MULTI-CONTRIBUTORS DATABASE FOR ALL ASPECTS OF THE BIOLOGY AND CONTROL OF THE DIASPIDIDAE.
No full textConstruct validity of Rorschach variables for alexithymia
No full textThe construct validity of Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS) variables theoretically linked to alexithymia was evaluated in 92 outpatients with inflammatory bowel disease, 32 of whom were categorized as alexithymic, 15 as indeterminate-alexithymic, and 45 as nonalexithymic, on the basis of Toronto Alexithymia Scale scores. Six sets of Rorschach CS marker variables were selected for analysis: fantasy, affect, adaptive resources, cognition, social adaptation, and projection. Most variables significantly differentiated the three groups. Compared with the other groups, alexithymic subjects were more likely to show an impoverished fantasy life, poorly adapted emotional expression, poor coping resources, concrete and stereotypical thinking, and social conformity with compromised relationships
Non-fearful panic disorder in gastroenterology
No full textBackground: Nonfearful panic disorder (NFPD) is a panic condition masked under the appearance of somatic symptoms only, without the component of fear, and it represents a challenging diagnostic task. Method: This is the first case report of NFPD in a male patient with acute gastric pain and gastrointestinal disease (atrophic gastritis and H. pylori infection). Results: The patient showed atypical panic symptoms and demoralization on the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research screening. He was successfully treated with anti-panic medication and cognitive -behavioral therapy. Discussion: The case report shows that accurate psychosomatic assessment may help clinicians avoid diagnostic delay, prevent the administration of unnecessary medications, and give patients more appropriate treatment. © 2008 The Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine
About twin primes and distribution of primes
No full textThis paper give us a demonstration of twin primes conjecture using approximation of function �(iupsilon) that we introduce in section 6. Section 1-5 give us introduction to terminology and a clarification on (iupsilon) terms. In particular section
5 is really important because of its Lemma. Section 7 reassume foregoing explanations and it give us two theorems and one corollary;the theorem 7.2 give us exact approximation of twin primes counting function
Rorschach Human Movement and Psychotherapy: Relationship with the Therapist’s Emotional Responses
No full textThe emotional responses of psychotherapists to their patients, known as countertransference, can yield valuable insights into the patient’s psychological functioning. Albeit from a different perspective, the Rorschach test also provides information about the patient’s psychological processes. In particular, the Rorschach human movement response (M) has been shown to be a useful measure of higher-level psychological functioning. In an attempt to bridge these two largely different perspectives, the aim of this study was to explore the association between M responses in the Rorschach protocols of psychotherapy patients and emotional responses exhibited by their therapists. To this end, a convenience sample of 149 outpatients were administered the Rorschach according to the Comprehensive System, and their therapists completed the Therapist Response Questionnaire. Through a series of regression models, controlling for response style, response complexity, and degree of psychopathology, M demonstrated a significant association with the therapists’ emotional responses. A lower number of M responses was associated with the therapists’ feelings of disengagement, and a higher number of M responses was associated with the therapists’ feelings of being more involved with the patient. Taken together, these results suggest a potential relationship between the number of M responses the respondent gives in the Rorschach and the subsequent development of the therapeutic alliance between the respondent and their therapist
Integrating the SWAP and Rorschach composite measures for exploring psychopathological patterns of mental functioning
No full textThis study addressed the exploration of a multimethod psychodynamic assessment and its relation to psychopathological patterns. The study applies the Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure (SWAP; Shedler, J., & Westen, D., 2006, Personality diagnosis with Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure (SWAP): Bridging the gulf between science and practice. In P. D. M. Task Force (Ed.), Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (pp. 573–613). Silver Spring, MD: Alliance of Psychoanalytic Organizations.) and three composite Rorschach measures to a sample of 72 outpatients with various Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Axis I diagnoses (American Psychiatric Association, 2000, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–IV–TR). Washington, DC: Author.): The Ego Impairment Index (EII-2; Viglione, D. J., Perry, W., & Meyer, G. J., 2003, Refinements in the Rorschach Ego Impairment Index incorporating the Human Representational Variable. Journal of Personality Assessment, 81, 149–156. doi:10.1207/S15327752JPA8102_06), measuring maladaptive ego functions; and two derivations of the Reality-Fantasy Scale (RFS; Tibon, S., Handelzalts, J. E., & Weinberger, Y., 2005. Using the Rorschach for exploring the concept of transitional space within the political context of the Middle East. International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 2, 40–57. doi:10.1002/aps.30): the RFS-P, measuring proneness to fantasy (lowered negative scores) as compared to concrete thinking (elevated positive scores); and the RFS-S, measuring dissociative proneness. Consistent with the literature, in this study, the multimethod assessment revealed modest unilinear associations, if any, between each of the Rorschach indices and the SWAP scales. However, regression analyses showed that the joint use of the EII-2 and the RFS-P explained a substantial portion of the variance in the SWAP scales that indicate inhibition and avoidance (obsessive personality disorder score and Avoidant Q factor, respectively). Furthermore, when used with the RFS-S, the EII-2 was able to significantly explain variance in the SWAP scales that indicate interpersonal detachment (schizotypal personality disorder score and Schizoid Q factor). The implications of these results for clinical practice will be discussed
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