1. Introduction Over the last 50 years, the theory of rational choice has emerged as the dominant paradigm of quantitative research in the social and economic sciences. The idea that individuals make choices by rationally weighing values and uncertainties (or that they ought to, or at least act as if they do) is central to Bayesian methods of statistical inference and decision analysis; the the...

The life-mind continuity thesis holds that mind is prefigured in life and that mind belongs to life. The biggest challenge faced by proponents of this thesis is to show how an explanatory framework that accounts for basic biological processes can be systematically extended to incorporate the highest reaches of human cognition. We suggest that this apparent „cognitive gap‟ between minimal and hu...

I agree entirely with Nir Eyal’s perspective that denying treatment to obese patients is morally wrong. However, the reasons for this belief differ in some ways from Eyal’s analysis. In this commentary, I will try to explain the similarities and differences in our perspectives. My primary claim is that the denial of treatment to obese patients is wrong principally because (i) it eschews a whole...

This study examines the extent to which employee judgments about distributive and procedural justice predict job satisfaction, intent to stay and evaluation of supervision in Hong Kong. Distributive and procedural justice each plays a role in determining work outcomes of Hong Kong employees. However, some effects of these justice variables differ from results of previous studies in the United S...

Social systems theory is dominated by a reductionistic individualism and a dualistic functionalism. Especially the latter doesn’t adequately integrate the human being. In order to avoid dualism, mechanistic determinism and reductionism, a dialectical concept of social systems that is based on the notion of self-organization seems necessary. In order to establish a dialectical theory of social s...

As we witness the rise of intemperate nationalism, self-indulgent nativism, and aggressive xenophobia in many countries, multiand intercultural studies and initiatives have come under considerable pressure. At least for now, it seems that they have not been able to offer satisfactory alternatives for populations that suffer under the ill effects of globalization or believe so. Theories of trans...

Travel demand is derived from activities that people have to or want to engage in. Work trips have been a primary concern for transportation researchers and an early focus of transportation modeling was on commuting behavior (Ben-Akiva and Lerman 1974; Train 1980). Subsequently, non-work activities, such as shopping or doctor visits, increasingly caught the attention of transportation analysts,...

A class of models is proposed for longitudinal network data. These models are along the lines of methodological individualism: actors use heuristics to try to achieve their individual goals, subject to constraints. The current network structure is among these constraints. The models are continuous time Markov chain models that can be implemented as simulation models. They incorporate random cha...