On the psychological origins of tool use

The ubiquity of tool use in human life has generated multiple lines of scientific and philosophical investigation to understand the development and expression of humans’ engagement with tools and its relation to other dimensions of human experience. However, existing literature on tool use faces several epistemological challenges in which the same set of questions generate many different answers. At least four critical questions can be identified, which are intimately intertwined—(1) What constitutes tool use? (2) What psychological processes are involved in tool use? (3) Which of these psychological processes are specific to tool use? (4) Which psychological processes involved in tool use are specific to Homo sapiens? To help advance a multidisciplinary scientific understanding of tool use, six author groups representing different academic disciplines (e.g., anthropology, psychology, neuroscience) and different theoretical perspectives respond to each of these questions, and then point to the direction of future work on tool use. We find that while there are marked differences among the responses of the respective author groups to each question, there is a—perhaps surprising—degree of agreement about many essential concepts and questions. We believe that this interdisciplinary and intertheoretical discussion will foster a more comprehensive understanding of tool use than any one of these perspectives (or any one of these author groups) would (or could) on their own.

Psychologie der Rechtssprache – Bildung und Verwendung von Rechtsbegriffen als kognitiver Vorgang –

Law requires language. Within legal theory one is aware that language can be used as a vehicle to fill legal norms with the subjective preferences of the respective author when interpreting and generating law. However, the cognitive basics of legal language usage have so far hardly been researched. The article argues for a stronger reflection of psychological and neurological research approaches within basic legal research. An interdisciplinary opening could reveal groundbreaking connections between language and the legal norms that arise in it.

In Pursuit of the Perfect Bible: Attitudes to Bible Translation in Hellenistic Judaism

This article investigates attitudes to Bible translation as mirrored in the Letter of Aristeas, Philo’s treatise On the Life of Moses, and the prologue to the book of Ben Sira. In each of these documents, its respective author reflects on the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. The author of the Letter of Aristeas was concerned about a possible revision of a translation that was highly esteemed and tried to preserve it by alluding to the “canon formula” (Deut 4.2). Philo considered the Greek Torah as divinely inspired, presuming a strictly literal translation which was the perfect image of its source text. The article mentions today’s followers of these two writers whose views can be criticized from the point of view of modern translation theory. The translator of the book of Ben Sira, on the other hand, showed a balanced opinion which can serve as a model for today’s Bible translators.

The addictiveness of online brokerage services: A first person account

In the story below, David describes the personal challenges he has faced in controlling his on-line stock market investing. Following David's account, Nigel Turner presents some general observations that tie David's story to the research literature on problem gambling. The viewpoints in David and Nigel's sections reflect the ideas and opinions of their respective author-although this account is collaborative, both authors worked independently and take credit only for their contribution1.