This book gives an overview of the state of the art in five different approaches to social science simulation on the individual level. The volume contains microanalytical simulation models designed for policy implementation and evaluation, multilevel simulation methods designed for detecting emergent phenomena, dynamical game theory applications, the use of cellular automata to explain the emergence of structure in social systems, and multi-agent models using the experience from distributed artificial intelligence applied to special phenomena. The book collects the results of an international conference which brought together social scientists and computer scientists both engaged in a wide range of simulation approaches for the first time.

In this new volume, leading researchers provide state-of-the-art perspectives on how social interaction influences the development of knowledge. The book integrates approaches from a variety of disciplines including developmental psychology, psychopathology, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, evolutionary biology, and primatology. It reviews the nature and type of interactions that promote development as well as the conceptual frameworks used to explain the relation between individuals and groups. Social Life and Social Knowledge comprehensively addresses conceptual questions central to understanding human life and development: Is the human form of social life reducible to biological processes? What psychological abilities constitute the specifically human form of social life? What are the processes and contexts within which these abilities develop? How should we conceptualize the links between social life and the development of thought, and how do individuals and society contribute to these processes? The book is intended for philosophers, primatologists, anthropologists, biologists, sociologists, and developmental and educational psychologists interested in social development, social cognition, and developmental psychopathology. It also serves as a resource for courses in social development and those that focus on the intersection between cognition, development, and culture.

Model building in the social sciences can increasingly rely on well elaborated formal theories. At the same time inexpensive large computational capacities are now available. Both make computer-based model building and simulation possible in social science, whose central aim is in particular an understanding of social dynamics. Such social dynamics refer to public opinion formation, partner choice, strategy decisions in social dilemma situations and much more. In the context of such modelling approaches, novel problems in philosophy of science arise which must be analysed - the main aim of this book. Interest in social simulation has recently been growing rapidly world- wide, mainly as a result of the increasing availability of powerful personal computers. The field has also been greatly influenced by developments in cellular automata theory (from mathematics) and in distributed artificial intelligence which provided tools readily applicable to social simulation. This book presents a number of modelling and simulation approaches and their relations to problems in philosophy of science. It addresses sociologists and other social scientists interested in formal modelling, mathematical sociology, and computer simulation as well as computer scientists interested in social science applications, and philosophers of social science.

Within the English-speaking world, no work of the German High Middle Ages is better known than the Nibelungenlied, which has stirred the imagination of artists and readers far beyond its land of origin. Its international influence extends from literature to music, art, film, politics and propaganda, psychology, archeology, and military history. Now for the first time all references to the vast Nibelungen tradition have been catalogued in this comprehensive encyclopedia containing nearly 1000 entries by several dozen international contributors, including the most distinguished scholars in the field. Readers will find illuminating passages on a variety of topics, including literary and extra-literary references, characters and place names, significant motifs and concepts, historical background, and cultural reception through the centuries. This monumental work is an invaluable guide to a fascinating, age-old tradition.

In this new volume, leading researchers provide state-of-the-art perspectives on how social interaction influences the development of knowledge. The book integrates approaches from a variety of disciplines including developmental psychology, psychopathology, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, evolutionary biology, and primatology. It reviews the nature and type of interactions that promote development as well as the conceptual frameworks used to explain the relation between individuals and groups. Social Life and Social Knowledge comprehensively addresses conceptual questions central to understanding human life and development: Is the human form of social life reducible to biological processes? What psychological abilities constitute the specifically human form of social life? What are the processes and contexts within which these abilities develop? How should we conceptualize the links between social life and the development of thought, and how do individuals and society contribute to these processes? The book is intended for philosophers, primatologists, anthropologists, biologists, sociologists, and developmental and educational psychologists interested in social development, social cognition, and developmental psychopathology. It also serves as a resource for courses in social development and those that focus on the intersection between cognition, development, and culture.

Until recently, the body has been largely ignored in theories and empirical research in psychology, particularly in developmental psychology. Recently however, several conceptions of the relation between body and mind have been developed. Common among these conceptions is the idea that the body plays an important role in our emotional, social, and cognitive lives. This latest volume in the Jean Piaget Society Symposia Series illustrates different ways in which the concept of embodiment can be used in developmental psychology and related disciplines. It explores the role of the body in the development of meaning, consciousness, and psychological functioning. The overall goal is to demonstrate how the concept of embodiment can deepen our understanding of developmental psychology by suggesting new possibilities of integrating biological, psychological, and socio-cultural approaches. Developmental Perspective on Embodiment and Consciousness explores embodiment in two ways. First, embodiment is examined as a condition of and influencing the particular shape of psychological experience. This sense of embodiment reflects the effort to put the mind back into the body. Second, embodiment is examined as a reflective experience in the sense that the mind forms particular images about the body. This sense of embodiment reflects the effort to put the body into the mind. The book opens with a discussion of embodiment from a meta-theoretical perspective. Then the role of embodiment in grounding conceptual meaning is examined. This is followed by discussions of the role of embodiment in strengthening our understanding of emotions, cognitive development, religious experiences, and social development. Then the role of the body in spatial cognition and the role of language in the development of complex forms of consciousness are explored. The final chapters examine the impact of culture on the conceptualization of the embodied self. The book concludes with an overview of the historical context of the mind-body dualism and a discussion of how the idea of embodiment transcends this dualism. Intended for researchers and advanced students in developmental, cognitive, and social psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, anthropology, biology, and sociology, this new book also serves as a reference for advanced courses on cognition and development.

Contents:
Literary authors and works; Medieval characters and places; Themes, motifs, objects, key words; Sources: history, legend, archaeology, manuscript collections; Scholars and scholarship; Reception of the Nibelungen theme in German-speaking countries: literary authors and works; Reception of the Nibelungen theme outside German-speaking countries (including translations); Music and composers; Art, artists, films, filmmakers, sculpture, sculptors; Miscellaneous (education, historians, politics, psychology, military).

Until recently, the body has been largely ignored in theories and empirical research in psychology, particularly in developmental psychology. Recently however, several conceptions of the relation between body and mind have been developed. Common among these conceptions is the idea that the body plays an important role in our emotional, social, and cognitive lives. This latest volume in the Jean Piaget Society Symposia Series illustrates different ways in which the concept of embodiment can be used in developmental psychology and related disciplines. It explores the role of the body in the development of meaning, consciousness, and psychological functioning. The overall goal is to demonstrate how the concept of embodiment can deepen our understanding of developmental psychology by suggesting new possibilities of integrating biological, psychological, and socio-cultural approaches. Developmental Perspective on Embodiment and Consciousness explores embodiment in two ways. First, embodiment is examined as a condition of and influencing the particular shape of psychological experience. This sense of embodiment reflects the effort to put the mind back into the body. Second, embodiment is examined as a reflective experience in the sense that the mind forms particular images about the body. This sense of embodiment reflects the effort to put the body into the mind. The book opens with a discussion of embodiment from a meta-theoretical perspective. Then the role of embodiment in grounding conceptual meaning is examined. This is followed by discussions of the role of embodiment in strengthening our understanding of emotions, cognitive development, religious experiences, and social development. Then the role of the body in spatial cognition and the role of language in the development of complex forms of consciousness are explored. The final chapters examine the impact of culture on the conceptualization of the embodied self. The book concludes with an overview of the historical context of the mind-body dualism and a discussion of how the idea of embodiment transcends this dualism. Intended for researchers and advanced students in developmental, cognitive, and social psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, anthropology, biology, and sociology, this new book also serves as a reference for advanced courses on cognition and development.

A social dilemma is a game which at first glance has only inefficient solutions. If efficient solutions are to be achieved, some kind of cooperation among the players is required. This book asks two basic questions, closely intertwined with each other: 1. How is cooperation possible among rational players in such a social dilemma? Which changes in the social context of a social dilemma situation are necessary in order for players to rationally choose the cooperative option? 2. How do real players actually behave in social dilemma situations? Do they behave "rationally" at all? Or, conversely, what kind of reasoning, attitudes, emotions, etc. shape the behavior of real players in social dilemmas? What kind of interventions, what kind of internal mechanisms within a real group may change players' willingness to cooperate? These two general questions mark the broad spectrum of the problem which has been, over the last three decades, investigated in various disciplines, and which has brought many new ideas and new observations into the study of the old question of social order in a world of born egoists. Accordingly, this volume contains contributions by biologists, sociologists, political scientists, economists, mathematicians, psychologists, and philosophers.

Model building in the social sciences can increasingly rely on well elaborated formal theories. At the same time inexpensive large computational capacities are now available. Both make computer-based model building and simulation possible in social science, whose central aim is in particular an understanding of social dynamics. Such social dynamics refer to public opinion formation, partner choice, strategy decisions in social dilemma situations and much more. In the context of such modelling approaches, novel problems in philosophy of science arise which must be analysed - the main aim of this book. Interest in social simulation has recently been growing rapidly world- wide, mainly as a result of the increasing availability of powerful personal computers. The field has also been greatly influenced by developments in cellular automata theory (from mathematics) and in distributed artificial intelligence which provided tools readily applicable to social simulation. This book presents a number of modelling and simulation approaches and their relations to problems in philosophy of science. It addresses sociologists and other social scientists interested in formal modelling, mathematical sociology, and computer simulation as well as computer scientists interested in social science applications, and philosophers of social science.

This book gives an overview of the state of the art in five different approaches to social science simulation on the individual level. The volume contains microanalytical simulation models designed for policy implementation and evaluation, multilevel simulation methods designed for detecting emergent phenomena, dynamical game theory applications, the use of cellular automata to explain the emergence of structure in social systems, and multi-agent models using the experience from distributed artificial intelligence applied to special phenomena. The book collects the results of an international conference which brought together social scientists and computer scientists both engaged in a wide range of simulation approaches for the first time.

The articles collected in this volume have two features in common: they wantto integrate economics, demography and geography, and they want to overcome the stationary approach in modelling in favour of a dynamic one. The book is subdivided into three parts, where Part I is focussing on economic evolution, Part II on geographical development and Part III is related to demographic change. The present volume aims at providing a new look at this triangle in view of the classical background of discussions by introducing new research ideas focussing in nonlinear dynamics and stochastic modelling. Thus the main purpose of this book is to make a contribution to the interdisciplinary work needed to integrate the effortsbetween these three research fields and to serve as a research source in demonstrating the current state of art in dynamic modelling. The book isaddressed to social scientists in general, and those in particular with a background in economics, geographics and demographics. It should also be of interest to mathematicians, physicists, and systems analysts interested in model building and applications of nonlinear dynamics.