To put it in Peirce's words, philosophy is an act of semiosis. Interpretation, communication, and mediation are at the core of the philosophical enterprise. Mediation in a wide sense is indeed a constitutive character of human experience. If, at the core of our philosophical research, we focus on the so-called issue of cross-cultural and intercultural thought, in which the necessity of translation springs immediately up from the necessity to understand different languages and different systems of signs, the question of mediation (...) reveals itself to be a crucial one. Immediacy itself, whenever it is thought, reveals itself to be something mediated by our language: but what separates and requires mediation is also what connects, and binds together different elements in order to allow them communicate. (shrink)

Surrogacy is an encouraging management for many childless couples and can hypothetically resolve many unbearable pain that they are confronted. Initially surrogacy treatment was frowned upon, however, surrogacy is more popularly accepted now a day. Though, surrogacy has not yet recognized by 199 country in the globe. Different country has different regulations on surrogacy. However, “there are some indication of the degree of divergence between official discourse and actual practice of surrogacy throughout world”. There are positive changes in attitude toward (...) surrogacy has been seen in some countries. This special issue of Bangladesh Journal of Bioethics has been organized on surrogacy to see the current thinking of surrogacy around the world and how people come out from the social, religious and political framework. (shrink)

This collection of essays turnings around aesthetic and ethical questions, and intertwining them, is intended to foster and elaborate the notion of intercultural philosophy. Without idealizing any single way of thinking or tradition, without idolizing any lazy relativism, the author wants to show how interculturality is neither a comprehensive, ultimate system of thoughts, nor a disconnected plurality of opinions. Surmounting monism without fading into dualism, he moves on leads to deal with the philosophical character of symbols, analogies, and comparisons, through (...) which we can grasp the links and relations between identity and difference. (shrink)

Entre phénoménologie et neurologie. Merleau-Ponty, Goldstein, SacksLa phénoménologie de Merleau-Ponty a traité des matériaux et des éléments de réflexion importants de diverses études sur des pathologies psychiques et physiques. La confrontation et l’entrelacement entre la pensée du philosophe français et certaines recherches de neuropsychologie, comme Kurt Goldstein ou Oliver Sacks, font émerger la possibilité de nouvelles approches de la dimension de la maladie, entre narration, spéculation et recherche scientifique. Un dialogue fécond entre disciplines et champs de recherche différents met en (...) lumière comment toute modalité perceptive, même quand elle se présente comme déficitaire ou déviante, constitue de fait une vraie recréation ou re-constitution du monde et non pas seulement un enregistrement. Ce processus de création continue est lié à une des questions de fond soulevée par l’expérience de la maladie: celle des modes et des conditions de la singularité, de l’identité d’un soi, à la recherche de reconnaissance et d’acceptation de la part d’un regard ou d’un geste que nous savons contribuer de manière inédite à la relation entre sujets humains.Between Phenomenology and Neurology. Merleau-Ponty, Goldstein, SacksMerleau-Ponty’s phenomenology deals with materials and elements of important reflections in diverse studies on psychological and physical pathologies. The confrontation and the connections between French philosophical thought and certain research in neuropsychology, such as that of Kurt Goldstein or Oliver Sacks, allow the possibility of new approaches to the dimension of sickness to emerge, approaches between narration, speculation, and scientific research. A fertile dialogue between disciplines and fields of different research brings to light how every perceptual modality, even when it presents itself as deficient or deviant, constitutes in fact a true re-creation or reconstitution of the world and not only a recording. This process of continuous creation is linked to one of the basic questions raised by the experience of sickness: the question of the modes and conditions of singularity, of the identity of a self in pursuit of recognition or acceptance from another’s gaze or gesture, a gaze or gesture that, in the relation between human subjects, we have the ability to contribute ever in a unique manner. (shrink)

Entre phénoménologie et neurologie. Merleau-Ponty, Goldstein, SacksLa phénoménologie de Merleau-Ponty a traité des matériaux et des éléments de réflexion importants de diverses études sur des pathologies psychiques et physiques. La confrontation et l’entrelacement entre la pensée du philosophe français et certaines recherches de neuropsychologie, comme Kurt Goldstein ou Oliver Sacks, font émerger la possibilité de nouvelles approches de la dimension de la maladie, entre narration, spéculation et recherche scientifique. Un dialogue fécond entre disciplines et champs de recherche différents met en (...) lumière comment toute modalité perceptive, même quand elle se présente comme déficitaire ou déviante, constitue de fait une vraie recréation ou re-constitution du monde et non pas seulement un enregistrement. Ce processus de création continue est lié à une des questions de fond soulevée par l’expérience de la maladie: celle des modes et des conditions de la singularité, de l’identité d’un soi, à la recherche de reconnaissance et d’acceptation de la part d’un regard ou d’un geste que nous savons contribuer de manière inédite à la relation entre sujets humains.Between Phenomenology and Neurology. Merleau-Ponty, Goldstein, SacksMerleau-Ponty’s phenomenology deals with materials and elements of important reflections in diverse studies on psychological and physical pathologies. The confrontation and the connections between French philosophical thought and certain research in neuropsychology, such as that of Kurt Goldstein or Oliver Sacks, allow the possibility of new approaches to the dimension of sickness to emerge, approaches between narration, speculation, and scientific research. A fertile dialogue between disciplines and fields of different research brings to light how every perceptual modality, even when it presents itself as deficient or deviant, constitutes in fact a true re-creation or reconstitution of the world and not only a recording. This process of continuous creation is linked to one of the basic questions raised by the experience of sickness: the question of the modes and conditions of singularity, of the identity of a self in pursuit of recognition or acceptance from another’s gaze or gesture, a gaze or gesture that, in the relation between human subjects, we have the ability to contribute ever in a unique manner. (shrink)

This article deals with the Chinese ink painting tradition, as a paradigm in which art and life are coupled and intertwined. In fact, in Chinese classical aesthetics, art and life do not produce a dramatic tension, but are inscribed in a common process of naturalness or spontaneity. The painter has to learn how the breath, or vital energy, that flows in every single image-phenomenon, can be enlivened by the brush strokes. Moreover, the paper builds a dialogue between the European and (...) the Chinese main patterns. Showing alternately the continuity or the discontinuity between art and life, both traditions of thought display the possibility to learn a sort of “art of living”, through – and not despite – the dynamic de-coincidence that appears in the folds of human experience. (shrink)

A specific interest and attention to translation and to the relation between signs, natural languages, and thought spread out not only from the so called “linguistic turn” in the 20th century, but also from the cross-cultural dimension that gained prominency in the last decades. Interlinguistic translation can thus be considered and analyzed as a particular and fruitful field of study for philosophy, because in that experience we have to face the intimate relationship that intertwine form and content, the contingency of (...) expression and the ideal aspiration to a shared, universal truth. The case of Chinese language and thought provide further material to explore, in order to raise more questions about the links among grammar, morphology, system of writing, and the meanings that those structures intrinsecally brings and convey. Re-considering Hegel’s ideas about alphabetical and non-alphabetical writing, and through a peculiar case study of a poem by Wang Wei, we can learn to appreciate in a new way the alterity of Chinese characters and language. Finally, the act of translation can be seen as a model of ethical understanding, in order take into account the Other, without enclosing it into the frames that have been shaped with our own categories. (shrink)

The article deals with Chinese ink painting and some aesthetic notions, in particular those of xiang 象 and shanshui 山水 (literally: “mountains-waters”, i.e. landscape...

Taking into account my personal path as a philosopher and as a painter, I try to sketch the perspective on aesthetics that was opened to me by a cross-cultural encounter. The European tradition, on one side, and the Sino-Japanese tradition, on the other side, are the two mirroring currents along which I moved in order to trace a sort of “deconstruction” and a “restructuring” of artistic and philosophical vision. In my painting, I aim for a confluence of different streams of (...) thought by thinking about European informal art and landscape ink-painting of China and Japan. This confluence continues to produce a fertile dialogue, enlivening the deep resources that constitute the core of a subjectivity in process. Aesthetics converts itself into ethics: an ethical move, beyond the opposition of visible and invisible as dull substances, beyond the opposition of immanence and transcendence, is one of the inner goals of this pathway between art and philosophy. (shrink)

For anyone working in aesthetics interested in understanding the richness of the Chinese aesthetic tradition this handbook is the place to start. Comprised of general introductory overviews, critical reflections and contextual analysis, it covers everything from the origins of aesthetics in China to the role of aesthetics in philosophy today. Beginning in early China (1st millennium BCE), it traces the Chinese aesthetic tradition, exploring the import of the term aesthetics into Chinese thought via Japan around the end of the 19th (...) century. It looks back to early practices of art and craftsmanship, showing how the history of Chinese thought provides a multitude of artifacts and texts that give rise to a wide range of aesthetic creations and notions. Introducing various perspectives on traditional arts in China, including painting, ceramics, calligraphy, poetry, music and theatre, it explores those aesthetic traditions not included in "canonic" art forms, such as martial arts, rock gardening, and ritual performance. Written by Chinese, European, and American theoreticians and practitioners, this authoritative research resource enhances contemporary aesthetics by revealing the possibilities of a Chinese philosophy of art. (shrink)

The traditional arts may possibly constitute that aspect of Japanese culture that has the most literature dedicated to it, and the new book by the Italian scholar Marcello Ghilardi, Arte e pensiero in Giappone: Corpo, immagine, gesto, should have a deservedly high place among the works in this genre.

Rapid advancements in human neuroscience and neurotechnology open unprecedented possibilities for accessing, collecting, sharing and manipulating information from the human brain. Such applications raise important challenges to human rights principles that need to be addressed to prevent unintended consequences. This paper assesses the implications of emerging neurotechnology applications in the context of the human rights framework and suggests that existing human rights may not be sufficient to respond to these emerging issues. After analysing the relationship between neuroscience and human rights, (...) we identify four new rights that may become of great relevance in the coming decades: the right to cognitive liberty, the right to mental privacy, the right to mental integrity, and the right to psychological continuity. (shrink)

When subjects view stimulation of a rubber hand while feeling congruent stimulation of their own hand, they may come to feel that the rubber hand is part of their own body. This illusion of body ownership is termed ‘Rubber Hand Illusion’ . We investigated sensitivity of RHI to spatial mismatches between visual and somatic experience. We compared the effects of spatial mismatch between the stimulation of the two hands, and equivalent mismatches between the postures of the two hands. We created (...) the mismatch either by adjusting stimulation or posture of the subject’s hand, or, in a separate group of subjects, by adjusting stimulation or posture of the rubber hand. The matching processes underlying body ownership were asymmetrical. The illusion survived small changes in the subject’s hand posture, but disappeared when the same posture transformations were applied to the rubber hand. Mismatch between the stimulation delivered to the subject’s hand and the rubber hand abolished the illusion. The combination of these two situations is of particular interest. When the subject’s hand posture was slightly different from the rubber hand posture, the RHI remained as long as stimulation of the two hands was congruent in a hand-centred spatial reference frame, even though the altered posture of the subject’s hand meant that stimulation was incongruent in external space. Conversely, the RHI was reduced when the stimulation was incongruent in hand-centred space but congruent in external space. We conclude that the visual–tactile correlation that causes the RHI is computed within a hand-centred frame of reference, which is updated with changes in body posture. Current sensory evidence about what is ‘me’ is interpreted with respect to a prior mental body representation. (shrink)

The increasing availability of brain data within and outside the biomedical field, combined with the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to brain data analysis, poses a challenge for ethics and governance. We identify distinctive ethical implications of brain data acquisition and processing, and outline a multi-level governance framework. This framework is aimed at maximizing the benefits of facilitated brain data collection and further processing for science and medicine whilst minimizing risks and preventing harmful use. The framework consists of four primary (...) areas of regulatory intervention: binding regulation, ethics and soft law, responsible innovation, and human rights. (shrink)

Unification was originally introduced in automated deduction and term rewriting, but has recently also found applications in other fields. In this article, we give a survey of the results on unification obtained in two closely related, yet different, application areas of unification: description logics and modal logics.

The use of Intelligent Assistive Technology in dementia care opens the prospects of reducing the global burden of dementia and enabling novel opportunities to improve the lives of dementia patients. However, with current adoption rates being reportedly low, the potential of IATs might remain under-expressed as long as the reasons for suboptimal adoption remain unaddressed. Among these, ethical and social considerations are critical. This article reviews the spectrum of IATs for dementia and investigates the prevalence of ethical considerations in the (...) design of current IATs. Our screening shows that a significant portion of current IATs is designed in the absence of explicit ethical considerations. These results suggest that the lack of ethical consideration might be a codeterminant of current structural limitations in the translation of IATs from designing labs to bedside. Based on these data, we call for a coordinated effort to proactively incorporate ethical considerations early in the design and development of new products. (shrink)

Brain–computer interfacing technologies are used as assistive technologies for patients as well as healthy subjects to control devices solely by brain activity. Yet the risks associated with the misuse of these technologies remain largely unexplored. Recent findings have shown that BCIs are potentially vulnerable to cybercriminality. This opens the prospect of “neurocrime”: extending the range of computer-crime to neural devices. This paper explores a type of neurocrime that we call brain-hacking as it aims at the illicit access to and manipulation (...) of neural information and computation. As neural computation underlies cognition, behavior and our self-determination as persons, a careful analysis of the emerging risks of malicious brain-hacking is paramount, and ethical safeguards against these risks should be considered early in design and regulation. This contribution is aimed at raising awareness of the emerging risk of malicious brain-hacking and takes a first step in developing an ethical and legal reflection on those risks. (shrink)

The increasing diffusion of novel digital and online sociotechnical systems for arational behavioral influence based on Artificial Intelligence (AI), such as social media, microtargeting advertising, and personalized search algorithms, has brought about new ways of engaging with users, collecting their data and potentially influencing their behavior. However, these technologies and techniques have also raised concerns about the potential for manipulation, as they offer unprecedented capabilities for targeting and influencing individuals on a large scale and in a more subtle, automated and (...) pervasive manner than ever before. This paper, provides a narrative review of the existing literature on manipulation, with a particular focus on the role of AI and associated digital technologies. Furthermore, it outlines an account of manipulation based of four key requirements: intentionality, asymmetry of outcome, non-transparency and violation of autonomy. I argue that while manipulation is not a new phenomenon, the pervasiveness, automaticity, and opacity of certain digital technologies may raise a new type of manipulation, called “digital manipulation”. I call “digital manipulation” any influence exerted through the use of digital technology that is intentionally designed to bypass reason and to produce an asymmetry of outcome between the data processor (or a third party that benefits thereof) and the data subject. Drawing on insights from psychology, sociology, and computer science, I identify key factors that can make manipulation more or less effective, and highlight the potential risks and benefits of these technologies for individuals and society. I conclude that manipulation through AI and associated digital technologies is not qualitatively different from manipulation through human–human interaction in the physical world. However, some functional characteristics make it potentially more likely of evading the subject’s cognitive defenses. This could increase the probability and severity of manipulation. Furthermore, it could violate some fundamental principles of freedom or entitlement related to a person’s brain and mind domain, hence called neurorights. To this end, an account of digital manipulation as a violation of the neuroright to cognitive liberty is presented. (shrink)

Predicate extensions of the intermediate logic of the weak excluded middle and of the modal logic S4.2 are introduced and investigated. In particular it is shown that some of them are characterized by subclasses of the class of directed frames with either constant or nested domains.

The genetic code appeared on Earth with the first cells. The codes of cultural evolution arrived almost four billion years later. These are the only codes that are recognized by modern biology. In this book, however, Marcello Barbieri explains that there are many more organic codes in nature, and their appearance not only took place throughout the history of life but marked the major steps of that history. A code establishes a correspondence between two independent 'worlds', and the codemaker (...) is a third party between those 'worlds'. Therefore the cell can be thought of as a trinity of genotype, phenotype and ribotype. The ancestral ribotypes were the agents which gave rise to the first cells. The book goes on to explain how organic codes and organic memories can be used to shed new light on the problems encountered in cell signalling, epigenesis, embryonic development, and the evolution of language. (shrink)

This book explores how we can measure consciousness. It clarifies what consciousness is, how it can be generated from a physical system, and how it can be measured. It also shows how conscious states can be expressed mathematically and how precise predictions can be made using data from neurophysiological studies.