A consequence relation in the framework of preferential semantics based on the four-valued Belnap-Dunn logic is constructed which proves that the sorites paradoxes are unsound or invalid inferences .

We consider modal epistemic and doxastic logics as intuitively inadequate logics of information, and we outline a modal system of the operator being informed that which avoids inconsistency with our intuitive concept of information. The system has modal structure of the normal modal logic K4, and is sound and complete on the class of all transitive frames. We compare this logic with Floridi’s KTB information logic, and we consider a possibility of extending our system to a dynamic logic.

The concept of inconsistency has become recently the subject of many studies focused on the principle ex contradictione sequitur quodlibet which is a hallmark of the classical inconsistency. Stanisław Jaśkowski was the first who took a non-classical standpoint toward this principle building a system of propositional logic which rejects this classical principle. Rejecting it implies important consequences for the concept of classical negation, and poses the question in which properties the op-eration of negation should be endowed. The intention of this (...) article is to define the concept of inconsistency as well as the concept of negation in a way satisfying the main intuitions natural language users connect with the two notions occurring in propositions containing vague concepts. The vagueness of natural language dis-course leads to the phenomenon of the seeming contradiction characteristic of natural language. A non-standard consequence relation for such a language has been defined in terms of preferential semantics making use of the concept of most classical model. This non-standard consequence relation is applied to the ethical discourse. The concepts introduced in this article have been used to an interpretation of the contradictories of Plato's Parmenides, as well as to the rejection of dialetheism. (shrink)

The paradoxes of vagueness are unsound or invalid reasoning on the ground of preferential semantics based on the four-valued Belnap-Dunn logic.

The main aim of the present article is an outline of an intuitively adequate system of logic of the operator "being informed". Such a system should be different from the familiar systems of epistemic and doxastic logic. The principle of veracity occurring in epistemic logics does not describe adequately the information operator, since the information may be true as well as false. On the other hand, the principle of consistency of beliefs, occurring in doxastic logics, cannot be applied to information, (...) because the information can be inconsistent. Our logic of information, although it is based on Kripke's semantics, includes principles not occurring in the systems of epistemic and doxastic logics, such as the principle of incompleteness of information and the Brouwerian Axiom. We prove that this system is incomplete. We also suggest that it can be generalized to a dynamic logic in the sense of van Benthem. (shrink)

All empirical concepts belonging to natural language are vague. The vagueness of empirical discourse is a source of many semantical problems which have been known since ancient times. One of those problems concerns the so called sorites paradoxes. This article is an attempt to show that the paradoxes are either invalid or unsound inferences. Since classical logic is useless for semantical analysis of such inferences, the article makes use of the Belnap four-valued logic based on the bilattice FOUR. Belnap's logic (...) is the base logic for defining a nonmonotonic consequence relation which prefers models with classical valuations among all valuations of the four-valued logic whenever it is possible. The approach outlined in this article is intuitive, and has more advantages than the supervaluational approach. (shrink)

Celem artykułu jest ukazanie, jak, mimo ustalonych dawno temu postulatów, nakazujących „oczyszczenie” powieści kryminalnej z elementów fantastycznych i nadprzyrodzonych, motywy te funkcjonują we współczesnych utworach z tego gatunku. Jako kontekst należy wskazać zjawiska dające się zauważyć w najnowszej literaturze i kulturze popularnej. Jednym nich jest zmiana postrzegania typowych monstrów z horroru, które stają się zarówno „mniej groźne”, jak i „bardziej ludzkie”. Kolejnym – zakwestionowanie związku postaci (a także zespołu motywów) z fabułą. To na przykład, co było dotąd typowe dla horroru, (...) może pojawić się w powieści kryminalnej. Przeprowadzono analizę wybranych utworów dwojga współczesnych pisarzy: Katarzyny Puzyńskiej (Czarne narcyzy, Martwiec, Rodzanice i Utopce) oraz Wojciecha Chmielarza (Wampir, Zombie i Wilkołak) pod kątem występowania w nich motywów rodem z powieści grozy. We wszystkich omawianych tekstach to ludzie, a nie potwory są zabójcami. W utworach Chmielarza nazwy rodem z horroru to metafory ludzkiego zła lub szaleństwa (autor odwołuje się do zakorzenionych w kulturze znaczeń słów użytych jako tytuły). Katarzyna Puzyńska z kolei za miejsce zdarzeń wybiera małe, często prawie wyludnione miejscowości, gdzie wciąż żywa jest wiara w duchy, wampiry, nawiedzone domy (autorka odwołuje się między innymi do wierzeń słowiańskich). Ukazuje przy tym siłę ludzkich lęków (dotyczy to, w odpowiednich okolicznościach, nawet policjantów), jak również fakt, że istoty ludzkie potrafią być gorsze od potworów z fikcji literackiej. Motywy rodem z horroru funkcjonują w omawianych tekstach na kilka sposobów: 1) jako odwołania do doświadczenia odbiorcy, który odczytuje np. zaprezentowane w powieści nazwy w oparciu o własną wiedzę; 2) jako element lokalnej lub rodzinnej tradycji (żywy najczęściej w miejscach oddalonych od „centrów”); wreszcie 3) ucieleśnienie ukrytych w ludzkiej psychice obsesji i lęków, które niespodziewanie mogą się ujawnić. (shrink)

The first Chinese immigrants arrived in the United States in the 1820s and initially their presence did not result in improving the American perception of China. On the contrary – intense immigration from China led to the development of racist and xenophobic attitudes towards the Chinese, which culminated in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. During the Second World War, China became an important ally of the United States, which triggered a succession of changes to laws barring Chinese immigration. Contemporary (...) Chinese Americans – particularly Taiwanese Americans – can be located in the upper spheres of immigrant population: they are considered to be a well-educated and affluent group. This paper presents the historical and contemporary socio-economic characteristics of the Sino-American population set against a historical and legal background. (shrink)

In this paper, I analyze a type of externalist enactivism defended by Riccardo Manzotti. Such radical versions of enactivism are gaining more attention, especially in cognitive science and cognitive robotics. They are radical in that their notion of representation is purely referential, and content is conflated with reference. Manzotti follows in the footsteps of early causal theories of reference that had long been shown to be inadequate. It is commonly known that radical versions of externalism may lead to difficulties with (...) the notion of representation, especially if they cannot help themselves with the notion of syntax. I argue that a type of externalism present in Manzotti’s enactivism may well lead to anti-representationalism. (shrink)

In this paper, we defend a representational approach to at least some kinds of non-human psychopathology. Mentally-ill non-human minds, in particular in delusions, obsessive-compulsive disorders and similar cognitive states, are traditionally understood in purely behavioral terms. In contrast, we argue that non-human mental psychopathology should be at least sometimes not only ascribed contentful mental representation but also understood as really having these states. To defend this view, we appeal to the interactivist account of mental representation, which is a kind of (...) a constructive approach to meaning. We follow Mark Bickhard in assuming that only an organism – either human or non-human – capable of detecting its own misrepresentations is representational. However, under his autonomy-based account of biological function these minds are incapable of misrepresentations because these minds are, ex hypothesi, unable to detect error in such representations. To solve this problem, we argue that adding a historical dimension – as in Millikan’s view on mental representations – to Bickhard’s account of function makes mental misrepresentation of mentally-ill minds possible. Using Bickhard’s dynamic account of function, it is possible to explain why delusions and other mental disorders can be seen as locally functional. However, an etiological dimension can further explain why misrepresentations seem to be globally dysfunctional. Even if representational or biosemiotic hypotheses about non-human psychopathology are difficult to confirm empirically, we defend the view that they can enrich our understanding of the causes and development of such pathologies, and may constitute a new progressive research programme. (shrink)

The article presents the main types of conflict behaviour with the author’s proposal of their classification. The suggested classification is based on the way in which an individual deals with a partner’s adverse influence on his/her self-interest and welfare in a conflict situation. Four possible ways of coping i.e. attack, amicable settlement, defence, and yielding have been distinguished. On the basis of this behaviour classification, the Conflict Behaviour Questionnaire was compiled and its reliability and validity was assessed.

The article discusses the composition of Lysias’ speech, devoted to the history of music, in Pseudo-Plutarch’s treatise On Music. Close attention has been paid to the unifying mechanisms employed by Lysias to create the coherence and unity of the textual construction. The analysis of the speech presented in the article leads to the conclusion that the employment of clearly marked and coordinated two-part units became the most important technique of the organisation of this speech. The first part of each of (...) eleven pairs Lysias’ speech consists of includes quotations from earlier written sources, the second displays comments and interpreting remarks on these citations. This scheme of organisation of the speech provides the internal order and continuity of thought in the historical part of Pseudo-Plutarch’s work. (shrink)

The dramatic transformation of the Arabian Gulf since the discovery of petroleum resources has called for a new perspective on the situation of women in the region. Qatar is an example of fast-paced industrialization, modernization and profound socio-cultural changes. As the environment transforms literally from day to day, new identities are being forged and social roles renegotiated. The leadership’s vision for the country speaks of gender equality and opportunity for all. This article asks how young Qatari women’s personal stories fit (...) into the national narrative of change and what they see as the best path to agency and empowerment. (shrink)

The author agrees with James Moor that computer technology, because it is ‘logically malleable’, is bringing about a genuine social revolution. Moor compares the computer revolution to the ‘industrial revolution’ of the late 18th and the 19th centuries; but it is argued here that a better comparison is with the ‘printing press revolution’ that occurred two centuries before that. Just as the major ethical theories of Bentham and Kant were developed in response to the printing press revolution, so a new (...) ethical theory is likely to emerge from computer ethics in response to the computer revolution. The newly emerging field of information ethics, therefore, is much more important than even its founders and advocates believe. (shrink)

Medical tourists, persons that travel across international borders with the intention to access non-emergency medical care, may not be adequately informed of safety and ethical concerns related to the practice of medical tourism. Researchers indicate that the sources of information frequently used by medical tourists during their decision-making process may be biased and/or lack comprehensive information regarding individual safety and treatment outcomes, as well as potential impacts of the medical tourism industry on third parties. This paper explores the feedback from (...) former Canadian medical tourists regarding the use of an information sheet to address this knowledge gap and raise awareness of the safety and ethical concerns related to medical tourism. (shrink)

BackgroundMedical tourism, the practice of persons intentionally travelling across international boundaries to access medical care, has drawn increasing attention from researchers, particularly in relation to potential ethical concerns of this practice. Researchers have expressed concern for potential negative impacts to individual safety, public health within both countries of origin for medical tourists and destination countries, and global health equity. However, these ethical concerns are not discussed within the sources of information commonly provided to medical tourists, and as such, medical tourists (...) may not be aware of these concerns when engaging in medical tourism. This paper describes the methodology utilized to develop an information sheet intended to be disseminated to Canadian medical tourists to encourage contemplation and further public discussion of the ethical concerns in medical tourism.MethodsThe methodology for developing the information sheet drew on an iterative process to consider stakeholder feedback on the content and use of the information sheet as it might inform prospective medical tourists’ decision making. This methodology includes a literature review as well as formative research with Canadian public health professionals and former medical tourists.ResultsThe final information sheet underwent numerous revisions throughout the formative research process according to feedback from medical tourism stakeholders. These revisions focused primarily on making the information sheet concise with points that encourage individuals considering travelling for medical tourism to do further research regarding their safety both within the destination country, while travelling, and once returning to Canada, and the potential impacts of their trip on third parties. This methodology may be replicated for the development of information sheets intending to communicate ethical concerns of other practices to providers or consumers of a certain service. (shrink)

Medical tourism, the practice of persons intentionally travelling across international boundaries to access medical care, has drawn increasing attention from researchers, particularly in relation to potential ethical concerns of this practice. Researchers have expressed concern for potential negative impacts to individual safety, public health within both countries of origin for medical tourists and destination countries, and global health equity. However, these ethical concerns are not discussed within the sources of information commonly provided to medical tourists, and as such, medical tourists (...) may not be aware of these concerns when engaging in medical tourism. This paper describes the methodology utilized to develop an information sheet intended to be disseminated to Canadian medical tourists to encourage contemplation and further public discussion of the ethical concerns in medical tourism. The methodology for developing the information sheet drew on an iterative process to consider stakeholder feedback on the content and use of the information sheet as it might inform prospective medical tourists’ decision making. This methodology includes a literature review as well as formative research with Canadian public health professionals and former medical tourists. The final information sheet underwent numerous revisions throughout the formative research process according to feedback from medical tourism stakeholders. These revisions focused primarily on making the information sheet concise with points that encourage individuals considering travelling for medical tourism to do further research regarding their safety both within the destination country, while travelling, and once returning to Canada, and the potential impacts of their trip on third parties. This methodology may be replicated for the development of information sheets intending to communicate ethical concerns of other practices to providers or consumers of a certain service. (shrink)