African philosophy, as a negritude, is a moment in the postcolonial critique of European/Western colonialism and the bodies of knowledge that sustained it. Yet a critical analysis of its' original articulations reveals the limits of this critique and more broadly of postcolonial studies, while also pointing towards more radical theoretical possibilities within African philosophy. Jean-Paul Sartre's essay 'Black Orpheus', a philosophical appropriation of negritude poetry, serves as a guide for this reflection, for the text reveals the inspiration and wealth of (...) expressions of negritude, as well as their ambiguity. Sartre's essay however also renders possible a further act of re-appropriation that takes us beyond culture and identity-centred readings of African philosophy and postcolonialism, readings whose conceptual and critical potential is far greater than what has hitherto been explored. (shrink)

In this paper, I discuss the similarity between Wittgenstein’s use of thought experiments and Relativity Theory. I begin with introducing Wittgenstein’s idea of “thought experiments” and a tentative classification of different kinds of thought experiments in Wittgenstein’s work. Then, after presenting a short recap of some remarks on the analogy between Wittgenstein’s point of view and Einstein’s, I suggest three analogies between the status of Wittgenstein’s mental experiments and Relativity theory: the topics of time dilation, the search for invariants, and (...) the role of measuring tools in Special Relativity. This last point will help to better define Wittgenstein’s idea of description as the core of his philosophical enterprise. (shrink)

The article tackles the problem of studying diachronic semantic changes of modal markers in Latin. It proposes to do so by using context as a proxy for tracing the development of otherwise unchanging forms. In the first part, the main theoretical positions in modality studies are presented, especially the notions of deontic modality, epistemic modality, and pathways of modality. In the second part, Heine’s model for studying the role of context in language change is presented and applied to the modal (...) verb licet. In the case study of licet, an attempt is made to identify the so-called switch context which co-creates the conditions necessary for the semantic change. (shrink)

O texto assinala que os estudos e pesquisas de Pierre Bourdieu apresenta uma clara identificação com a educação e com a análise educacional. Observa que no Brasil, até bem pouco tempo, a abordagem desse autor esteve associada com uma de suas obras A reprodução, sendo por isso transformado num pedagogo ou num filósofo educacional, cuja pedagogia devia ser rejeitada em nome de um humanismo otimista, que era justamente o que ele estava criticando. Mais recentemente, no entanto, verifica-se que Bourdieu passa (...) a ser considerado como um teórico social importante para a análise e para a própria teoria da educação. (shrink)

This study investigated how seventh-grade students rate their fear of, and disgust toward, amphibians in comparison to some other nonhuman animal species. For the purpose of evaluating these variables, a questionnaire with open-ended and self-report questions was used. The study found that direct experience of animals significantly affects students’ self-reported fear and disgust ratings. Boys generally reported less fear and disgust toward animals than girls. With regard to amphibians, students expressed relatively high disgust, but low fear. There were no differences (...) in disgust ratings between boys and girls. Also, a majority of students reported having no direct experience of amphibians, and their attitudes hovered between negative and neutral. Factor analysis placed amphibians in a category of disgust-relevant animals. The other two categories that emerged were interpreted as fear-relevant animals and companion animals. The study concluded that education should place greater importance on allowing students to experience a variety of different animal species directly in order to foster positive change in their feelings and attitudes toward them, and at the same time to build on their understanding of animals. (shrink)

Nos escritos kantianos sobre o tema da educação (Erziehung), podemos perceber que o filósofo refere-se ao processo educativo de diversos modos, seja como sendo uma arte de educar (Erziehungskunst), como formação (Bildung), como doutrina da educação (Erziehungslehre) ou como sendo uma ideia (Idee). Essa multiplicidade de noções não é de modo algum arbitrária, mas cada uma se relaciona entre si e tem como ponto fulcral o conceito de educação como uma ideia, isto é, um conceito da razão que seja a (...) medida do que se pretende, assim como a condição de possibilidade da própria experiência educativa. Sendo, desse modo, para todos os casos, um máximo como medida em consideração a outras grandezas menores. Na recomposição do conceito de educação, a ideia é o princípio regulador da teoria ou da doutrina da educação, a arte certamente é a habilidade que desenvolverá in concreto o que foi raciocinado no cânon doutrinal. Isso posto, a educação, enquanto ideia, assume a função reguladora da perseguição de fins, sendo ela o fim da doutrina da educação e, para a arte de educar, isto é, para a pedagogia (Pädagogik), ela é o máximo grau de perfeição a que se deve comparar a educação do tempo presente. (shrink)

Better memory, greater motivation and concentration lead to greater productivity, efficiency and performance, all of which are features that are highly valued in a modern society focused on productivity. In the effort for better cognitive abilities, otherwise healthy individuals use cognitive enhancers, medicines for the treatment of cognitive deficits of patients with various disorders and health problems, such as Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, stroke, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ageing. The use of these is more common in professions with emphasised cognitive (...) abilities, or in occupations that require more attention, focus and alertness. Their use is also associated with the general working population, in that they are supposed to use them to alleviate the effects of sleep deprivation and to cope with increasing workloads. In the paper, we are addressing the ethical issue and the dilemmas of the use of pharmaceutical enhancements by healthy people who have no medical reason for taking such substances, in the context of improving their cognitive functions. (shrink)

Chaque fois que nous "donnons forme" à quelque chose, cette représentation nous figure, par signes, l'objet évoqué, mais nous confirme également qu'il ne s'agit que d'un simulacre. D'où le besoin, à chaque époque, de créer du vivant pour pallier cette déception : tel est le sens du mythe de Pygmalion. Ce livre s'organise donc autour de deux pôles : d'un côté la nécessité de figurer, et de figurer l'acte même de la perception (voir le chapitre "Un oeil immense artificiel") ; (...) de l'autre, l'impératif de dépasser le signe. Il s'agit d'un défi radical, qui concerne l'avenir même des arts. C'est la raison de ce titre, A vif, qui témoigne d'un "coup d'oeil" : un regard et une incision pratiquée à vif dans l'objet, un désir de définitif qui ne caresse plus la forme, mais qui pénètre, met à nu, éviscère dans les paroles et dans les actes. Dedans et derrière l'oeil, comme dans l'un des plus impassibles traités d'anatomie du Cinquecento. Aujourd'hui, est-il encore vif notre oeil qui cherche le vivant? N'est-il pas lui-même défiguré par l'informe qui s'est logé en nous? Où est la pupilla viva qui illumine le Paradis et qui, de Dante à Baudelaire, a animé, de longs siècles durant, tant de quête mentale? Il faut remonter à ces origines, parcourir les espaces séculaires et sidéraux dans lesquels le cosmos était ordre, beauté, compréhension ; où, justement, il était nécessaire de "captiver les yeux pour avoir l'âme". Cet essai se voudrait une parabole déployée au fil de l'ardente soif humaine d'"exorbiter", de brûler la distance du point de vue, pour accéder, maintenant et à jamais, au vivant. (shrink)

Este texto propõe uma crítica da tecnologia conforme abordada na narrativa pós-natureza do antropoceno. Para essa narrativa, também chamada de pós-ambientalismo, o antropoceno é o momento histórico em que fica clara a impossibilidade de uma noção idealizada da natureza, distinta da intervenção humana. Neste texto, argumenta-se que, embora tenha méritos no questionamento de aspectos cruciais do pensamento moderno, essa narrativa tem também problemas teórico-conceituais significativos derivados da centralidade atribuída à mediação técnica, que acaba convertendo-a em uma espécie de metafísica. A (...) exposição das teses da narrativa pós-natureza do antropoceno se dá a partir do diálogo com textos de ativistas do pós-ambientalismo, como Michael Shellenberger e Ted Nordhaus, e de pensadores que fornecem a essa corrente o fundamento teórico-conceitual, como Bruno Latour e Peter Sloterdijk. A crítica se ampara na argumentação dos filósofos contemporâneos Dieter Mersch e Andreas Luckner, que desdobram ideias já sinalizadas por Martin Heidegger e indicam caminhos para compreender os limites de perspectivas metafísicas sobre tecnologia. (shrink)

PurposeThe purpose of this paper selected by ICIL 2019 committee in Rome is to demonstrate the current importance of the internet in the protection of democracy in developting countries.Design/methodology/approachIt is intended to make a comparison with the growing and current phenomenon of Brazilian disinformation with other contemporary phenomena related to new technologies through literature review methodology.FindingsThe Brazilian elections in 2018 represent an authentic model in a post-Cambridge Analytical phase where the myth of the sanctity of data has been broken. The (...) big influence of the algorithmic revolution on democracies in Latin America has never been more evident. The misuse of algorithms created an artificial environment that does not put us in contact with different realities; the consequences of this conjuncture have the deepest impacts, especially in countries that rely on a deficient educational system.Social implicationsBesides that, the broad use of zero-rating on the internet delivery in developing countries is also considered a factor of fake news dissemination. The information bubbles promote political polarization to the detriment of diversity – and the diversity is par excellence one of the pillars of democracy.Originality/valueThe research about the impact that the phenomenon of disinformation has on underdeveloped countries, it is essential to analyze the new role of the legislator in the elaboration of hypercomplex laws with multi-stakeholder interests that respect the essential core of digital human rights as the freedom of expression online. (shrink)

Formiranje prepričanja v Humovi filozofiji je glavna tema članka, ki izhaja iz temeljnega razlikovanja med naravno in nenaravno domišljijo v Humovem svetu Narave. Za razliko od vere prepričanje pri Humu prestopa meje zaznave v smeri skritih vzrokov, a vendar ostaja v okvirih izkustva in navade; naloga filozofije, ki je razpeta med skepticizem in vsakdanje življenje, je formiranje domišljije, na katero se opira vzročno sklepanje v prepričanjih. Formiranje domišljije se pri Humu neposredno izrazi v razmerju filozofije na eni strani in literature (...) ter zgodovinopisja na drugi, kot gaje mogoče zaznati v kratkem spisu A Dialogue in nadaljevanja tretjega poglavja Raziskovanja človeškega razuma. To obliko neposrednega formiranja domišljije, ki jo opredeljuje razmerje odkrite prevare, Hume dopolni z razmerjem prikrite prevare, ki subjektu formiranja hkrati omogoča distanco in onemogoča, da bi se prevare zavedal. (shrink)

For much of its modern history, the notion of talent has been associated with the idea of ‘careers open to talent’. Its emancipatory promise of upward social mobility has radically transformed the distribution of advantaged social positions and has had a lasting influence on the very idea of social status itself. Nevertheless, unlike concepts traditionally associated with distributive justice, e.g. fairness, (in)equality, desert, equality of opportunity as well as justice itself, the notion of talent has received only limited examination. This (...) article discusses some of the most pressing problems and challenges arising out of a reductionist understanding of talents’ anatomy and a distorted characterization of their overall distributive value. In particular, it aims to address those issues revolving around talents’ anatomy existing conceptions of distributive justice leave either neglected or outrightly ignored. The introductory part outlines the basic egalitarian conception of equal opportunities and then proceed with the examination of fairness embedded in it. The central part of the paper identifies the key elements of talents’ anatomy. We then discuss some of the implications egalitarianism either leaves out of the discussion or neglects. In particular, we challenge the idea of moral arbitrariness as the key mechanism to discard talents as a form of unfair advantage in the process of competition for advantaged social positions. In the final part, we outline two fundamental problems that call into question the cogency of egalitarian conceptions of talent(s) as a form of unfair disadvantage. (shrink)

Many of the computing systems programmed using Machine Learning are opaque: it is difficult to know why they do what they do or how they work. Explainable Artificial Intelligence aims to develop analytic techniques that render opaque computing systems transparent, but lacks a normative framework with which to evaluate these techniques’ explanatory successes. The aim of the present discussion is to develop such a framework, paying particular attention to different stakeholders’ distinct explanatory requirements. Building on an analysis of “opacity” from (...) philosophy of science, this framework is modeled after accounts of explanation in cognitive science. The framework distinguishes between the explanation-seeking questions that are likely to be asked by different stakeholders, and specifies the general ways in which these questions should be answered so as to allow these stakeholders to perform their roles in the Machine Learning ecosystem. By applying the normative framework to recently developed techniques such as input heatmapping, feature-detector visualization, and diagnostic classification, it is possible to determine whether and to what extent techniques from Explainable Artificial Intelligence can be used to render opaque computing systems transparent and, thus, whether they can be used to solve the Black Box Problem. (shrink)

The received view of dynamical explanation is that dynamical cognitive science seeks to provide covering law explanations of cognitive phenomena. By analyzing three prominent examples of dynamicist research, I show that the received view is misleading: some dynamical explanations are mechanistic explanations, and in this way resemble computational and connectionist explanations. Interestingly, these dynamical explanations invoke the mathematical framework of dynamical systems theory to describe mechanisms far more complex and distributed than the ones typically considered by philosophers. Therefore, contemporary dynamicist (...) research reveals the need for a more sophisticated account of mechanistic explanation. (shrink)

Models developed using machine learning are increasingly prevalent in scientific research. At the same time, these models are notoriously opaque. Explainable AI aims to mitigate the impact of opacity by rendering opaque models transparent. More than being just the solution to a problem, however, Explainable AI can also play an invaluable role in scientific exploration. This paper describes how post-hoc analytic techniques from Explainable AI can be used to refine target phenomena in medical science, to identify starting points for future (...) investigations of causal relationships, and to generate possible explanations of target phenomena in cognitive science. In this way, this paper describes how Explainable AI—over and above machine learning itself—contributes to the efficiency and scope of data-driven scientific research. (shrink)

Despite readily available facts and figures regarding human-caused natural degradation, a large portion of the public still refuses to believe that the environment is suffering because of our actions. This refusal to believe, paired with a lack of environmental motivation, has become so evident that it recently attracted the attention of scientists and psychologists attempting to account for it from various perspectives. The disbelief in, for instance, climate change, is hard to explain without referring to a mechanism best described as (...) “environmental denial”. Analysis shows that people may be prone to deny anthropogenic environmental damage because their personal identity, as well as the quest for meaning in their lives, depends upon a consumerist modus vivendi. Consciously or unconsciously faced with the dilemma of either accepting that this lifestyle endangers the life of the planet , and thus accepting its consequences and the responsibility for change, or refusing to believe that the environmental degradation is occurring in the first place, they choose the latter option. This choice is also motivated by the lack of sound alternatives around which new, “greener” identities could be built. Thus any attempt at changing public opinion regarding anthropogenic environmental degradation, as well as any strategy that advocates putting an abrupt end to our environmentally damaging practices, is not likely to be successful if it neglects to provide new footing for identity building.Allen bereitwillig verfügbaren Tatsachen und Zahlen hinsichtlich der menschenbedingten Naturgefährdung zum Trotz verschließt sich weiterhin ein Großteil der Öffentlichkeit der Gewissheit, dass die Umwelt unter unserem Vorgehen zu leiden bekommt. Diese Einsichtsablehnung, gepaart mit dem umweltlichen Motivationsmangel, wurde derart offenkundig, dass sie das Augenmerk der Wissenschaftler und Psychologen auf sich gerichtet hat, die bemüht waren, sie aus diversen Blickwinkeln auszudeuten. Beispielshalber lässt sich der Unglaube an dem Klimawandel nur mühsam darlegen ohne Berufung auf den Mechanismus, der aufs Beste als „ökologische Leugnung“ bezeichnet wurde. Die Analyse deutet darauf hin, die Menschen seien geneigt, anthropogene Umweltschäden zu bestreiten, weil deren persönliche Identitäten samt ihrer Suche nach dem Sinn des Lebens auf den konsumorientierten Modus Vivendi angewiesen sind. Bewusst oder unbewusst dem Dilemma gegenübergestellt – entweder einzuräumen, ein derartiger Lebensstil setze das Dasein auf dem Planeten aufs Spiel und daher dessen Konsequenzen bzw. die Verantwortlichkeit für den Umbruch zu akzeptieren, oder dagegen den Ablauf des Umweltniedergangs generell zu verneinen – entscheiden sie sich für die letztere Option. Eine solche Wahl ist desgleichen angeregt durch Knappheit an soliden Alternativen, um die frische, „grünere“ Identitäten aufgebaut werden können. Jedwedes Vorhaben, die öffentliche Meinung in puncto anthropogener Umweltbelastung zu beeinflussen, als auch jegliche Strategie, ein abruptes Ende der umweltschädlichen Verfahrensweisen zu befürworten, dürfte infolgedessen einen Misserfolg erleben, wenn sie es verfehlen sollte, neuen Boden für die Identitätserschaffung vorzubereiten. (shrink)

Der Verfasser betrachtet die Frage der Globalisierung im Kontext der Philosophie und schwenkt in etwas unerwarteter Richtung ab: Gegenstand seiner Untersuchungen sind nicht Bedeutung und Folgen des als „global“ bezeichneten Prozesses, sondern die Art und Weise, in der die Globalisierung die philosophisch-theoretische und literarische Produktion beeinflusst. Anstatt also umgehend „die Globalisierung zu reflektieren“, möchte der Verfasser zeigen, „was die Globalisierung dem Denken angetan hat“. Um sein Bestreben zu veranschaulichen, verweist er auf Afrika, Lateinamerika und Indien, drei Hauptbereiche, die es zu (...) untersuchen gelte, da es sich um repräsentative Regionen der sog. „Dritten Welt“ oder des „globalen Südens“ handle. Der von P. Hountondji übernommene Grundgedanke lautet, dass die philosophische und übrige fachliterarische Produktion der Wirtschaftsproduktion nacheifere; a fortiori stellten sie ein und denselben Prozess dar, was anhand zahlreicher Beispiele veranschaulicht wird. Des Weiteren soll gezeigt werden, dass trotz großer Unterschiede in den hermeneutischen Positionen, trotz der großen geografischen Entfernungen und sukzessiven Traditionen die gesamte philosophische und literarische Produktion der „Dritten Welt“ ein ähnliches Schicksal erlebt. Dies kann nach Ansicht des Autors eine Folge ihrer strukturalen Positionierung innerhalb des zeitgenössischen „Weltsystems“ sein. Autoren aus „peripheren“ Bereichen der philosophisch-theoretischen Produktion sehen sich nicht nur ähnlichen Problemen gegenübergestellt, sondern teilen, wie im Text nachzulesen ist, ähnliche Gedanken darüber, was getan werden kann, um das Ungleichgewicht zwischen den Kulturen und die asymmetrische Position ihrer eigenen Kulturen zu minimieren und abzuschaffen. (shrink)

When tackling with the issue of globalization in the context of philosophy, this article takes somewhat different route than expected: it doesn’t ponder upon the meaning and the consequences of the processes we call ‘global’, but instead tries to find out how philosophy, theoretical and literary production themselves have been affected by globalization. Instead of an attempt to immediately “think the globalization” it tries to show what “globalization has done to thinking”. In order to illustrate this point three main areas (...) to be explored are taken into account: Africa, Latin America and India. They are chosen on the basis of being representative regions of the so-called “Third-World” or “Global South”. Main idea, taken from the arguments of P. Hountondji is that philosophical and theoretical productions mimic economic one; a fortiori: they are actually the same process. This point is illustrated in a number of cases. Further, the paper tries to show that, in spite of huge differences in hermeneutical outlooks, geographical distance and successive traditions, all “Third-World” philosophical/literary production faces similar fate, what could be a consequence of its structural positioning in a contemporary “World-System”. However, the authors who come from “peripheral” areas of theoretical production don’t only face similar problems but, as shown, also share similar ideas of what could be done in order to minimize and level out the imbalance and asymmetrical position of their cultures. (shrink)

Razmatrajući pitanje globalizacije u kontekstu filozofije, tekst kreće u pomalo neočekivanom pravcu: ne promišlja o značenju i posljedicama procesa kojeg nazivamo ‘globalnim’ nego umjesto toga nastoji istražiti kakav je utjecaj globalizacije na filozofiju te teorijsku i literarnu produkciju. Umjesto pokušaja da odmah »misli globalizaciju«, tekst nastoji pokazati »što je globalizacija učinila mišljenju«. Za ilustraciju toga nastojanja uzet će se u obzir tri glavna područja koja treba istražiti: Afrika, Latinska Amerika i Indija. Ta su područja izabrana jer predstavljaju reprezentativne regije tzv. (...) »Trećeg svijeta« ili »Globalnog Juga«. Osnovna ideja, preuzeta od P. Hountondijija, jest da filozofska i teorijska produkcija oponašaju onu ekonomsku, a fortiori, zapravo predstavljaju isti proces, što je prikazano na mnoštvu primjera. Nadalje, tekst nastoji pokazati da se usprkos velikim razlikama u hermeneutičkim gledištima, geografskoj udaljenosti i sukcesivnoj tradiciji, cijela filozofska/literarna produkcija »Trećeg svijeta« suočava sa sličnom sudbinom, što može biti posljedicom njena strukturalnog pozicioniranja u suvremenom »sustavu svijeta«. Autori koji dolaze iz »perifernih« područja teorijske produkcije ne suočavaju se samo sa sličnim problemima, nego, kako je u tekstu pokazano, također dijele slične ideje o tome što se može učiniti kako bi se minimalizirala i izjednačila neravnoteža i asimetrična pozicija njihovih kultura. (shrink)

Alors qu’il examine la question de la mondialisation dans le contexte de la philosophie, le texte prend une direction quelque peu inattendue : au lieu de réfléchir sur la signification et les conséquences du processus dit « global », il tente d’établir comment la philosophie ainsi que la production théorique et littéraire sont à leur tour affectés par la mondialisation. Au lieu de « penser la mondialisation » d’emblée, le texte tente de montrer ce que « la mondialisation a eu (...) comme effet sur la pensée ». Afin d’illustrer cet effort, trois régions seront prises en compte : l’Afrique, l’Amérique Latine et l’Inde. Ces régions ont été choisies car elles sont représentatives du « Tiers monde » ou des « Pays du Sud ». L’idée principale, inspirée par P. Hountondji, est que les productions théoriques et philosophiques imitent la production économique ; a fortiori : elles représentent le seul et même processus. Ce point est illustré par de nombreux cas. Ensuite, le texte tente de montrer que, malgré les différences importantes des approches herméneutiques, de la distance géographique et des traditions successives, toute la production philosophique et littéraire du « Tiers monde » fait face au même destin, ce qui pourrait être une conséquence de son positionnement structurel dans le « système mondial » contemporain. Cependant, les auteurs issus des champs « périphériques » de la production théorique ne sont pas seulement confrontés à des problèmes similaires ; ils partagent en outre des idées similaires concernant ce qui peut être fait pour minimiser la position asymétrique de leurs cultures et rétablir l’équilibre. (shrink)

To date, no definition of life has been unequivocally accepted by the scientific community. In frustration, some authors advocate alternatives to standard definitions. These include using a list of characteristic features, focusing on life’s effects, or categorizing biospheres rather than life itself; treating life as a fuzzy category, a process or a cluster of contingent properties; or advocating a ‘wait-and-see’ approach until other examples of life are created or discovered. But these skeptical, operational, and pluralistic approaches have intensified the debate, (...) rather than settled it. Given the failure of even these approaches, we advocate a new strategy. In this paper, we reverse the usual line of reasoning and argue that the “life problem” arises from thinking incorrectly about the nature of life. Scientists most often conceptualize life as a class or kind, with earthly life as a single instance of it. Instead, we advocate thinking about Earth’s Life as an individual, in the way that species are now thought to be. In this view, Life is a monophyletic clade that originated with a last universal common ancestor, and includes all its descendants. We can continue to use the category ‘life’ pragmatically to refer to similarities between various phenomena and Life. But the relevant similarities are a matter of interest and preference, not a matter of fact. The search for other life in the Universe, then, is merely a search for entities that resemble parts of Life in whatever sense astrobiologists find most appealing. This does not mean that the search for evolved complexity elsewhere in the universe or its creation in the lab are futile endeavors, but that debates over whether they count as ‘life’ are. Ironically, finally abandoning the concept ‘life’ may make our searches for evolved complexity more fruitful. We explain why. (shrink)

"Epistola a Memeceo, Maximas capitales, Sentencias vaticanas, fragmentos y testimonios; texto griego y traduccion": p. [87]-161.

This paper discusses the varieties of capitalism in transitional societies in Latin America and Central / Eastern Europe. The intended purpose of these transitions from semi-closed import-substituting economies in the first case and state socialist ones in the second was to institutionalize open-market economies. Twenty or thirty years later, there is a variety of types of capitalism in these countries, which I classify into three: open-market, neo-mercantilist, and anemic. The question for sociology is whether these quite different variants represent temporary (...) stages or distortions in the same process of transition or whether, on the contrary, they may institutionalize as discrete forms of peripheral capitalism. Neither standard “legacy” argu­ments nor institutionalist theories offer satisfactory answers to this question. The multiple modernities approach, on the other hand, is more appropriate as a theoretical perspective, but it has not produced yet specific propositions applicable to this question. My paper makes two claims. First, the successful transfer of institutions depends on the congruence between these institutions and the broader institutional framework of the recipient economies, a point not developed by institutionalist theories. I offer a hypothesis in this regard: Two critical nodes of congruence are the regulatory and extractive capacity of the state and the strength of civil society. Second, market capitalism (as liberal democracy as well) is a complex institution, and some of its components “travel” more easily across societies and institutional frameworks, and therefore are easier to institutionalize. This is the source of the hybrid variants. (shrink)

Bayesian reverse-engineering is a research strategy for developing three-level explanations of behavior and cognition. Starting from a computational-level analysis of behavior and cognition as optimal probabilistic inference, Bayesian reverse-engineers apply numerous tweaks and heuristics to formulate testable hypotheses at the algorithmic and implementational levels. In so doing, they exploit recent technological advances in Bayesian artificial intelligence, machine learning, and statistics, but also consider established principles from cognitive psychology and neuroscience. Although these tweaks and heuristics are highly pragmatic in character and (...) are often deployed unsystematically, Bayesian reverse-engineering avoids several important worries that have been raised about the explanatory credentials of Bayesian cognitive science: the worry that the lower levels of analysis are being ignored altogether; the challenge that the mathematical models being developed are unfalsifiable; and the charge that the terms ‘optimal’ and ‘rational’ have lost their customary normative force. But while Bayesian reverse-engineering is therefore a viable and productive research strategy, it is also no fool-proof recipe for explanatory success. (shrink)

In this paper I respond to Marcus William Hunt’s argument that vegan parents have pro tanto reasons for not raising their children on a vegan diet because such a diet is potentially harmful to children’s physical and social well-being. In my rebuttal, first I show that in practice all vegan diets, with the exception of wacky diets, are beneficial to children’s well-being ; and that all animal-based diets are potentially unhealthful. Second, I show that vegan children are no more socially (...) outcast than any other group. In other words, veganism does not harm the lives of children. Having considered several studies, I show that the moral reasons that vegan parents may have for raising their children on a vegan diet significantly outweigh the reasons for raising their children on an animal-based diet. Thus, I conclude that parents have a moral obligation to raise their children on a vegan diet. (shrink)

The philosophical conception of mechanistic explanation is grounded on a limited number of canonical examples. These examples provide an overly narrow view of contemporary scientific practice, because they do not reflect the extent to which the heuristic strategies and descriptive practices that contribute to mechanistic explanation have evolved beyond the well-known methods of decomposition, localization, and pictorial representation. Recent examples from evolutionary robotics and network approaches to biology and neuroscience demonstrate the increasingly important role played by computer simulations and mathematical (...) representations in the epistemic practices of mechanism discovery and mechanism description. These examples also indicate that the scope of mechanistic explanation must be re-examined: With new and increasingly powerful methods of discovery and description comes the possibility of describing mechanisms far more complex than traditionally assumed. (shrink)

SummaryThis article sheds light on intellectual politics under Nazism by looking at a crucial shift in the field of Hobbes studies that was marked in a congress celebrating the three hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Thomas Hobbes's birth, organised in Kiel, 1938. Before the congress, the decisive voice in Hobbes studies had for almost fifty years been that of Kiel University professor Ferdinand Tönnies. Tönnies was purged from the university upon the Nazi seizure of power in 1933 and died three (...) years later. At the opening of the Hobbes congress in Kiel, its convener, Cay von Brockdorff, declared that the phase of Hobbes studies shaped by Tönnies was ending and that a new phase, represented by Paul Ritterbusch and Carl Schmitt, had emerged. Against the background of a long tradition of Hobbes studies in Kiel, this article summarises Tönnies's contribution to Hobbes studies; analyses organisation and proceeedings of the congress, paying special attention to politico-theoretical disagreements between Ritterbusch and Schmitt and to von Brockdorff's exploitation of their rivalry; and contextualises Schmitt's interpretation of Hobbes published in the aftermath of the congress. (shrink)

In a context of pervasive digitalization of the social world, both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, the field of education has undergone major changes with the development of digital practices and settings. However, the physical presence of the subjects and the body remain something primordial and irreplaceable in traditional educational processes. Thus, it is often assumed that virtuality is opposed to the corporeal reality of the subjects involved in teaching, learning and studying. In this paper we aim to critically (...) challenge this assumption by addressing the phenomenon of virtuality in a more original sense: as a fundamental dimension of corporeality itself. Drawing on Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenological insights, we argue that the experience of the virtual is inherently embodied and fully real. We understand corporeality and virtuality as entangled and multidimensional phenomena. At the same time, this leads us to rethink the digital as only one possible medium in which virtuality can appear as inherent to embodied experience. We develop our phenomenological approach in three instances. First, we question and bracket two common assumptions about corporeality. From our critical perspective, assumptions about a disembodied digitality and a devirtualized corporeality represent extremes within which educational discourses currently move. Second, we address the inherent virtuality of embodied experience. We outline the heuristic concept of the virtual body to describe corporeality and virtuality as entangled and multidimensional phenomena that encompass extension, intercorporeality and intermediality. Finally, we make some remarks on the relationships of corporeality and virtuality considering the challenges of digital education. (shrink)

This chapter subsumes David Marr’s levels of analysis account of explanation in cognitive science under the framework of mechanistic explanation: Answering the questions that define each one of Marr’s three levels is tantamount to describing the component parts and operations of mechanisms, as well as their organization, behavior, and environmental context. By explicating these questions and showing how they are answered in several different cognitive science research programs, this chapter resolves some of the ambiguities that remain in Marr’s account, and (...) shows that many different areas and traditions of cognitive scientific research can be unified under the mechanistic framework. (shrink)

At least since Kuhn’s Structure, philosophers have studied the influence of social factors in science’s pursuit of truth and knowledge. More recently, formal models and computer simulations have allowed philosophers of science and social epistemologists to dig deeper into the detailed dynamics of scientific research and experimentation, and to develop very seemingly realistic models of the social organization of science. These models purport to be predictive of the optimal allocations of factors, such as diversity of methods used in science, size (...) of groups, and communication channels among researchers. In this paper we argue that the current research faces an empirical challenge. The challenge is to connect simulation models with data. We present possible scenarios about how the challenge may unfold. (shrink)