iamo simili a Dio, come aveva predetto il serpente: non conosciamo solo il bene e il male, abbiamo le mani sull'Albero della Vita. Siamo giunti all'inizio: ma l'inizio non è contiguo alla fine? Questo libro è un'appassionata riflessione sulla necessità e sulla possibilità di dare vita, alle soglie del Secondo Millennio, a una comunità basata su valori etici e pratici fondati su una religione vissuta sia sul piano personale sia su quello sociale. Una meditazione profonda e problematica su Dio, Cristo, (...) la scienza, la tecnica, il bene, il male, il dolore, le grandi religioni, l'eternità; un tentativo di fornire un'interpretazione e una risposta ai grandi problemi che interessano il mondo e coinvolgono tutti noi. (shrink)

This is a welcome reprint of a book that continues to grow in importance.

Bas C. van Fraassen, in his Terry Lectures at Yale University, is concerned to elucidate what empiricism is, and could be, given past and current failures of characterization. He contends that naïve empiricism—the metaphilosophical position that characterizes empiricism in terms of a thesis—is self-refuting, and he offers a reductio ad absurdum to substantiate this claim. Moreover, in place of naïve empiricism, van Fraassen endorses stance empiricism: the metaphilosophical position that characterizes empiricism in terms of certain attitudes and commitments. The present (...) article, however, argues that van Fraassen begs the question in his reductio of naïve empiricism, and thus that his primary defense of stance empiricism is inadequate. (shrink)

The author presents and defends three theses: (1) "the first is that it is not profitable for us at present to do moral philosophy; that should be laid aside at any rate until we have an adequate philosophy of psychology." (2) "the second is that the concepts of obligation, And duty... And of what is morally right and wrong, And of the moral sense of 'ought', Ought to be jettisoned if this is psychologically possible...." (3) "the third thesis is that (...) the differences between the well-Known english writers on moral philosophy from sidgwick to the present day are of little importance." (staff). (shrink)

This book offers an introduction to the Sophists of fifth-century Athens and a new overall interpretation of their thought. Since Plato first animadverted on their activities, the Sophists have commonly been presented as little better than intellectual mountebanks - a picture which Professor Kerferd forcefully challenges here. Interpreting the evidence with care, he shows them to have been part of an exciting and historically crucial intellectual movement. At the centre of their teaching was a form of relativism, most famously expressed (...) by Protagoras as 'Man is the measure of all things', and which they developed in a wide range of views - on knowledge and argument, virtue, government, society, and the gods. On all these subjects the Sophists did far more than simply provoke Plato to thought. Their contributions were substantial and serious; they inaugurated the debate on many central philosophical questions and decisively shifted the focus of philosophical attention from the cosmos to man. (shrink)

Miller has recently argued that the standard liberal and moderate positions on abortion are incapable of grounding the claim that ‘all non-disabled adult humans are equal’. The reason, he claims, is such accounts base the intrinsic moral worth of a human being on some property (or set of properties) which comes in degrees. In contrast, he argues that moral equality must reside in some binary property, such as the property of being human. In this paper, I offer three criticisms of (...) Miller’s position. (shrink)

According to J. L. Schellenberg, a perfectly loving God wouldn't permit the occurrence of non-resistant non-believers – that is, non-believers who are both capable of believing in and relating to God, but who fail to believe through no fault of their own. Since non-resistant non-believers exist, says Schellenberg, it follows that God doesn't. A popular response to this argument is some version or other of the greater good defence. God, it's argued, is justified in hiding himself when done for the (...) sake of some greater good. But proponents of this defence have overlooked or neglected an important sub-argument in Schellenberg's case – what I call the ‘pre-eminent good argument’. In this article, I identify the nature of the argument and offer a solution to it. (shrink)

This article tries to study the evolution of the place and significance of the term “fiction” in Bentham’s critical strategy against English law. If, in an initial phase, Bentham uses fictions to bring to light mystification operating in English law, he then attacks the theories that sought to justify and ground political society and law. Bentham proposes a foundation justified with the help of the principle of utility, which he presents as a “fundamental axiom” that needs no proof. Paradoxically, his (...) argumentation, taken as a whole, becomes intrinsically problematical on recognizing the inevitable linguistic necessity of fictions and the fictitious character of utility: every legal discourse will, in consequence, invoke the fictions that it previously criticised. He must therefore refine his theory of fictions and construct its positivity with the aim of drawing up a legal discourse that satisfies the demands of his theory of law. (shrink)

What is the secret of good government? Both Mill in his Representative Government, and Bentham, in his Constitutional Code, believe that neither individual qualities or institutions are sufficient on their own and both are interested in institutional devices such as voting systems, civic education or public administrations that can shape and foster a new democratic citizenry. The paper will compare their two different approaches to the way individual aptitudes can be harnessed to democratic policies and processes.

Mutuality, the defining relationship of personal life, provides a meaningful context for unifying and clarifying three facets of personal existence: self-identity, rationality, and freedom.

Louis Loeb has identified a “nasty problem” in connection with Hume’s theory of meaning. The problem is that Hume seemingly claims we lack ideas corresponding to key metaphysical terms, such as terms like “substance” and “necessary connection,” but he then proceeds to explain why philosophers believe in the existence of entities denoted by such terms. In short, Hume seems motivated to explain belief in the existence of certain entities, despite his claiming we have no ideas corresponding to them. In this (...) paper, I strive to solve the problem by noting the important role of clear and distinct perception in his thought. In particular, I argue Hume only wishes to deny that we have clear and distinct ideas of substance and necessary connection, and not that we altogether lack any idea of substance and necessary connection, traditionally conceived. (shrink)

A response to James S. Spiegel's article in THINK 43 in which he argues that same-sex marriage is unjust.

Hume is known for his claim that our idea of causation is nothing beyond constant conjunction, and that our idea of necessary connection is nothing beyond a felt determination of the mind. In short, Hume endorses a "thin" conception of causation and necessary connection. In recent years, however, a sizeable number of philosophers have come to view Hume as someone who believes in the existence of thick causal connections - that is, causal connections that allow one to infer a priori (...) the effect from the cause, and vice versa. Hume doesn't wish to deny such connections, said philosopher's claim, he only seeks to demonstrate that we can't know anything about the nature of the thick causal connections that make up the natural world. In this dissertation, I defend the old or traditional interpretation of Hume on causation. I draw attention to the important but neglected role of clear and distinct perception in Hume's thought, arguing that for Hume our impressions are clear and distinct perceptions, whereas our ideas are faint and obscure. Accordingly, Hume's copy principle - the thesis that our ideas are copies of our impressions - is Hume's way of rendering our naturally obscure and confused ideas distinct. One need only discern the impression from which said ideas are copied. In this way, I show that Hume's opinion concerning our idea of thick causation is that it's an obscure and confused idea, and that the only clear and distinct idea we can have of causation is thin causation. Furthermore, since meaning for Hume is a matter of a word's being associated with an idea, Hume thinks that an expression such as "thick causation" is meaningless or confused. In one sense, then, Hume is a positivist, and as such doesn't believe in thick causal connections. (shrink)

This book critically analyses the role of behavioural sciences in public policy and challenges the belief that they provide sufficient evidence to build policy from. Through highlighting the ethical, political legal questions around nudges, the author examines the impact of their influence on our society.

Ce texte se propose de prendre pour objet le discours élaboré par le management et qui, au-delà de produire des connaissances, sert de fondement à l’élaboration de normes organisationnelles et construit différents types de normativités. Il s’agira alors de développer une analyse philosophique qui cherchera à mettre à l’épreuve la thèse suivante : le fonctionnement managérial interne à l’entreprise repose sur un discours qui a recours aux fictions ; or, non seulement les modalités de ce recours aux fictions ne sont (...) pas explicites mais leur organisation structurelle aboutit également à la construction d’individus et d’un espace propres dont la finalité est d’influencer les comportements. (shrink)

Cet ouvrage est la traduction anglaise du texte Lacan et la langue anglaise paru aux éditions Erès en 2017. Cette remarque, qui pourrait sembler anodine, met le lecteur – qu’il soit francophone ou anglophone – face à l’enjeu même de l’ouvrage : penser les rapports d’une pensée au langage, à lalangue, tout en tentant de retranscrire dans une langue étrangère une pensée profondément ancrée dans la langue tout en ne cessant de faire référence à des auteurs anglais. Il ren...

Dès que l’on décide de travailler sur la pensée de Jeremy Bentham se pose la question de l’édition des textes d’une part, et de leur disponibilité d’autre part. Dès que l’on décide d’utiliser internet comme un outil de recherche se pose la question de la gratuité ou non des informations d’une part, et des droits d’auteur des textes présents d’autre part. Ces quatre questions sont inextricablement liées à l’heure des projets de bibliothèques universelles. Le but de ce court article n’est (...) pas d.. (shrink)

A natural reading of Hume’s distinction between impressions and ideas is that impressions are forceful perceptions whereas ideas are faint. A problem emerges, however, when Hume countenances the possibility of faint impressions and forceful ideas. In this paper, I attempt a resolution to the problem. I argue that Hume characterizes impressions and ideas intensionally and extensionally, and sometimes uses the term in only one of the two senses. I argue that Hume intensionally defines impressions and ideas as forceful perceptions and (...) weak perceptions, respectively, but takes these to be extensionally equivalent to original and copied perceptions, respectively. Hume recognizes that his two characterizations—the intensional and extensional—don’t perfectly match up, and that there are exceptions to the purported equivalences (the exceptions being disease, sleep, madness, and enthusiasm). Nonetheless, I argue that Hume’s willing to proceed with his definitions. (shrink)

Medical personnel sometimes face a seeming conflict between a duty to respect patient confidentiality and a duty to warn or protect endangered third parties. The conventional answer to dilemmas of this sort is that, in certain circumstances, medical professionals have an obligation to breach confidentiality. Kenneth Kipnis has argued, however, that the conventional wisdom on the nature of medical confidentiality is mistaken. Kipnis argues that the obligation to respect patient confidentiality is unqualified or absolute, since unqualified policies can save more (...) lives in the long run. In this paper, I identify the form of Kipnis’s argument and present a challenge to it. I conclude that, as matters stand now, a qualified confidentiality policy is the more rational choice. (shrink)

Le nouvel et dernier ouvrage de Jean-Pierre Cléro consacre à la philosophie de Jeremy Bentham est intéressant à plus d’un titre. Tout d’abord, il unifie et bénéficie de l’ensemble des textes et réflexions que Jean-Pierre Cléro a pu élaborer depuis de nombreuses années sur les différents aspects de la philosophie benthamienne. Ensuite, il débute habilement par une relecture particulièrement vive et intéressante de la vie de Bentham. Loin de se contenter de la classique biographie, Jean-Pierre Cléro propose une relecture des (...) différents évènements qui, selon lui, ont structuré la vie de Bentham tout en délivrant des clés qui permettront de mieux comprendre l’évolution de sa pensée. Sans sombrer dans la facilité d’une « psychologisation biographique », il s’agit bien plutôt de comprendre l’auteur à travers des éléments marquants de sa vie. A ce titre, les phrases d’ouverture et de clôture de cette partie biographique sont particulièrement éclairantes et intéressantes quant aux possibili... (shrink)

Normal propositional modal systems This first chapter has two main aims. One is to give a general account of the propositional modal systems that we shall ...

An examination of verbal hallucinations and thought insertion as examples of "alienated self-consciousness.".

This book traces the intellectual revolution initiated by Thales in the sixth century BC to its culmination in the metaphysics of Parmenides.

This entirely new work guides the reader through the most basic systems of modal propositional logic up to systems of modal predicate with identity, dealing with both technical developments and discussing philosophical applications.

Editor James Fetzer presents an analytical and historical introduction and a comprehensive bibliography together with selections of many of Carl G. Hempel's most important studies to give students and scholars an ideal opportunity to appreciate the enduring contributions of one of the most influential philosophers of science of the 20th century.