It is well known that, in a topological space, the open sets can be characterized using ?lter convergence. In ZF , we cannot replace filters by ultrafilters. It is proven that the ultra?lter convergence determines the open sets for every topological space if and only if the Ultrafilter Theorem holds. More, we can also prove that the Ultra?lter Theorem is equivalent to the fact that uX = kX for every topological space X, where k is the usual Kuratowski closure operator (...) and u is the Ultra?lter Closure with uX := {x ∈ X: [U converges to x and A ∈ U ]}. However, it is possible to built a topological space X for which uX ≠ kX, but the open sets are characterized by the ultra?lter convergence. To do so, it is proved that if every set has a free ultra?lter, then the Axiom of Countable Choice holds for families of non-empty finite sets. It is also investigated under which set theoretic conditions the equality u = k is true in some subclasses of topological spaces, such as metric spaces, second countable T0-spaces or {ℝ}. (shrink)

This article aims to propose some connections between the conceptions of poetry of the Mexican poet Octavio Paz and the German philosopher Martin Heidegger. Both see in poetry the element of recognition of the original condition of the human being, not as an interpretation, but as a perception and affectation of the existential reality of human beings. So that the event of the "poetic saying" is configured as a call to the possibility of glimpsing the being of each entity, inhabiting (...) oneself and, thus, learning to be with others, establishing the poetic field as the clearing of perception and of existential affectation. Poetic speech goes beyond the limits of language, creating and establishing meanings and representations to the affectations that poetry provides. Thus, through poetry man recognizes himself in his worldliness, in search of his own being and in his relationship with other beings. (shrink)

Jiren (畸人), literally translated as irregular (Ji) person (ren), is a critical concept in the classical Daoist text the Zhuangzi (5th–3rd century BC.).1 The concept refers to individuals with atypical body shapes. Some of them lack body parts of the standard human body, like a leg or toes. Some others have an atypical anatomy, like having a chin stuck down their navel; and some of them are, by social standards of the time, considered to be extremely ugly.1 These individuals are (...) described as incredibly virtuous. The description of Jiren individuals as virtuous does not simply aim to show there may be hidden virtues that social conventions blur. The point is not to show that we should also care for those with atypical bodies who have a hidden virtue. Rather, the point is to show that all human beings have an unconditional intrinsic value and moral worth. So, Jiren prescribes that an atypical body shape does not reflect inferiority. The variation of body anatomies should be understood as how the world is, not a value hierarchy. The concept of Jiren encourages, therefore, to consider one’s own and others’ value beyond their physical appearance. What’s more, Jiren encourages individuals to resist social pressures to fit a standard and to search inward for who they really are and accept it. This ethical groundwork set by the Jiren aims at freeing people from existing physical and mental boundaries to their well-being and helping them rethink …. (shrink)

Under the axiom of choice, every first countable space is a Fréchet-Urysohn space. Although, in its absence even ℝ may fail to be a sequential space.Our goal in this paper is to discuss under which set-theoretic conditions some topological classes, such as the first countable spaces, the metric spaces, or the subspaces of ℝ, are classes of Fréchet-Urysohn or sequential spaces.In this context, it is seen that there are metric spaces which are not sequential spaces. This fact raises the question (...) of knowing if the completion of a metric space exists and it is unique. The answer depends on the definition of completion.Among other results it is shown that: every first countable space is a sequential space if and only if the axiom of countable choice holds, the sequential closure is idempotent in ℝ if and only if the axiom of countable choice holds for families of subsets of ℝ, and every metric space has a unique equation image-completion. (shrink)

I begin by drawing a parallel between the intuitionistic understanding of quantification over all natural numbers and the generality relativist understanding of quantification over absolutely everything. I then argue that adoption of an intuitionistic reading of relativism not only provides an immediate reply to the absolutist's charge of incoherence but it also throws a new light on the debates surrounding absolute generality.

This paper analyzes the methodological use of dialectic in the philosophy of Paul Ricœur, arguing that at its core this philosophy is moved by the dynamics stemming from the interaction between conflict and conciliation. In sketching an alternative model to better understand Ricoeur’s original approach to philosophy, my rational reconstruction of his method assesses his “post-Hegelian Kantism”, the procedures of conflict, mediation, conciliation and dialectic and the importance of the engaged reader. I will contend that one of Ricoeur’s lasting contributions (...) to philosophy is to show how one can be original while being thorough and that the enlarged perspective built by his thinking together successfully explains phenomena by avoiding reductionism and striving for the quest of new meaning through a process of perpetual reinterpretation. (shrink)

The 20th Century was a rich period for Thomism. Many commentaries to the First Way were written. One of the many points of disagreement between Thomists was the actual meaning of “motion.” In this paper, I try to argue that one should take for “motion” the broad meaning of “motus” (as equivalent to “mutatio”). I do so by reviewing the position of various prominent Thomists of the last century, many of which have disagreed with this position. I make the case (...) that Aristotle is not the best interpreter of the First Way, and similarly that other works by Aquinas should only be used when the Summa Theologiae itself is not clear enough—which is not the case. (shrink)

In this interview, conducted by Gonçalo Marcelo, Richard Kearney recaps his intellectual trajectory, commenting on his early works on imagination and his own narrative style of doing philosophy in order then to make explicit the deep connection between the more recent developments of Carnal Hermeneutics, Reimagining the Sacred and the work done with others in the context of the Guestbook Project. Drawing on some lesser-known aspects of his work, he emphasizes the carnal dimension of recognition and discusses the pitfalls (...) of the Age of Excarnation. Finally, and as part of his ongoing role as a public intellectual, he also comments on Europe’s social and political situation and the dangers it faces arguing for a pedagogy of narrative exchange as a means to foster hospitality and inclusion. (shrink)

This paper aims to rationnally reconstruct a project of social philosophy in Paul Ricoeur. It argues that there is an intrinsic connection between hermeneutics and social philosophy, and that Ricoeurian hermeneutics is well suited to provide the interpretative background in which the emancipatory interest of social philosophy can successfuly unfold.

This article situates The Course of Recognition in the context of Ricœurian philosophy and contemporary debates on mutual recognition. This article reconstructs the debate between Ricœur and mainstream recognition scholars, as well as with the other figures, such as Boltanski, Thévenot and Hénaff, who had a direct influence in the way Ricœur fleshed out his alternative conception of recognition. By connecting recognition with Ricœur’s notions of ideology and utopia, we are able to uncover a major blind spot in the standard (...) model of recognition,and to undo ideological and reified forms of recognition. Honneth and Ricœur both aim at societies whose members are duly recognized, but they do so in radically different manners. Whereas Honneth’s model must be politicized in order to become relevant to social change, Ricœur evisages social change in a pure ethics of recognition. (shrink)

In dialogue with his interlocutor, Axel Honneth summarizes the way his work on recognition has unfolded over the past two decades. While he has retained his principal insights, some important parts of his theory have changed. He comments that if he were to rewrite The Struggle for Recognition today, he would focus more on institutions and the historicization of recognition patterns. He clarifies his stance on some contemporary controversial issues, including the crisis of capitalism, gay marriage, and his quarrel with (...) Peter Sloterdijk. Finally, he sheds some light on topics much discussed within Critical Theory, such as the relation between theory and praxis and the possibility of politicizing recognition, and on lesser-known aspects of his theory, namely, the relationship between his work and literature. (shrink)

In this article, we will make the case for an intercultural philosophy of religion with a special focus on interculturality between Chinese and African philosophies. We will provide an overview of the kind of intercultural philosophy that has already been undertaken between the East and the South and point out that a philosophy of religion has been left out. We will then make the case for a global philosophy of religion approach and why Chinese and African philosophies of religion should (...) engage in philosophical interchanges. We will then highlight some directions for carrying out such a philosophy and explain why the problem of evil may be better addressed from an intercultural perspective. (shrink)

Firms engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) because they consider that some kind of competitive advantage accrues to them. We contend that resource-based perspectives (RBP) are useful to understand why firms engage in CSR activities and disclosure. From a resource-based perspective CSR is seen as providing internal or external benefits, or both. Investments in socially responsible activities may have internal benefits by helping a firm to develop new resources and capabilities which are related namely to know-how and corporate culture. In (...) effect, investing in social responsibility activities and disclosure has important consequences on the creation or depletion of fundamental intangible resources, namely those associated with employees. The external benefits of CSR are related to its effect on corporate reputation. Corporate reputation can be understood as a fundamental intangible resource which can be created or depleted as a consequence of the decisions to engage or not in social responsibility activities and disclosure. Firms with good social responsibility reputation may improve relations with external actors. They may also attract better employees or increase current employees’ motivation, morale, commitment and loyalty to the firm. This article contributes to the understanding of why CSR may be seen as having strategic value for firms and how RBP can be used in such endeavour. (shrink)

Cet article porte sur l’influence de la philosophie d’Eric Weil dans l’œuvre de Paul Ricœur. Il vise à établir, dans ses traits principaux, l’influence de Weil dans le projet et le cadre théorique général de Ricœur (où l’influence est avouée) et certains points très précis où Weil est probablement à l’œuvre, même si cette présence n’a pas été rendue explicite par Ricœur lui-même. Les deux philosophes se situent dans la mouvance d’un kantisme post-hégélien et ils mettent en avant deux philosophies (...) de la liberté, de l’action et de la poursuite de la sagesse, toutes les deux du côté du sens et du discours, mais aussi aux prises avec le double héritage hégélien de l’absolu et du système. Pourtant, les deux auteurs se frayent des che­mins singulièrement différents vis-à-vis de ces questions et des options fondamentales en philosophie. Tandis que Weil se situe dans le cadre d’une logique du discours, Ricœur propose une philosophie herméneutique finalement plus ouverte et accueillante vis-à-vis de la pluralité fragmentaire du conflit des interprétations. (shrink)

Bilateralism is a theory of meaning according to which assertion and denial are independent speech acts. Bilateralism also proposes two coordination principles for assertion and denial. I argue that if assertion and denial are independent speech acts, they cannot be coordinated by the bilateralist principles.

A noção de objecto abstracto desempenha um papel central em diferentes debates filosóficos contemporâneos, da metafísica à estética, passando pela filosofia da linguagem. A sua origem está contudo relacionada com a filosofia da matemática e em particular, com o trabalho de Frege nos fundamentos da aritmética. O nosso primeiro objectivo será assim o de explicar o contributo desta noção para o entendimento Fregeano da realidade matemática. Veremos também que, em virtude de certas dificuldades inerentes ao projeto Fregeano, a dada altura (...) a natureza do universo matemático passou a ser entendida nos termos da chamada teoria dos conjuntos. Com este material à nossa disposição, podemos então discutir o papel desempenhado pela noção de objecto abstracto em certos debates filosóficos contemporâneos. Em particular, procuraremos ilustrar o interesse actual da noção, discutindo a distinção abstracto/concreto. (shrink)

The Ways that Big History Works: Cosmos, Life, Society and our Future reflects on how Big History helps us understand the nature of our existence and consider the pathways to our future.

The generality relativist has been accused of holding a self-defeating thesis. Kit Fine proposed a modal version of generality relativism that tries to resist this claim. We discuss his proposal and argue that one of its formulations is self-defeating.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between information and abductive reasoning in the context of problem-solving, focusing on non-human animals. Two questions guide our investigation: What is the relation between information and abductive reasoning in the context of human and non-human animals? Do non-human animals perform discovery based on inferential processes such as abductive reasoning? In order to answer these questions, we discuss the semiotic concept of information in relation to the concept of abductive reasoning and, (...) more specifically, to the notion of manipulative abduction proposed by Magnani. Finally, we investigate a case study of corvids’ intelligence, namely, their capacity of causal cognition. (shrink)

Assertion and denial are speech acts that play a central role in different theories of meaning, but the proper way to understand their relation remains an object of debate. We set out to identify the source of this disagreement and compare the proposals made by different theories of meaning. We also defend a unilateralist understanding of the relation between assertion and denial, according to which denying a sentence means that its assertion conditions could never be satisfied.

Unilateralism and bilateralism are theories of meaning that try to explain meaning in terms of use. They provide different accounts of the meaning of logical constants. Traditionally, unilateralism has been associated with intuitionistic logic. Bilateralism has been used to provide a new understanding of classical logic. I discuss three objections to bilateralism. I argue that, if meaning needs to be explained in terms of use, unilateralism provides a better account of the meaning of logical constants.

Au cours de cet entretien, Emmanuel Renault nous offre un aperçu de la manière dont la thématique de la reconnaissance est traitée en France aujourd’hui, notamment à travers le renouveau des études sur Hegel et Marx. Il explique la façon dont la reconnaissance a pu s’ériger en paradigme (en dépit de ses usages multiples et variés en France comme ailleurs), au cours de la dernière décennie et le rôle joué par Axel Honneth dans ce procès. Finalement, il explicite sa manière (...) d’envisager la pratique de la philosophie politique et son projet d’une critique du capitalisme. Emmanuel Renault nous livre également un commentaire critique mais constructif sur la manière dont Paul Ricœur envisage la reconnaissance et suggère quelques pistes concernant les possibles développements futurs des usages de la reconnaissance. (shrink)

Cet article vise à décrire les rapports dialectiques entre l’idéologie et l’utopie dans la philosophie sociale de Paul Ricœur et à les interroger sous l’angle de la critique. L’article montre le rôle de la critique dans le cadre de la philosophie ricœurienne et décrit la présence de plusieurs types, fonctions et objets de la critique dans cette philosophie, en soulignant l’importance, dans le contexte de ses rapports avec la théorie critique, de la critique généalogique, normative et reconstructive. Rappelant que les (...) formes pathologiques d’idéologie et d’utopie doivent être critiquées, mais aussi que les idéologies et les utopies, au sens positif, peuvent aussi être des outils critiques, l’article vise à cerner certains problèmes non résolus de l’approche ricœurienne à cette question mais aussi à montrer que la fonction critique de la philosophie ricœurienne a beaucoup à nous apprendre encore aujourd’hui. (shrink)

The evolution of philosophy and physics seem to acknowledge that "informational existentialism" will be possible. Therefore, this contribution aims to comprehend if Heidegger existentialism can enrich the bound between information theory and the intercultural dialogue as regards to information. Even so, an important query arises: why specifically Heidegger's philosophy? Because it highlights an intercultural dialogue namely with East Asian and with Arabic philosophy, which is also consistent with the debate concerning the potential value and contribution of information theory to the (...) intercultural dialogue. Therefore, this manuscript intends to understand if information is shaping worldwide cultures as a consequence of its existence. (shrink)

Each scientific study emerges in its own particular time and marks a new step in the development of human thought.1 Big History materialized to satisfy the human need for a unified vision of our existence. It came together in the waning decades of the twentieth century, in part, as a reaction to the specialization of scholarship and education that had taken hold around the world. While this specialization had great results, it created barriers that stood in contrast to a growing (...) unity among our global communities. These barriers were increasingly awkward to bridge, and, thus, Big History emerged as a successful new framework. (shrink)

Resumo Embora controversa, o contextualismo epistêmico alega oferecer a melhor explicação para alguns fenômenos analisados em epistemologia contemporânea, por exemplo: alega responder ou explicar o apelo de certos paradoxos e, ao mesmo tempo, manter a verdade de nossas alegações ordinárias de conhecimento. Conforme alegado por contextualistas, a vantagem de sua teoria ao explicar o apelo de certos paradoxos reside no fato de que nenhum princípio lógico precisa ser rejeitado. O paradoxo do prefácio – que consiste na aparente incoerência lógica que (...) ocorre quando o autor de um livro declara em seu prefácio que, apesar de acreditar que é altamente provável que tudo o que o livro afirma seja verdadeiro, também é altamente provável que o livro contenha, pelo menos, algum erro – parece não ter sido explorado o suficiente pelos contextualistas. Portanto, pretendemos sugerir uma versão do paradoxo do prefácio apresentando um argumento análogo ao argumento que os contextualistas costumam apresentar para explicar o paradoxo cético. Desta maneira, pretendemos oferecer, por meio de uma análise contextualista, uma explicação para o paradoxo do prefácio. Se a resposta contextualista é ou não adequada para esse paradoxo, isso será questão de disputa e não nos caberá discuti-la aqui. Meu objetivo é apenas sugerir que uma análise contextualista semelhante à aplicada ao paradoxo cético pode ser construída para explicar o paradoxo do prefácio. Palavras-chave: Contextualismo; Paradoxo do prefácio; Paradoxo cético. (shrink)

Philosophy Compass, Volume 17, Issue 8, August 2022.

Bioethics, Volume 36, Issue 3, Page 243-251, March 2022.

Delusion is one of the most intriguing psychopathological phenomena and its conceptualization remains the subject of genuine debate. Claims that it is ill-defined, however, are typically grounded on essentialist expectations that a given definition should capture the core of every instance acknowledged as delusion in the clinical setting.

Brentano’s theory of Intentionality gave rise to empirical psychology, considered by the mental acts of external objects and consciousness. In this sense, the purpose of this essay is to reflect on the phenomenon of auditory hallucinations, from the perspective of Franz Brentano’s intentionality, as a representative psychic phenomenon of internal experience. Auditory hallucinations, under a phenomenological approach, are considered as an experience of the relational process of a historical person. In analogy to the theory of the intentionality of mental acts, (...) the phenomenon of listening to voices becomes an experience perceived in the internal understanding of existential meanings, which must occur through two types of acts: the personal meaning, represented; and to relate, through intentional conduct, with the experienced reality. Finally, the importance of Brentano’s studies for humanist approaches I consider inseparable from phenomenological psychopathology, and therefore, makes it possible to reflect on the field of mental health. (shrink)

The present work refers to the doctorship research that implemented the Free-Expression Painting Studio technique to assist university students who had suicidal ideations or attempts. This technique was developed in France by the psychologist Michel Ternoy, based on Minkowski’s structural-phenomenon analysis method. A group session will be presented and discussed from Michel Henry’s phenomenology of life. Psychology and phenomenology can create spaces for belonging and support, which allow the transformation of suffering from experiences in the community. The Painting Studio makes (...) it possible to experience the affection of the other as a potential of one’s own possibilities, mobilizing the affective dialectical relationship, through which one can go from unbearable suffering to original fruition. We seek to show that art can be part of the therapeutic process as an alternative to the passage to the act of suicide before it becomes unbearable. (shrink)

Ce travail s’insère dans un projet intitulé « Le discours aux frontières du social », qui vise à analyser, dans des films documentaires, l’entrecroisement des différents matériaux en jeu dans ces productions. Pour comprendre comment se formule la critique sociale, j’ai choisi d’analyser deux documentaires ayant pour thème des conflits sociaux : Tereza (« Thérèse », qui met en scène la vie des détenus dans une prison de Campinas) et Boca de Lixo (« Décharge publique », qui présente la vie (...) de personnes qui habitent et travaillent dans les dépôts d’ordures). (shrink)

Hegel foi o último filósofo a expor a Filosofia enquanto Sistema. Ele é da tradição platônica onde o Absoluto se desdobra internamenteenquanto Sistema. Hegel foi o iniciador, antes mesmo de Heidegger e Gadamer, da hermenêutica. Crítico de Kant, demonstrou que a vigência de dois mundos paralelos não passa de ilusão de uma razão demasiado apegada à sacralidade da coisa em si. Hegel demonstrou, muito antes de Heidegger, que ser e tempo possuem uma imbricação ontológica, que o horizonte do Dasein está (...) no percurso mesmo para o Ser, e que este se desdobra enquanto história, e que o “caminho que sobe e o que desce” é o mesmo. Pela Fenomenologia do Espírito demonstra o que percurso da consciência que sobe em direção ao Absoluto, trilhado com seriedade, dor, paciência e o trabalho do negativo (PhG, § 9) é, simultaneamente, Ontologia e Ciência. (shrink)

Na Co nd i ç ã o Huma na, publ i c a do e m1958, Hannah Arendt estabeleceu umadistinção importante entre a “condiçãohumana” e a “nat ur eza humana”. Apar t i r des t e anal i s e f enomenol ógi co,Arendt tentou circunscrever os limitesda “natureza humana”, e responder aosteóricos positivistas que consideravampossível conhecer o quid da naturezabiológica humana. Para Arendt, a açãohumana, a diferença dos eventos ocorrena natureza, consiste numa característicamui t o es peci f (...) i ca a l i ber dade. Comoresultado dele; uma correta compreensãodo fenômeno da condição humana, nãopode ser esgotada por apelar só à dimensãobiológica, devido a que, a ação humananão pode ser exatamente explicada pelasforças que atuam no exterior, o analisedo naturismo é insuficiente. E não podeesgot ar o pr obl ema do f enômeno daliberdade humana.Por sua parte, porém Hans Jonas, nãodes envol veu ampl ament e es t e t ema,inclui em O Principio de Responsabilidade,nos capí t ul os ci nco e sei s, uma duracritica ao projeto marxista que apela aoconceito desenvolvido por Arendt, de homolaborens, o qual é uma das manifestaçõesda “condição humana”.In The Human Condi ti on, published in1958, Hannah Arendt makes an importantdistinction between the “human condition”and t he “human nat ure”. Out of t hi sphenomenological analysis, Arendt triedto circumscribe the limits of the “humannat ur e” and t o r es pond t o pos i t i vi s ttheoreticians who considered possible toknow the essence of the biological humannature. For Arendt, human action, unlikethe events that occur in nature, consists ofa characteristic very specific of freedom.As a result, a correct understanding ofthe phenomenon of human condi ti onis not possible through the biologicaldimension, since human action cannot beproperly explained by the forces that actin the external world. This shows that thenaturalistic analysis is insufficient andcannot deal properly with the phenomenonof human freedom.On the other hand, though Hans Jonas didnot treat completely this problem in his ThePrinciple of Responsibility, he offers a hardcriticism of the Marxist project inspiredin Arendt’s notions, targeting the notion of homo laborens,as one of the manifestations of the “humancondition”. (shrink)

Resumo Nas secções que se seguem, primeiro explorarei várias questões conceptuais e de enquadramento teórico, como o que se entende por relativismo e como o relativismo acerca da verdade se distingue de outros tipos de relativismo, uma elucidação da ideia de verdade relativa e, finalmente, em que sentidos se pode dizer que uma dada tese é auto-refutante e como se classificam os vários argumentos designados para provar que o relativismo se refuta a si mesmo nesses tipos de auto-refutação. Nas últimas, (...) e mais importantes, duas ultimas secções; avaliarei primeiro duas tentativas, uma devido a Hales e outra de Ressler,1 de desenvolver lógicas relativistas a partir das quais se pode ajuizar se o relativista é culpado de um dos tipos identificados de auto-refutação; o sistema de Ressler análogo a lógicas modais não-normais é considerado promissor. Outras variedades de argumentos de auto-refutação: transcendentais, semânticos e pragmáticos, também são considerados e rejeitados. Palavras-chave : auto-refutação, lógica filosófica, relativismo, verdade -/- In the following sections, I will try to answer several conceptual questions and clarify the vocabulary pertaining to the theoretical framework in which I am going to work. Examples being: what is relativism? How is truth-relativism is to be distinguished from other kinds of relativism? What is relative truth? In which senses can a certain thesis be self-refuting? And, finally, among the classical arguments laid out in the literature for the conclusion that relativism refutes itself, how are they to be classified among the several senses of self-refutation found? In the last, and most important two sessions: First, I will evaluate two attempts, one by Steven Hales and other by Mark Ressler, to construct formal systems of relative logic in which it can be properly be ascertained whether global forms truth-relativism are self-refuting. The system developed by Mark Ressler, analogous to non-normal modal logics, is considered promising in this regard. Arguments purporting to show that relativism falls prey to other varieties of self-refutation are also considered and then rejected. -/- Keywords : philosophical logic, relativism, self-refutation, truth. (shrink)

This study compares the Internet (corporate web pages) and annual reports as media of social responsibility disclosure (SRD) and analyses what influences disclosure. It examines SRD on the Internet by Portuguese listed companies in 2004 and compares the Internet and 2003 annual reports as disclosure media. The results are interpreted through the lens of a multi-theoretical framework. According to the framework adopted, companies disclose social responsibility information to present a socially responsible image so that they can legitimise their behaviours to (...) their stakeholder groups and influence the external perception of reputation. Results suggest that a theoretical framework combining legitimacy theory and a resource-based perspective provides an explanatory basis for SRD by Portuguese listed companies. (shrink)

Carrying out research on brains is important for medical advances in various diseases. However, such research ought not be carried out on human brains because the benefits do not outweigh the potential risks. A possible alternative is the use of brain surrogates. Nevertheless, some scholars who uphold a threshold account of moral status suggest the possibility that, with technological advances in the near future, more advanced brain surrogates will have very similar features to humans. This may suffice for these having (...) the same moral status as humans, and as a result, the situation may have implications for brain research, indeed, leading to the implication that this ought also not to be carried out upon brain surrogates. In this article, we present a relational approach to moral status which upholds that brain surrogates do not have the same moral status as human beings. Hence, brain research ought not be rejected on the grounds of equality of moral status between humans and brain surrogates. (shrink)

ABSTRACT In this article, I will carry out an epistemic and interpretative project, drawing out the implications of African values for the morality of war. More precisely, I wish to interpret the African value system and tease out some conclusions as to what this value system entails in terms of the following: the morality of when to enter war, how to act in war, and what to do after war. I carry out this inquiry by articulating the African value of (...) Ubuntu in light of the actions and speeches of two prominent African leaders, Nelson Mandela and Amilcar Cabral. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to present a paraconsistent formal system and a corresponding intended interpretation according to which true contradictions are not tolerated. Contradictions are, instead, epistemically understood as conflicting evidence, where evidence for a proposition A is understood as reasons for believing that A is true. The paper defines a paraconsistent and paracomplete natural deduction system, called the Basic Logic of Evidence, and extends it to the Logic of Evidence and Truth. The latter is a logic of (...) formal inconsistency and undeterminedness that is able to express not only preservation of evidence but also preservation of truth. LETj is anti-dialetheist in the sense that, according to the intuitive interpretation proposed here, its consequence relation is trivial in the presence of any true contradiction. Adequate semantics and a decision method are presented for both BLE and LETj, as well as some technical results that fit the intended interpretation. (shrink)