Tato studie je recenzní statí ke knize: Christian FLECK, A Transatlantic History of the Social Sciences: Robber Barons, the Third Reich and the Invention of Empirical Social Research. London: Bloomsbury Academic 2011. Z témat, jež rozvíjí Fleckova kniha, sleduje především otázku, jak velké americké nadace formovaly a profilovaly výzkumnou agendu sociálních věd. Je zde předvedeno, jak definice vědy prosazovaná ve dvacátých letech minulého století velkými americkými nadacemi zcela zásadně proměnila samotnou ideu výzkumu a přinesla mnohé institucionální inovace. Vztah filantropie a (...) sociálněvědního výzkumu je sledován jak v obecném smyslu, z hlediska formativních idejí ovlivňujících vývoj sociální věd a reálnou vědeckou praxi, tak i ve vztahu k různým národním tradicím, roli jednotlivých nadací a jejich aktivitám směřujícím k prosazení specifické koncepce vědeckého výzkumu. Pozornost je zde věnována zejména Rockefellerově nadaci, jejíž koncept „realistického" výzkumu významně ovlivnil institucionální dějiny sociálních věd. Studie se rovněž zaměřuje na styl psaní, jenž se uplatňuje v současných textech o dějinách nadací, zejména ve srovnání s dosud převažujícím důrazem na studium intelektuálních dějin sociálních věd. (shrink)

This is an attempt to outline the range of problems that should be taken into account when studying the ethos of scholars. The author sets forth from an uncommon starting point. He does not construct “an ideal model of the ethos of the scholar”, neither is he concerned with the “pathology of academic life”. Such approaches are dubbed “normative-functional” by the author, and without implicating that they are methodologically implausible he refrains from using them due to the simple consideration that (...) they are unable to accommodate the “tragic component of the role” involved. He sets out to show that the scholars cannot avoid finding themselves in a conflict of values and norms that cannot be ordered using criteria commonly accepted in the academic circles or derived from the concept of the role or the ethos of the scholar. Scholars are exposed to a conflict between the norms accepted by the academic community and the norms accepted by other communities to which they belong. The article discusses the influence of contemporary changes in the organization of science – its dependence on the state, its subservience to the national goals or to the exigencies of other social groups. The author is not satisfied with the treatment of these problems by R. K. Merton, and he reviews various philosophical conceptions with the hope of finding a better answer. He seeks to conceptualize the role of the scholar in terms of the theories proposed by L. Petrażycki, A. Kępiński, I. Kant, M. Weber, K. Mannheim, P. Bourdieu, and others, but has to conclude that in none of these theories is it possible to remove the tragic element from the picture of ethically relevant decision-making. The author ends by saying that the possession of “social and moral competences” that overstep the boundaries of the scholar’s responsibility defined by his role and ethos is a necessary condition of the social fulfilment of that role. (shrink)

Paradoks implikacji materialnej pozostawał nierozwiązany od starożytności, ponieważ uważano, że naturą implikacji jest wynikanie. Artykuł ukazuje, że tą naturą jest przeciwstawność. Zostaje podane rozwiązanie paradoksu wraz z odpowiednimi zmianami nazewnictwa, dodaniem konektywów i postulatem przejęcia roli dotychczasowej implikacji przez równoważność. Ponadto zaproponowane zostają zmiany nazewnictwa bramek logicznych, odwzorowujących kompetycję w elektronice.

Cílem článku je prozkoumat otázku po epistemickém statusu morálních intuic. Empirické výzkumy na poli morální psychologie ukazují, že intuice hojně využíváme při morálním hodnocení. Spoléháme se na ně však i jako morální filosofové při testování našich teorií – má-li některá normativní teorie proti-intuitivní důsledky, chápeme to jako její vadu a vice versa. V článku se snažím zodpovědět otázku, zda je taková praxe odvolávání se na morální intuice jako na evidenci ospravedlnitelná – je morální intuice spolehlivým epistemickým kanálem? Nejprve se budu (...) opírat o příbuznou debatu zaměřenou na epistemické intuice, představím tzv. restrikcionistickou výzvu a vysvětlím, z jakého důvodu se zaměřuji na morální intuice. V následující sekci předložím dle mého názoru nejsilnější linii útoku na epistemickou spolehlivost morálních intuic – argument z intuitivní nestability. Dříve jsme nevycházeli z úžasu nad zprávami o masivních rozdílech mezi námi Zápaďany a obyvateli exotických krajin, kterými nás ze svých terénních výzkumů zásobovali etnografové a antropologové. Dnes to jsou především morální psychologové a experimentální filosofové, kteří nás udivují ještě více odhalováním značné variability v intuicích – tentokrát však nejen mezi civilizovanými a domorodými lidmi, nýbrž i v srdci naší vlastní kultury. V další části tak předložím jednoduchou typologii intuitivní nestability a představím v současnosti již značně rozsáhlý soubor dat, který dokumentuje právě tuto neblahou vlastnost morálních intuic. Na jejich základě pak ve finální sekci dospěji k závěru, že morální intuice nejsou schopné dostát epistemickým nárokům, které klademe na jiné informační zdroje (např. smyslové vnímání), a jako takové nemohou sehrávat svou domnělou evidenční roli. V úplném závěru předložím předběžné poznámky týkající se možnosti využívat morálních intuic spíše jako zdroje motivace a za tím účelem navrhnu obrátit filosofickou praxi testování normativních teorií naruby. (shrink)

Cílem článku je prozkoumat otázku po epistemickém statusu morálních intuic. Empirické výzkumy na poli morální psychologie ukazují, že intuice hojně využíváme při morálním hodnocení. Spoléháme se na ně však i jako morální filosofové při testování našich teorií – má-li některá normativní teorie proti-intuitivní důsledky, chápeme to jako její vadu a vice versa. V článku se snažím zodpovědět otázku, zda je taková praxe odvolávání se na morální intuice jako na evidenci ospravedlnitelná – je morální intuice spolehlivým epistemickým kanálem? Nejprve se budu (...) opírat o příbuznou debatu zaměřenou na epistemické intuice, představím tzv. restrikcionistickou výzvu a vysvětlím, z jakého důvodu se zaměřuji na morální intuice. V následující sekci předložím dle mého názoru nejsilnější linii útoku na epistemickou spolehlivost morálních intuic – argument z intuitivní nestability. Dříve jsme nevycházeli z úžasu nad zprávami o masivních rozdílech mezi námi Zápaďany a obyvateli exotických krajin, kterými nás ze svých terénních výzkumů zásobovali etnografové a antropologové. Dnes to jsou především morální psychologové a experimentální filosofové, kteří nás udivují ještě více odhalováním značné variability v intuicích – tentokrát však nejen mezi civilizovanými a domorodými lidmi, nýbrž i v srdci naší vlastní kultury. V další části tak předložím jednoduchou typologii intuitivní nestability a představím v současnosti již značně rozsáhlý soubor dat, který dokumentuje právě tuto neblahou vlastnost morálních intuic. Na jejich základě pak ve finální sekci dospěji k závěru, že morální intuice nejsou schopné dostát epistemickým nárokům, které klademe na jiné informační zdroje (např. smyslové vnímání), a jako takové nemohou sehrávat svou domnělou evidenční roli. V úplném závěru předložím předběžné poznámky týkající se možnosti využívat morálních intuic spíše jako zdroje motivace a za tím účelem navrhnu obrátit filosofickou praxi testování normativních teorií naruby. (shrink)

Tato práce se zabývá možnými přístupy k etice sexuality, jejich klady i zápory. Etikou sexuality zde není míněno moralizování, stejně tak sexualitou není míněn pouze koitus, pohlavní chování je zde míněno v širším významu tedy včetně rozlehlé oblasti lidského svádění, okolků či otálení. Popsány jsou čtyři klasické přístupy k etice sexuality: tradicionalistický, romantický, marxisticko-feministický a liberální, avšak uvážen je i přístup antinatalistický, který vyplývá z asymetrického argumentu Davida Benatara uveřejněného v jeho práci Nebýt či být. Benatarův antinatalizmus totiž vytváří etiku (...) pohlavního chování, v níž pouze sex, který nevede k rozmnožení, může být morální. I když je tento pátý, antinatalistický přístup značně kontroverzní a zdaleka ne intuitivní, extrémnost jeho pozic se příliš neliší od tradicionalistického pohledu, v němž je morální pouze sex k rozmnožení vedoucí, tyto dva přístupy tak lze postavit do přímé opozice jako dvě krajní možnosti uvažování o etice pohlavního chování. Roli střední cesty v takovém řazení potom zaujme liberální přístup, který jako jediný etiku sexuality nevidí jako etiku odlišnou od jiných lidských činností. (shrink)

Pogląd standardowy jest taki, że semantyka formalna stosuje się do języka naturalnego tylko w bardzo ograniczonym stopniu. Powodem tego stanu rzeczy jest nieunikniona nieokreśloność mowy potocznej polegająca m. in. na wieloznaczno- ściach, nieostrości czy tolerancji składniowej, a także obecności kontekstów intensjonalnych, co skutkuje limitacjami zasady kompozycjonalności. Ponadto konwersacja potoczna korzysta z rozmaitych reguł, np. reguł Grice’a, które wykraczają poza formalizm logiczny. W konsekwencji język naturalny nie podlega pełnej formalizacji. Z drugiej strony, jeśli L jest językiem formalnym, to metajęzyk ML, w (...) którym ten pierwszy jest opisywany, musi być częściowo nieformalny – zawiera np. terminy zwykłej matematyki, w szczególności teorii mnogości. Nawet jeśli, np. dzięki technice arytmetyzacji, ML daje się przedstawić w L, tego rodzaju reprezentacja jest tylko lokalna. W gruncie rzeczy pogląd taki można wyprowadzić z pewnych uwag Tarskiego o roli języka naturalnego. Zwykle przyjmuje się, że tzw. uniwersalność języka potocznego jest źródłem kłopotów związanych z antynomiami. Tak jest oczywiście i okoliczność ta wymaga pewnej „sanacji”, np. postaci odróżnienia stopni języka. Jednakże nawet usunięcie antynomii w taki lub inny sposób nie zmienia faktu, że to, co nieformalne ma priorytet wobec tego, co formalne. W konsekwencji także semantyka formalna ma także swoje ograniczenia w odniesieniu do języków sformalizowanych. (shrink)

W wielu państwach funkcjonują narodowe/centralne komitety bioetyki, których rolą jest monitorowanie i opiniowanie aktualnych problemów bioetycznych pojawiających się ze względu na postęp wiedzy medycznej oraz nauk biologicznych. Procedura ich powoływania oraz sposoby działania, a także wpływ na praktykę różnią się w poszczególnych krajach. UNESCO opracowała szereg wskazówek dotyczących organizacji i funkcjonowania tego typu ciał. W Polsce istnieje potrzeba sprecyzowania zasad działania narodowego/centralnego komitetu bioetyki. Celem tekstu jest przegląd prawnych możliwości powoływania i funkcjonowania komitetów bioetycznych o charakterze narodowym/centralnym wraz z przedstawieniem (...) ich roli oraz refleksją nad kształtem, miejscem, znaczeniem i funkcją tego typu ciała w warunkach polskich. (shrink)

Vision of the Historical role of Poland in Jan Hempel’s Sermons The article presents the vision of the role of Polish nation presented in two works written by Jan Hempel – Polish Sermons and Piast Sermons. The main purpose of the article is to provide the reader with Hempel’s reinterpretation of the role of Poles elaborated by the authors of the Romantic period who regarded Polish nation as the God’s chosen people. Hempel, being a lifelong critic of Christianity, thought of (...) Poland as the Antichrist of nations. With this view in mind he interpreted Polish history and the role of Polish nation in the history of world. Author of the article presents Hempel’s vision of the aforementioned role of Polish nation and seeks its sources in the writings of other thinkers. (shrink)

This paper examines the type of devotion of the early modern soldiers which was referred to as “the fearing of God”. The phenomenon started in the 1560s and continued for two centuries in the Polish and Lithuanian Duchy armies. It was based on the belief in the direct intervention of God during military action, which depended on the conduct of the soldiers. The commanders-in-chief promoted the vision of reality in which crimes were equated with sins and affected the outcome of (...) wars and battles, and even determined the safety of the soldiers themselves. The acts that were displeasing to God were to result in severe punishment during battles, while piety and good behavior guaranteed success. The analysis of this issue was conducted on the basis of normative acts issued by the commanders-in-chief, called military articles, which were supplemented by the analysis of military treaties. The paper emphasizes that this concept was promoted by all commanders regardless of denomination, including Polish Brethren, Lutherans, Reformed Evangelicals and Catholics. It was placed, as a rule, at the beginning of the military articles as an arenga, providing the basis for the validity of the criminal laws. The combination of the “fear of God” and the military law was shown to have rational justification: it guaranteed a higher discipline and morale, which could be reflected in the effectiveness of the warfare conducted. The application of this idea led to the breakdown of soldier solidarity and to the belief that the misconduct of individuals affected the fate of troops and entire armies. The most important creators of this concept include Florian Zebrzydowski, Jan Chodkiewicz and Stanisław Cikowski, and at the turn of the centuries it was developed by Jan Zamoyski and Krzysztof Radziwiłł, nicknamed Piorun. The most elaborate formula in the military articles was presented in the 17th century by Krzysztof Radziwiłł II, and a century later by Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł. A hypothesis was also formulated that an old concept, which survived as one of the elements of Old Polish culture, was adopted to evaluate the Battle of Warsaw of 1920, which has been referred to as the Miracle on the Vistula, what was supposed to symbolize the causal role of God during the war. (shrink)

According to metaphysical coherentism, grounding relations form an interconnected system in which things ground each other and nothing is ungrounded. This potentially viable view’s logical territory remains largely unexplored. In this paper, I describe that territory by articulating four varieties of metaphysical coherentism. I do not argue for any variety in particular. Rather, I aim to show that not all issues which might be raised against coherentism will be equally problematic for all the versions of that view, which features far (...) more nuance and diversity than is typically ascribed to it. (shrink)

Der Band enthält Beiträge von Medizinern, Juristen, Philosophen und Naturwissenschaftlern aus Estland, Polen, den Niederlanden und Deutschland zu Themen der Ethik und Wissenschaftstheorie der Medizin. Diese Beiträge sind im Rahmen des «Arbeitskreises für Ethik und Wissenschaftstheorie der Medizin in Ostmitteleuropa» entstanden, der auf einer Kooperationsvereinbarung des Interdisziplinären Zentrums für Ethik der Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) und des Instituts für Geschichte und Ethik der Medizin der Universität Halle-Wittenberg beruht. Sie befassen sich u. a. mit der Gesundheitsreform in Polen, Tschechien und Ungarn, (...) mit ethischen Problemen bei Abtreibung, HIV-Infektion, Drogenkonsum, Sterbehilfe und Gentechnik sowie dem Theorie-Praxis-Verhältnis in der Medizin. (shrink)

Representing the thinking of philosophers, psychologists, sociologists, coaches, and sports writers, these essays bring together a wide range of approaches to ...

This study clarifies the need for a renewed account of the body in physiotherapy to fill sizable gaps between physiotherapeutical theory and practice. Physiotherapists are trained to approach bodily functioning from an objectivist perspective; however, their therapeutic interactions with patients are not limited to the provision of natural-scientific explanations. Physiotherapists’ practice corresponds well to theorisation of the body as the bearer of original bodily intentionality, as outlined by Merleau-Ponty and elaborated upon by enactivists. We clarify how physiotherapeutical practice corroborates Merleau-Ponty’s (...) critical arguments against objectivist interpretations of the body; particularly, his analyses demonstrate that norms of optimal corporeal functioning are highly individual and variable in time and thus do not directly depend on generic physiological structures. In practice, objectively measurable physical deviations rarely correspond to specific subjective difficulties and, similarly, patients’ reflective insights into their own motor deficiencies do not necessarily produce meaningful motor improvements. Physiotherapeutical procedures can be understood neither as mechanical manipulations of patients’ machine-like bodies by experts nor as a process of such manipulation by way of instructing patients’ explicit conscious awareness. Rather, physiotherapeutical practice and theory can benefit from the philosophical interpretation of motor disorders as modifications of bodily intentionality. Consequently, motor performances addressed in physiotherapy are interpreted as relational features of a living organism coupled with its environment, and motor disorders are approached as failures to optimally manage the motor requirements of a given situation owing to a relative loss of the capacity to structure one’s relation with their environment through motor action. Building on this, we argue that the process of physiotherapy is most effective when understood as a bodily interaction to guide patients towards discovering better ways of grasping a situation as meaningful through bodily postures and movements. (shrink)

Luitzen Egburtus Jan Brouwer founded a school of thought whose aim was to include mathematics within the framework of intuitionistic philosophy; mathematics was to be regarded as an essentially free development of the human mind. What emerged diverged considerably at some points from tradition, but intuitionism has survived well the struggle between contending schools in the foundations of mathematics and exact philosophy. Originally published in 1981, this monograph contains a series of lectures dealing with most of the fundamental topics such (...) as choice sequences, the continuum, the fan theorem, order and well-order. Brouwer's own powerful style is evident throughout the work. (shrink)

This paper clarifies Merleau-Ponty’s original account of “higher-order” cognition as fundamentally embodied and enacted. Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy inspired theories that deemphasize overlaps between conceptual knowledge and motor intentionality or, on the contrary, focus exclusively on abstract thought. In contrast, this paper explores the link between Merleau-Ponty’s account of motor intentionality and his interpretations of our capacity to understand and interact productively with cultural symbolic systems. I develop my interpretation based on Merleau-Ponty’s analysis of two neuropathological modifications of motor intentionality, the case (...) of the brain-injured war veteran Schneider, and a neurological disorder known as Gerstmann’s syndrome. Building on my analysis of Schneider’s sensorimotor compensatory performances in relation to his limitations in the domains of algebra, geometry, and language usage, I demonstrate a strong continuity between the sense of embodiment and enaction at all these levels. Based on Merleau-Ponty’s interpretations, I argue that “higher-order” cognition is impaired in Schneider insofar as his injury limits his sensorimotor capacity to dynamically produce comparatively more complex differentiations of any given phenomenal structure. I then show how Merleau-Ponty develops and specifies his interpretation of Schneider’s intellectual difficulties in relation to the ambiguous role of the body, and in particular the hand, in Gerstmann’s syndrome. I explain how Merleau-Ponty defends the idea that sensorimotor and quasi-representational cognition are mutually irreducible, while maintaining that symbol-based cognition is a fundamentally enactive and embodied process. (shrink)

Marx’s vision of unalienated production is often thought to be subject to decisive objections. This article argues that these objections rely on a misinterpretation of Marx’s position. It provides a new interpretation of Marx’s vision of unalienated production. Unlike another well-known account, it suggests that unalienated production involves realizing oneself through providing others with the goods and services they need for their self-realization. It argues that this view is appealing and that it offers a more successful response to objections than (...) previous interpretations. In doing so, it hopes to put Marx’s concern with alienation and nonalienation back on the table. (shrink)

Conceiving of nuclear energy as a social experiment gives rise to the question of what to do when the experiment is no longer responsible or desirable. To be able to appropriately respond to such a situation, the nuclear energy technology in question should be reversible, i.e. it must be possible to stop its further development and implementation in society, and it must be possible to undo its undesirable consequences. This paper explores these two conditions by applying them to geological disposal (...) of high-level radioactive waste. Despite the fact that considerations of reversibility and retrievability have received increased attention in GD, the analysis in this paper concludes that GD cannot be considered reversible. Firstly, it would be difficult to stop its further development and implementation, since its historical development has led to a point where GD is significantly locked-in. Secondly, the strategy it employs for undoing undesirable consequences is less-than-ideal: it relies on containment of severely radiotoxic waste rather than attempting to eliminate this waste or its radioactivity. And while it may currently be technologically impossible to turn high-level waste into benign substances, GD’s containment strategy makes it difficult to eliminate this waste’s radioactivity when the possibility would arise. In all, GD should be critically reconsidered if the inclusion of reversibility considerations in radioactive waste management has indeed become as important as is sometimes claimed. (shrink)

This paper addresses theoretical challenges, still relevant today, that arose in the first decades of the twentieth century related to the concept of the organism. During this period, new insights into the plasticity and robustness of organisms as well as their complex interactions fueled calls, especially in the UK and in the German-speaking world, for grounding biological theory on the concept of the organism. This new organism-centered biology understood organisms as the most important explanatory and methodological unit in biological investigations. (...) At least three theoretical strands can be distinguished in this movement: Organicism, dialectical materialism, and holistic biology. This paper shows that a major challenge of OCB was to describe the individual organism as a causally autonomous and discrete unit with consistent boundaries and, at the same time, as inextricably interwoven with its environment. In other words, OCB had to conciliate individualistic with anti-individualistic perspectives. This challenge was addressed by developing a concept of life that included functionalist and metabolic elements, as well as biochemical and physical ones. It allowed for specifying organisms as life forms that actively delimit themselves from the environment. Finally, this paper shows that the recent return to the concept of the organism, especially in the so-called “Extended Evolutionary Synthesis,” is challenged by similar anti-individualistic tendencies. However, in contrast to its early-twentieth-century forerunner, today’s organism-centered approaches have not yet offered a solution to this problem. (shrink)

Terugblik van de bekende psychiater op zijn ontwikkeling als sannyasin.

This paper provides an analysis of the intrinsic/extrinsic distinction, as applied both to properties and to relations. In contrast to other accounts, the approach taken here locates the source of a property’s intrinsicality or extrinsicality in the manner in which that property is ‘logically constituted’, and thus – plausibly – in its nature or essence, rather than in e.g. its modal profile. Another respect in which the present proposal differs from many extant analyses lies in the fact that it does (...) not seek to analyse the ‘global’ distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic properties on the basis of the ‘local’ distinction between having a property intrinsically and having it extrinsically. Instead, the latter distinction is explicated on the basis of the former. (shrink)

Changes brought by the rise of the global economy and the end of the Cold War era have resulted in industry, government, and university rethinking their roles vis-à-vis research and development, basic versus applied research, and the role of corporate research. Since the mid-1980s, industrial research in the United States has been going through restructuring. Interviews with seventy-two scientists and eighteen managers working in six centralized corporate R&D laboratories in high-technology industry show that a new culture of dependence with a (...) mission-oriented approach is replacing the cherished culture of independence with a result-oriented approach. (shrink)

In recent years, biologists and philosophers of science have argued that evolutionary theory should incorporate more seriously the idea of ‘reciprocal causation.’ This notion refers to feedback loops whereby organisms change their experiences of the environment or alter the physical properties of their surroundings. In these loops, in particular niche constructing activities are central, since they may alter selection pressures acting on organisms, and thus affect their evolutionary trajectories. This paper discusses long-standing problems that emerge when studying such reciprocal causal (...) processes between organisms and environments. By comparing past approaches to reciprocal causation from the early twentieth century with contemporary ones in niche construction theory, we identify two central reoccurring problems: All of these approaches have not been able to provide a conceptual framework that allows maintaining meaningful boundaries between organisms and environments, instead of merging the two, and integrating experiential and physical kinds of reciprocal causation. By building on case studies of niche construction research, we provide a model that is able to solve these two problems. It allows distinguishing between mutually interacting organisms and environments in complex scenarios, as well as integrating various forms of experiential and physical niche construction. (shrink)

Insight problem solving is thought to underpin creative thought as it incorporates both divergent (generating multiple ideas and solutions) and convergent (arriving at the optimal solution) thinking approaches. The current literature on schizotypy and creativity is mixed and requires clarification. An alternate approach was employed by designing an exploratory web-based study using only correlates of schizotypal traits (paranoia, dissociation, cognitive failures, fantasy proneness, and unusual sleep experiences) and examining which (if any) predicted optimal performance on an insight problem-solving task. One (...) hundred and twenty-one participants were recruited online from the general population and completed the number reduction task. The discovery of the hidden rule (HR) was used as a measure of insight. Multivariate logistic regression analyses highlighted persecutory ideation to best predict the discovery of the HR (OR = 1.05; 95% CI 1.01–1.10, p = 0.017), with a one-point increase in persecutory ideas corresponding to the participant being 5% more likely to discover the HR. This result suggests that persecutory ideation, above other schizotypy correlates, may be involved in insight problem solving. (shrink)

Forms of understanding -- Understanding as organized beliefs -- On interpretation -- Representations -- Scientific explanation -- Causal explanations -- Other types of explanations -- The pragmatics of explanation -- Not just why-questions -- A rhetorical approach to explanation -- Pluralism and the unity of science.

Forms of understanding -- Understanding as organized beliefs -- On interpretation -- Representations -- Scientific explanation -- Causal explanations -- Other types of explanations -- The pragmatics of explanation -- Not just why-questions -- A rhetorical approach to explanation -- Pluralism and the unity of science.

_Seeking Understanding: The Lifelong Pursuit to Build the Scientific Mind_ explores the multiple ways in which the human mind grows in understanding of the self and the world as an essential dimension of transformative learning along the lifespan.

Should Marxists support universal basic income (UBI), i.e., a regular cash income paid to all without a means test or work requirement? This paper considers one important argument that they should, namely that UBI would be instrumentally effective in helping to bring about communism. It argues that previous answers to this question have paid insufficient attention to a logically prior question: what is Marx’s account of communism? In reply, it distinguishes two different accounts: a left-libertarian version that associates communism with (...) the freedom to live and work how one wants, and a perfectionist version that associates communism with the overcoming of alienated labour and self-realisation in work. It argues that UBI would make steps towards the left-libertarian account but not the perfectionist account. Ultimately, then, the question “should Marxists support basic income?” is shown to partly depend on which account of communism Marxists want to bring about. (shrink)

International institutions such as UNESCO are deliberating on a new standard setting instrument for neurotechnologies. This will likely lead to the adoption of a soft law document which will be the first global document specifically tailored to neurotechnologies, setting the tone for further international or domestic regulations. While some stakeholders have been consulted, these developments have so far evaded the broader attention of the neuroscience, neurotech, and neuroethics communities. To initiate a broader debate, this target article puts to discussion twenty-five (...) considerations and desiderata for recognition by a future instrument. They are formulated at different levels of abstraction, from the big picture to technical details, seek to widen the perspective of preparatory reports and transcend the narrow debate about “neurorights” which overshadows many richer and more relevant aspects. These desiderata are not an exhaustive enumeration but a starting point for discussions about what deserves and what requires protection by an international instrument. (shrink)

This paper is my commentary on Raymond Tallis’ book Freedom: An Impossible Reality (2021). Tallis argues that the laws described by science are dependent on human agency which extracts them from nature. Consequently, human agency cannot be explained as an effect of natural laws. I agree with Tallis’ main argument and I appreciate that he helps us understand the systematic importance of a human-scale breadth of view regarding any theoretical investigation. In the main part of the paper, I critically comment (...) on Tallis’ interpretation of several more loosely associated topics from a phenomenological perspective. Firstly, I reconsider Tallis’ account of intentionality as a factor that opens a distance between the cognizer and the world. Whereas Tallis emphasizes that agency requisitions aspects of the world to achieve its goals, I point out that agency does not determine the meaning of things unidirectionally and independently of all context. A self-controlled agency is provisionally reached through a process of ‘deindexicalization’ of our passive intentional capacities, that is, by creating and maintaining new, different worldly contexts. Subsequently, I analyze Tallis’ description of our intentional relation to spatiotemporally distant possibilities. In my view, Tallis underestimates the extent to which our intentional relation to possibilities is pre-reflexive and pre-predicative and hence independent of propositional attitudes. Finally, I consider Tallis’ interpretation of nature and show that it is deeply influenced by the sciences of nature. In contrast, I argue that agency can be properly described only if we understand it as an intervention in a lifeworld already imbued with sense, not merely a physical or material nature. (shrink)

Prenatal diagnostic technologies have been used for the purpose of detecting sex—leading to abortion of female fetuses—and have posed new challenges to the already difficult question of social justice for women in India. This article reports findings from a case study conducted with 25 women who had used prenatal diagnostic technologies for sex determination.Against the common belief that Indian society is “improving” because of 21st-century medical technology, this case study shows that the social context has given a patriarchal value to (...) such advanced technology in India. Furthermore, it sheds light on why prenatal diagnostic technologies have taken a different route in India.It shows that reasons for accepting the use of prenatal diagnostic technologies for sex determination by women are diverse and complex. (shrink)

There is concern that the use of neuroenhancements to alter character traits undermines consumer's authenticity. But the meaning, scope and value of authenticity remain vague. However, the majority of contemporary autonomy accounts ground individual autonomy on a notion of authenticity. So if neuroenhancements diminish an agent's authenticity, they may undermine his autonomy. This paper clarifies the relation between autonomy, authenticity and possible threats by neuroenhancements. We present six neuroenhancement scenarios and analyse how autonomy accounts evaluate them. Some cases are considered (...) differently by criminal courts; we demonstrate where academic autonomy theories and legal reasoning diverge and ascertain whether courts should reconsider their concept of autonomy. We argue that authenticity is not an appropriate condition for autonomy and that new enhancement technologies pose no unique threats to personal autonomy. (shrink)

Do immigrant faculty trained in American higher education institutions adopt the outlook and practices of native US scientists and engineers, or do they diverge from such practices? The modern science paradigm holds that location will not matter significantly and that immigrants in either place will converge to a common standard of scientific practice. Drawing upon 134 in-depth interviews, this paper compares the scientific practices of two groups of Indian immigrant faculty in science and engineering: those who studied and worked in (...) the United States and then returned to India and those who continued to work in the United States. This paper shows that the two groups differed in important ways: ease of securing grants, management of grants, research environment, professional autonomy, and research type. (shrink)