Why should we seek and tell the truth? Does anyone know what truth is? Many are skeptical about the relevance of truth. Truth Matters endeavours to show why truth is important in a world where the very idea of truth is contested. Putting philosophers in conversation with educators, literary scholars, physicists, political theorists, and theologians, Truth Matters ranges across both analytic and continental philosophy and draws on the ideas of thinkers such as Aquinas, Balthasar, Brandom, Davidson, Dooyeweerd, Gadamer, Habermas, Kierkegaard, (...) Plantinga, Ricoeur, and Wolterstorff. Some essays attempt to provide a systematic account of truth, while others wrestle with the question of how truth is told and what it means to live truthfully. Contributors address debates between realists and anti-realists, explore issues surrounding relativism and constructivism in education and the social sciences, examine the politics of truth telling and the ethics of authenticity, and consider various religious perspectives on truth. Most scholars agree that truth is propositional, being expressed in statements that are subject to proof or disproof. This book goes a step farther: yes, propositional truth is important, but truth is more than propositional. To recognize how it is more than propositional is crucial for understanding why truth truly matters. Contributors include Doug Blomberg (ICS), Allyson Carr (ICS), Jeffrey Dudiak (King’s University College), Olaf Ellefson (York University), Gerrit Glas (VU University Amsterdam), Gill K. Goulding (Regis College), Jay Gupta (Mills College), Clarence Joldersma (Calvin College), Matthew J. Klaassen (ICS), John Jung Park (Duke University), Pamela J. Reeve (St. Augustine’s Seminary), Amy Richards (World Affairs Council of Western Michigan), Calvin Seerveld (ICS), Ronnie Shuker (ICS), Adam Smith (Brandeis University), John Van Rys (Redeemer University College), Darren Walhof (Grand Valley State University), Matthew Walhout (Calvin College), and Lambert Zuidervaart (ICS). (shrink)

The collection presents a variety of promising new directions in Royce scholarship from an international group of scholars, including historical reinterpretations, explorations of Royce's ethics of loyalty and religious philosophy, and contemporary applications of his ideas in psychology, the problem of reference, neo-pragmatism, and literary aesthetics.

We analyze the notion of guessing model, a way to assign combinatorial properties to arbitrary regular cardinals. Guessing models can be used, in combination with inaccessibility, to characterize various large cardinal axioms, ranging from supercompactness to rank-to-rank embeddings. The majority of these large cardinal properties can be defined in terms of suitable elementary embeddings j:Vγ→Vλ. One key observation is that such embeddings are uniquely determined by the image structures j[Vγ]≺Vλ. These structures will be the prototypes guessing models. We shall show, (...) using guessing models M, how to prove for the ordinal κM=jM) many of the combinatorial properties that we can prove for the cardinal j) using the structure j[Vγ]≺Vj. κM will always be a regular cardinal, but consistently can be a successor and guessing models M with κM=ℵ2 exist assuming the proper forcing axiom. By means of these models we shall introduce a new structural property of models of PFA: the existence of a “Laver function” f:ℵ2→Hℵ2 sharing the same features of the usual Laver functions f:κ→Hκ provided by a supercompact cardinal κ. Further applications of our analysis will be proofs of the singular cardinal hypothesis and of the failure of the square principle assuming the existence of guessing models. In particular the failure of square shows that the existence of guessing models is a very strong assumption in terms of large cardinal strength. (shrink)

Examining the role of implicit, unconscious thinking on reasoning, decision making, problem solving, creativity, and its neurocognitive basis, for a genuinely psychological conception of rationality. This volume contributes to a current debate within the psychology of thought that has wide implications for our ideas about creativity, decision making, and economic behavior. The essays focus on the role of implicit, unconscious thinking in creativity and problem solving, the interaction of intuition and analytic thinking, and the relationship between communicative heuristics and thought. (...) The analyses move beyond the conventional conception of mind informed by extra-psychological theoretical models toward a genuinely psychological conception of rationality—a rationality no longer limited to conscious, explicit thought, but able to exploit the intentional implicit level. The contributors consider a new conception of human rationality that must cope with the uncertainty of the real world; the implications of abandoning the normative model of classic logic and adopting a probabilistic approach instead; the argumentative and linguistic aspects of reasoning; and the role of implicit thought in reasoning, creativity, and its neurological base. Contributors Maria Bagassi, Linden J. Ball, Jean Baratgin, Aron K. Barbey, Tilmann Betsch, Eric Billaut, Jean-François Bonnefon, Pierre Bonnier, Shira Elqayam, Keith Frankish, Gerd Gigerenzer, Ken Gilhooly, Denis Hilton, Anna Lang, Stefanie Lindow, Laura Macchi, Hugo Mercier, Giuseppe Mosconi, Ian R. Newman, Mike Oaksford, David Over, Guy Politzer, Johannes Ritter, Steven A. Sloman, Edward J. N. Stupple, Ron Sun, Nicole H. Therriault, Valerie A. Thompson, Emmanuel Trouche-Raymond, Riccardo Viale. (shrink)

"Littlejohn organizes his introduction around the central metaphor of a spreading kudzu vine, whose roots, trunk, stalks, branches, and leaves grow beneath, in, around, and over the vast and complex terrain of Chinese culture. He does a marvellous job exploring the origins, developments, and transformations of Daoism by guiding readers through canonical texts, across historical contexts, and around expressions of Daoism in fine art, popular symbols, literature, ritual, and other forms of material culture. The result is a masterful and comprehensive (...) introduction to this protean, venerable, and vital tradition that will engage and enlighten novices and experts alike and delight anyone interested in Chinese religion, philosophy, or culture."--Philip J. Ivanhoe, Reader-Professor of Philosophy, City University of Hong Kong . (shrink)

Resumen Art as Experience de J. Dewey es una obra clave para quienes se encuentran interesados en la estética. En este artículo nos proponemos mostrar que una mirada contemporánea que rescate los mejores aspectos de este libro debe, necesariamente, relacionar la estética con algunos aspectos de su pedagogía y su filosofía de la educación.Dewey’s Art as Experience is an indispensable work for people interested in aesthetics. Our purpose in this article is to show that a contemporary reading that rescues the (...) book’s best aspects must necessarily relate it to some aspects of Dewey’s pedagogy and his philosophy of education. We attempt to show this relationship in our article. (shrink)

Edited by Marthe Chandler and Ronnie Littlejohn, this work is a collection of expository and critical essays on the work of Henry Rosemont, Jr., a prominent and influential contemporary philosopher, activist, translator, and educator in the field of Asian and Comparative Philosophy. The essays in this collection take up three major themes in Rosemont's work: his work in Chinese linguistics, his contribution to the theory of human rights, and his interest in East Asian religion. Contributions include works by the leading (...) scholars in Chinese philosophy in the Western world and Rosemont's close associates: Roger T. Ames, Bao Zhiming, Mary Bockover, Marthe Chandler, Ewing Y. Chinn, Erin M. Cline, Fred Dallmayr, Jeffrey Dippmann, Herbert Fingarette, Harrison Huang, Eric Hutton, Philip J. Ivanhoe, David Jones, William La Fleur, Ronnie Littlejohn, Ni Peimin, Michael Nylan, Harold Roth, Sumner Twiss, Tu Weiming, David Wong, with responses from Henry Rosemont, Jr. and a brief Reminiscence by Noam Chomsky. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy, and: Classic Asian Philosophy: A Guide to the Essential TextsRonnie LittlejohnReadings in Classical Chinese Philosophy. Edited by Philip J. Ivanhoe and Bryan Van Norden. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co., 2003. Pp. xviii + 362. Paper $24.95.Classic Asian Philosophy: A Guide to the Essential Texts. By Joel J. Kupperman. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Pp. x + 159. Hardcover $50.00. Paper $21.00.Readings in Classical Chinese (...) Philosophy, an anthology edited by Philip J. Ivanhoe and Bryan Van Norden, contains introductions to and translations of seven important Chinese philosophical works from the sixth to the end of the third centuries B.C.E. The figures included are Kongzi (the Analects), Mozi, Mengzi, Laozi (the Daodejing), Zhuangzi, Xunzi, and Han Feizi. Each selection is about fifty pages in length, including the introductory remarks, which are typically very concise. The translation is followed by a short and briefly annotated bibliography that is divided into two parts: other translations and secondary works. The volume was originally published in 2001 by Seven Bridges Press, but it is now reprinted by Hackett Publishing.A usual worry one has when using an anthology of translations in which works are not rendered in their entirety is that principal passages might be omitted. It cannot always be the case that one's favorite passages will make it into a condensation of a work, but one does expect to find the major component passages available to the reader. With regard to this collection, I must say that while there can be no guarantee that these translators have included everything that everyone will think is important, nonetheless, as I will try to show in what follows, the selections are very well chosen and ably translated.The first selection is taken from the Analects. Edward Slingerland is the translator. Subsequent to his work in this readings collection, Slingerland has recently published an entire translation of the Analects including a robust collection of the commentarial tradition on that work. What few differences I have been able to notice between this version and the publication of the entire translation seem to be inconsequential. In this readings collection, all twenty chapters of the Analects are represented. [End Page 687] Chapter 4, widely regarded as the centerpiece of sayings reliably traceable to Kongzi himself, is translated in its entirety.Slingerland uses several conventions for dealing with the concepts regarded as fundamental to a Confucian lexicon. For example, he leaves ren untranslated. And a few scholars will be troubled by his decision to translate junzi as "gentleman." As an aid to the reader, he often uses pinyin and gives the Chinese character for other strategic terms, but he does not allow the translation to be cluttered with too many characters. He seems to stay always consistent with the overall intention of the editors of the collection to use characters only as an aid to the beginning student and nonspecialist. What one needs to introduce key Confucian concepts and Kongzi's way of dealing with his students is available here.Philip J. Ivanhoe's translation of Mozi follows next. What struck me in the beginning was Ivanhoe's fine introductory essay on Master Mo, and I think it will be of benefit to students and nonspecialists alike. This is especially true if one is considering this anthology for a first course in Chinese philosophy or comparative philosophy. Some scholars will think that Ivanhoe's translation of jian ai as "impartial care" instead of "universal love" is not adequately explained in the introductory remarks and even somewhat problematic. But this could provide a point of conversation in the study of the text.Ivanhoe bases his translation on his own selections from the various versions available of the central chapters of the Mozi but the result is relatively uncontroversial. He includes the important eighth and eleventh chapters, concerned with worthy ministers, and chapter 16 on jian ai. The inclusion of Mozi's remarks on funerals, ghosts, and spirits demonstrates Ivanhoe's claim that Mozi is the first philosopher of China to exhibit a sustained interest in argumentation and debate. These sections should be read carefully, not only for what they tell... (shrink)

A central principle of bioethics is “subject autonomy,” the acknowledgement of the primacy of the informed consent of the subject of research. Autonomy requires informed consent — the assurance that the research participant is informed about the possible risks and benefits of the research. In fact, informed consent is difficult when a single drug is being tested, although subjects have a baseline understanding of the testing of a pharmacological agent and the understanding that they can stop taking the drug if (...) there were an adverse event. However, informed consent is even less easily achieved in the modern arena of complex new molecular and cellular therapies. In this article, we argue that as science confronts new issues such as transplantation of stem cell products, which may live within the participant for the rest of their lives, researchers must carefully consider and constantly re-examine how they properly inform subjects considering participation trials of these novel therapeutic strategies.For example, the manufacture of a vial of a cell product that consists of a collection of growing cells is very different than the production of a vial of identical pills, which can be presumed to be identical. The scientific concepts on which these cellular approaches are based may seem alien and incomprehensible to a research subject, who thinks of a clinical trial as simply the selection and testing of the most efficacious pharmaceutical agent already proven to work in preclinical animal studies. The research subject would be wrong. (shrink)

Acte essentiellement privé, le mariage grec a pour traits constants, aux époques classique et hellénistique, la dation de la mariée au marié par son père (ekdosis), ainsi que le versement d'une dot directe (proïx ou phernè) par le père ou son substitut. La riche monographie que lui consacrent A.-M. Vérilhac et Cl. Vial, à l'issue d'une collaboration de plus de dix ans, leur permet d'en étudier les différentes dimensions (sociale, économique, juridique, rituelle…) et d'en souligner ains...

Chinese Philosophy: Overview of Topics If Chinese philosophy may be said to have begun around 2000 B.C.E., then it represents the longest continuous heritage of philosophical reflection. Trying to mention each philosopher or every significant thinker is not possible. This article is highly selective by choosing philosophers according to two basic principles: Those who … Continue reading Chinese Philosophy: Overview of Topics →.

En el artículo se reconstruye la teoría perspectivista de G.W. Leibniz. En un primer momento, se analiza el sentido epistemológico del perspectivismo leibniziano. La teoría de la claridad-oscuridad cognitiva permite, en ese momento inicial, caracterizar la particularidad perceptiva como una perspectiva del universo. Se utilizan los escritos de Leibniz sobre ciencia perspectiva, recientemente transcritos, para analizar los sentidos de los conceptos, procedentes de dicha ciencia, que el pensador alemán usa para explicar el acto cognitivo. La explicación perspectivista de la cognición (...) da lugar a una concepción inmanente de la percepción: la perspectiva sustancial es el resultado de la relación entre la fuerza de representación y el universo. Se analiza, entonces, cómo el concepto de punto de vista permite describir la función cognitiva de mediación que el cuerpo desempeña entre la fuerza de representación y el universo. Esta explicación perspectivista de la particularidad perceptiva es, al mismo tiempo, una defensa de la pluralidad metafísica del universo. (shrink)

How can finite creatures know an infinite God? How do the limits of our intellect and language impact how we know God and talk about God? This book explores a doctrine called divine incomprehensibility in hopes to seek how a proper understand of God's incomprehensibility protects us from both a theological despair in which there is no hope for Christian theology and a theological idolatry in which we are tempted to believe we can capture the essence of God with our (...) thoughts or words. (shrink)

This volume, the first of its kind written in English, interprets the realistic-phenomenological philosophy of Hedwig Conrad-Martius (1888-1966). She was a prominent figure in the Munich-Göttingen Circle, the first generation of phenomenology after Edmund Husserl (1859-1938), and was known as the “first lady of German philosophy”.The articles included in this collection deal with the two main themes constituting her realistic-metaphysical phenomenology: Being and the I. The new edition includes an additional chapter opening a new path into the study of Conrad-Martius (...) with Heidegger. In addition, the collection includes a comprehensive Introduction that describes the personal background and the social and philosophical contexts behind Conrad-Martius’s thought, with an emphasis on the mutual influence and fertilization of the group of early phenomenologists in the Munich-Göttingen Circle. The book is aimed at scholars of philosophy and educated readers. (shrink)

In response to an accusation of having said something inappropriate, the accused may exploit the difference between the explicit contents of their utterance and its implicatures. Widely discussed in the pragmatics literature are those cases in which arguers accept accountability only for the explicit contents of what they said while denying commitment to the implicature. In this paper, we sketch a fuller picture of commitment denial. We do so, first, by including in our discussion not just denial of implicatures, but (...) also the mirror strategy of denying commitment to literal meaning and, second, by classifying strategies for commitment denial in terms of classical rhetorical status theory. In addition to providing a systematic categorization of our data, this approach offers some clues to determine when such a defence strategy is a reasonable one and when it is not. (shrink)

We show that the Proper Forcing Axiom implies the Singular Cardinal Hypothesis. The proof uses the reflection principle MRP introduced by Moore in [11].

This accessible introduction to formal, and especially Montague, semantics within a linguistic framework, presupposes no previous background in logic, but takes students step-by-step from simple predicate/argument structures and their interpretation to Montague's intentional logic.