The story of the fall and rise of Zahavi’s handicap principle is one of a battle between models. Early attempts at formal modeling produced negative results and, unsurprisingly, scepticism about the principle. A major change came in 1990 with Grafen’s production of coherent models of a handicap mechanism of honest signalling. This paper’s first claim is that acceptance of the principle, and its dissemination into other disciplines, has been driven principally by that, and subsequent modeling, rather than by (...) empirical results. Secondly, there is a vast literature on biological signalling but few studies that make all of the observations necessary to diagnose the handicap mechanism. My final claim is that many of the applications of costly signalling theory in other disciplines are conceptually confused. Misinterpretations of what is meant by costly signalling are common. Demonstrating that a signal is costly is insufficient and is not always necessary in order to prove that, and explain why, a signal is honest. In addition to the biological modelling of signals, there is an economic literature on the same subject. The two run in parallel in the sense that they have had little mutual interaction. Additionally, it is the biological modelling that has been picked up, and often misapplied, by other disciplines. (shrink)

How should we undertand the role of norms—especially epistemic norms—governing assertive speech acts? Mitchell Green (2009) has argued that these norms play the role of handicaps in the technical sense from the animal signals literature. As handicaps, they then play a large role in explaining the reliability—and so the stability (the continued prevalence)—of assertive speech acts. But though norms of assertion conceived of as social norms do indeed play this stabilizing role, these norms are best understood as deterrents and not (...) as handicaps. This paper explains the stability problem for the maintenance of animal signals, and so human communication, for we are animals too, after all; the mechanics of the handicap principle; the role of deterrents and punishments as an alternative mechanism; and the role of social norms governing assertion for the case of human communication. (shrink)

In his extensive work as a theologian and a historian, Walter H. Principe, CSB, (1922-1996) was committed to reflecting on both the present and the past. He was well-known as an historian of medieval theology and philosophy - especially through the work of Thomas Aquinas, as well as a contemporary theologian. This memorial collection addresses a fundamental feature of Principe's thought, namely his concern that the history of medieval theology and philosophy have a significant role to play in (...) contemporary discussions. Strengthening the ties between historical study and contemporary theological and philosophical thought, this book offers much to those who teach and research in historical theology and the history of philosophy. The ten essays provide significant test cases of how modern scholars may utilise the historical record judiciously for contemporary debates. Those who are concerned with intellectual history (both medieval and modern), the history of doctrines, and Thomism will also find this collection a useful contribution to modern scholarship. (shrink)

The question initially raised in this paper was on how one’s religious sensibility affects one’s response to suffering. Focusing on three particular disasters that hit the Philippines, we look at the various media sources: the writing about the rains and flooding found in broadsheets and online media, and some ethnographic descriptions coming from the social sciences; we also look at experiential or anecdotal sources. All this provides us with material to establish certain traits and topics that come to fore in (...) times of disaster, including such concerns as the lessons learned during disaster, the wrath of God, and points of cultural pride such as notions of solidarity and resilience. A significant upshot of this study has been the recognition of epistemic and methodological reevaluations that had to constantly be taken. This concludes in a retrieval of the contextuality of suffering, a redefinition of what it means to say that the response is a Christian one, and finally a proposal that paying closer attention to these points, in addition to non-philosophical sources, might be a way of rethinking the problem of suffering beyond the scope of traditional theodicies. (shrink)

In this paper, two Platonic texts are placed side by side – namely, the ascent passage from the Symposium and the Sun, Line and Cave analogies from the Republic – in order to dispel the notion that Plato recommends a highly intellectual pursuit of Ideas. We take here the often-neglected aspect of the cave analogy, which speaks of ethical involvement described in terms of descent, and use this to reinterpret the ladder of love. We find that it is not a (...) matter of renunciation and abstraction, but instead, an increasingly refined pursuit of excellence that has the beloved’s moral education as its impetus and goal. (shrink)

As reflexões metodológicas de Poincaré sobre a modelação mecânica dos fenômenos, as teorias físicas, a hierarquização das leis e a evolução do seu estatuto e sistema são susceptíveis de uma leitura kantiana que exibe a função constitutiva das matemáticas e a função reguladora dos princípios de conveniência e dos princípios da física, correspondendo estes a uma importante etapa na evolução das teorias físicas. The methodological reflections of Poincaré on the mechanical modeling of phenomena, physical theories, the hierarchy of laws and (...) the evolution of their status and system are illuminated by a Kantian reading that displays the constitutive function of mathematics and the regulative function of principles of convenience and of the principles of physics, these corresponding to an important step in the evolution of physical theories. (shrink)

In 1677, Georges Pierre des Clozets visited Robert Boyle and told him that he had been approved for membership in the Asterism, a secret international society of alchemical masters, headed by Pierre's patron Georges du Mesnillet, the Patriarch of Antioch. Extensive correspondence followed, replete with gifts and bizarre claims, until Pierre vanished in August 1678. This paper links several new documents—articles in the Mercure galant and the Gazette de France and a manuscript account by another convinced admirer of Pierre—to my (...) previous study of him, particularly in regard to Pierre's claim to be working with the Patriarch to reunite Eastern and Western Churches. Dating from before and after Boyle's involvement, these sources add fresh details about Pierre and his other contacts, and show the consistency of Pierre's stories and the credibility he fashioned as he travelled around Europe convincing people of his claims alchemical and otherwise. (shrink)

The Century between the death of Copernicus and the birth of Newton witnessed a major reshaping of traditional ways of viewing the universe. The Ptolemaic system was challenged by Copernican heliocentrism, the Aristotelian world was assailed by Galilean physics and revived atomism, and theology was troubled by the progressive distancing of God from the daily operation of His creation. Besides earning this era the title of ‘the Scientific Revolution’, the intellectual ferment of these times offered many world systems as successors (...) to the throne of crumbling Aristotelianism. (shrink)

The dissemination of accurate accounts of the history of science to a wider public is a crucial enterprise. Both professional historians of science and popular writers have key contributions to make in this endeavor, and they can learn valuable lessons from each other. The need to provide correct, up‐to‐date, and well‐documented and well‐attributed narratives is equally incumbent on both groups. Popular texts can be both engagingly written and truthful about history and its methods, and professional historians should be encouraged to (...) try their hand at this genre on occasion, borrowing what is useful from popular writers and enriching it with their own firsthand experience of historical research. Finally, the intelligence of the reading public should not be underestimated, and it would be injudicious for historians to miss the opportunity of presenting our enterprise and its results directly to that public. (shrink)

Can Lewisian counterpart theory adequately account for the deliberation involved in universalizing moral judgments? In this paper, the dispute between Shalom Lappin and Yehudah Freunlich over the answer to this question is examined and clarified. Then it is argued that Lappin andFreunlich do not join issue in a way which allows for satisfactory adjudication of their dispute. Specifically, they are unaware of the different models of role projection which each employs. By making these models explicit, it can be seen that, (...) regardless of how universalization is construed, a Lewisian can indeed offer an adequate account of moral deliberation. (shrink)

Can Lewisian counterpart theory adequately account for the deliberation involved in universalizing moral judgments? In this paper, the dispute between Shalom Lappin and Yehudah Freunlich over the answer to this question is examined and clarified. Then it is argued that Lappin andFreunlich do not join issue in a way which allows for satisfactory adjudication of their dispute. Specifically, they are unaware of the different models of role projection which each employs. By making these models explicit, it can be seen that, (...) regardless of how universalization is construed, a Lewisian can indeed offer an adequate account of moral deliberation. (shrink)

In 1905 Albert Einstein, in a paper entitled “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies”, as a solution to the disagreement between classical mechanics and the results of the Michelson's experiment, who showed the invariance of the speed of light in vacuum measured in different inertial reference systems, developed the theory of special relativity. In this essay Einstein expounded a theory that, instead of introducing a privileged system, required the revision of the concepts of space and time of classical physics. Combining (...) the principle of Galilean relativity, according to which the laws of physics are invariant in all inertial reference systems, with the physics of electromagnetism, according to which the speed of light in a vacuum is constant, Einstein concluded that time is no more than a relative measure, namely that whenever we have to do with speed equal to or close to that of light, time is no longer a variable absolute and independent of the reference system adopted, but depends on the variable position. This is what Einstein shows through the critical examination of the concept of simultaneity. The abandonment of the traditional conception of space and time based on the idea of a spatial continuum flowing through a temporal continuum coherently leads to the assumption of a space-time continuum in which distances and time intervals vary with the changing the reference system, and together vary, of course, all other sizes to those connected. (shrink)

As fontes da pedagogia trabalhista de António Sérgio Resumo: Porventura o traço mais saliente da proposta educativa de António Sérgio para o Portugal republicano é a de ser uma pedagogia trabalhista, em que a preparação para e pelo trabalho é uma condição para a construção de pessoas autónomas, membros de uma sociedade baseada na cooperação. Para Sérgio, a correcta operacionalização dos novos métodos de ensino, valorizadores dos interesses imanentes das crianças, implicava uma fundamentação filosófica séria, um modelo antropológico coerente no (...) qual uma concepção do trabalho humano é fulcral. O propósito deste artigo é o de articular sinteticamente os fundamentos da sua proposta trabalhista do valor educativo e social de um ideal de trabalho, cuidando das fontes estrangeiras de inspiração da mesma, entre as quais destacaremos Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, John Dewey e Georg Kerschensteiner. Mostra-se que Sérgio soube encontrar uma fundamentação que junta reflexões daqueles pensadores, estabelecendo uma relação habitualmente ignorada entre os pedagogos seus, e nossos, contemporâneos. Pretende-se assim, recorrendo aos métodos da história das ideias, valorizadores da genealogia e da contextualização intelectual, homenagear, no cinquentenário da sua morte, um dos paladinos da Escola Nova em Portugal, dissipando algumas dúvidas sobre as reais motivações daquele Movimento pedagógico progressista no Portugal Republicano. Palavras Chave: António Sérgio. Pedagogia trabalhista. Proudhon. Dewey. Kerschensteiner. The sources of the labour pedagogy of António Sérgio: Perhaps the most striking feature of the thought of António Sérgio is his proposal of a labour pedagogy, where the preparation for and through work is a condition for the construction of persons that live in a society based on cooperation. For Sérgio the proper implementation of new teaching methods, that respect the true interests of children, implies a serious philosophical reflection, a coherent anthropological model in which a conception of human labour is critical. Our purpose is to articulate his philosophical reflections that justify the educational and social value of human labour, taking care of foreign sources of inspiration, among which are Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, John Dewey and Georg Kerschensteiner. It is shown that Sérgio brought together reflections of those thinkers, establishing a harmonic philosophical communion, usually ignored. By using the methods of the history of ideas that value the search of genealogy and intellectual context, we honour, in the fiftieth anniversary of his death, one of the paladins of the Éducation Nouvelle in Portugal, showing the real motivations of that progressive educational movement during the First Portuguese Republic. Keywords: António Sérgio. Labour pedagogy. Proudhon. Dewey. Kerschensteiner. Les sources de la pédagogie travailliste d’António Sérgio Résumé: Peut-être la caractéristique la plus frappante de la pensée éducationnelle d'António Sérgio est son pari dans une pédagogie du travail, où la préparation pour et par le travail est une condition pour la construction de personnes qui vivent dans une société fondée sur la coopération. Pour Sérgio, la mise en œuvre de nouvelles méthodes d'enseignement, qui respectent les véritables intérêts des enfants, implique une réflexion philosophique sérieuse, un modèle anthropologique cohérent pour lequel une conception du travail humain est essentielle. Notre but est d'articuler ses réflexions philosophiques qui justifient la valeur éducative et sociale du travail humain, en prenant soin des sources étrangères d'inspiration: Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, John Dewey et Georg Kerschensteiner. On démontre que Sérgio a rassemblé des réflexions de ces penseurs, en établissant une communion philosophique harmonique, généralement ignorée par les pédagogues et philosophes de son temps et du notre. En utilisant les méthodes de l'histoire des idées qui reconstruisent des généalogies et des contextes intellectuels, nous rendons hommage, dans le cinquantième anniversaire de sa mort, à l'un des paladins de l’Éducation Nouvelle au Portugal, en montrant les motivations réelles de ce mouvement éducatif pendant la Première République portugaise. Mots clés: António Sérgio. Pédagogie du travail. Proudhon. Dewey. Kerschensteiner. Data de registro: 23/10/2019 Data de aceite: 09/12/2019. (shrink)

Alchemy now holds an important place in the history of science. Its current status contrasts with its former exile as a “pseudoscience” or worse and results from several rehabilitative steps carried out by scholars who made closer, less programmatic, and more innovative studies of the documentary sources. Interestingly, alchemy's outcast status was created in the eighteenth century and perpetuated thereafter in part for strategic and polemical reasons—and not only on account of a lack of historical understanding. Alchemy's return to the (...) fold of the history of science highlights important features about the development of science and our changing understanding of it. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Alchemy now holds an important place in the history of science. Its current status contrasts with its former exile as a “pseudoscience” or worse and results from several rehabilitative steps carried out by scholars who made closer, less programmatic, and more innovative studies of the documentary sources. Interestingly, alchemy's outcast status was created in the eighteenth century and perpetuated thereafter in part for strategic and polemical reasons—and not only on account of a lack of historical understanding. Alchemy's return to (...) the fold of the history of science highlights important features about the development of science and our changing understanding of it. (shrink)

Although the volume of the surviving papers of Robert Boyle is substantial (over 20,000 leaves), a considerable amount of the written material left by Boyle at his death in 1691 has not survived in the Boyle archive. This paper gauges the scale and identity of these losses using the surviving inventories made by the Rev. Henry Miles in the 1740s when he was collecting and sorting Boyle's literary remains in conjunction with Thomas Birch's preparation of his 1744 Life and Works (...) of Boyle. These detailed lists (edited as appendices to this paper), together with other sources, indicate losses due to a variety of reasons, some deliberate, others accidental. The losses involved the disposal of both items judged (in the eighteenth century) to be peripheral to Boyle's archive and, ironically, those in the most finished state from Boyle's hand, which were perhaps abortively destined for the Birch edition. These losses have significantly altered the character of the Boyle Papers, and thus the view of Boyle that is derived from them. (shrink)