We develop an analysis of the notion of mental representation, in the domain of visual perception, from a Cognitive Science perspective. Emphasis is given on a Connectionist view, according to which mental representations are emergent properties of the interaction between brain-like systems and structured light in the environment. We suggest that such a notion of mental representation indicates a way out of an ancient dispute between Representationalism and Eliminativism regarding the existence of mental representation in the human perceptual system.We develop (...) an analysis of the notion of mental representation, in the domain of visual perception, from a Cognitive Science perspective. Emphasis is given on a Connectionist view, according to which mental representations are emergent properties of the interaction between brain-like systems and structured light in the environment. We suggest that such a notion of mental representation indicates a way out of an ancient dispute between Representationalism and Eliminativism regarding the existence of mental representation in the human perceptual system.Investigaremos, a partir da perspectiva da Ciência Cognitiva, a noção de representação mental, no domínio da percepção visual humana. Ênfase é dada ao paradigma Conexionista, ou de Redes Neurais, de acordo com o qual tais representações mentais são descritas como estruturas emergentes da interação entre sistemas de processamento de informação que se auto-organizam - tais como o cérebro - e a luz estruturada no meio ambiente. Sugerimos que essa noção de representação mental indica uma solução para uma antiga polêmica, entre Representacionalistas e Eliminativistas, acerca da existência de representações mentais no sistema perceptual humano. (shrink)

The following dilemma is discussed: On the one hand, the growing impact of Technology of communication and information (ICT) in everyday habits seems to influence the dynamics of public opinion by reinforcing irrational beliefs and creating the impression that the autonomy of people’s opinion and decisions is just a myth. On the other hand, people seem to act most of the time, under the normal circumstances of daily life, in a rational way, as if their habitual actions result from relatively (...) autonomous decisions. A way out of this dilemma is suggested with the hypothesis that people can be rational most of the time, but nevertheless have their opinions influenced by insufficient, distorted information, or by previously acquired emotional dispositions. This hypothesis, in turn, is going to be scrutinized by considering, from a philosophical-interdisciplinary perspective, the role of rational choices in the dynamics of autonomous opinion. With illustrations of diagrams, we claim that the qualitative Complex Systems paradigm might help us to understand the possible role of emotional dispositions in the dynamics of autonomous opinion formation. (shrink)

The impact of new advanced technology on issues that concern meaningful information and its relation to studies of intelligence constitutes the main topic of the present paper. The advantages, disadvantages and implications of the synthetic methodology developed by cognitive scientists, according to which mechanical models of the mind, such as computer simulations or self-organizing robots, may provide good explanatory tools to investigate cognition, are discussed. A difficulty with this methodology is pointed out, namely the use of meaningless information to explain (...) intelligent behavior that incorporates meaningful information. In this context, it is inquired what are the contributions of cognitive science to contemporary studies of intelligent behavior and how technology may play a role in the analysis of the relationships established by organisms in their natural and social environments. (shrink)

The impact of new advanced technology on issues that concern meaningful information and its relation to studies of intelligence constitutes the main topic of the present paper. The advantages, disadvantages and implications of the synthetic methodology developed by cognitive scientists, according to which mechanical models of the mind, such as computer simulations or self-organizing robots, may provide good explanatory tools to investigate cognition, are discussed. A difficulty with this methodology is pointed out, namely the use of meaningless information to explain (...) intelligent behavior that incorporates meaningful information. In this context, it is inquired what are the contributions of cognitive science to contemporary studies of intelligent behavior and how technology may play a role in the analysis of the relationships established by organisms in their natural and social environments. (shrink)

Este artigo tem por objetivo apresentar e discutir a sugestão de Fred Dretske para analisar o problema dos qualia. Tal problema, caro à Filosofia da Mente, ficou conhecido pela discussão desenvolvida por Thomas Nagel em seu clássico artigo What is it like to be a bat. Nesse artigo, Nagel postulou a impossibilidade de se conhecer, em perspectiva de terceira-pessoa, os aspectos da experiência humana. Ele considera que, mesmo após as descrições objetivas da experiência de um sujeito, escapariam ainda aspectos qualitativos, (...) fundamentais para se caracterizar os qualia. A partir de sua Tese Representacionista da mente, Dretske argumenta que seria possível dissolver esse problema se admitirmos que a mente é a face representacional do cérebro, a natureza dos qualia seria, assim, representacional. Nesse contexto, os fatos mentais relacionados às experiências seriam fatos representacionais: se conhecermos a natureza desses fatos representacionais conheceremos também a experiência do sistema que a representa. Diante de tal entendimento, discutimos em que medida a proposta dretskeana constitui uma alternativa ao problema dos qualia. (shrink)

What is the conception of the human body underlying the Transhumanismproject? This question guides the present analysis undertaken from a philosophicalinterdisciplinary perspective. Inspired by Le Breton and Morin’s hypotheses about the complexity of the human body, we criticize mechanisticconception of the living body underlying the Transhumanism project. Implications ofthe Transhumanism project for personal identity are proposed based on hypotheses ofcomplex systems theory as a starting point for critical reflection on a possible gloomyfuture envisioned by the unnatural/artificial development of the transhuman (...) body. (shrink)

In this article, we discuss, from a complex systems perspective, possible implications of the rising dependency between autonomous human social/individual action, ubiquitous computing, and artificial intelligent systems. Investigation is made of ethical and political issues related to the application of ubiquitous computing resources to autonomous decision-making processes and to the enhancement of human cognition and action. We claim that without the feedback of fellow humans, which teaches us the consequences of our actions in real everyday life, the indiscriminate use of (...) ubiquitous computing in decision-making processes seems to be beyond the reach of any clear ethical control. We argue that the complex systems perspective may help us to foresee possible long-term consequences of our choices, in areas where human autonomous action can be directly affected by informational technologies. (shrink)

O objetivo do presente artigo é desenvolver uma reflexão acerca de relações existentes entre informação e ação, no contexto das tecnologias informacionais de comunicação. O problema central que guiará o artigo pode ser assim formulado: Qual é a influência da informação disponível nas TICs na ação autônoma? O direcionamento de pesquisas em relação ao conceito de informação possui geralmente uma orientação técnica, não focalizando questões éticas, ontológicas e epistemológicas, que são igualmente relevantes ao se tratar desse conceito. Em contraste com (...) a orientação técnica vigente, ressaltamos a abordagem proposta por Charles S. Peirce, que caracteriza informação a partir de diferentes perspectivas: lógico-semântica, pragmática e semiótica. Partindo da hipótese que processos informacionais têm uma participação fundamental no direcionamento da ação, investigamos impactos das TICs presentes nas relações cotidianas. Discutimos transformações que as TICs têm possibilitado na relação agente-ambiente, ressaltando recursos computacionais de mineração de dados, que propiciam ações, muitas vezes direcionadas por interesses alheios àqueles dos usuários. Argumentamos que o estudo da informação é importante para entender possíveis implicações das TICs no direcionamento da ação humana. (shrink)

La economía como ciencia social, como ciencia para la vida, está siendo interpelada cotidianamente por los efectos de una generalizada lógica de mercado totalizante que causa muerte y desesperanza a grupos cada vez más amplios de seres humanos y que, enfrenta/destruye la construcción de sujetos. Como respuesta, se impone una mirada crítica, una mirada ética y esfuerzos de diálogo multidisciplinario. En tal sentido se viene desarrollando una investigación de la que se comparten avances en este texto. La primera parte recoge (...) resultados parciales de una indagación -desde una perspectiva de la ética para la vida-, de las razones que se aproximan a explicar la negación del sujeto: desde la economía, desde el pensamiento posmoderno y desde la manipulación de los deseos y el poder. En la segunda parte se reflexionan sobre criterios y opciones para la defensa del sujeto, como sujeto viviente, entendiéndolo como subjetividad-intersubjetividad que no es lo mismo que individualidad. Se trata de recuperar el fundamento de la solidaridad humana y el quehacer económico basado en los derechos humanos. (shrink)

We introduce a restricted second-order logic $\textrm{SO}^{\textit{plog}}$ for finite structures where second-order quantification ranges over relations of size at most poly-logarithmic in the size of the structure. We demonstrate the relevance of this logic and complexity class by several problems in database theory. We then prove a Fagin’s style theorem showing that the Boolean queries which can be expressed in the existential fragment of $\textrm{SO}^{\textit{plog}}$ correspond exactly to the class of decision problems that can be computed by a non-deterministic Turing (...) machine with random access to the input in time $O^k)$ for some $k \ge 0$, i.e. to the class of problems computable in non-deterministic poly-logarithmic time. It should be noted that unlike Fagin’s theorem which proves that the existential fragment of second-order logic captures NP over arbitrary finite structures, our result only holds over ordered finite structures, since $\textrm{SO}^{\textit{plog}}$ is too weak as to define a total order of the domain. Nevertheless, $\textrm{SO}^{\textit{plog}}$ provides natural levels of expressibility within poly-logarithmic space in a way which is closely related to how second-order logic provides natural levels of expressibility within polynomial space. Indeed, we show an exact correspondence between the quantifier prefix classes of $\textrm{SO}^{\textit{plog}}$ and the levels of the non-deterministic poly-logarithmic time hierarchy, analogous to the correspondence between the quantifier prefix classes of second-order logic and the polynomial-time hierarchy. Our work closely relates to the constant depth quasipolynomial size AND/OR circuits and corresponding restricted second-order logic defined by David A. Mix Barrington in 1992. We explore this relationship in detail. (shrink)

Este trabalho tem por objetivo investigar a concepção de fer-ramenta cognitiva no contexto da teoria da cognição incorporada e si-tuada . Para isso, partimos das noções de ferramenta e de tecnologia cognitivas propostas, respectivamente, por Dennett e Dascal , através das quais situam a linguagem no contexto evolu-cionário, ressaltando o seu caráter pragmático. Argumentamos que a concepção de ferramenta cognitiva, que para esses autores está inserida num contexto teórico que privilegia o conhecimento proposicional, pode ser ampliada de modo a abarcar (...) o conhecimento não proposicional. Em seguida, com o propósito de ressaltar a relevância do conhecimento não proposicional, apresentamos algumas teses relativas à natureza dos pro-cessos cognitivos que são postuladas pela CIS e pela Epistemologia Ecológica . Tais teses ressaltam que a compreen-são do comportamento inteligente necessita considerar fatores presentes na complexa dinâmica da interação organismo/meio ambiente. Argu-mentamos, ainda que, graças às teses da CIS e da EE conseguiremos entender alguns fenômenos relacionados à aquisição do conhecimento, es-pecialmente em situações nas quais parece se instaurar uma dicotomia entre significado e ação. (shrink)

A obra em questão, Favor fechar os olhos: em busca de um outro tempo, de Byung-Chul Han, nascido na Coreia e radicado na Alemanha, onde é professor de Filosofia e Estudos Culturais na Universidade de Berlim, se trata de uma reflexão filosófica acerca das questões que envolvem o paradigma digital contemporâneo atrelado à problemática do tempo, e, mais propriamente, acerca do ato natural de fechar os olhos ante a coação permanente pelo visual, pela vigilância. O ensaio de Byung-Chul Han está (...) dividido em cinco capítulos, os quais poderíamos nominar de cinco tempos: O tempo do silêncio, O tempo bom, O tempo da festa, O tempo do outro e Em um tempo inoportuno; à partida se pode observar os títulos como uma espécie de ideia reguladora, ou seja, como uma dimensão de alteridade, de algum modo, inspirada em um pensamento ético como o de Emmanuel Lévinas. Nesta resenha crítica, procuramos esboçar reflexões possíveis advindas desse trabalho. Data de registro: 07/04/2022 Data de aceite: 27/10/2022. (shrink)

El sólo título Ética de la economía, con que bautiza la Dra. Gonzáles Butrón a su libro, resulta sugerente. El prólogo se manifiesta también sugerente. Cerutti, quien lo escribe, explica que la economía implica valores y que estos valores determinan criterios que colocan a los seres humanos en determinadas posiciones, donde las neutralidades son meras apariencias. Cerutti argumenta que las posiciones que implican pisar las cabezas, los cuerpos, las necesidades y las dignidades de los otros y ..

Comentaremos neste trabalho sobre o ecossistema do Círio de Nazaré, com base na Teoria dos Sistemas Complexos, para isso utilizarei quatro autores relevantes, Edgar Morin (2018), Ettore Bresciani Filho (2008), Eunice Quilici Gonzalez (1998) e Michael Debrun (1998), sobre os conceitos de sistemas, sistemas complexos, organização, auto-organização e atratores. No livro Introdução ao Pensamento Complexo de Edgar Morin (2008), o autor discute as noções de complexidade, sistemas, organização e auto-organização. Trabalharemos os primeiros capítulos do livro, utilizando-o como base (...) para explicar o ecossistema que ocorre no Círio de Nazaré. Mostraremos a complexidade em relação ao feedback e à desordem que surgem durante a jornada como atratores, fatores intrínsecos do fenômeno da autoorganização. (shrink)

This paper investigates the emotive (or expressive) meaning of words commonly referred to as “loaded” or “emotive,” which include slurs, derogative or pejorative words, and ethical terms. We claim that emotive meaning can be reinterpreted from a pragmatic and argumentative perspective, which can account for distinct aspects of ethical terms, including the possibility of being modified and its cancellability. Emotive meaning is explained as a defeasible and automatic or automatized evaluative and intended inference commonly associated with the use of specific (...) terms, which can be represented and assessed considering its logical structure and its defeasibility conditions. This automatic inference is conceived as part of the connotation of an ethical term, and is not necessarily stable. By means of quasi-definitions, it is possible to modify the emotive meaning while maintaining the descriptive one, automaticizing the inferences drawn from an ethical word. Through examples drawn from the recent US presidential campaign, we show how re-contextualization and emotive contexts can affect emotive meaning. (shrink)

In 1969 Harry Frankfurt published his hugely influential paper 'Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility' in which he claimed to present a counterexample to the so-called 'Principle of Alternate Possibilities' ('a person is morally responsible for what he has done only if he could have done otherwise'). The success of Frankfurt-style cases as counterexamples to the Principle has been much debated since. I present an objection to these cases that, in questioning their conceptual cogency, undercuts many of those debates. Such cases (...) all require a counterfactual mechanism that could cause an agent to perform an action that he cannot avoid performing. I argue that, given our concept of what it is for someone to act, this requirement is inconsistent. Frankfurt-style alleged counterexamples are cases where an agent is morally responsible for an action he performs even though, the claim goes, he could not have avoided performing that action. However, it has recently been argued, e.g. by John Fischer, that a counterexample to the Principle could be a 'Fischer-style case', i.e. a case where the agent can either perform the action or do nothing else. I argue that, although Fischer-style cases do not share the conceptual flaw common to all Frankfurt-style cases, they also fail as counterexamples to the Principle. The paper finishes with a brief discussion of the significance of the Principle of Alternate Possibilities. (shrink)

I argue that creativity is compatible with determinism and therefore with naturalistic explanation. I explore different kinds of novelty, corresponding with four distinct concepts of creativity – anthropological, historical, psychological and metaphysical. Psychological creativity incorporates originality and spontaneity. Taken together, these point to the independence of the creative mind from social learning, experience and previously acquired knowledge. This independence is nevertheless compatible with determinism. Creativity is opposed to specific causal factors, but it does not exclude causal determination as such. So (...) creativity can be naturalized. (shrink)

María Lugones, one of the premiere figures in feminist philosophy, has at last collected some of her most famous essays, as well as some lesser-known gems, into her first book.

This paper introduces a framework for direct surface composition by online update. The surface string is interpreted as is, with each morpheme in turn updating the input state of information and attention. A formal representation language, Logic of Centering, is defined and some crosslinguistic constraints on lexical meanings and compositional operations are formulated.

Over the last four decades arguments for and against the claim that creative hypothesis formation is based on Darwinian ‘blind’ variation have been put forward. This paper offers a new and systematic route through this long-lasting debate. It distinguishes between undirected, random, and unjustified variation, to prevent widespread confusions regarding the meaning of undirected variation. These misunderstandings concern Lamarckism, equiprobability, developmental constraints, and creative hypothesis formation. The paper then introduces and develops the standard critique that creative hypothesis formation is guided (...) rather than blind, integrating developments from contemporary research on creativity. On that basis, I discuss three compatibility arguments that have been used to answer the critique. These arguments do not deny guided variation but insist that an important analogy exists nonetheless. These compatibility arguments all fail, even though they do so for different reasons: trivialisation, conceptual confusion, and lack of evidence respectively. Revisiting the debate in this manner not only allows us to see where exactly a ‘Darwinian’ account of creative hypothesis formation goes wrong, but also to see that the debate is not about factual issues, but about the interpretation of these factual issues in Darwinian terms. (shrink)

Creativity has often been declared, especially by philosophers, as the last frontier of science. The assumption is that it will defy explanation forever. I will defend two claims in order to oppose this assumption and to demystify creativity: (1) the perspective that creativity cannot be explained wrongly identifies creativity with what I shall call metaphysical freedom; (2) the Darwinian approach to creativity, a prominent naturalistic account of creativity, fails to give an explanation of creativity, because it confuses conceptual issues with (...) explanation. I will close with some remarks on the status and differences in some explanations available in contemporary cognitive science. (shrink)

We argue that philosophers are competent to facilitate public discussion concerning restrictions on human migration across political borders. We also argue that presenting public audiences with a prima facie case for open borders offers a unique opportunity to elucidate important aspects of philosophical reasoning. Finally, we share resources and a lesson plan for those keen to examine the case for open borders with students, or to facilitate public discussion on these issues.

Barbara Stafford is at the forefront of a growing movement that calls for the humanities to confront the brain’s material realities. In Echo Objects she argues that humanists should seize upon the exciting neuroscientific discoveries that are illuminating the underpinnings of cultural objects. In turn, she contends, brain scientists could enrich their investigations of mental activity by incorporating phenomenological considerations—particularly the intricate ways that images focus intentional behavior and allow us to feel thought. This, then, is a book for both (...) sides of the aisle, a stunningly broad exploration of how complex images—or patterns that compress space and time—make visible the invisible ordering of human consciousness. Stafford demonstrates, for example, how the compound formats of emblems, symbols, collage, and electronic media reveal the brain’s grappling to construct mental objects that are redoubled by prior associations. On the other hand, she compellingly shows that findings in evolutionary biology and the neurosciences are providing profound opportunities for understanding aesthetic conundrums as old and deep-seated as the human urge to imitate, the mapping of inner space, and the role of narrative and nonnarrative representation. As precise in her discussions of firing neurons as she is about the coordinating dynamics of image making, Stafford locates these major transdisciplinary issues at the intersection of art, science, philosophy, and technology. Ultimately, she makes an impassioned plea for a common purpose—for the acknowledgement that, at the most basic level, these separate projects belong to a single investigation. (shrink)

Our evaluation of questions and knowledge attributions may vary relative to the way in which the relevant objects are identified. In the first part, the article proposes a theory that represents different methods of trans-world identification and is able to account for their impact on interpretation. In the second part, the same theory is used to account for the meaning of concealed questions. On the proposed account, the interpretation of a concealed question results from the application of a type-shifting operation (...) mapping an individual denoting expression into an identity question interpreted relative to a contextually selected identification method. (shrink)

Two conceptions of motivating reasons, i.e. the reasons for which we act, can be found in the literature: (1) the dominant 'psychological conception', which says that motivating reasons are an agent's believing something; and (2) the 'non-psychological' conception, the minority view, which says that they are what the agent believes, i.e. his beliefs. In this paper I outline a version of the minority view, and defend it against what have been thought to be insuperable difficulties - in particular, difficulties concerning (...) 'error cases' (cases where what the agent believes is false); and difficulties concerning the explanation of action. Concerning error cases, I argue that if we are motivated by something believed that is true, what motivates us to act is a motivating reason. By contrast, if we are motivated by something believed that is false, then what motivates us to act is merely an apparent motivating reason. Either way, what motivates us is, as the non-psychological conception says, what we believe and not our believing it. I offer an account of the relation between motivating reasons and the explanation of action, and argue that this account helps bring out two important points. One is that the fact that we often do, and indeed sometimes must, use explanations such as 'He did it because he believed that p' does not vindicate the psychological conception of motivating reasons. The other is that endorsing the non-psychological conception of motivating reasons does not commit one to a non-factive view of explanations of action. (shrink)

In English, discourse reference to time involves grammatical tenses interpreted as temporal anaphors. Recently, it has been argued that conditionals involve modal discourse anaphora expressed by a parallel grammatical system of anaphoric modals. Based on evidence from Kalaallisut, this paper argues that temporal and modal anaphora can be just as precise in a language that does not have either grammatical category. Instead, temporal anaphora directly targets eventualities of verbs, without mediating tenses, while modal anaphora involves anaphoric moods and/or attitudinal verbs.

The idea that natural languages shape the way we think in different ways was popularized by Benjamin Whorf, but then fell out of favor for lack of empirical support. But now, a new wave of research has been shifting the tide back toward linguistic relativity. The recent research can be interpreted in different ways, some trivial, some implausibly radical, and some both plausible and interesting. We introduce two theses that would have important implications if true: Habitual Whorfianism and Ontological Whorfianism. (...) We argue that these offer the most promising interpretations of the emerging evidence. (shrink)

Corruption within the private sector has often not been dealt with in Brazil. Organizations may find corrupt acts in its operations or practices, but specific concepts and programs to avoid them are neither concrete nor clear. Some Brazilian stockholders have become aware of the risks involved in unethical procedures and are adopting the Best Practices of Corporate Governance initiative. International agencies have intensively supported organizations and governments in an effort to define policies that inhibit illegal or corrupt cultural habits throughout (...) the world, but Brazilian practitioners show insufficient response. Skepticism may indicate a lack of understanding about how an ethical leadership can guide employees, setting high standards for the organizational culture and climate, clearly defining limits of correct behavior, and creating appropriate codes of ethics. Transparency still has to be discovered as a significant tool to encourage professionalism in performance and reporting of data in Brazilian companies. In this article, we analyze the ethical behavior of the purchasing department of a multinational company in its host country, Brazil. It focuses specifically on the supplier–buyer relationship. The results indicate that despite the negative reputation Brazilians have in business ethics, a company can still develop a positive and ethical relationship with its stakeholders. Communication, transparency, compliance with the company’s code of conduct as well as the supplier’s awareness of the buyer’s code of conduct are the factors which influence the supplier–buyer relationship. Transparency can be used as a tool to reduce corruption, thereby increasing ethical behavior and company image. Good ethical behavior can help to build up a company’s image. (shrink)

Mental health among students is one of the major concerns amidst the pandemic. Employing a correlational design, this study investigates the relationship between emotional intelligence and mental health among 152 senior high school students. Based on the statistical analysis, the r coefficient of 0.82 indicates a high positive correlation between the variables. The p-value of 0.00, which is less than 0.05, leads to the decision to reject the null hypothesis. Hence, a significant relationship exists between emotional intelligence and mental health (...) among senior high school. Implications were discussed in the study. (shrink)

While some countries are moving toward legalization, euthanasia is still criticized on various fronts. Most importantly, it is considered a violation of the medical ethics principle of non-maleficence, because it actively seeks a patient’s death. But, medical ethicists should consider an ethical alternative to euthanasia. In this article, we defend cryocide as one such alternative. Under this procedure, with the consent of terminally-ill patients, their clinical death is induced, in order to prevent the further advance of their brain’s deterioration. Their (...) body is then cryogenically preserved, in the hope that in the future, there will be a technology to reanimate it. This prospect is ethically distinct from euthanasia if a different criterion of death is assumed. In the information-theoretic criterion of death, a person is not considered dead when brain and cardiopulmonary functions cease, but rather, when information constituting psychology and memory is lost. (shrink)

The disjunction effect (Tversky & Shafir, 1992) occurs when decision makers prefer option x (versus y) when knowing that event A occurs and also when knowing that event A does not occur, but they refuse x (or prefer y) when not knowing whether or not A occurs. This form of incoherence violates Savage's (1954) sure-thing principle, one of the basic axioms of the rational theory of decision making. The phenomenon was attributed to a lack of clear reasons for accepting an (...) option (x) when subjects are under uncertainty. Through a pragmatic analysis of the task and a consequent reformulation of it, we show that the effect does not depend on the presence of uncertainty, but on the introduction of non-relevant goals into the text problem, in both the well-known Gamble problem and the Hawaii problem. (shrink)