Neste ensaio, pretendemos (1) sugerir algumas vantagens da apresentação do ceticismo na forma de um argumento cético geral, (2) discutir o princípio de fechamento utilizado neste argumento, (3) mostrar que o confiablismo externalista é incapaz de explicar as implicações deste argumento geral e (4) defender uma posição internalista cancelabilista como a mais adequadamente munida de ferramentas para avaliação dos desafios céticos.

Neste ensaio, pretendemos sugerir algumas vantagens da apresentação do ceticismo na forma de um argumento cético geral, discutir o princípio de fechamento utilizado neste argumento, mostrar que o confiablismo externalista é incapaz de explicar as implicações deste argumento geral e defender uma posição internalista cancelabilista como a mais adequadamente munida de ferramentas para avaliação dos desafios céticos.

Este ensaio se ocupará de uma noção que debuta muito recentemente no cenário do debate epistemológico contemporâneo, a saber, a noção de virtude intelectual. Vamos discutir, aqui, uma das abordagens da noção de virtude, aquela moldada na forja confiabilista. Receberão destaque especial os trabalhos de Alvin Goldman e Ernest Sosa, nesta ordem. Veremos que ‘virtude intelectual’ será entendida, grosso modo, como uma evolução da noção de ‘processo confiável de formação de crenças’, evolução motivada por três críticas à teoria confiabilista. Pretendemos (...) mostrar, ainda, que uma destas críticas não é resolvida, exatamente a crítica que ataca um dos pilares do programa confiabilista: a dispensa de crenças de segunda ordem sobre a justificação. PALAVRAS-CHAVE – Justificação. Confiabilismo. Virtude intelectual. ABSTRACT This essay is concerned with a notion that was recently introduced in the contemporary epistemological debate, the notion of an intellectual virtue. We will be discussing one of the approaches to the notion of virtue, that which comes from the reliabilist forge. I will be especially concerned with the works of Alvin Goldman and Ernest Sosa, in that order. We will see that ‘intellectual virtue’ will be, by and large, understood as the evolution of the notion of ‘reliable belief-forming process’, an evolution that is prompted by three objections to reliabilist theory. We intend to show that one of those objections is not removed, precisely the one that is aimed at one of the pillars of the reliabilist program: the avoidance of a condition requiring second-order beliefs about justification. KEY WORDS – Justification. Reliabilism. Intellectual virtue. (shrink)

La curiosité persistante des lecteurs de Primo Levi a pris souvent une forme interrogative et a suscité son engagement. Sa réponse à la question « êtes-vous retourné à Auschwitz ? » se trouve dans un appendice joint à l’édition scolaire de Se questo è un uomo longtemps après sa première parution1.La réponse est oui. Levi est retourné..

O texto propõe articular a interpretação heideggeriana da verdade à luz da concepção de memória/reminiscência elaborada por Martin Heidegger em sua leitura fenomenológico-hermenêutica de Platão. Para tanto, o trabalho aproxima as interpretações apresentadas pelo filósofo alemão em dois textos complementares, a saber, Platons Lehre von der Wahrheit e Parmenides , tendo como pano de fundo a hipótese de que a memória não se constitui sem ter por base uma perda originária, um ‘ao menos um’ que jamais comparece na totalidade do (...) que se desvela, mas que serve de reserva e fonte para todo o pensar e dizer dos pensadores. Normal 0 21 false false false PT-BR X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Tabela normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}. (shrink)

Qual o estatuto da noção de “minha natureza” nas “Meditações Metafísicas” de Descartes? Esta é a questão do presente artigo. Para respondê-la, o estudo se divide em duas partes. Num primeiro momento, mais enxuto, trata-se de investigar a referida noção tal como ela aparece, sobretudo, nas duas primeiras meditações, a saber: como a natureza do senso comum, a qual requer ser superada com vistas a dar lugar a uma noção de natureza propriamente filosófica, guiada pelo que se denomina nas “Meditações” (...) por “luz natural”. Num segundo momento do trabalho, mais alongado e seminal, notadamente através da análise da sexta meditação, trata-se de evidenciar que se a noção de “minha natureza” em nada auxilia na tarefa de uma teoria do conhecimento, para uma filosofia prática em específico será justamente a ela que o autor se verá obrigado a recorrer. O que comporta, contudo, algum custo para a metafísica cartesiana de maneira geral. Pois se a sua teoria do conhecimento está inteiramente baseada em elementos a priori, a sua filosofia prática, por sua vez, porquanto fundada numa mistura entre razão e sentimentos, precisará ser edificada quase que inteiramente num solo contingencial e experimental. (shrink)

O lugar da mulher na cultura e nas tradições africanas, especialmente dos povos bantu tem sido um desafio, uma vez que por um lado temos a ancestralidade que se manifesta pela cultura e por outro a modernidade trazida pelo ocidente por meio da colonização ou da interação com outros povos. Esta pesquisa tem como objeto o estudo do livro “No Fundo do Canto” de Odete Semedo, com a finalidade de analisar a representação do feminino e do místico como identidade cultural (...) da Guiné- Bissau. Trata-se de uma pesquisa de abordagem qualitativa, com objetivo descritivo-exploratório e procedimento documental. Quanto aos procedimentos metodológicos identificamos trechos de nove poemas da obra “No Fundo do Canto” que remete ao feminino e ao místico como marcas da identidade da Guiné-Bissau através dos significados construídos por meio da língua crioula, em especial. O corpus foi analisado à luz dos teóricos do porte de Augel, Hall, Semedo, Bâ, Cá e Timbane e Manuel e Timbane. Concluiu-se que a presença feminina está atrelada ao místico e remete ao poder feminino, como também demonstra características culturais de Guiné-Bissau, tendo a língua como propiciadora de formações léxico-semânticos que remetem as culturas do país. (shrink)

O presente artigo propõe estudar algumas possibilidades interpretativas suscitadas pela analogia com que Spinoza busca ilustrar, a partir da imagem do corpo humano, a estrutura de composição do corpo político. Começando por discutir a dinâmica de produção de corpos na Natureza, o texto desenvolve uma análise da contradição entre duas teses, presentes na obra de Spinoza – uma, na sua ontologia, e outra, na política –, que se formulam nos termos da analogia do corpo humano com o corpo político; em (...) seguida, essa analogia desdobra-se em uma comparação entre a mente humana e o que se poderia denominar uma “mente” do corpo político, a partir da distinção entre os dois níveis de constituição do político – a cidade e o Estado ; por fim, propõe-se uma interpretação do processo de produção de ideias e representações na vida política à luz da teoria althusseriana da ideologia. (shrink)

Este artigo destina-se a introduzir a conferência de Heisenberg "A doutrina goethiana e newtoniana das cores à luz da física moderna", proferida em 1941, cuja tradução é aqui publicada. Analisa-se primeiramente o projeto filosófico de uma ordenação da realidade, desenvolvido pelo físico no início da década de 1940, o qual subjaz à discussão sobre as doutrinas das cores em Goethe e Newton. No segundo momento, faz-se uma exposição de algumas das implicações filosóficas da teoria quântica, com ênfase na interpretação da (...) assim denominada escola de Copenhague. Por fim, procura-se mostrar como a querela entre Goethe e Newton é utilizada para defender as abstrações da física teórica dos ataques da assim denominada "física ariana" e, ao mesmo tempo, preservar o valor das considerações intuitivas de Goethe. This paper aims at exposing the Heisenberg's conference "The teachings of Goethe and Newton on colors in the light of modern physics", presented in 1941, whose translation is presented here. In the first place the paper analyzes the philosophical project of an ordination of the reality, developed by the physicist in the early 1940s and which is the basis for the discussion of the "Teachings of Goethe and Newton on colors". Secondly it exposes some philosophical implications of the quantum theory by emphasizing the point of view of the Copenhagen school. Finally, it shows how the dispute between Goethe and Newton is exploited to defend the abstractions of the theoretical physics against the attacks of the so called "German physicists" and, at the same time, to preserve the worth of the Goethe's intuitive analysis. (shrink)

A Educação Continuada de professores é reconhecida como indispensável e fundamental para a qualificação dos processos de ensino e aprendizagem. Para tanto, neste estudo, levaremos em consideração alguns aspectos dessa temática. Em primeiro lugar, precisamos ter conhecimento das diretrizes que tratam da Educação Continuada de professores, ou seja, compreender de onde viemos e qual é a proposta das legislações nacional e internacional. Em segundo lugar, explanaremos e discutiremos conceitos teóricos que tratam da temática, em especial a visão de Gert Biesta, (...) o importante filósofo da educação. Finalmente, com base nos dois itens citados, entrelaçaremos considerações e indagações para uma Educação Continuada que possa fazer diferença no cotidiano dos professores. Portanto, o principal foco desta pesquisa é analisar, criticamente, essa educação dos professores, à luz das concepções propostas por Gert Biesta. Palavras-chave: Educação Continuada. Professores. Diálogo. Gert Biesta. (shrink)

Trata-se, neste artigo, de investigar as noções de filosofia, pedagogia e espírito à luz dos debates decoloniais. Neste sentido, a partir de um diálogo que procuro estabelecer com Enrique Dussel, Catherine Walsh e M. Jacqui Alexander, desenvolvo três hipóteses. Em primeiro lugar, apresento certa noção de pedagogia como constitutiva da própria filosofia (portanto, a ideia de pedagogia para além de mero instrumento, meio ou termo acessório à filosofia). Em segundo lugar, argumento que essa dita pedagógica-filosófica precisará ser entendida como a (...) epistemologia indispensável para a abordagem, conhecimento e tratamento da realidade, no seguinte sentido: mediante o aprender e o ensinar alternadamente (como práxis, atitude e método filosófico por excelência), tornar possível que a realidade apareça. E esse é mais um dos pontos em relação aos quais os três autores estão de acordo, assim como em relação ao terceiro e mais importante movimento da presente investigação. Pois será, então, do reconhecimento do fracasso da ontologia universalista (moderna e colonial), mais precisamente, do encontro com uma realidade indeterminada e aberta, que se poderá a fundo compreender o sentido da atitude pedagógica (da epistemologia pedagógica) que descerra toda a realidade possível. Tal realidade_ _sempre Outra_ _– que não se pode localizar em qualquer lugar ou tempo, na mesma medida em que se faz presente em todos os lugares e momentos – é o que se poderá caracterizar como espírito. E é o que fará do espírito, por conseguinte, agência de resistência e perturbação a todo esforço epistemológico/filosófico, tanto quanto (e por isso mesmo) da atitude pedagógica-filosófica instância de revelação de um mundo prenhe de sentidos possíveis. (shrink)

O presente trabalho reflete sobre a significativa e desigual morte de jovens negros no País. Para tanto, a produção traz uma discussão sobre o teórico martinicano Frantz Fanon que, com suas ideias sobre racismo e colonialismo, nos ajuda a reconhecer o racismo brasileiro e a condição em que vivem os jovens negros do Brasil. Apesar de Fanon afirmar que suas considerações se referem apenas ao momento histórico em que escreve e aos estudos de colonialismo, acreditamos ser fácil fazer um paralelo (...) entre sua obra e o momento histórico brasileiro quanto à morte de jovens negros. Analisamos as três formas de violência trazidas pelo teórico: psicológica, estrutural, e física, dentro das quais vivem e morrem tais jovens. Buscamos, ainda, refletir sobre a construção das identidades e juventudes negras para compreender, onde e de que forma, estão inseridas na sociedade brasileira. Para tanto, acreditamos ser necessário analisar de que modo se dá o racismo brasileiro e conhecer o que denominamos de falso mito da igualdade racial, contra o qual lutamos constantemente, em busca de reconhecimento do problema, para que possamos buscar soluções. O trabalho aborda a Lei n. 10.639/2003 que versa sobre a obrigatoriedade de se trabalhar na escola a cultura africana e afro-brasileira. Consideramos a lei uma importante política pública na promoção de igualdade racial, através da valorização da cultura vinda do continente africano. Acreditamos que a implementação efetiva dessa lei apoia a construção de identidades negro-positivas tanto para negros quanto para não negros e que essa valorização das identidades serve como importante ferramenta na luta contra a significativa morte de jovens negros no País. (shrink)

Este trabalho apresenta e situa o pensamento do filósofo alemão Jürgen Habermas no discurso pós-metafísico em uma sociedade secularizada. Esta reflexão articula-se em dois momentos. Em um primeiro momento, trata-se de apresentar o discurso da Modernidade, evidenciando os principais aspectos da crítica à razão instrumental de Horkheimer e Adorno, a importância do conceito hegeliano de Modernidade, e Nietzsche como o ponto de inflexão para o discurso pós-metafísico. Em um segundo momento, apresenta-se, mais exatamente, o discurso pós-metafísico em uma sociedade secularizada. (...) À luz desse esboço, seguindo o procedimento metodológico de investigação baseado no método de abordagem analítico, pretende-se, a partir do pensamento de Habermas, apresentar, por um lado, um discurso filosófico ciente das dificuldades, e, também, de sua falibilidade, mas, por outro lado, da sua relevância na busca da construção do discurso filosófico com sentido a partir do consenso válido intersubjetivamente. Palavras-chave: Habermas. Modernidade. Sociedade. Pós-metafísico. Secularização. (shrink)

CAMILO, Bruno. Aspectos metafísicos na física de Newton: Deus. In: DUTRA, Luiz Henrique de Araújo; LUZ, Alexandre Meyer (org.). Temas de filosofia do conhecimento. Florianópolis: NEL/UFSC, 2011. p. 186-201. (Coleção rumos da epistemologia; 11). Através da análise do pensamento de Isaac Newton (1642-1727) encontramos os postulados metafísicos que fundamentam a sua mecânica natural. Ao deduzir causa de efeito, ele acreditava chegar a uma causa primeira de todas as coisas. A essa primeira causa de tudo, onde toda a ordem (...) e leis tiveram início, a qual para ele assume um caráter divino, Newton aponta para um Deus sábio e poderoso e responsável pela ordem inteligente e pela a harmonia das leis físicas e universais de tudo o que existe – Deus como criador e preservador da ordem do universo. Há ainda a analogia do conceito de Deus com o espaço e o tempo, na medida em que ambos comunicam infinitude e onipresença. Por fim, nas considerações finais apontarei a importância de Newton para a metafísica moderna e como os seus estudos contribuíram para uma visão posterior do universo e suas leis e do homem enquanto ser pensante. (shrink)

. Computational chemistry grew in a new era of “desktop modeling,” which coincided with a growing demand for modeling software, especially from the pharmaceutical industry. Parameterization of models in computational chemistry is an arduous enterprise, and we argue that this activity leads, in this specific context, to tensions among scientists regarding the epistemic opacity transparency of parameterized methods and the software implementing them. We relate one flame war from the Computational Chemistry mailing List in order to assess in detail the (...) relationships between modeling methods, parameterization, software and the various forms of their enclosure or disclosure. Our claim is that parameterization issues are an important and often neglected source of epistemic opacity and that this opacity is entangled in methods and software alike. Models and software must be addressed together to understand the epistemological tensions at stake. (shrink)

En este artículo se examina la relación entre el pensamiento de Hegel y el de los clásicos griegos, especialmente Aristóteles, a la luz de los comentarios de Alexandre Kojève y Leo Strauss. Se advierten las dificultades de demostrar tanto la continuidad como la ruptura de Hegel con los clásicos, así como la necesidad de profundizar la investigación acerca de qué entendían estos por conceptos como el ser, lo divino, la eternidad, lo eterno y lo trascendente. Aunque entre Hegel y (...) los clásicos se pueden apreciar diferencias claras, si consideramos ciertos matices, resulta evidente que hay una fuerte conexión entre ellos, lo cual da argumentos a favor de la afirmación de que en Hegel culmina el pensamiento clásico. (shrink)

El siguiente trabajo tiene como objetivo analizar e interpretar la teoría del fin de la historia en Alexandre Kojève. El contexto de esta investigación se basa fundamentalmente en la nota a pie de la página añadida por Kojève en la segunda edición de su libro Introduction à la lecture de Hegel. Esta nota a pie de página ha dado lugar a intensos debates e interrogantes filosóficos importantes. En ella, se toma como paradigma el esnobismo japonés como alternativa a la (...) animalización definitiva del hombre posthistórico. En el trabajo, concretamente, se valorará la rectificación kojeviana sobre el fin de la historia a la luz de la obra de Kojève en su conjunto, sus debates con autores de su tiempo y las referencias a la tradición filosófica. Todo ello con la finalidad de desentrañar las implicaciones éticas de la supervivencia de lo humano en el fin de la historia y su relación con los planteamientos postmetafísicos contemporáneos. (shrink)

Meyers examines the question of personal autonomy. She observes the effects of childrearing practices and sexual biases, and reflects upon the results in women. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

Computational reproducibility possesses its own dynamics and narratives of crisis. Alongside the difficulties of computing as an ubiquitous yet complex scientific activity, computational reproducibility suffers from a naive expectancy of total reproducibility and a moral imperative to embrace the principles of free software as a non-negotiable epistemic virtue. We argue that the epistemic issues at stake in actual practices of computational reproducibility are best unveiled by focusing on software as a pivotal concept, one that is surprisingly often overlooked in accounts (...) of reproducibility issues. Software is not only about designing and coding but also about maintaining, supporting, distributing, licensing, and governance; it is not only about developers but also about users. We focus on openness debates among computational chemists involved in molecular modeling software packages as empirical grounding for our argument. We then identify and analyse four epistemic characteristics as key to the role of software in computational reproducibility. (shrink)

Current neuroimaging techniques with high spatial resolution constrain participant motion so that many natural tasks cannot be carried out. The aim of this paper is to show how a time-locked correlation-analysis of cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) lateralization data, obtained with functional TransCranial Doppler (fTCD) ultrasound, can be used to infer cerebral activation patterns across tasks. In a first experiment we demonstrate that the proposed analysis method results in data that are comparable with the standard Lateralization Index (LI) for within-task (...) comparisons of CBFV patterns, recorded during cued word generation (CWG) at two difficulty levels. In the main experiment we demonstrate that the proposed analysis method shows correlated blood-flow patterns for two different cognitive tasks that are known to draw on common brain areas, CWG, and Music Synthesis. We show that CBFV patterns for Music and CWG are correlated only for participants with prior musical training. CBFV patterns for tasks that draw on distinct brain areas, the Tower of London and CWG, are not correlated. The proposed methodology extends conventional fTCD analysis by including temporal information in the analysis of cerebral blood-flow patterns to provide a robust, non-invasive method to infer whether common brain areas are used in different cognitive tasks. It complements conventional high resolution imaging techniques. (shrink)

In a previous article on cosmological arguments, I have put forward a few examples of complete infinite and circular explanations, and argued that complete non-wellfounded explanations such as these might explain the present state of the world better than their well-founded theistic counterparts (Billon, 2021). Although my aim was broader, the examples I gave there implied merely causal explanations. In this article, I would like to do three things: • Specify some general informative conditions for complete and incomplete non-wellfounded causal (...) explanations that can be used to assess candidate explanations and to generate new examples of complete non-wellfounded explanations. • Show that these conditions, which concern chains of causal explanations, easily generalize to chains of metaphysical, grounding explanations and even to chains involving other “determination relations” such as supervenience. • Apply these general conditions to the recent debates against the existence of nonwellfounded chains of grounds and show, with a couple of precise examples, that the latter can be complete, and that just like in the case of causal explanations, non-wellfoundedness can in fact be an aset rather than a liability. (shrink)

Using emotional film clips is one of the most popular and effective methods of emotion elicitation. The main goal of the present study was to develop and test the effectiveness of a new and comprehensive set of emotional film excerpts. Fifty film experts were asked to remember specific film scenes that elicited fear, anger, sadness, disgust, amusement, tenderness, as well as emotionally neutral scenes. For each emotion, the 10 most frequently mentioned scenes were selected and cut into film clips. Next, (...) 364 participants viewed the film clips in individual laboratory sessions and rated each film on multiple dimensions. Results showed that the film clips were effective with regard to several criteria such as emotional discreteness, arousal, positive and negative affect. Finally, ranking scores were computed for 24 classification criteria: Subjective arousal, positive and negative affect (derived from the PANAS; Watson & Tellegen, 1988), a positive and a negative affect scores derived from the Differential Emotions Scale (DES; Izard et al., 1974), six emotional discreteness scores (for anger, disgust, sadness, fear, amusement and tenderness), and 15 “mixed feelings” scores assessing the effectiveness of each film excerpt to produce blends of specific emotions. In addition, a number of emotionally neutral film clips were also validated. The database and editing instructions to construct the film clips have been made freely available in a website. (shrink)

Patients suffering from the Cotard syndrome can deny being alive, having guts, thinking or even existing. They can also complain that the world or time have ceased to exist. In this article, I argue that even though the leading neurocognitive accounts have difficulties meeting that task, we should, and we can, make sense of these bizarre delusions. To that effect, I draw on the close connection between the Cotard syndrome and a more common condition known as depersonalisation. Even though they (...) are not delusional, depersonalised patients seem to have experiences that are quite similar to those of Cotard patients. I argue that these experiences are essentially characterised by a lack of subjective character and of two other structural features of experience, which I call ‘the present character’ and ‘the actual character’. Cotard's nihilistic delusions simply consist in taking these anomalous experiences at face value. (shrink)

This is a commentary on Andrea Lavazza and Murilo Vilaça's article "Human Extinction and AI: What We Can Learn from the Ultimate Threat" (Lavazza & Vilaça, 2024). I discuss the potential concern that their proposal to create artificial successors to "insure" against the tragedy of human extinction might mean being too quick to accept that catastrophic prospect as inevitable, rather than single-mindedly focusing on avoiding it. I also consider the question of the value that we might reasonably assign to such (...) a future of artificial successors under the assumption that they do not enjoy phenomenal consciousness. (shrink)

Climate change can be interpreted as a unique case of historical injustice involving issues of both intergenerational and global justice. We split the issue into two separate questions. First, how should emission rights be distributed? Second, who should come up for the costs of coping with climate change? We regard the first question as being an issue of pure distributive justice and argue on prioritarian grounds that the developing world should receive higher per capita emission rights than the developed world. (...) This is justified by the fact that the latter already owns a larger share of benefits associated with emission generating activities because of its past record of industrialisation. The second question appears to be an issue of compensatory justice. After defining what we mean by compensation, we show that different kinds of compensatory principles run into problems when used to justify payments by historical emitters of the North to people suffering from climate change in the South. As an alternative, we propose to view payments from wealthy countries for adaptation to climate change in vulnerable countries rather as a measure based on concerns of global distributive justice. (shrink)

This paper focuses on one particular case that connects climate justice and climate economics. Its contribution is twofold. First, it aims at providing a sound normative foundation for carbon pricing mechanisms around the notions of a ‘right to energy’, the ‘duty not-to-harm’ and an argument for ‘restricted compensation’. Second, it identifies the normative elements from theories of climate justice that should guide the design of market-based instruments for climate change mitigation. This will cast light on the particular moral relevance of (...) the act of internalizing a negative externality and of the funds generated by putting a price on carbon. (shrink)

The inclusion of engineering standards in US science education standards is potentially important because of how limited engineering education for K-12 learners is, despite the ubiquity of engineering in students’ lives. However, the majority of learners experience science education throughout their compulsory schooling. If improved engineering literacy is to be achieved, then its inclusion in science curricula is perhaps the most efficient means. One significant challenge that arises, however, is in the framing of engineering relative to science by both teachers (...) and curriculum. Science and engineering are both distinct and interdependent. The nature of the contributions of science and engineering to one another has been an area of some examination in philosophy of technology and engineering, but little framing of this relationship has been conducted with K-12 science and engineering education contexts in mind. Nature of science is a critical layer of scientific understanding that has been used to explicitly support literacy in K-16 science classrooms for decades. However, engineering cannot be authentically and appropriately supported by NOS framing. There is an immediate need for discourse on the nature of engineering knowledge but not in isolation of NOS. Given the increasing inclusion of engineering in science classrooms, relationships between NOS and NOEK are in need of explication and argument. Our purpose is to promote a discussion about NOS, engineering, and the relationship between them without misrepresenting engineering as a subdomain of science or as an oversimplification of itself. (shrink)

(2013). Does consciousness entail subjectivity? The puzzle of thought insertion. Philosophical Psychology: Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 291-314. doi: 10.1080/09515089.2011.625117.

One objection to enhancement technologies is that they might lead us to live inauthentic lives. Memory modification technologies (MMTs) raise this worry in a particularly acute manner. In this paper I describe four scenarios where the use of MMTs might be said to lead to an inauthentic life. I then undertake to justify that judgment. I review the main existing accounts of authenticity, and present my own version of what I call a “true self” account (intended as a complement, rather (...) than a substitute, to existing accounts). I briefly describe current and prospective MMTs, distinguishing between memory enhancement and memory editing . Moving then to an assessment of the initial scenarios in the light of the accounts previously described, I argue that memory enhancement does not, by its very nature, raise serious concerns about authenticity. The main threat to authenticity posed by MMTs comes, I suggest, from memory editing. Rejecting as inadequate the worries about identity raised by the President’s Council on Bioethics in Beyond Therapy , I argue instead that memory editing can cause us to live an inauthentic life in two main ways: first, by threatening its truthfulness, and secondly, by interfering with our disposition to respond in certain ways to some past events, when we have reasons to respond in such ways. This consideration allows us to justify the charge of inauthenticity in cases where existing accounts fail. It also gives us a significant moral reason not to use MMTs in ways that would lead to such an outcome. (shrink)

Patients suffering from depersonalization complain of feeling detached from their body, their mental states, and actions or even from themselves. In this chapter, I argue that depersonalization consists in the lack of a phenomenal feature that marks my experiences as mine, which is usually called “mineness,” and that the study of depersonalization constitutes a neglected yet incomparable probe to assess empirically the scope, role, and even the nature of mineness. Here is how I will proceed. After describing depersonalization (§2) and (...) arguing that it involves a lack of mineness (§3) I will confront a series of objections (§4). I will then spell out what depersonalization can teach us about the scope of mineness (§5), about its role and psychological function (§6) and even about its nature (§7). (shrink)

Natural modalities are often analysed from an abstract point of view where they are associated with putative laws of nature. However, the way possibilities are represented in physics is more complex. Lagrangian mechanics, for instance, involves two different layers of modalities: kinematical and dynamical possibilities. This paper examines the status of these two layers, both in the classical and quantum case. The quantum case is particularly problematic: we identify four possible interpretive options. The upshot is that a close inspection of (...) the way possibilities are represented in physics could lead to new ways of thinking about natural modalities. (shrink)

Consider an infinite series whose items are each explained by their immediate successor. Does such an infinite explanation explain the whole series or does it leave something to be explained? Hume arguably claimed that it does fully explain the whole series. Leibniz, however, designed a very telling objection against this claim, an objection involving an infinite series of book copies. In this paper, I argue that the Humean claim can, in certain cases, be saved from the Leibnizian “infinite book copies” (...) objection, and that this provides an interesting way to defuse some cosmological arguments for the existence of God and to give a non-theistic but complete explanation of the Universe. In the course of my argumentation, I also show that circular explanations can be “self-explanatory” as well: explaining two items by each other can explain the couple of items tout court. (shrink)

This paper examines the social and organizational innovation processes undertaken by small-scale producers engaged in short food supply chains in the North Swedish region of Västerbotten. The study uses the notion of proximity to empirically analyse and conceptually explore these phenomena. The paper illustrates the ‘new associationalism’ mobilized by producers in order to promote knowledge exchange and learning and highlights the role of translocal practices in sustaining this transition. The study found that open and trusted interactions with consumers are central (...) to the development of ‘quasi-organic’ practices, and that producers belong to numerous motley associations of food professionals facilitating the creation of collective meanings about near-produced quality food. The paper contributes to the rapprochement between agri-food studies and human geography to understand the formation of local food systems from an evolutionary and relational perspective. (shrink)

The potential of using personalized Large Language Models (LLMs) or “generative AI” (GenAI) to enhance productivity in academic research, as highlighted by Porsdam Mann and colleagues (Porsdam Mann...

According to what we will call subjectivity theories of consciousness, there is a constitutive connection between phenomenal consciousness and subjectivity: there is something it is like for a subject to have mental state M only if M is characterized by a certain mine-ness or for-me-ness. Such theories appear to face certain psychopathological counterexamples: patients appear to report conscious experiences that lack this subjective element. A subsidiary goal of this chapter is to articulate with greater precision both subjectivity theories and the (...) psychopathological challenge they face. The chapter’s central goal is to present two new approaches to defending subjectivity theories in the face of this challenge. What distinguishes these two approaches is that they go to great lengths to interpret patients’ reports at face value – greater length, at any rate, than more widespread approaches in the extant literature. (shrink)

Several advocates of the lively field of “metaphysics of science” have recently argued that a naturalistic metaphysics should be based solely on current science, and that it should replace more traditional, intuition-based, forms of metaphysics. The aim of the present paper is to assess that claim by examining the relations between metaphysics of science and general metaphysics. We show that the current metaphysical battlefield is richer and more complex than a simple dichotomy between “metaphysics of science” and “traditional metaphysics”, and (...) that it should instead be understood as a three dimensional “box”, with one axis distinguishing “descriptive metaphysics” from “revisionary metaphysics”, a second axis distinguishing a priori from a posteriori metaphysics, and a third axis distinguishing “commonsense metaphysics”, “traditional metaphysics” and “metaphysics of science”. We use this three-dimensional figure to shed light on the project of current metaphysics of science, and to demonstrate that, in many instances, the target of that project is not defined with enough precision and clarity. (shrink)

Gilbert and colleagues are to be commended for drawing our attention to the need for a sounder empirical basis, and for more careful reasoning, in the context of the neuroethics debate on Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) and its potential impact on the dimensions of personality, identity, agency, authenticity, autonomy and self (PIAAAS). While acknowledging this, this extended commentary critically examines their claim that the real-world relevance of the conclusions drawn in the neuroethics literature is threatened by the fact that the (...) concepts at the center of the discussion have “weak empirical grounding”. First, I show that while some possible understandings of multifaceted concepts like identity, authenticity and autonomy may indeed be unsuitable for a purely empirical inquiry, this is not the case of all of them. Secondly, I call into question the authors’ apparent suggestion that reliance on constructs involving an irreducibly normative dimension makes for a suboptimal state of affairs, and that they should ideally be replaced with substitutes taken from the language of neuroscience or social science in order to ensure an adequate empirical grounding for the debate. Such a suggestion, I argue, commits the authors to a controversial reductionist view in metaethics that the valid empirical concerns they raise in the rest of their article do not presuppose, and which could potentially us lead to lose sight of important ethical considerations. (shrink)

Authenticity has recently emerged as an important issue in discussions of mental disorder. We show, on the basis of personal accounts and empirical studies, that many people with psychological disorders are preoccupied with questions of authenticity. Most of the data considered in this paper are from studies of people with bipolar disorder and anorexia nervosa. We distinguish the various ways in which these people view the relationship between the disorder and their sense of their authentic self. We discuss the principal (...) modern ac-counts of authenticity within the analytic philosophical tradition. We argue that accounts based on autonomous, or wholehearted, endorsement of personal characteris-tics fail to provide an adequate analysis of authenticity in the context of mental disorder. Significant elements of true self accounts of authenticity are required. The concept of authenticity is a basic one that can be of particular value, in the context of self-development, to people with mental disorder and to others experiencing substantial inner conflict. (shrink)

Descartes was certain that he was thinking and he was accordingly certain that he existed. Like Descartes, we seem to be more certain of our thoughts and our existence than of anything else. What is less clear is the reason why we are thus certain. Philosophers throughout history have provided different interpretations of the cogito, disagreeing both on the kind of thoughts it characterizes and on the reasons for its cogency. According to what we may call the empiricist interpretation of (...) the cogito, I can only claim to be certain of having experiences, and this certainty, as well as that of my own existence, stems from their phenomenal and subjective character. According to rationalist interpretations, on the other hand, I am certain of having some self-reflexive propositional attitudes, and this certainty derives from their rational features. Psychiatric patients suffering from acute forms of depersonalization or of the Cotard syndrome often doubt that they think and exist, and might even believe that they don't. I argue that their study allows us to favor the empiricist interpretation of the cogito. (shrink)

In their target article, Kammerer and Frankish (K&F) wonder what forms introspection could take in non-human animals, enhanced humans, artificial intelligences, and aliens. In this short note, I focus on disordered or neurodiverse minds. More specifically, I assess a claim that has often been made more or less implicitly to the effect that, in virtue of their conditions, people with schizophrenia or depersonalization disorder have superior introspective abilities that allow them to discern some important but normally hidden characteristics of our (...) experiences — call this the superintrospectionitis thesis. In the course of my argumentation, I introduce distinctions and questions concerning the nature of the architecture and the function of introspection that might enrich K&F's framework. (shrink)

Cet article propose une analyse croisée du discours médical sur la masturbation et sur la lecture en France au XVIIIe siècle. Son but est d’interroger la construction de la définition « naturalisante » des qualités attribuées à l’un et l’autre sexe. A partir de traités physiologiques sur les maladies des femmes, la réflexion porte sur trois points principaux. Pourquoi la lecture et la masturbation sont-ils devenus des problèmes médicaux? Comment un médecin neutralise-t-il le danger, pour une femme, de lire un (...) traité sur un sujet tel que la masturbation? Comment le discours sur la lecture et la masturbation fonctionne-t-il comme système discriminant entre les sexes? (shrink)

Depersonalization is a pathological condition consisting in a deep modification of the way things appear to a subject, leading him to feel estranged from his body, his actions, his thoughts, his mind and even from himself. In this article, I argue that the study of depersonalization raises three challenges for recent theories of the sense of bodily ownership. These challenges—which I call the centrality challenge, the dissociation challenge and the grounding challenge— thwart most of these theories and suggest that the (...) sense of bodily ownership hinges on a phenomenal mark of mineness that can not be accounted for in terms of our sensory, interoceptive, agentive, cognitive or affective dispositions and that is psychologically primitive. In short: that mineness is first. (shrink)

Basic self-awareness is the kind of self-awareness reflected in our standard use of the first-person. Patients suffering from severe forms of depersonalization often feel reluctant to use the first-person and can even, in delusional cases, avoid it altogether, systematically referring to themselves in the third-person. Even though it has been neglected since then, depersonalization has been extensively studied, more than a century ago, and used as probe for understanding the nature and the causal mechanisms of basic self-awareness. In this paper, (...) I argue that depersonalized patients indeed have an impaired basic self-awareness, and that their study allows us both to favor one specific theory of basic self-awareness and to understand what is wrong with its rivals. According to the favored theory, which I call Cartesian, we are basically self-aware in virtue of being acquainted with ourselves through introspection. (shrink)