Conscious experiences in infants remain poorly understood. In this NeuroView, Passos-Ferreira discusses recent evidence for and against consciousness in newborn babies. She argues that the weight of evidence from neuroimaging and behavioral studies supports the thesis that newborn infants are conscious.

This thesis aims to study the origins of interiority from an externalist perspective. The process by which self-knowledge is formed is considered in relation to the development of the first-person perspective. From a first-person perspective, one is capable of self-referring and knowing one's own mental and physical states. Self-consciousness and self-knowledge are discussed in relation to Descartes' idea of first-person authority. The Cartesian idea contends that the first-person perspective has privileged and non-empirical access to one's own mental state. On the (...) contrary, externalism's central thesis contends that the content of one's own mental state originates from interactions with the environment, thus, there is no privileged access of one's own mental state. Thus, the externalist's thesis puts into question the Cartesian idea of privileged epistemic access of the first person. The perceptual externalism of Davidson, for example, proposes a triadic solution to the origins of self-knowledge. Davidson's thesis is presented as reconciling self-knowledge and the basic externalist ideas. Two externalist models on the origins of self-knowledge are further discussed: 1) ecological models proposing a development of a sense of self as a function of interactions with the environment; 2) the psychological model of Winnicott proposing that the developing sense of self arises from the triadic relation between self, others, and transitional object(s). We defend the thesis that Winnicott's model is the most apt at describing the Davidsonian externalist model of the origins of self-knowledge. (shrink)

I argue that newborn infants are conscious. I propose a methodology for investigating infant consciousness, and I present two approaches for determining whether newborns are conscious. First, I consider behavioral and neurobiological markers of consciousness. Second, I investigate the major theories of consciousness, including both philosophical and scientific theories, and I discuss what they predict about infant consciousness.

A prevailing view in moral psychology holds that empathy and sympathy play key roles in morality and in prosocial and altruistic actions. Recently, Jesse Prinz (2011a, 2011b) has challenged this view and has argued that empathy does not play a foundational or causal role in morality. He suggests that in fact the presence of empathetic emotions is harmful to morality. Prinz rejects all theories that connect empathy and morality as a constitutional, epistemological, developmental, motivational, or normative necessity. I consider two (...) of Prinz’s theses: the thesis that empathy is not necessary for moral development, and the thesis that empathy should be avoided as a guide for morality. Based on recent research in moral psychology, I argue that empathy plays a crucial role in development of moral agency. I also argue that empathy is desirable as a moral emotion. (shrink)

Kant uses incongruent counterparts in his work before and after 1781, but not in the first Critique. Given the relevance that incongruent counterparts had for his thought on space, and their persistence in his work during the 1780s, it is plausible to think that he had a reason for leaving them out of both editions of the Critique. Two implausible conjectures for their absence are here considered and rejected. A more plausible alternative is put forth, which explains that textual absence (...) as a result of the synthetic method of presentation intended for the Critique. (shrink)

O objetivo do texto é abordar a temática dos meios de comunicação como instrumento de poder à luz da indústria cultural conforme Theodor Adorno. Busca-se responder à seguinte questão: como a indústria cultural reproduz as relações de poder no capitalismo contemporâneo? Para a consecução de tal objetivo, o texto apresenta as seguintes etapas: uma breve contextualização histórica e teórica da Teoria Crítica - vertente filosófica à qual Adorno e outros autores se filiaram – a definição da indústria cultural conforme Adorno (...) em seus principais argumentos, os efeitos da indústria cultural e do capitalismo organizado, a postura crítica frente ao contexto referido e a nova postura de Adorno nos anos 50 e 60 frente aos meios de comunicação. A principal tese do artigo leva ao entendimento de que a indústria cultural incorpora toda uma racionalidade de dominação e disciplina da vida social e reprodução da ordem capitalista vigente, acabando com as contradições no âmbito das manifestações artísticas na medida em que somente o lucro é visado. (shrink)

Freud held complex and fascinating views on the question of mental causation. In this chapter, I propose an interpretation of Freud's views on this question, bringing together ideas from psychoanalysis, philosophy of psychoanalysis, and philosophy of mind. Faced with the impasse of the problem of how the mind interacts with the body, Freud created a two-dimensional picture of mental causation, with one dimension involving mechanistic causes and the other involving intentional causes. My thesis is that Freud's best-developed picture of mental (...) causation thesis describes mental causes as intentional causes using psychological vocabulary. I analyze three moments in Freud's work with a focus on mental causation. In the first topography, Freud uses a hybrid vocabulary, describing the mind in terms of both mechanistic causes and intentional causes. In his second topography, the mind increasingly assumes an intentional description. The third moment is Freud’s theory of anxiety, in which the arational cause of the unconscious drives, initially presented as a motor of the mind, gives rise to anxiety as an affective state that forces the self to find a solution for its mental conflicts. In the last part, I argue that Freud’s theory gradually moves from a reductionist approach to the mind-body problem on which mental causation is understood in terms of physical mechanisms, to a non-reductionist view where the mental becomes causally efficacious in its own right. (shrink)

This chapter is devoted to reflecting on the role of empathy in interactions with people with profound intellectual disabilities. We have a duty to respect people with intellectual disabilities. Respect involves identification with a point of view. We owe them an effort at identification with their perspective. However, if intellectually disabled people’s communicative abilities are impaired, our apprehension of their point of view might be limited, reducing our ability to identify with them and respect them. To answer this challenge, I (...) appeal to empathy. Through imaginative empathy, we can learn to identify with their perspectives. I argue that empathy is a good moral guide and can be helpful in developing respectful attitudes toward people with profound intellectual disabilities. (shrink)

The principal aim of the thesis is to develop a developmental account of conscious experience. In this account, the objective is to understand and explain the phenomenal experience of newborns and pre-linguistic infants. The question that guides the investigation concerns the phenomenality of babies' experiences: what is it like to be a baby? There are some crucial philosophical issues that any account of the nature of infant consciousness must face: the ontology of early conscious states; the epistemic status of infants' (...) experiences; the content of infants' experiences. The thesis addresses how we evolve as conscious beings from early states of life until we become full self-conscious beings who are morally responsible for our actions. The thesis involves four chapters. The first chapter explores phenomenal consciousness in newborns, first addressing the epistemological and methodological problems, and then arguing that newborns are phenomenally conscious and have a variety of phenomenal experiences. The second chapter addresses representation in newborns, claiming that their conscious experiences represent the world and discussing the consequences for representationalism. The third chapter focuses on the sense of agency, arguing that infants have a sense of agency and a sort of self-consciousness. The fourth chapter discusses moral agency, focusing mainly on the role of empathy. (shrink)

O problema da causação descendente é um ponto central na formulação do fisicalismo não-redutivo e na compreensão da emergência de propriedades. Duas interpretações possíveis da causação descendente, nas quais a contribuição do pensamento aristotélico é importante, são examinadas. Os requisitos do programa de matematização da natureza na mecanica clássica, que levaram ao abandono de três dos modos causais aristotélicos, nao parecem igualmente importantes nas ciencias especiais. Isto sugere que a contribuição de Aristóteles pode ser, de certa maneira, retomada. Uma definição (...) de propriedade emergente é apresentada, sendo a causação descendente interprerada de acordo com os modos causais formal e funcional.The problem of downward causation is a key subject in the formulation of nonreductive physicalism as well as in the understanding of property emergence. Two possible interpretations of downward causation, to which Aristotelian thought is relevant, are examined. In the mathematical understanding of nature in classical mechanics, the principle of causality should meet requirements that entailed the rejection of three among the four Aristotelian causal modes. Those requirements do not seem equally important in the special sciences and one may suggest, then, that Aristotle’s contribution may be taken into account. A definition of an emergent property is proposed, in which downward causation is interpreted according to the formal and functional causal modes. (shrink)

Our goal is to investigate the notion of self-agency in William James and Donald Winnicott. With James, we examine the descriptive element of what constitutes a self. With Winnicott, we explore his explanatory theory on self-emergence. Winnicott's perspective is presented here as the prehistory of the Jamesian self. James's conception of self is similar to the Winnicottian notion of an "integrated self", an embodied position that emerges from the organism's actions in the experiential field. The combination of the two approaches (...) leads to the idea that the self is a flux of identities emerging in interaction with others in the "transitional space" (an intermediate area of experience). (shrink)

Social animals need to share space and resources, whether sexual partners, parents, or food. Sharing is indeed at the core of social life. Humans, however, of all social animals, have distinct ways of sharing. They evolved to become Homo Negotiatus; a species that is prone to bargain and to dispute the value of things until some agreement is reached.

Imitation and mirroring processes are necessary but not sufficient conditions for children to develop human sociality. Human sociality entails more than the equivalence and connectedness of perceptual experiences. It corresponds to the sense of a shared world made of shared values. It originates from complex ‘open’ systems of reciprocation and negotiation, not just imitation and mirroring processes that are by definition ‘closed’ systems. From this premise, we argue that if imitation and mirror processes are important foundations for sociality, human inter-subjectivity (...) develops primarily in reciprocation, not just imitation. Imitation provides a basic sense of social connectedness and mutual acknowledgment of existing with others that are ‘like me.’ However, it does not allow for the co-construction of meanings with others. For human sociality to develop, imitation and mirroring processes need to be supplemented by an open system of reciprocation. Developmental research shows that from the second month, mirroring, imitative, and other contagious emotional responses are by-passed. Imitation gives way to first signs of reciprocation (primary intersubjectivity), joint attention to objects (secondary intersubjectivity), the emergence of values that are jointly represented and negotiated with others (tertiary intersubjectivity), and eventually the development of an ethical stance accompanying theories of mind by 4 years of age. We review this development and propose that if mirroring processes enable individuals to bridge their subjective experiences, human inter-subjectivity proper develops from reciprocal social exchanges that lead to value negotiation and mutual recognition, both cardinal trademarks of human sociality. (shrink)

O problema da causa mental é uma das questões filosóficas mais fascinantes na obra de Freud. A releitura neo-pragmática que Cláudia Passos-Ferreira faz sobre o tema se insere no interior de profícuos debates no campo da Psicanálise, Filosofia da Psicanálise e da Filosofia da Mente que têm contribuído para a inovação do pensamento nas teorizações psicanalíticas. Em A maquina semântica de Freud, Cláudia aborda a teoria causal do mental de Freud e seu uso na explicação do conflito psíquico. Diante (...) dos impasses do problema, Freud criou uma dupla dimensão da causalidade psíquica, que oscila da causa mecanicista à causa intencional. A hipótese de Cláudia é que a forma mais coerente de defender a tese da causalidade psíquica é descrevê-la como ‘causa intencional’, usando o vocabulário psicológico. Para dar suporte a essa ideia, a concepção estrita da causalidade sustentada por Wittgenstein é dispensada, e a ideia de causa mental em Davidson é endossada como aquela que pode ser mais facilmente articulável às hipóteses freudianas. Em Wittgenstein, busca-se, sobretudo, o apoio teórico para analisar os pontos fracos das teses causais freudianas; em Davidson, o suporte necessário a explicitação e validação lógicas do que Freud afirma sobre o tema. Claudia analisa três momentos da obra freudiana. Na primeira tópica, Freud usa um vocabulário híbrido, descrevendo o psiquismo tanto em termos de causas a-racionais quanto em termos intencionais. Na segunda tópica, o psiquismo assume, cada vez mais, uma descrição intencional, e a causa a-racional da energia pulsional, inicialmente apresentada como um motor do psiquismo, dá lugar a angústia como um afeto intencional que obriga o eu a encontrar uma solução para os conflitos psíquicos. Esse livro reúne tanto o interesse filosófico pelos problemas da causação mental e da relação mente-corpo quanto o refinamento do arcabouço teórico que guia a prática clínica. (shrink)

Two questions about infant consciousness are especially central. First: are infants conscious? Second: what is infants’ conscious experience like? In previous work, I have addressed the first, arguing that newborn babies are conscious at birth and that it is possible to know something about what infants’ experiences are like. In this talk, I address the second, investigating the phenomenal structure of infant consciousness. I discuss whether infants have a rich or a minimal phenomenology. The current consensus is that infants have (...) perceptual experiences and experiences of pain and pleasure. But, do they have other types of phenomenology? Using Kriegel’s framework from The Varieties of Consciousness (2015), I explore whether infants have sensory phenomenology, cognitive phenomenology, imaginative phenomenology, emotional phenomenology, and agentive phenomenology. I also address the question of what is the phenomenal background of infants’ first-person experiences, and whether or not they have a minimal pre-reflexive structure of consciousness. (shrink)

The sense of shared values is a specific aspect of human sociality. It originates from reciprocal social exchanges that include imitation, and empathy, but also negotiation from which meanings, values and norms are eventually constructed with others. Research suggests that this process starts from birth via imitation and mirroring processes that are important foundations of sociality providing a basic sense of social connectedness and mutual acknowledgment with others. From the second month, mirroring, imitative and other contagious responses are bypassed. Neonatal (...) imitation gives way to first signs of reciprocation (primary intersubjectivity), and joint attention in reference to objects (secondary intersubjectivity). We review this development and propose a third level of intersubjectivity, that is the emergence of values that are jointly represented and negotiated with others, as well as the development of an ethical stance accompanying emerging theories of mind from about 4 years of age. We propose that tertiary intersubjectivity is an ontogenetically new process of value negotiation and mutual recognition that are the cardinal trademarks of human sociality. (shrink)

To what extent do early intuitions about ownership depend on cultural and socio-economic circumstances? We investigated the question by testing reasoning about third party ownership conflicts in various groups of three- and five-year-old children (N = 176), growing up in seven highly contrasted social, economic, and cultural circumstances (urban rich, poor, very poor, rural poor, and traditional) spanning three continents. Each child was presented with a series of scripts involving two identical dolls fighting over an object of possession. The child (...) had to decide who of the two dolls should own the object. Each script enacted various potential reasons for attributing ownership: creation, familiarity, first contact, equity, plus a control/neutral condition with no suggested reasons. Results show that across cultures, children are significantly more consistent and decisive in attributing ownership when one of the protagonists created the object. Development between three and five years is more or less pronounced depending on culture. The propensity to split the object in equal halves whenever possible was generally higher at certain locations (i.e., China) and quasi-inexistent in others (i.e., Vanuatu and street children of Recife). Overall, creation reasons appear to be more primordial and stable across cultures than familiarity, relative wealth or first contact. This trend does not correlate with the passing of false belief theory of mind. (shrink)

O objetivo da pesquisa é demonstrar a importância da fraternidade na democracia brasileira, caracterizada como representativa, ao menos em tese, visto que a vontade do povo não tem sido considera nas decisões que promovem mudanças legislativas substanciais. Diante disto surge a indagação central do presente estudo: Qual a contribuição da categoria da fraternidade em uma democracia? A metodologia aplicada a pesquisa é qualitativa e bibliográfica ao buscar fontes na doutrina jurídica relacionada com o tema e também quantitativa ao trazer dados (...) como forma de argumentação. Justifica-se o estudo pela relevância da fraternidade na construção da democracia no Brasil. (shrink)

Quine’s writings on indeterminacy of translation are mostly abstract and theoretical; his reasons for the thesis are not based on historical cases of translation but on general considerations about how language works. So it is no surprise that a common objection to the thesis asserts that it is not backed up by any positive empirical evidence. Ian Hacking (1981 and 2002) claims that whatever credibility the thesis does enjoy comes rather from alleged (fictitious) cases of radical mistranslation. This paper responds (...) to objections of that kind by exhibiting actual cases of indeterminacy of translation. (shrink)

Quine’s thesis of underdetermination is significantly weaker than it has been taken to be in the recent literature, for the following reasons: (i) it does not hold for all theories, but only for some global theories, (ii) it does not require the existence of empirically equivalent yet logically incompatible theories, (iii) it does not rule out the possibility that all perceived rivalry between empirically equivalent theories might be merely apparent and eliminable through translation, (iv) it is not a fundamental thesis (...) within Quine’s philosophy, and (v) it does not carry with it the anti-realistic consequences often associated with the thesis in recent debates. The paper analyzes Quine’s views on the matter and the changes they underwent over the years. A conjecture is put forth about why Quine’s thesis has been so widely misrepresented: Quine’s writings up to 1975 tackled primarily the formulation and justification of the thesis, but afterwards were concerned mostly with the question whether empirically equivalent rivals to the theory we hold are to be considered true also. When this latter discussion is read without bearing in mind Quine’s earlier formulation and justification of the thesis, his thesis seems to have stronger epistemic consequences than it actually does. A careful reading of his later writings shows, however, that the formulation of the thesis remained unchanged after 1975, and that his mature and considered views supported only a very mitigated version of the thesis. (shrink)

O presente artigo tem por finalidade demonstrar que, apesar de não estar expresso no rol das cláusulas pétreas, o macroprincípio da fraternidade jurídica não é passível de ser suprimido do texto constitucional. Ainda que não esteja presente expressamente na parte dogmática da Constituição Federal de 1988, a fraternidade se apresenta de forma implícita em diversos dispositivos normativos fundamentais e expressamente no preâmbulo, trecho inaugural da Lei Fundamental. Desse modo, a pesquisa que ora se apresenta parte do seguinte questionamento: O princípio (...) jurídico da fraternidade pode ser considerado uma cláusula pétrea constitucional? Decisões judiciais recentes e estudos doutrinários contemporâneos no campo das ciências jurídicas evidenciam que, além de estar presente na parte introdutória da Constituição brasileira, também se encontra consubstanciada em diversos dispositivos fundamentais do corpo normativo constitucional. Pretende-se aqui identificar como o princípio da fraternidade jurídica se entrelaça com outros princípios fundamentais presentes no texto dogmático da Constituição da República. A metodologia aplicada a esta pesquisa é qualitativa e bibliográfica ao buscar fontes na doutrina jurídica relacionadas com a fraternidade e os direitos humanos fundamentais. (shrink)

O objetivo deste ensaio consiste em argumentar, de maneira não conclusiva, em favor da tese que responsabiliza a física nuclear pela popularização, entre os físicos, do termo ‘modelo’. Apesar de este termo já ser usado desde, pelo menos, o início do século XX, foi com as investigações sobre a estrutura do núcleo atômico que ele se disseminou. Finalmente, este texto questiona se a popularização deste conceito não poderia ser também explicada pela sua capacidade de permitir a uma ciência tão especializada, (...) donde tão fragmentada, como a física a existência de canais de comunicação internos. (shrink)

Tradução do artigo de Kant publicado orginalmente em 1768.

Kant’s treatments of incongruent counterparts have been criticized in the recent literature. His 1768 essay has been charged with an ambiguous use of the notion of ‘inner ground’, and his 1770 claim that those differences cannot be apprehended conceptually is thought to be false. The author argues that those two charges rest on an uncharitable reading. ‘Inner ground’ is equivocal only if misread as mapping onto Leibniz notion of quality. Concepts suffice to distinguish counterparts, but are insufficient to specify their (...) spatial forms. Kant’s claims are reasonable and plausible, and have been reaffirmed repeatedly in contemporary discussions of demonstrative identification. (shrink)

Normal 0 21 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Este artigo tem como objetivo apresentar uma síntese histórico-epistemológica da axiologia ou filosofia dos valores, a partir de estudos desenvolvidos nas últimas décadas. São abordados assuntos como a ontologia dos valores, por meio de uma explicação fenomenológica, as controvérsias e particularidades das correntes objetivista e subjetivista da tradição axiológica, as características dos valores e problemas recentes da ciência axiológica. Com base nas teorizações estudadas e ao longo da exposição das ideias, propõe-se uma análise (...) crítico-reflexiva da temática apresentada, reunindo subsídios para uma compreensão do assunto. Palavras-chave: Axiologia. Filosofia dos valores. Síntese axiológico-epistemológica. Análise crítico-reflexiva. (shrink)

One of the objections against the thesis of underdetermination of theories by observations is that it is unintelligible. Any two empirically equivalent theories — so the argument goes—are in principle intertranslatable, hence cannot count as rivals in any non-trivial sense. Against that objection, this paper shows that empirically equivalent theories may contain theoretical sentences that are not intertranslatable. Examples are drawn from a related discussion about incommensurability that shows that theoretical non-intertranslatability is possible.

O tema central desta monografia é a noção de realidade, tal como esta foi entendida por alguns cientistas naturais da primeira metade do século XX. Os cientistas-filósofos escolhidos são: Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger e Max Born. À guisa de comentário introdutório, devo observar que o tema da realidade não é o único aqui abordado, e que a presente monografia pode ser tomada como uma primeira introdução às ideias e teses filosóficas dos seis cientistas referidos. (...) Ao escrever este trabalho, o meu principal objetivo foi o de fazer com que os estudantes de graduação dos cursos de filosofia tenham a possibilidade de ler um comentário geral sobre as ideias filosóficas – em particular, as metafísicas, portanto referentes à natureza da realidade – de alguns dos físicos mais importantes do século passado. Um segundo público alvo possível pode ser encontrado entre os estudantes do ensino médio. Finalmente, este texto pode, eventualmente, ser definido como paradidático, atraindo a atenção de professores, principalmente daqueles que atuam neste último segmento. (shrink)

O objectivo do presente artigo é apresentar as ideias que o físico teórico austríaco Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906) desenvolveu acerca da natureza e do papel das leis do pensamento. Muito influenciado por Charles Darwin, Boltzmann recusou-se a compreender as leis do pensamento segundo a filosofia de Kant. Em particular, Boltzmann defendeu uma concepção evolutiva das leis do pensamento. O artigo mostra de que forma a concepção das leis do pensamento aceite por Boltzmann impôs uma transformação da sua ideia sobre aquilo que (...) seria o próprio da filosofia. /// Aim of this article is to show some of the epistemological ideas developed by Ludwig Bolzmann (1844-1906). The author of the article considers in particular Bolzmann's view on the nature and role of the laws of reason in the construction of scientific theories. Moreover, he also analyses the influence of Charles Darwin on the Austrian theoretical physicist and how this influence can be viewed as the turning point for the definition of Boltzmann's conception of philosophy. (shrink)

Esta introdução descreve os mais importantes dados biográficos da vida e da obra do físico teórico austríaco Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906). As principais contribuições científicas de Boltzmann situam-se nos domínios da teoria cinética dos gases e mecânica estatística, da qual ele foi um dos fundadores. A tese de que as teorias científicas são representações dos fenômenos naturais é encontrada em todos os artigos de Boltzmann. No verbete "modelo", ela é apresentada de modo mais organizado, o que o torna uma peça fundamental (...) para a compreensão do pensamento filosófico do físico austríaco. O verbete, publicado na famosa enciclopédia Britannica, foi escrito para o público em geral. Ainda assim, Boltzmann não se eximiu de tomar partido em favor do uso de modelos. Estes últimos não apenas seriam inevitáveis, mas necessários, uma vez que tornavam possível o aperfeiçoamento contínuo da ciência. This introduction describes the most important biographical details of the life and work of the Austrian theoretical physicist Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906). The main scientific contributions of Boltzmann can be found in areas such as the kinetic theory of gases and statistical mechanics, of which he was one of the co-founders. The thesis that scientific theories are representations of natural phenomena is found in all philosophical articles by Boltzmann. In the entry "model", published in the celebrated Encyclopedia Britannica, the thesis is presented in a more organized way, making it the keystone to understand the philosophical thought of the Austrian physicist. Although the entry was written for the general public, in it Boltzmann did not refrain from taking sides as far as the use of models is concerned. According to him, the latter would not only be inevitable, but in fact necessary, since they would made possible the continuous improvement of science. (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)

http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1808-1711.2009v13n3p371 Este artigo defende a hipótese de que Ernst Mach (1838-1916) recorreu ao naturalismo (termo que ele não usou) — atitude derivada da sua aceitação da teoria da evolução de Darwin — como arma contra a metafísica (aqui compreendida como uma atitude em favor da busca por fundamentação última, fixa e definitiva), já que procuraria estabelecer critérios de avaliação, incluindo os relativos à escolha de teorias científicas, efetivamente capazes de serem usados pelos seres humanos.

This article defends the hypothesis that Ernst Mach employed naturalism — an attitude which has its origin in Mach’s acceptance of Darwinism — as a weapon against metaphysics, since the former would try to establish evalutions criteria, including those necessary to choose scientific theories, capable of being used by human beings.

Some authors claim that ‘I’ and ‘now’ are essential indexicals, in the sense that they cannot be eliminated in favor of other indexicals or nonindexical expressions. This article argues that three indexicals of direction—one for each spatial dimension (e.g., ‘up’, ‘front’, and ‘left’)—must also be regarded essential, insofar as they are used as pure indexicals and not as demonstratives.

Quine's writings on indeterminacy of translation are mostly abstract and theoretical; his reasons for the thesis are not based on historical cases of translation but on general considerations about how language works. So it is no surprise that a common objection to the thesis asserts that it is not backed up by any positive empirical evidence. Ian Hacking (1981 and 2002) claims that whatever credibility the thesis does enjoy comes rather from alleged (fictitious) cases of radical mistranslation. This paper responds (...) to objections of that kind by exhibiting actual cases of indeterminacy of translation. (shrink)

Quine is frequently acknowledged as one of the main proponents of both confi rmation holism and underdetermination. In the recent literature, however, his views have been often criticized and misrepresented: the distinction between the two theses has been often blurred, the obviousness of holism has been rejected, and the plausibility of underdetermination has come under attack. This paper attempts to formulate both theses as clearly as possible and to defend Quine’s views against some recurrent criticisms. In particular, it is argued (...) that Quine’s theses are signifi cantly weaker than they have been taken to be and that only confi rmation holism, but not underdetermination, plays a fundamental role in his philosophy. (shrink)