Can an event’s blameworthiness distort whether people see it as intentional? In controversial recent studies, people judged a behavior’s negative side effect intentional even though the agent allegedly had no desire for it to occur. Such a judgment contradicts the standard assumption that desire is a necessary condition of intentionality, and it raises concerns about assessments of intentionality in legal settings. Six studies examined whether blameworthy events distort intentionality judgments. Studies 1 through 4 show that, counter to recent claims, intentionality (...) judgments are systematically guided by variations in the agent’s desire, for moral and nonmoral actions alike. Studies 5 and 6 show that a behavior’s negative side effects are rarely seen as intentional once people are allowed to choose from multiple descriptions of the behavior. Specifically, people distinguish between “knowingly” and “intentionally” bringing about a side effect, even for immoral actions. These studies suggest that intentionality judgments are unaffected by a behavior’s blameworthiness. (shrink)

Moral judgments about an agent's behavior are enmeshed with inferences about the agent's mind. Folk psychology—the system that enables such inferences—therefore lies at the heart of moral judgment. We examine three related folk-psychological concepts that together shape people's judgments of blame: intentionality, choice, and free will. We discuss people's understanding and use of these concepts, address recent findings that challenge the autonomous role of these concepts in moral judgment, and conclude that choice is the fundamental concept of the three, defining (...) the core of folk psychology in moral judgment. (shrink)

Extant models of moral judgment assume that an action’s intentionality precedes assignments of blame. Knobe (2003b) challenged this fundamental order and proposed instead that the badness or blameworthiness of an action directs (and thus unduly biases) people’s intentionality judgments. His and other researchers’ studies suggested that blameworthy actions are considered intentional even when the agent lacks skill (e.g., killing somebody with a lucky shot) whereas equivalent neutral actions are not (e.g., luckily hitting a bull’s-eye). The present five studies offer an (...) alternative account of these provocative findings. We suggest that people see the morally significant action examined in previous studies (killing) as accomplished by a basic action (pressing the trigger) for which an unskilled agent still has sufficient skill. Studies 1 through 3 show that when this basic action is performed unskillfully or is absent, people are far less likely to view the killing as intentional, demonstrating that intentionality judgments, even about immoral actions, are guided by skill information. Studies 4 and 5 further show that a neutral action such as hitting the bull’s-eye is more difficult than killing and that difficult actions are less often judged intentional. When difficulty is held constant, people’s intentionality judgments are fully responsive to skill information regardless of moral valence. The present studies thus speak against the hypothesis of a moral evaluation bias in intentionality judgments and instead document people’s sensitivity to subtle features of human action. (shrink)

Moral judgment – even the type discussed by Knobe – necessarily relies on substantial information about an agent's mental states, especially regarding beliefs and attitudes. Moreover, the effects described by Knobe can be attributed to norm violations in general, rather than moral concerns in particular. Consequently, Knobe's account overstates the influence of moral judgment on assessments of mental states and causality.

This is a draft of the introduction to a forthcoming volume that brings together all of J. G. Herder's student notes from Immanuel Kant's lectures. It is intended as a volume in Kant's gesammelte Schriften (de Gruyter). These are the earliest notes (1762-64) we have from Kant's lectures (which span from 1755 to 1796) and the only notes before his professorship began in 1770. Included are improved transcriptions of Herder's notes on metaphysics, moral philosophy, logic, physics, and mathematics, and the (...) first transcription of his notes from Kant’s physical geography lectures. (shrink)

Artificial agents are progressively becoming more present in everyday-life situations and more sophisticated in their interaction affordances. In some specific cases, like Google Duplex, GPT-3 bots or Deep Mind’s AlphaGo Zero, their capabilities reach or exceed human levels. The use contexts of everyday life necessitate making such agents understandable by laypeople. At the same time, displaying human levels of social behavior has kindled the debate over the adoption of Dennett’s ‘intentional stance’. By means of a comparative analysis of the literature (...) on robots and virtual agents, we defend the thesis that approaching these artificial agents ‘as if’ they had intentions and forms of social, goal-oriented rationality is the only way to deal with their complexity on a daily base. Specifically, we claim that this is the only viable strategy for non-expert users to understand, predict and perhaps learn from artificial agents’ behavior in everyday social contexts. Furthermore, we argue that as long as agents are transparent about their design principles and functionality, attributing intentions to their actions is not only essential, but also ethical. Additionally, we propose design guidelines inspired by the debate over the adoption of the intentional stance. (shrink)

@font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Questo libro offre una lettura di Marx che tratta sia l’origine filosofica del suo pensiero economico che ll’esame approfondito della storiografia scientifica prodottasi in vari periodi. Le principali difficoltà che si incontrano oggi nello studio di Marx e del marxismo sono quelle di trovarsi ben oltre la sua (...) crisi, già manifestatasi da più di venticinque-trenta anni a questa parte, dopo una di dissoluzione e di smantellamento dei “classici” originato dall’azione di una generazione di intellettuali e dirigenti politici socialisti e comunisti che hanno fondamentali principi ispiratori. (shrink)

A Brief History of Analytic Philosophy: From Russell to Rawls presents a comprehensive overview of the historical development of all major aspects of analytic philosophy, the dominant Anglo-American philosophical tradition in the twentieth century. Features coverage of all the major subject areas and figures in analytic philosophy - including Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russell, G.E. Moore, Gottlob Frege, Carnap, Quine, Davidson, Kripke, Putnam, and many others Contains explanatory background material to help make clear technical philosophical concepts Includes listings of suggested further readings (...) Written in a clear, direct style that presupposes little previous knowledge of philosophy. (shrink)

I discuss the realizability and the ethical ramifications of Machine Ethics, from a number of different perspectives: I label these the anthropocentric, infocentric, biocentric and ecocentric perspectives. Each of these approaches takes a characteristic view of the position of humanity relative to other aspects of the designed and the natural worlds—or relative to the possibilities of ‘extra-human’ extensions to the ethical community. In the course of the discussion, a number of key issues emerge concerning the relation between technology and ethics, (...) and the nature of what it is to have moral status. Some radical challenges to certain technological presuppositions and ramifications of the infocentric approach will be discussed. Notwithstanding the obvious tensions between the infocentric perspective on one side and the biocentric and ecocentric perspectives on the other, we will see that there are also striking parallels in the way that each of these three approaches generates challenges to an anthropocentric ethical hegemony, and possible scope for some degree of convergence. (shrink)

The integral consciousness -- The internal universe -- The evolution of consciousness -- The within of things -- The systemic nature of evolution -- Stages of consciousness and culture -- The spiral of development -- Tribal consciousness -- Warrior consciousness -- Traditional consciousness -- Modernist consciousness -- Postmodern consciousness -- The spiral as a whole -- What is the real evidence for the spiral? -- The integral stage of consciousness -- Life conditions for integral consciousness -- The values of integral (...) consciousness -- Integral consciousness in the context of history -- Practicing the integral lifestylevalue metabolism -- Postintegral consciousness -- Integral politics -- The politics of the spiral -- Integral politics and global governance -- Is global governance an unrealistic fantasy? -- Is global governance too dangerouswhat are the safeguards? -- Global governance and integral consciousness cocreate each other -- Integral spirituality -- The development of spiritual traditions -- Public spirituality in the integral age -- Beauty, truth, and goodnessphilosophical spirituality -- The practice of beauty, truth, and goodness -- The revelation of evolution -- The founders of integral philosophy -- Ken Wilber in context -- The evolution of philosophy as a human endeavor -- Hegel, the first integral philosopher -- Bergson, the first post-darwinian integral philosopher -- Whitehead, spiritual philosopher for the ages -- Teilhard de Chardin, master of the internal universe -- Gebser, prophet of integral consciousness -- Developmental psychology and the mapping of the internal universe -- Habermas, architect of integral foundations -- Wilber, framer of integral philosophys twenty-first-century synthesis -- What I add to integral philosophy -- The integral reality frame -- Metaphysics and the evolution of reality frames -- The integral map of reality -- Integral philosophy and human spirituality -- Some critiques of the integral reality frame -- Structures of the human mind -- Lines of development recognized by psychologists -- Wilber's theory of the lines of development -- A critique of Wilber's theory of developmental lines -- An alternative theory of the structures of consciousness -- The self as a whole -- The directions of evolution -- Evolution and the idea of progress -- Unity, complexity, and consciousness -- Directions of evolution in the internal universe -- The dialectical quality of the master patterns of evolution -- Potential applications of a dialectical understanding of evolution. (shrink)

In Theoretical Times, Steve Redhead describes the post-crash economic, environmental, political and cultural condition we live in today. As the rise of the international right - Donald Trump, Brexit, Marine Le Pen - swarms the globe, a new global battle within the right is developing: the globalists and neo-liberals versus the economic nationalists and protectionists. What then are the prospects for a resurrected theoretical politics of the left? Theoretical Times considers the work of theorists such as Alain Badiou, Slavoj (...) Žižek, Jean Baudrillard and Paul Virilio, in this innovative reinvention of theory and the politics of theory. After the global financial crash the world is being hollowed out and we find ourselves in what Žižek calls a desperate state of hopelessness, the "new dark ages". Accelerated culture sees us digitally entertaining ourselves to death but leaves us exhausted and frightened waiting for World War Three. Theoretical Times offers new theoretical resources as a way out of the quicksand. (shrink)

Soggetti dello sguardo -- L'osservatore -- Lo spettatore -- Barocco giuridico.

Starrett, Lara, and Bertha provide in-depth analysis of real world engineering ethics cases studies with extended discussions and study questions.

Eugen Fink's deep engagement with the phenomenon of play saw him transcend his two towering mentors, Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger, to become a crucial figure in early 20th-century phenomenology. The Phenomenology of Play draws on Fink's concept of play to build a complete picture of his philosophy from its foundations to its applications, featuring newly translated material including notes from conversations between Fink and Heidegger, and Fink's own essay 'Mask and Cothurnus' on ancient theatre.

Il testo vuole testimoniare della piena partecipazione delle scienze sociali alla storia delle scienze, in un quadro di sviluppo che prevede la ricezione in Europa della riforma della filosofia naturale attuata da Francesco Bacone nel XVII secolo e recepita nel principio dell’induzione da Auguste Comte in Francia e da Herbert Spencer in Inghilterra. I temi della fondazione delle scienze sono quindi al centro dell’opera di ricostruzione di eventi cruciali. L’investigazione della natura e del mondo empirico da parte dell’uomo sociale si (...) svolge attraverso i secoli nei modi prescritti dalla filosofia naturale, laddove la tradizione antica e medioevale lasciava irrisolti alcuni problemi di tipo finalistico e vitalistico. Nel Cinquecento e soprattutto nel Seicento assistiamo ad una certa ripresa di tematiche suscitate dall’atomismo e dal meccanicismo in concomitanza del declino della fisica aristotelica. Nel secolo di Cartesio, che rifiutava l’atomismo, la ricerca di una teoria della materia dominò la scena nonché quella del movimento rettilineo uniforme che determinava lo stato di quiete dei corpi, come si nota nei Principia philosophiae del 1644 (pubblicati in francese nel 1647). Il principio che la conoscenza derivasse soltanto dall’interpretazione e dal commento dei testi antichi, sotto una certa forma di principium potestatibus, fu gradualmente sostituito da una filosofia della storia del progresso incarnata nell’ambito della conoscenza scientifica dal metodo sperimentale. La Rivoluzione scientifica culminò con l’applicazione di questa metodologia nella filosofia naturale, nelle scienze della vita (biologia, anatomia, zoologia, botanica), nella medicina e nella chimica, nella fisica (ottica, magnetismo, termologia, elettricità) nonché nella scoperte di William Harvey sulla pressione del sangue, di Evangelista Torricelli sulla pressione dell’atmosfera, Francesco Redi sui corpi viventi e Isaac Newton sulla natura della luce. In particolare, Newton seppe sintetizzare la tradizione dell’empirismo inglese, che va da Ruggero Bacone e Guglielmo di Ockham a John Locke, suo contemporaneo. Il contesto di sviluppo delle idee illuministiche e del positivismo in Francia segnò l’evolversi in Occidente della riflessione più matura sulle scienze e sulle scienze sociali nei vari contesti storico-concreti dove la filosofia naturale poté essere interpretata alla luce di nuove scoperte, le quali dovevano segnare, a loro volta, il momento incisivo di una azione progressiva dell’uomo condotta sulla natura stessa e, in modo tale da fare risaltare, infine, il passaggio al mondo della cultura del progresso. Come è noto, l’idea del progresso sta alla base di tante teorizzazioni della società a partire dal XVIII secolo. Per questo, basterà anche ricordare ciò che Kant pensasse dell’ Illuminismo quando affermava: “L’illuminismo è l’uscita dell’uomo dallo stato di minorità che egli deve imputare a se stesso. Minorità è l’incapacità di servirsi del proprio intelletto senza la guida di un altro. Questa minorità è imputabile a se stesso, se la causa non dipende dalla mancanza di intelligenza ma da mancanza di decisione e del coraggio di far uso del proprio intelletto senza essere guidati da un altro. Sapere aude! Abbi il coraggio di servirti della tua propria intelligenza. È questo il motto dell’illuminismo.” La stessa identificazione data da Auguste Comte nel suo Cours all’uso del termine ‘positivo’ cercava di spiegare come si potesse “considerare tutti i fenomeni come assoggettati a leggi naturali ed invariabili, la scoperta e la riduzione al minor numero possibile delle quali è il fine di tutti i nostri sforzi, considerando inoltre come assolutamente inaccessibile e vuota di senso la ricerca di quelle che si chiamano cause, sia cause prime che quelle finali” (Cours de philosophie positive, I). Al cospetto del nuovo modo di pensare e di operare i temi fondanti dell’intervento umano sulla natura circolavano in concomitanza della diffusione dei saperi scientifici, di quei saperi che si erano manifestati quindi in forma di pratiche illuministiche, cioè di un insieme di ragioni teoriche e pratiche poste in relazione tra loro a beneficio del mondo sociale circostante. Gradualmente anche il tema della rappresentazione dei fenomeni della vita si rapporta allo sviluppo della nuova filosofia naturale, tenendo conto del fatto che le scienze raggiungono uno stadio positivo nonché astratto e concreto (v. Herbert Spencer, The Classification of the Sciences). Ciò sarebbe sufficiente per spiegare il nesso esistente tra le scienze e i fenomeni vitali organici, cioè quel collegamento tra lo sviluppo filosofico e scientifico e il progresso dell’ambiente natura-le e sociale. (shrink)

Most self-improvement programs train people to identify and solve problems by grappling with them endlessly, often to no avail. Executive coach Steve Sisgold, however, knows that the body--not the mind--is the most reliable and effective pathway to realizing your innermost desires and achieving success. His unique, body-centric approach will show you how to get out of your head and take charge of every area of your life with increased awareness, clarity, and confidence. Whole Body Intelligence teaches you how to (...) become aware of subtle body sensations--such as gripping the phone or clenching your jaw during a tense conversation--and how to interpret their meanings, linking them to negative thoughts and behaviors that are impeding your success and happiness. You will recognize the patterns and imprints that have shaped your experiences and decisions for your entire life and learn how to change these thoughts and behaviors before they become self-sabotaging. No more overthinking! Decisions will become easier to make and you will stay engaged, resilient, and relaxed in any situation. With an easy-to-follow 30-day plan, body centric stress management tools, and inspiring stories of people who have changed their lives using this system, Whole Body Intelligence empowers you to channel the power of your body to achieve your wildest dreams. (shrink)

Introduction to Philosophy: Christianity and the Big Questions is a perfect primer for students of philosophy and anyone interested in a Christian perspective on the timeless and universal perplexities of human existence.--Thomas M. Crisp, Professor of Philosophy, Biola University.

Both physiological and evolutionary criteria of biological individuality are underpinned by the idea that an individual is a functionally integrated whole. However, a precise account of functional integration has not been provided so far, and current notions are not developed in the details, especially in the case of composite systems. To address this issue, this paper focuses on the organisational dimension of two representative associations of prokaryotes: biofilms and the endosymbiosis between prokaryotes. Some critical voices have been raised against the (...) thesis that biofilms are biological individuals. Nevertheless, it has not been investigated which structural and functional obstacles may prevent them from being fully integrated physiological or evolutionary units. By contrast, the endosymbiotic association of different species of prokaryotes has the potential for achieving a different type of physiological integration based on a common boundary and interlocked functions. This type of association had made it possible, under specific conditions, to evolve endosymbionts into fully integrated organelles. This paper therefore has three aims: first, to analyse the organisational conditions and the physiological mechanisms that enable integration in prokaryotic associations; second, to discuss the organisational differences between biofilms and prokaryotic endosymbiosis and the types of integration they achieve; finally, to provide a more precise account of functional integration based on these case studies. (shrink)

"Whether you run your own business or work for someone else, you've probably got a lot on your plate. Along with the portion of your work that you truly feel like doing comes a generous helping of things you'd rather not do. As consultants, Steve Levinson and Chris Cooper have seen countless clients struggle--and often fail--to do the many success-producing things they know they should do but don't feel like doing. The Power to Get Things Done will teach you (...) how to consistently turn your good intentions into action so that you can be as successful as possible in the work you do. Don't feel like filing those pesky tax forms or making the follow-up calls you've been putting off? The Power to Get Things Done will show you how to get yourself--and keep yourself--in gear, "--Amazon.com. (shrink)

Strategies for improving the explainability of artificial agents are a key approach to support the understandability of artificial agents’ decision-making processes and their trustworthiness. However, since explanations are not inclined to standardization, finding solutions that fit the algorithmic-based decision-making processes of artificial agents poses a compelling challenge. This paper addresses the concept of trust in relation to complementary aspects that play a role in interpersonal and human–agent relationships, such as users’ confidence and their perception of artificial agents’ reliability. Particularly, this (...) paper focuses on non-expert users’ perspectives, since users with little technical knowledge are likely to benefit the most from “post-hoc”, everyday explanations. Drawing upon the explainable AI and social sciences literature, this paper investigates how artificial agent’s explainability and trust are interrelated at different stages of an interaction. Specifically, the possibility of implementing explainability as a trust building, trust maintenance and restoration strategy is investigated. To this extent, the paper identifies and discusses the intrinsic limits and fundamental features of explanations, such as structural qualities and communication strategies. Accordingly, this paper contributes to the debate by providing recommendations on how to maximize the effectiveness of explanations for supporting non-expert users’ understanding and trust. (shrink)

Grace is a dance -- Sin is a sour note -- Jesus lived as us -- Grace isn't fair -- Jesus wasn't forsaken -- God isn't angry -- His faith changed everything -- Not your grandmother's hell -- Seeing through agape's eyes.

This musical-philosophical study brings something unique to Gilles Deleuze's philosophy of time, interweaving music improvisation, composition, and analysis, plus reformulations of Deleuze's concepts. The author draws on his own work alongside examples from the history of music practice in improvised and experimental musics, ultimately developing a new concept: Rhythmicity.

Democracy is in crisis in the United States and in many countries around the world. Democracies are forged in the wake of oppression. At first there is trust among those with a common cause. But maintaining unity is a continual challenge. Many nations that started on a path to democracy in this century now are reverting to autocracy. Their elected leaders maintain support by pitting one part of the population against the other as they threaten those who challenge them. They (...) exert their authority by repeating mistruths and intimidating the press. Internal divisions in the United States now threaten that it will tread that path. In the US and other democracies equality and human dignity still have not fully been realized. In every generation we must renew our commitment to democratic principles and their meaning for our time. (shrink)

Although the analogy between macroscopic machines and biological molecular devices plays an important role in the conceptual framework of both neo-mechanistic accounts and nanotechnology, it has recently been claimed that certain complex molecular devices cannot be considered machines since they are subject to physicochemical forces that are different from those of macroscopic machines. However, the structural and physicochemical conditions that allow both macroscopic machines and microscopic devices to work and perform new functions, through a combination of elemental functional parts, have (...) not yet been examined. In order to fill this void, this paper has a threefold aim: first, to clarify the structural and organisational conditions of macroscopic machines and microscopic devices; second, to determine whether the machine-like analogy fits nanoscale devices; and third, to assess whether the machine-like analogy is appropriate for describing the behaviour of some biological macromolecules. Finally, the paper gives an account of ‘machine’ which, while acknowledging the physicochemical and organisational differences between man-made machines and biological microscopic devices, nevertheless identifies a common conceptual core that allows us to consider the latter ‘machines’. (shrink)