The present paper is concerned with the question of whether scientific conceptual analysis provides better justification than armchair conceptual analysis. In order to address this question, I provide exact definitions of armchair conceptual analysis and scientific conceptual analysis. Furthermore, I use a certain criticism of armchair conceptual analysis, raised by experimental philosophers, as a basis for an argument to the conclusion that scientific conceptual analysis provides better justification than armchair conceptual analysis, and consider the expertise defence as a possible response (...) to this argument. The argument is based on the idea that the concept of a common usage implies a certain degree of uniformity among different speakers, and can be called ‘argument from uniformity of agreement’. The expertise defence can be understood as an attack of one of the premises of this argument. Finally, I present and discuss the results from an empirical study in which scientific conceptual analysis was used in order to gather evidence as regards the soundness of the argument from uniformity of agreement and the expertise defence. (shrink)

In the present inquiry I explore the concept of conceptual analysis, looking for ways for it to be improved, and I come to the following conclusions. Conceptual analysis as ordinarily understood in analytic philosophy is a method which consists in drawing a conclusion about what the definition of a predicate is on the basis of an armchair investigation into whether the predicate is semantically applicable in different possible cases; but, the concept of conceptual analysis can be improved by making two (...) changes to it: 1) the investigation into whether the predicate is semantically applicable in different possible cases is not to serve as a basis for a conclusion about what the definition of the predicate is, but as a basis for a conclusion about whether this-and-this is an only necessary, only sufficient, both necessary and sufficient, or neither necessary nor sufficient condition for the predicate’s semantic application; 2) the investigation into whether the predicate is semantically applicable in different possible cases is done not only from the armchair, but also empirically. (shrink)

Conceptual analysis as traditionally understood can be improved by allowing the use of a certain kind of empirical investigation. The conceptual analysis in which the kind of empirical investigation in question is used can be called “empirical conceptual analysis”. In the present inquiry, I provide a systematic exposition of empirical conceptual analysis, so understood, considering what exactly empirical conceptual analysis is, the different kinds of empirical conceptual analysis, and the main application of the method within philosophy. It can be defined (...) as a method that consists in drawing a conclusion about the semantic application conditions of a predicate on the basis of observation of the manifestations of semantic intuitions. The different kinds of empirical conceptual analysis are distinguished according to the way the manifestations of semantic intuitions are observed. The main application of the method is solving conceptual disputes – situations in which different competent speakers of a language disagree about the semantic application conditions of a predicate from that language, and their disagreement is caused by the fact that they have different semantic intuitions about that predicate. (shrink)

The paper presents an analysis of the cultural embeddedness of arguments, raised as a part of the Bulgarian debate about the ratification of the Istanbul convention. The method I employed was the localization procedure of Generalized Argumentation theory. Through a qualitative analysis of empirical argumentation data, I identified arguments in favour of or against the ratification of the Istanbul convention. Information about the cultural background against which these arguments were raised, i.e. about Bulgarian culture, was gathered from the part of (...) the ninth wave of the European Social Survey that used the Portrait Value Questionnaire—an instrument for measuring human values, based on Schwartz’s theory of human values. By establishing a certain relationship between the arguments and the cultural background information, I came to the conclusion that the debate between the proponents and the opponents of the ratification represented a conflict between the basic values of universalism and tradition, and more particularly, between the lower-order values of equality and respect for tradition. (shrink)

The present article regards the influence exerted by the Hermetic philosophy on the original works of one of the last representatives of Tarnovo literary school – Konstantin Kostenechki. They are found not only in the explicit mention of Hermest Trismegist in “The Biography of Stefan Larzarević” among philosophes to whom God has partly revealed “the truth” but also in one long and sophisticated syllogism where God Father is presented as “Mind” and “The Sources of the First Mind”. Some specific terms, (...) the description of the Serbian anchorites and one unusual transformation of the Gospel text (Mathew 6:6) also must be ascribed to Hermetic influence. All of these hermetic elements most probably have been loaned from Greek sources having included fragments of “Corpus Hermeticum” and some other hermetic texts. (shrink)

We give several new characterizations of the continuous enumeration degrees. The main one proves that an enumeration degree is continuous if and only if it is not half of a nontrivial relativized $\mathcal {K}$ -pair. This leads to a structural dichotomy in the enumeration degrees.

The article focuses on problems relating to the Jewish community’s origin in medieval Tarnovo, the reasons that provoked the Bulgarian-Jewish conflict from the 1350ies and its aftermaths. The hypothesis that Tarnovo Jews originated from Byzantine and appeared in medieval Bulgarian capital at the end of the 12th century as manufacturers of silk is proposed. The religious clash from the 1350ies is ascribed to the influence exerted by some Talmudic anti-Christian texts on the local Jewish community, to the broken inner status-quo (...) between Christians and Jews after the second marriage of the Bulgarian tsar Ivan Alexander and to the reactions of part of the Christian population against the breach of this status-quo. (shrink)

The present article deals with the translations of Hebrew and non Hebrew but presented as Hebrew anthroponyms and oikonyms in the work of Konstantin Konstenechki “Treatise of Letters” dating back to the first decade of the 15th century. Up to this moment excluding Jagić the researchers have not pay significant attention to this part of work and according to common opinion Konstantin did not know Hebrew language. However the careful language and textological analysis indicates that a big part of the (...) translations of names and words loaned from the Old and New Testaments are identical or stay close to the etymologies including in the modern dictionaries and other are result of phonetic comparison to Aramaic. There are also translations influenced by Midrashes and the works of Philo of Alexandria. (shrink)

Using properties of${\cal K}$-pairs of sets, we show that every nonzero enumeration degreeabounds a nontrivial initial segment of enumeration degrees whose nonzero elements have all the same jump asa. Some consequences of this fact are derived, that hold in the local structure of the enumeration degrees, including: There is an initial segment of enumeration degrees, whose nonzero elements are all high; there is a nonsplitting high enumeration degree; every noncappable enumeration degree is high; every nonzero low enumeration degree can be (...) capped by degrees of any possible local jump ; every enumeration degree that bounds a nonzero element of strictly smaller jump, is bounding; every low enumeration degree below a non low enumeration degreeacan be capped belowa. (shrink)

The jump operator on the ω-enumeration degrees was introduced in [I.N. Soskov, The ω-enumeration degrees, J. Logic Computat. 17 1193–1214]. In the present paper we prove a jump inversion theorem which allows us to show that the enumeration degrees are first order definable in the structure of the ω-enumeration degrees augmented by the jump operator. Further on we show that the groups of the automorphisms of and of the enumeration degrees are isomorphic. In the second part of the paper we (...) study the jumps of the ω-enumeration degrees below . We define the ideal of the almost zero degrees and obtain a natural characterization of the class H of the ω-enumeration degrees below which are high n for some n and of the class L of the ω-enumeration degrees below which are low n for some n. (shrink)

We give several new characterizations of the continuous enumeration degrees. The main one proves that an enumeration degree is continuous if and only if it is not half a nontrivial relativized K-pair. This leads to a structural dichotomy in the enumeration degrees.

We show that the theory of the local structure of the enumeration degrees is computably isomorphic to the theory of first order arithmetic. We introduce a novel coding method, using the notion of a K-pair, to code a large class of countable relations.

We show that every splitting of ${0}_{\mathrm{e}}^{\prime }$ in the local structure of the enumeration degrees, $$\mathcal{G}_{e} , contains at least one low-cuppable member. We apply this new structural property to show that the classes of all $\mathcal{K}$ -pairs in $\mathcal{G}_{e}$ , all downwards properly ${\mathrm{\Sigma }}_{2}^{0}$ enumeration degrees and all upwards properly ${\mathrm{\Sigma }}_{2}^{0}$ enumeration degrees are first order definable in $\mathcal{G}_{e}$.

In the present paper, we show the first-order definability of the jump operator in the upper semi-lattice of the \-enumeration degrees. As a consequence, we derive the isomorphicity of the automorphism groups of the enumeration and the \-enumeration degrees.

The homogeneity of time (i.e. the fact that there are no privileged moments) underlies a fundamental symmetry relating to the energy conservation law. On the other hand the obvious asymmetry between past and future, expressed by the metaphor of the arrow of time or flow of time accounts for the irreversibility of what happens. One takes this for granted but the conceptual tension it creates against the background of time''s presumed homogeneity calls for an explanation of temporal becoming. Here, it (...) is approached with the help of a claim to the effect that the instant (moment) itself has a structure isomorphic to that of time as a whole. Then the asymmetry of past and future in regard to temporal becoming is associated with the internal structure of the very moment, and not with external relations between different moments of time. In this paper ideas of ancient atomism and contemporary dialectics are brought together. It is for the sake of a contrast to what is known as logical atomism that I choose to call this view dialectical atomism. The latter admits dialectical contradictions and, so far as the logical status of contradictions is concerned, bears reference to paraconsistent logics. In the paper there is an outline of a method of converting any consistent axiomatic formal system into a paraconsistent theory. (shrink)

The article focuses on some issues of a practical nature related to the implementation of activities for general and additional support for personal development of children and students in kindergartens and schools in Bulgaria. The authors hereby express their personal position based on discussion comments by deputy principals, teachers and other pedagogical specialists, during trainings on inclusive education in the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria. Emphasis is placed on the modern dimensions of inclusive education, as well as on specific (...) features of the activities of pedagogical specialists in their work with children and adolescents. The philosophical concept of inclusive education at present in the context of normative documents and practice is presented. The article does not claim to be exhaustive. (shrink)

We show that every nonzero Δ20\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${\Delta^{0}_{2}}$$\end{document} enumeration degree bounds the enumeration degree of a 1-generic set. We also point out that the enumeration degrees of 1-generic sets, below the first jump, are not downwards closed, thus answering a question of Cooper.