Reality

Structures without time and dynamics are considered. The principle is proposed how to build space-time in a structure without time and dynamics. It is found what can be objects in such a space-time, and what can be an interaction between such objects.Within the framework of the considered class of structures, answers were found to the following problems of philosophy and physics: the nature of consciousness and the connection between the body and consciousness (mind-body problem), nature of time, anthropic principle and (...) the problem of fine-tuning the universe, the effectiveness of mathematics in describing physical phenomena, limits of knowledge.The considered class of structures makes it possible to find answers to questions that cannot be answered for our Universe. This shows the fundamental possibility of finding answers to these questions for our Universe as well. (shrink)

Physical systems without time and dynamics have been considered. The principle of how to construct spacetime in a physical system without time and dynamics has been proposed. It has been found what can be objects in such a spacetime, and what can be an interaction between such objects. Within the framework of the considered class of systems, answers to the following problems of philosophy and physics have been found: the nature of consciousness and the connection of body and consciousness (mind-body (...) problem), the nature of time, the anthropic principle and the problem of fine-tuning the universe, the effectiveness of mathematics in describing physical phenomena, the limits of knowledge. There are a number of indications that our Universe is not based on one of the systems of the class considered. The considered class of systems makes it possible to find answers to questions that cannot be answered for our Universe. This shows that it is fundamentally possible to find answers to these questions for our Universe as well. (shrink)

[Byproduct of "Individuals, Social Groups and Ontological Priority"] Sara Bernstein (2021) investigates into the possibility of the middle-levelled entities as the most fundamental existence of reality, whereupon I develop a picture of reality as totality of pluralities, a.k.a. middle-levelled entities.

Do human beings have a special and distinguished place in reality? In Idealism and the Harmony of Thought and Reality Thomas Hofweber contends that they do. We are special since there is an intimate connection between our human minds and reality itself. This book defends a form of idealism which holds that our human minds constrain, but do not construct, reality as the totality of facts. Reality as the totality of facts is thus not independent of our minds, and our (...) minds play a metaphysically special role in all of reality. But reality as the totality of things is taken to be completely independent of us. -/- Hofweber's proposed form of conceptual idealism is formulated via the notion of a harmony between our minds and reality. This harmony is defended through considerations in the philosophy of language. How can one possibly defend a metaphysical thesis like idealism from considerations about our own representation? A key step in the book's argument is to consider a special class of concepts--inescapable concepts--which we cannot rationally replace with different ones. This leads to a new approach for making progress in metaphysics--immanent metaphysics--which is broadly neo-Kantian in spirit. (shrink)

Borges’ The Circular Ruins tells the story of a magician who turns out to be a character in a dream. Leibowitz (2021) argues that this scenario undermines the rational indubitability of Descartes’ Cogito. The magician, he argues, is an unreal appearance and therefore does not exist. I argue that Borges drew a distinction between reality and existence and that he was right to do so. There are various senses of reality and the sense in which a dreamt character is unreal (...) poses no threat to their existence or to the indubitability of the Cogito. The magician is unreal because he is a mind-dependent, illusory and fake. Nonetheless, he can be certain that he thinks, therefore he is. (shrink)

This study aims to evaluate whether the idea of ultimate reality in world religions contributes to the characteristics of the world religion paradigm, which is hierarchical cosmology or “subject-object cosmology.” Several research on this topic claims that one of the characteristics of the world religion paradigm is its hierarchical perspective. Discussing this issue is important to distinguish the world religions as the paradigm and the world religions as the most widely embraced religion. This study argues that the hierarchical perspective of (...) the world religion paradigm can be rooted in the idea of ultimate reality, that there is a supreme, foremost, and most principal reality in the continuity of this universe, namely the supernatural or God. The hierarchical cosmology consists of three main domains: supernatural/God, culture/human, and nature. This study uses a literature study methodology, relying on books, journals, and texts related to research questions. This study finds that the world religion paradigm or hierarchical cosmology or “subject-object cosmology” is prominent, especially in Abrahamic religions such as Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, even though the concept of ultimate reality in these three religions is different. (shrink)

Cosmovisão é um termo que deve significar um conjunto de fundamentos dos quais emerge uma compreensão sistêmica do Universo, seus componentes como a vida, o mundo em que vivemos, a natureza, o fenômeno humano e suas relações. Trata-se, portanto, de um campo da filosofia analítica alimentado pelas ciências, cujo objetivo é esse conhecimento agregado e epistemologicamente sustentável sobre tudo o que somos e contemos, que nos cerca e que nos relaciona de alguma forma. É algo tão antigo quanto o pensamento (...) humano e, além de utilizar elementos da cosmologia científica, engloba tudo na filosofia e na ciência que se refere ao universo e à vida. Uma cosmovisão não é um conjunto de ideias, hipóteses e suposições, mas um sistema baseado em observação, análise, evidência e demonstração. Nenhuma cosmovisão pretende definir, estabelecer, propor, mas apenas compreender, analisar e interpretar. Cada um de nós constrói e transporta sua cosmovisão ao longo da vida, sem estabelecer formas, como pano de fundo para nosso pensamento e comportamento. Linguisticamente, o termo “cosmovisão” derivaria do alemão, equivalente ao conceito de “ Weltanschauung”, usado por vários filósofos. No entanto, essa relação linguística não é aplicável porque contraria o que propomos como cosmovisão. Esta palavra alemã refere-se a uma visão pré-lógica ou proto-experimental da realidade, com um contexto intuitivo e longe de um conhecimento crítico ainda inexistente no momento da sua formulação. Sem dúvida, as cosmovisões , no sentido em que as entendemos, abrigam e utilizam esses elementos protoexperimentais ou pré-lógicos que incluem a história, o inconsciente coletivo e todos os arquétipos que carregamos. No entanto, no conceito que aqui aplicamos, a cosmovisão vai muito além desse conteúdo, primeiro por submetê-lo constantemente ao pensamento crítico presente e, finalmente, por tornar a experiência analítica (e não o próprio pensamento ou intuição) seu universo real. António Lopes expõe a amplitude deste conteúdo: -/- “Cosmovisões não são o produto do pensamento. Não nascem do simples desejo de saber. A apreensão da realidade é um momento importante em sua configuração, mas, no entanto, é apenas um. Vem da conduta vital, da experiência da vida, da estrutura de nossa totalidade psíquica. A elevação da vida à consciência no conhecimento da realidade, na valorização da vida e na realidade volitiva é o trabalho lento e árduo que a humanidade tem feito no desenvolvimento das concepções de vida. (W. Dilthey, 1992 [1911]: 120)” Neste trabalho, buscamos traçar uma cosmovisão baseada nas realidades que a ciência oferece hoje. Não nos propomos, em nenhum momento, a fazer ciência ou teorizar a filosofia, mas sempre buscaremos ser apoiados por elas ou, pelo menos, protegidos por elas das distorções cognitivas que costumamos carregar. (shrink)

Cosmovision is a term that should mean a set of foundations from which emerges a systemic understanding of the Universe, its components as life, the world we live in, nature, the human phenomenon, and their relationships. It is, therefore, a field of analytical philosophy fed by the sciences, whose objective is this aggregated and epistemologically sustainable knowledge about everything that we are and contain, that surrounds us, and that relates to us in any way. It is something as old as (...) human thought and, in addition to using elements of scientific cosmology, it encompasses everything in philosophy and science that refers to the universe and life. A cosmovision is not a set of ideas, hypotheses, and assumptions but a system based on observation, analysis, evidence, and demonstration. No cosmovision intends to define, establish, propose but only understand, analyze and interpret. Each of us builds and transports his cosmovision throughout life, without establishing forms, as a background for our thinking and behavior. Linguistically, the term “cosmovision” would derive from the German, equivalent to the concept of “ Weltanschauung,” as used by several philosophers. However, this linguistic relationship is not applicable because it contradicts what we propose as a cosmovision. This German word refers to a pre-logical or proto- experimental vision of reality, with an intuitive context and far from critical knowledge still non-existent at the time of its formulation. Undoubtedly, cosmovisions, in the sense in which we understand them, house and use these proto-experimental or pre-logical elements that include history, the collective unconscious, and all the archetypes we carry. However, in the concept that we apply here, the cosmovision goes far beyond this content, firstly by constantly submitting it to present critical thinking, and finally by making the analytic experience ( and not the thought itself or intuition) its actual universe. António Lopes expose the breadth of this content: -/- "Cosmovisions are not the product of thought. They do not spring from the simple desire to know. The apprehension of reality is an important moment in its configuration, but, nevertheless, it is only one. It comes from the vital conduct, from the experience of life's evaluation, from the structure of our psychic totality. The elevation of life to consciousness in the knowledge of reality, in the valuation, and in the volitional reality is the slow and arduous work that humanity has done in the development of the conceptions of life. (W. Dilthey, 1992 [1911]: 120)”(1) -/- In this work, we seek to outline a cosmovision based on the realities that science offers today. We do not propose, at any time, to do science; or theorize philosophy, but we will always seek to be supported by them or, at least, protected by them from the cognitive distortions that we usually carry. ________________________________________________ (1) Lopes , Antonio – “ Weltanschauung (Cosmovision)” (2009 ) in Carlos Ceia's E-Dictionary of Literary Terms. -/- . (shrink)

There is not much of a consensus on almost anything about quantum mechanics. I take it, however, that the minimum consensus is that "although quantum mechanics is empirically successful, quantum mechanics is hard to understand." Quantum mechanics, in the way it is presented in most textbooks, does indeed not provide a clear picture of reality that would make it a theory to be understood. In her new book, "The World in the Wave Function: A Metaphysics for Quantum Physics," Alyssa Ney (...) tries to make this blurry picture of reality more precise, even if this picture will turn out to be heterodox and unfamiliar. (shrink)

The validity of the senses we use to experience the cosmos is something we take for granted. The majority of the people view the senses as the most effective and potentially the only tool they have to reach reality. But as Shestov rightfully questioned, when was the last time the majority decided correctly on an important philosophical problem? The role of science and philosophy is to question the obvious and this is what we should do if we are to uncover (...) the true role of the senses. This paper uses a series of philosophy articles to touch on the problem of the senses and the answer portrayed is exciting as well as terrifying: The senses are not a helpful tool but more of a hurdle when it comes to understanding the cosmos…. (shrink)

Minimally, metaphysical realists hold that there exist some mind-independent entities. Metaphysical realists also hold that we can speak meaningfully or truthfully about mind-independent entities. Those who reject metaphysical realism deny one or more of these commitments. This Element aims to introduce the reader to the core commitments of metaphysical realism and to illustrate how these commitments have changed over time by surveying some of the main families of views that realism has been contrasted with: such as scepticism, idealism, and anti-realism.

It is the goal of this article to present and discuss the phenomenological interpretation of quantum mechanics of the twentieth-century Spanish philosopher Xavier Zubiri. After presenting an introduction to Zubiri and his relationship with phenomenology, we discuss the prominent role of the natural sciences, namely, physics, in the author’s philosophical system. To a certain extent, one can say that, in the footsteps of Edmund Husserl, one of Zubiri’s chief concerns was to develop a philosophical system that could accommodate the discoveries (...) of contemporary science. Following a brief presentation of Zubiri’s discussion on physics, the article focuses on his interpretation of quantum mechanics. As we shall see, Zubiri’s original interpretation of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle in terms of the phenomenological notion of light may provide a significant, although limited, contribution for a deeper understanding of quantum indeterminacy. In addition, we suggest that the Zubirian notions of reality, intelligence, and actuality, which dominate the last stage of his philosophy, may provide a key hermeneutic framework that allows a fresh philosophical interpretation of quantum mechanics. -/- . (shrink)

_Sense Perception_ is the first part of the trilogy _Forms of Representation in the Aristotelian Tradition_. It investigates some of the most complex and intriguing aspects of theories of perception in the Greek, Latin, and Arabic reception of Aristotle’s psychology.

IOP is, always, the tokenization of a naturally conserved circle. Meaning no information, no reality, no nothing. Observation always gets us the wrong answer (no such thing as a question, technically) (all questions are already answered) (the human imagines there are problems to solve) (because solving problems conserves an already-conserved circle) (everything is already 'answered') (else how could we ascertain the 'correct' answer?). Tokenization may appear as a transformation. But digging deeper we can observe (when we're ready) there is no (...) such thing as a transformation. Tokenization (the correct word for transformation) is the conservation of a circle, explaining IOP (what humans perceive as 'transformation' 'representation' 'tokenization' a 'process' of any kind' (nouns and verbs in general) etc). (shrink)

Meme means ‘copy.’ Bio means ‘two.’ Biomemetics is (the study of) (the belief that) the tokenization of reality is a (continual) (and perpetual) copy of the number ‘two.’ Explaining, fundamentality, universals, abstraction, representation, tokenization, the 'self' in any discipline. Identity, Complementarity, Reality.

There is a conserved circular-linear relationship between an individual and a group (a part and a whole) (half and whole) (whole and half). Explaining mereology and producing the 'singularity' (a universal theory of everything, all disciplines) (which may be impossible for humans to accept).

Nothing new here. Really. The identification (and correct representation) of space.

An analysis of Scripture uncovers a new model of God’s election and predestination of souls, which fits under the umbrella of the Calvinist theologies, but where this model involves an answer to the long-standing question of why God chose some, rather than all. It will be explored how before souls were elected (or condemned), God looked at them and knew them in a pre-election state, which God used to predestine each soul in physical reality. This analysis reveals why it could (...) be no other way but where God only would choose some, rather than all souls during the physical embodiment stage of the soul, and the vexing centuries-old Calvinist question of why God elected some not all has an answer. (shrink)

Reality at any scale (a singularity of singularities) involves the conservation of a circle. This is because zero and one (modern) (yin and yang) (ancient) are, technically, and, thus 'realistically' (literally), circumference and diameter. This means we are, always, tokenizing space, explaining 'the matrix,' 'information,' 'information systems,' and algorithms (mathematics and technology). This is because, what humans label, 'mind' and 'matter,' like any X and X (X and Y) (X and X') articulate, and, thus, conserve an always-present (totally prescient) circular-linear (...) relationship. Also known as 'tokenization.' Conservation of the Circle. (shrink)

Pi in mathematics is mind in Nature, explaining the tokenization of 'reality.'.

Zero and one are the circumference and diameter of an always-conserved circle. Explaining everything in philosophy, physics, and psychology. This produces a completely tokenized 'reality' with important implications for governmental and financial systems. As is, already, happening, in the exploding 'world' of NFT ('crypto' 'currency' in general) based on the statement and the diagram, and the notion of identity (knowledge as power).

How do ‘virtual intelligence’ and ‘artificial reality’ intersect. Think: Foucault, Deleuze, Nietzsche. And, NFT.

A natural proposal for the grounds of negative existential truths, such as that Vulcan does not exist, states that these truths are grounded in the totality truth affirming the existence of every existent thing together with the truth that they are all. In this paper I will put forward three objections to straightforward formulations of this idea, and argue that a change in the usual grammar of grounding claims, allowing for pluralities of sentences to express not only grounds, but also (...) groundees, is effective in making the account immune to the objections raised. (shrink)

Quantum mechanics was reformulated as an information theory involving a generalized kind of information, namely quantum information, in the end of the last century. Quantum mechanics is the most fundamental physical theory referring to all claiming to be physical. Any physical entity turns out to be quantum information in the final analysis. A quantum bit is the unit of quantum information, and it is a generalization of the unit of classical information, a bit, as well as the quantum information itself (...) is a generalization of classical information. Classical information refers to finite series or sets while quantum information, to infinite ones. Quantum information as well as classical information is a dimensionless quantity. Quantum information can be considered as a “bridge” between the mathematical and physical. The standard and common scientific epistemology grants the gap between the mathematical models and physical reality. The conception of truth as adequacy is what is able to transfer “over” that gap. One should explain how quantum information being a continuous transition between the physical and mathematical may refer to truth as adequacy and thus to the usual scientific epistemology and methodology. If it is the overall substance of anything claiming to be physical, one can question how different and dimensional physical quantities appear. Quantum information can be discussed as the counterpart of action. Quantum information is what is conserved, action is what is changed in virtue of the fundamental theorems of Emmy Noether (1918). The gap between mathematical models and physical reality, needing truth as adequacy to be overcome, is substituted by the openness of choice. That openness in turn can be interpreted as the openness of the present as a different concept of truth recollecting Heidegger’s one as “unconcealment” (ἀλήθεια). Quantum information as what is conserved can be thought as the conservation of that openness. (shrink)

Whether you know it or not…Whether you believe it or not….

Many praise science for its systematic drive to objectivity. But scientific objectivity is in fact a species of objectivity in a broader sense, which extends to aesthetic experience and broadly artistic creativity. Objectivity should be understood as outwardness, or receptivity to basic features of the world. Scientific objectivity is receptivity to basic features of the world specifically by adopting their 'point of view'. It is not a 'view from nowhere', in the sense of a globally- or universally-valid perspective. Nor is (...) it a matter of the liberal democratic regulation of knowledge production, or of adopting the 'standpoints' of marginalized groups. Scientific objectivity is a view from causally-basic phenomena that are often totally impersonal—like gravity, from whose standpoint we see objective spatiotemporal relations. By contrast to this objective scientific view from causally-basic forces onto the objects they impact, a broadly poetic kind of objectivity involves adopting a view directly onto basic forces, like loci of aesthetic impact, ethical value, or causal power. Poetic understanding allows us to directly apprehend nature as impactful, whereas science only gives us unconscious insight into basic forces, by cognitively imitating their physical impact. This framework helps to explain modern 'disenchantment', as it bears on both the value and the limits of science. At a metaphysical level, this approach also radically extends Nietzsche's view that theories and artworks are 'perspectival' expressions of their creators' drives. Nietzsche is right to treat the outlet of strong human drives in acts of artistic or philosophical creativity as just one among many higher modes of 'will to power' in nature, many of which are totally impersonal. But he is still too focused on self-expression, or willing one's own power. In fact, objective science and art involve external forces' expression in and through us, not just us expressing our own powers. And Nietzsche's vitalistic 'will to power' must be replaced by a basic ontology that better accommodates inorganic phenomena, like the 'cold' order and precision of celestial motions. Thus I work to de-anthropomorphize and de-organicize post-Kantian notions of will and creative development, while preserving for force the primary ontological and evaluative status that theorists from Schiller and Goethe to Emerson and Nietzsche attributed to willful striving or to life. (shrink)

The experiments of quantum physics indicate that an electron will change its behavior/ reality depending on whether or not the electron is being observed as if the particle is aware that it is being observed. The reality thus is presumed to be, or only to be thought of as a scenario that can be altered, changed, or imagined differently depending on the observer or the screenwriter. Our historical development made us think that the reality has as many facets as we (...) want it to have, and none is more real than the other, as long there is a self-conscious being aware of it even if it has more accuracy or it stands on more evidence or arguments each proponent can bring into it. Therefore, a world full of unseen creatures that moves and determines a child’s life is not less authentic than one full of invisible particles making the world running and moving for a scientist. Each has its proofs, trials, ways of probation, so it is entirely entitled to be considered ‘real.’ However, what happens when concurrent theories over the same circumstance pronounce several valid testimonies? Do we have to pronounce either their validity based on the evidence brought by their proponents or should we consider only one of them? On what grounds can we make either these selections? It would be wrong to say that the reality is, in fact, the construct of a multitude of layers, each with different consistency and evidence, each real and provable, therefore each entitled to be called ‘reality’? Hence, consciousness can change reality just by being aware of it. In this context, we will also take into account the story of creation and see how it fits in this context. (shrink)

The link between seen and unseen, matter and spirit, flesh and soul was always presumed, but never clarified enough, leaving room for debates and mostly controversies between the scientific domains and theologies of a different type; how could God, who is immaterial, have created the material world? Therefore, the logic of obtaining a result on this concern is first to see how religions have always seen the ratio between divinity and matter/universe. In this part, the idea of a world personality (...) is implied by many, so that nature itself was transformed into a person ; others have seen within the universe/the world a Spirit ruling all, connecting all and bending all to God’s commands. In a way or another, every culture has gifted the universe/nature with the capability of ruling all, seeing everything and controlling, even determining facts by connecting all together with a Great Spirit. What is this Great Spirit of all and where it resides? With the analogy of human body in relation to his Spirit we will try to figure out a place or vehicle for the Spirit to dwell the body, and the Great Spirit the matter. The Christianity names this linkage between God and matter as ‘the created grace of God’, which indwells matter and helps the Creator move and transform things. Is there any scientific argument to sustain such assertion? Can we argue somehow that God’s voice makes matter vibrate from within the way it can recombine primer elements into giant stars to the human body? If so, what should be the ratio between theology and science on this issue and with these assertions? How could God command to matter to bring things and beings out of it and what were the material leverages that was supposed to be operated to accomplish His will? However, if we can assume that God resides in the universe – as a whole, His body, or as in its very fabric – can we also figure out how is this even possible, without transforming our explanation into a pantheistic and immanent exclusive one? Through these ‘divine leverages within matter’ theory, there is no need for questioning evolutionism, creationism, pantheism, deism and many other cosmological hypotheses any longer. (shrink)

In the context of the question of the extent to which science studies is able to mount an adequate critique of contemporary developments in science and technology, and in view of the proliferating interest in ethics across the social sciences, this article has two aims. Firstly to address some of the implications for ethics of Bruno Latour's, and to a lesser extent Alfred North Whitehead’s, conceptions of reality, both of which have a bearing on the long-standing dichotomy between facts and (...) values. Drawing on Whitehead's work, it also, secondly, seeks to make a positive argument for ethics and to ask again, in the light of this discussion, where the ethical dimensions of Latour's work might be located. Towards the end of the article, I suggest that Latour's concept of exteriority obliges him to pursue a politics of reality which is the special providence of ‘moralists’, rather than a politics of virtual reality in which all entities, human and non-human, are engaged. (shrink)

Since the 19th century many philosophers have argued, that metaphysics will have no more function at all. But the concept of metaphysics has many aspects. It must not only be understood as a system, based on everlasting principles. In the following article it is used in the sense of a philosophical cosmology. The startingpoint are the sciences, which exclude by their method the observer in his subjectivity; their view of the world must remain incomplete. Philosophical cosmology therefore has the task (...) to complete the scientific interpretation of reality by other perspectives and to connect them with one another. The unity of reality as well as that of human experience forbids a side by side of different “Sprachspiele”. A philosophical cosmology therefore develops an interpretation of reality which embraces the scientific view of the world as well as the observer in his subjectivity and those relations, which are determined by it. Already Leibniz has tried to integrate both perspectives; in the 20th century, under new conditions, especially Whitehead has developed a philosopical cosmology. For a modern concept of metaphysics it is characteristic, that it is not a system, but a permanent process, in which all relevant experiences of man in a certain epoch are synthesized. (shrink)

For centuries scientists and philosophers have pondered the relationship between scientific theory and reality. Analyzing two major positions, the author points out the many assumptions required to adopt the realist view, and nihilism implicit in the instrumentalist position.

Is there a possible profit from the loss of the sense of reality? The loss of the sense of reality is a mental disorder that needs treatment, otherwise the person concerned will suffer harm in the short term. We cannot imagine that therefrom a profit could result. Don Quixote gives an example of a loss of reality in a slightly different sense. He is no longer committed to the banal, everyday reality, in this area he fails completely. But he has (...) another field, as it were, a higher reality, where he wins. A similar case is told to us by Plato in the story of Thales, who falls into the well while observing the stars, and is therefore laughed at by a Thracian maid. But for Plato, Thales is a positive example. The philosopher is less concerned with the reality that lies just before his feet than with what is generally true and real. Plato himself devalues what can be experienced around us in favour of the ideas. These are not perceptible, but nevertheless they are what actually exists. (shrink)

If physical reality is nonseparable, as quantum mechanics suggests, then it may contain processes of a quite novel kind. Such nonseparable processes could connect space-like separated events without violating relativity theory or any defensible locality condition. Appeal to nonseparable processes could ground theoretical explanations of such otherwise puzzling phenomena as the two-slit experiment, and EPR- type correlations. We find such phenomena puzzling because they threaten cherished conceptions of how causes operate to produce their effects. But nonseparable processes offer us an (...) alternative deal of natural order, conformity to which makes such phenomena seem quite normal and not at all unexpected. Attempts to answer the further question, as to whether an appeal to a nonseparable process provides a genuine "causal" explanation, have something to teach us about our concept of causation, but do not threaten to undermine the value of the explanation itself. (shrink)

Атореферат диссертации на соискание ученой стеnени кандидата философских наук. Работа выnолнена в Московском государственном университете им. М.В.Ломоносова. Защита диссертации состоялась 27 января 1984 г. на заседании сnециализированного совета по философским наукам Цель диссертационного исследования состояла в том, чтобы показать природу оценочного отражения действительности и органическую связь познавательной и практической деятельности людей с деятельностью оценочной. Resumen de la tesis en opción al grado científico de doctor en ciencias filosóficas. El trabajo se realizó en la Universidad Estatal de Moscú M. V. Lomonósov. (...) La defensa de la tesis tuvo lugar el 27 de enero de 1984 en sesión del consejo especializado en ciencias filosóficas. El objetivo de la tesis consistió en mostrar la naturaleza del reflejo valorativo de la realidad y su nexo orgánico con las actividades cognoscitiva y práctica. (shrink)

Mediante la apropiación consciente de la realidad objetiva, no solo conocemos el mundo que nos rodea, sino que lo valoramos desde determinadas posiciones, desde el punto de vista de unas u otras necesidades, inclinaciones, fines. La apropiación de la realidad no se reduce al descubrimiento del ser natural de los objetos existentes, independientemente de nosotros, sino que incluye la determinación del significado de ese ser para nosotros, para nuestra vida y actividad. Partiendo de la constatación de este hecho, el objetivo (...) del presente artículo consiste en el análisis de algunas ideas relacionadas con la naturaleza de la valoración y el mecanismo de su interrelación con el conocimiento . (shrink)

Nevertheless an inquiry into the current notions of metaphysics and into the attitude of the Metaphysical Society towards its own professed object qualifies eminently enough as a scholarly examination of a relevant philosophical theme. The professed object of the Society, as stated in the first article of its constitution, is "the study of reality." "Reality" may seem a despairingly vague notion. Yet under its aegis the widely scattered metaphysical endeavors in America, with their seemingly hopeless centrifugal tendencies, have been gathered (...) into organized activity and have stayed together and expanded during the past twenty-two years. That in itself is an altogether remarkable achievement. In fact, it was unbelievable twenty-two years ago, outside the foresight and the courage of the founders of the Metaphysical Society. How "reality" could be the operative notion under which all this was accomplished is accordingly a theme worthy of the closest scrutiny. The theme is all the more timely at the present moment when the corporate organization of the metaphysical enterprise, commenced twenty-two years ago in America, is about to attain its required fulfilment in expansion on the global front. That is the goal envisaged for the first meeting of the International Metaphysical Society, at Varna in 1973. (shrink)

The way we understand the environment is analogous to the way we draw a map. Drawing insights from this analogy, this paper shows how the abstraction that occurs in ecological explanation can lead to damaging distortion. It is mistaken, therefore, to assume that by abstraction we can easily determine the correct variables for controlling a given ecosystem as if it were ideally closed. Recent work shows that the environment is a global composite with a very high degree of internal dependence (...) between its parts, a kind of dependence that makes it more holistic than a machine and perhaps even as holistic as an organism. This paper was presented at the 6th European Meeting of Jesuits in Science on “Science and Culture”, Frankfurt a. M., Germany (8th - 12th September 1999). (shrink)

Does science provide knowledge of reality? In this paper, I offer a positive response to this question. I reject the anti-realist claim that we are unable to acquire knowledge of reality in favour of the realist view that science yields knowledge of the external world. But what world is that? Some argue that science leads to the overthrow of our commonsense view of the world. Common sense is “stone-age metaphysics” to be rejected as the false theory of our primitive ancestors. (...) Against such eliminativists about common sense, I argue that science both preserves and explains commonsense experience of the world. Though science may lead to the overthrow of deeply held beliefs, common sense reflects a more basic and durable level of experience. Commonsense beliefs are well-confirmed beliefs which are vindicated by their role in successful practical action each and every day. Common sense provides a firm basis on which to establish the realist approach to science. (shrink)