This book offers a philosophical analysis of the main themes and problems of Aquinas' metaphysics of creation, centred on the concept of participation, the systematical meaning of which is examined in a critical discussion of the prevailing views of contemporary Thomas scholars.

We-thinking theories allow groups to deliberate as agents. They have been introduced into the economic domain for both theoretical and empirical reasons. Among the few scholars who have proposed formal approaches to illustrate how we-thinking arises, Bacharach offers one of the most developed theories from the game theoretic point of view. He presents a number of intuitions, not always mutually consistent and not fully developed. In this article, I propose a way to complete Bacharach’s theory, generalizing the interdependence hypothesis and (...) building on his intuition about vacillation. It is a simple model of vacillation between the I and we-modes of reasoning, as a way in which we-thinking can come to mind in the face of a decision problem. The vacillation model makes we-reasoning more easily usable in game theory. (shrink)

Logical metonymy resolution (begin a book begin reading a book or begin writing a book) has traditionally been explained either through complex lexical entries (qualia structures) or through the integration of the implicit event via post-lexical access to world knowledge. We propose that recent work within the words-as-cues paradigm can provide a more dynamic model of logical metonymy, accounting for early and dynamic integration of complex event information depending on previous contextual cues (agent and patient). We first present a self-paced (...) reading experiment on German subordinate sentences, where metonymic sentences and their paraphrased version differ only in the presence or absence of the clause-final target verb (Der Konditor begann die Glasur Der Konditor begann, die Glasur aufzutragen/The baker began the icing The baker began spreading the icing). Longer reading times at the target verb position in a high-typicality condition (baker + icing spread ) compared to a low-typicality (but still plausible) condition (child + icing spread) suggest that we make use of knowledge activated by lexical cues to build expectations about events. The early and dynamic integration of event knowledge in metonymy interpretation is bolstered by further evidence from a second experiment using the probe recognition paradigm. Presenting covert events as probes following a high-typicality or a low-typicality metonymic sentence (Der Konditor begann die Glasur AUFTRAGEN/The baker began the icing SPREAD), we obtain an analogous effect of typicality at 100 ms interstimulus interval. (shrink)

More than 7% of all German physicians became members of the Nazi SS during World War II, compared with less than 1% of the general population. In so doing, these doctors willingly participated in genocide, something that should have been antithetical to the values of their chosen profession. The participation of physicians in torture and murder both before and after World War II is a disturbing legacy seldom discussed in medical school, and underrecognised in contemporary medicine. Is there something inherent (...) in being a physician that promotes a transition from healer to murderer? With this historical background in mind, the author, a medical student, defines and reflects upon moral vulnerabilities still endemic to contemporary medical culture. (shrink)

O presente trabalho procurará apontar elementos no caráter de cada um dos heróis-guerreiros na Ilíada de Homero – Aquiles e Pátroclo – e analisar sucintamente como a hýbris do primeiro e a sofrosýne do último são utilizadas de modo significativo na epopeia, a fim de demonstrar a complementaridade entre os dois personagens e garantir o equilíbrio da narrativa naquilo que podemos denominar uma “antropologia homérica”. Ainda, buscará fazer alguns apontamentos sobre as características desta philía que transpassa elementos antagônicos e mostrar (...) o paradoxo em Aquiles – um herói em crise, o qual beira o anti-herói – e a emergência em Pátroclo – um herói necessário, sem o qual a continuidade narrativa da Ilíada não ocorreria. (shrink)

Fundamental questions in value sensitive design include whether and how high-tech products/artefacts could embody values and ethical ideals, and how plural and incommensurable values of ethical and social importance could be chosen rationally and objectively at a collective level. By using a humanitarian cargo drone study as a starting point, this paper tackles the challenges that VSD’s lack of commitment to a specific ethical theory generates in practical applications. Besides, it highlights how mainstream ethical approaches usually related to VSD are (...) incapable of solving main ethical dilemmas raised by technological design for well-being in democratic settings. Accordingly, it is argued that VSD’s ethical-democratic import would substantially be enhanced by the espousal of a procedural ethics stance and the deliberative approach to value and welfare entailed by Amartya Sen’s capability approach. Differently from rival ethical–political theories, its normative and meta-ethical foundations better handle human diversity, value-goal pluralism, conflicting vested interests as well as the epistemic-moral disagreements typical of contemporary complex democracies. Particularly, Sen’s capability approach procedural-deliberative tenets result in an “objective-impartial” choice procedure selecting a “hierarchy” of plural incommensurable values and rational goals thus, suitable to validate an applied science such as welfare-oriented technological design in concrete social environments. Conclusions suggest that refining VSD with a capability-based procedural approach to ethics fosters the concern for democracy and social justice while preserving vital scientific-technical standards. Major advantages are at an applied level to delivering ethically and socially justified, but yet highly functional technologies and high-tech products/artefacts. (shrink)

Partiendo de la pregunta clásica por el origen del mal y sus determinaciones, se trataría aquí de analizar las representaciones del mal en la obra de aquellos escritores (Littell, Amis, Sebald) que, en nuestros días, mucho después de Adorno, recurren a la categoría filosófica del mal y a cierta estética del horror como motivos genuinos del impulso literario.

O presente trabalho procurará apontar olhares sobre o corpo de Odisseu, herói e protagonista da segunda obra homérica, a partir da perspectiva do narrador e da personagem Nausícaa, a princesa dos Feaces. Assim, demonstrar-se-ão, ainda que sucintamente, as metamorfoses sofridas pelo corpo de Odisseu ao longo da obra homérica, as quais o fazem transitar entre o ‘proscrito e o príncipe’. Para tanto, buscar-se-á através da análise do Canto VI, o momento em que se dá o encontro de Odisseu e Nausícaa, (...) a qual toma-o como mendigo ou estrangeiro enviado por Zeus, devido ao estado daquele, isto é, nu e totalmente desprovido, o que contrasta com o tempo imediatamente posterior, no qual o herói, ao cuidar do corpo, torna-se digno, pela fala da própria Nausícaa, de tornar-se seu marido. (shrink)

In this new book, Alessandra Tanesini demonstrates that feminist thought has a lot to offer to the study of Wittgenstein's philosophical work, and that -at the same time-that work can inspire feminist reflection in new directions. In Wittgenstein, Tanesini offers a highly original interpretation of several themes in Wittgenstein's philosophy. She argues that when we look at his work through feminist eyes we discover that he is not primarily concerned with providing solutions to technical problems in the philosophy of (...) mind, mathematics, and language. Instead, his remarks on these topics are intended to offer insights about human finitude, the loneliness of the modern autonomous self, and our relations to other human beings. Thus, the modern conception of the individual emerges as the critical target of Wittgenstein's philosophical work, both early and late. This conception has also been one of the dominant concerns of contemporary feminist philosophy. In this book, Wittgenstein's insights are deployed to further feminist debates on issues such as identity, difference, the masculine character of the modern self. (shrink)

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to show when and how the dialogical-discursive approach began to serve as a basis for thinking about the language acquisition process in Brazil and abroad - especially in France. This theoretical line seeks to analyze - the speech of children starting from the discursive movements found in the relationship between the child and his or her interlocutor (other), taking into account the situational contexts, the dialogism, the constitution of the subject in the speech, (...) etc. Thus a) we refer to the authors responsible for this approach, in a retrospective; b) we explain the theoretical aspects mobilized during the data analysis of children's speech; and c) we utilize the methodological aspects involved in this theoretical perspective. Our aim, therefore, is to discuss not only this other way of looking at children's language, but also the theoretical and methodological challenges that this approach brings to this specific field of investigation. (shrink)

Traditional approaches in deontic logic have focused on the so-called reportative reading of obligation sentences, by providing truth-functional semantics based on a primitive ideality order between possible worlds. Those approaches, however, do not take into account that, in natural language, obligation sentences primarily carry a prescriptive effect. The paper focuses precisely on that prescriptive character, and shows that the reportative reading can be derived from the prescriptive one. A dynamic, non truth-functional semantics for necessity deontic modals is developed, in which (...) the ideality relations among possible worlds can be updated. Finally, it is proven that the semantics solves several of the classic deontic paradoxes. (shrink)

This paper focuses on the Enkratic principle of rationality, according to which rationality requires that if an agent sincerely and with conviction believes she ought to X, then X-ing is a goal in her plan. We analyze the logical structure of Enkrasia and its implications for deontic logic. To do so, we elaborate on the distinction between basic and derived oughts, and provide a multi-modal neighborhood logic with three characteristic operators: a non-normal operator for basic oughts, a non-normal operator for (...) goals in plans, and a normal operator for derived oughts. We prove two completeness theorems for the resulting logic, and provide a dynamic extension of the logic by means of product updates. We illustrate how this setting informs deontic logic by considering issues related to the filtering of inconsistent oughts, the restricted validity of deontic closure, and the stability of oughts and goals under dynamics. (shrink)

Succinct representation and fast access to large amounts of data are challenges of our time. This unique book suggests general approaches of 'complexity of descriptions'. It deals with a variety of concrete topics and bridges between them, while opening new perspectives and providing promising avenues for the 'complexity puzzle'.

Este artigo se propõe a discutir as formas discrepantes como os indivíduos vêm se comportando no que tange a higiene e os relacionamentos interpessoais, na esfera privada e num contexto mais amplo, público, em tempos de pandemia do Covid-19. As principais questões que impulsionam esta análise emanam das diferentes maneiras como o homem vê o problema do contágio, do sujo, do repulsivo e da morte entre seus círculos mais íntimos, bem como a mudança dessa percepção e do próprio comportamento quando (...) confrontado com estranhos. O principal objetivo aqui é trazer à luz pensamentos tabus que podem direcionar a ação humana, a partir do inconsciente, instância psíquica descrita por Freud. Para isso, teremos as obras “O tabu do corpo” e “O tabu da morte” de José Carlos Rodrigues, como base para a elaboração da discussão, sob o olhar da psicanálise. Em situações de catástrofe, evidencia-se quão precária é a condição humana. A partir de comportamentos rituais, muito presentes nos hábitos de higiene estimulados durante a pandemia, o homem imagina possuir controle sobre os elementos externos e internos, fazendo, contudo uma curiosa diferenciação de aproximação ou distanciamento/nojo, dependendo de quão privada/íntima é a relação dele com os demais. A morte não escapa a esta reflexão, assumindo papéis diversos no ideário social, também trespassada pela natureza das relações existentes. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Kierkegaard Studies Yearbook Jahrgang: 20 Heft: 1 Seiten: 259-278.

Burkart et al. present a paradox – general factors of intelligence exist among individual differences (g) in performance in several species, and also at the aggregate level (G); however, there is ambiguous evidence for the existence of g when analyzing data using a mixed approach, that is, when comparing individuals of different species using the same cognitive ability battery. Here, we present an empirical solution to this paradox.

In this paper, we describe the genesis of Boscovich’s Sectionum Conicarum Elementa and discuss the motivations which led him to write this work. Moreover, by analysing the structure of this treatise in some depth, we show how he developed the completely new idea of “eccentric circle” and derived the whole theory of conic sections by starting from it. We also comment on the reception of this treatise in Italy, and abroad, especially in England, where—since the late eighteenth century—several authors found (...) inspiration in Boscovich’s work to write their treatises on conic sections. (shrink)

As a modern academic Ulysses, the historical scientist is enticed by numerous plausible scientific theories that can explain the historical data in search of the truth. However, the predicament of her work is to inevitably crash onto the rocks and cliffs of uncertainty. The problem discussed in this paper is that several scientific models can be suitable to account for the same empirical observations. The risk of falling into speculation is looming, and exceedingly dangerous in science. This is also the (...) case in archaeological sciences, such as bioarchaeology. A bioarchaeologist frequently encounters traces of disease in ancient skeletons, and pertinent patterns may often result from equally probable different causes. This is a methodological issue commonly encountered in the interpretation of pathological patterns in human remains, and constitutes part of the problem known in bioarchaeology as the osteological paradox. During an informal trilogue, three characters discuss the osteological paradox, and attempt to define it in philosophical terms. The aim of this work is to present the problems of scientists with the philosophical approach to the debate between scientific realism and antirealism, focusing in particular on the so-called problem of underdetermination. Our original approach is to apply the distinction between ‘how-possibly’ models and ‘how-actually’ models by Alisa Bokulich to archaeological issues, integrating various fields of science with a multidisciplinary and omnivorous approach. The trilogue ends providing the historical scientist with reasons and means to believe in her ability to conceive of true and reliable scientific models to interpret the historical past. (shrink)

Nowadays, philosophers and scientists tend to agree that, even though human and artificial intelligence work quite differently, they can still illuminate aspects of each other, and knowledge in one domain can inspire progress in the other. For instance, the notion of “artificial” or “synthetic” phenomenology has been gaining some traction in recent AI research. In this paper, we ask the question: what is the use of thinking about phenomenology in the context of AI, and in particular machine learning? We will (...) isolate one sense of “phenomenology”, namely the sense in which it is commonly understood within analytic philosophy of perception. Then, we will give examples of projects within sensory substitution and restoration science that rely heavily on machine learning and to which, according to us, phenomenology in the sense specified makes a relevant contribution. Finally, we will shed some light on what this contribution looks like and why it is important. (shrink)

In this paper, we describe the genesis of Boscovich’s Sectionum Conicarum Elementa and discuss the motivations which led him to write this work. Moreover, by analysing the structure of this treatise in some depth, we show how he developed the completely new idea of “eccentric circle” and derived the whole theory of conic sections by starting from it. We also comment on the reception of this treatise in Italy, and abroad, especially in England, where—since the late eighteenth century—several authors found (...) inspiration in Boscovich’s work to write their treatises on conic sections. (shrink)

There is much of interest in Cassam’s ground-breaking Vices of the Mind. This discussion focuses exclusively on one aspect of his view, namely, his account of what it takes to be properly criticisable or blameworthy for one’s epistemic vices. This critical discussion consists of two sections. The first provides an overview of Cassam’s account of responsibility and criticisability for intellectual vices. The second raises a problem for that account whose formulation is due to Battaly and proposes a solution which, at (...) least in part, could also be adopted by Cassam himself if he were prepared to make some small changes to his view. This solution generates a highly disjunctive account of criticisability and responsibility for possessing an epistemic vice. Although such heterogeneity might seem wholly unsatisfactory, it receives a plausible explanation when the account is put within the context of a Strawsonian approach to the practice of holding people responsible for their epistemic vices. (shrink)

Te Deum Laudamus – Grosser Gott, wir loben dich. A discussion of translations in Afrikaans. The German hymn ‘Grosser Gott, wir loben dich’, written by the Catholic priest, Ignaz Franz, is based on the ‘Te Deum’, one of the oldest hymns in the Christian tradition. The ‘Te Deum’ and the original German text of ‘Großer Gott’ are discussed and a short overview of the reception of the text is given. It is followed by a discussion of translations into Afrikaans: a (...) text in a Lutheran hymnal, the two versions included in the second official hymnal of the Dutch Reformed Churches in South Africa, and another version, also included in the current official hymnal, Liedboek van die Kerk. Theological and hymnological aspects, as well as connections and similarities with the ‘Te Deum’ and the original text in German are investigated.Contribution: The background and reception history of the hymn Grosser Gott, wir loben dich are given, and various translations into Afrikaans are discussed with regard to differences and similarities to the original text. It is shown that changes to texts could contribute to hymns being used to promote strange issues. (shrink)

Amyloid fibril formation plays a central role in the pathogenesis of a number of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases. Transient prefibrillar oligomers forming during the aggregation process, exhibiting a small size and a large hydrophobic surface, can aberrantly interact with a number of molecular targets on neurons, including the lipid bilayer of plasma membranes, resulting in a fatal outcome for the cells. By contrast, the mature fibrils, despite presenting generally a high hydrophobic surface, are endowed with a low (...) diffusion rate and poorly penetrate the interior of the lipid bilayer. However, increasing evidence shows that both intracellular α-synuclein fibrils, as well and as extracellular amyloid-β and β2-microglobulin fibrils, can release oligomers over time that quickly diffuse to reach the membrane of the neighboring cells. The persistent leakage of harmful oligomers from fibrils triggers an ongoing cascade of events resulting in a sustained injury to neurons and glia and also provides aggregates with the ability to cross biological membranes and diffuse between cells or cellular compartments. (shrink)

On the importance of sociological and political thoughts to develop India.