People implicitly associate positive ideas with their dominant side of space and negative ideas with their non-dominant side. Right-handers tend to associate “good” with “right” and “bad” with “left,” but left-handers associate “bad” with “right” and “good” with “left.” Whereas right-handers' implicit associations align with idioms in language and culture that link “good” with “right,” left-handers' implicit associations go against them. Can cultural conventions modulate the body-specific association between valence and left-right space? Here, we compared people from Spanish and Moroccan (...) cultures, which differ in the strength of taboos against the use of the left hand, and therefore in their preference for the right. Results showed stronger explicit associations between space and valence in Moroccan participants than in Spaniards, but they did not show any increased tendency for right-handed Moroccans to associate “good” with “right” implicitly. Despite differences in cultural conventions between Spaniards and Moroccans, we find no evidence for a cross-cultural difference in the implicit association between space and valence, which appears to depend on patterns of bodily experience. (shrink)

The growing body of research on temporal and spatial experience lacks a comprehensive theoretical approach. Drawing on Giddens’ framework, we present time-space distanciation as a construct for theorizing the relations between culture, time, and space. TSD in a culture may be understood as the extent to which time and space are abstracted as separate dimensions and activities are extended and organized across time and space. After providing a historical account of its development, we outline a multi-level conceptualization of TSD supported (...) by research on cultural differences in the experience of time and space. We impact this conceptualization by examining two ethnographic case studies. We conclude by highlighting future research directions. TSD is an integrative, interdisciplinary, multi level construct with the potential to guide the burgeoning social science of time and space. (shrink)

Als sozial und kulturell verfasstes Subjekt steht der Mensch in einem inneren Spannungsfeld zwischen Begehren und Gesetz. Seinen Wunschregungen sind Begrenzungen auferlegt, die stets Fragen der Ethik aufrufen. Die Beitrage dieses Buches untersuchen das Verhaltnis von Gesetz und Begehren in einer Reihe von Diskursfeldern, die untereinander in enger Beruhrung stehen: dem theologischen judischer und christlicher Pragung, dem (moral-)philosophischen und literarischen, schliesslich dem psychoanalytischen mit besonderer Gewichtung der Psychoanalyse Jacques Lacans.

“What is the structure of thought?” is as central a question as any in cognitive science. A classic answer to this question has appealed to a Language of Thought (LoT). We point to emerging research from disparate branches of the field that supports the LoT hypothesis, but also uncovers diversity in LoTs across cognitive systems, stages of development, and species. Our letter formulates open research questions for cognitive science concerning the varieties of rules and representations that underwrite various LoT-based systems (...) and how these variations can help researchers taxonomize cognitive systems. (shrink)

Book review: Daniel C. Dennett, From Bacteria to Bach and Back. The evolution of mind, Penguin Random House, UK 2017, pp. 467.

About the ontology of the Polish philosopher Roman Ingarden, as presented in his treatise 'The Controversy about the Existence of the World'.

L'expression marché de l'art, couramment employée, le plus souvent au singulier, soulève une foule de questions, qui vont de l'opposition que l'on établit instinctivement et sans doute un peu vite entre l'art et l'économie marchande, à l'existence d'une multitude de disciplines artistiques différentes, s'adressant des publics, en passant par le caractère de bien public de l'oeuvre, par les formes très particulières que peut revêtir sa consommation et par la présence sous-jacente, anticipée, des générations futures, notamment dans les règles juridiques et (...) l'action de la puissance publique. La place, aujourd'hui prépondérante, prise de longue date par la collectivité dans ce mouvement, justifie que l'on parle de service public culturel et que l'on s'interroge sur la place faite à l'art dans les sociétés du xxe siècle finissant. (shrink)

Media coverage and statements by various Catholic spokespersons regarding the case of Terri Schiavo has generated enormous and deeply unfortunate confusion regarding Church teaching about the use of life-sustaining treatments. Two weeks ago, for example, I received a letter from the superior of a community of Missionary Sisters of Charity, who operate a hospice here in the United States The Missionary Sisters of Charity are the community founded by Mother Theresa, the 20th Century saint whose primary ministry was to rescue (...) dying Untouch-ables from the streets of Calcutta and bring them into her convent where they were washed, sheltered, fed if they were able to eat, prayed for, and cherished. In other words, the sisters gave these poor souls the gift of a death with dignity. The order Mother Theresa founded has continued this ministry, running hospices in the United States and elsewhere for the homeless, the destitute, those dying of AIDS and poverty and drug addiction, and all those dying alone and otherwise unwanted. (shrink)

Daniel, Michael E Review of: Continental ambitions: Roman catholics in North America: The colonial experience, by Kevin Starr, pp. 605, hardback, $59.99.

En soixante ans, les technologies relatives à l’automatisation de la langue ont été très souvent décriées et moquées. Elles connaissent depuis peu un essor considérable et leur utilisation tend à se généraliser, tout au moins pour quelques couples de langues privilégiées. Nous dresserons un état de l’art de la traduction automatisée, évaluerons ses enjeux et nous nous attacherons à décrire le déséquilibre géolinguistique qui règne dans ce domaine. Nous analyserons ensuite plus précisément le cas des langues romanes. Si les pays (...) latins se sont lancés relativement tôt dans la course technologique, leurs systèmes se concentraient surtout sur la traduction à partir de l’anglais et vers l’anglais. Ils commencent aujourd’hui à développer des outils de traduction entre langues romanes, tirant parti de leur proximité linguistique, mais les obstacles à franchir sont encore nombreux pour équiper convenablement toutes les langues.In the last 60 years, automated language technologies have very often been mocked and derided. Recently, however, they have begun to take off and are coming into widespread use, at least for the most common language pairs. This article reports on the state-of-the-art of automated translation, investigates the issues and describes the geo-linguistic imbalance characterising the field. We then analyse the case of the Romance languages in particular. Although the Latin countries joined the technological race at fairly early stage, their systems focused mainly on translating from and into English. They are now beginning to develop tools for translating between Romance languages, drawing on their linguistic proximity, but there are still a great many hurdles to overcome before each of these languages can be effectively processed. (shrink)

Daniel, Michael E Review of: It is right and just: Responses of the Roman Missal, by John M. Cunningham, Strathfield, NSW: St Pauls, 2017, pp. 63, paperback, $9.95.

Authors of Greek and Roman philosophical protreptics imitate a kind of exhortation initially associated with Socrates, creating a thread of typically protreptic intertextuality that classifies protreptic as a genre of philosophical literature. Tracing this intertextuality from the Socratic authors to Boethius, the book shows how Greek and Roman protreptics define philosophy as a revisionary form of education, articulate the ultimate goals of this education, and associate their authors and audiences with philosophy as a new discursive practice and a new way (...) of living. These texts constitute the first chapter in the history of educational revision and thus offer thoughts that continue to inform every debate on educational goals. (shrink)

In contrast to his Anglican writings and practice—where fasting played a prominent role—Newman as a Roman Catholic was practically silent about fasting. This essay suggests that there were many reasons for Newman’s silence on fasting as a Roman Catholic, such as his health, his Oratorian vocation, and the presence of an established communal practice of fasting in the Roman Catholic Church.

In the tradition of classical pragmatism, one could contend there are two kinds of thinkers. The first kind, represented most notably by William James and John Dewey, could be labeled as enthusiastic and prolific writers to whom it posed no difficulty to articulate their ideas at remarkable length and with enviable wit. The pragmatists of the second kind like Charles S. Peirce and George H. Mead, for various reasons, never managed to put their ideas on paper in the form of (...) a longer, systematic treatise. Whereas for Peirce such an endeavor might have arguably been a drag given his rushing mind, exploding with new ideas, Mead seems to never have been quite aware of the pioneering.. (shrink)

In the last five years the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has taken harsh steps against various theologians because of their interpretations of belief. Some theologians were censured; others, silenced; one, excommunicated. The question that emerges from that effort by Rome’s Holy Office to censure theology is whether theology can be universal, i.e., catholic, or whether it must reflect the interpretations of Rome’s Holy Office.

Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Volume 52, Issue 1-2, Page 81-102, January-March 2022. In The Origins of Unfairness, Cailin O’Connor develops a series of evolutionary game models to show that gender might have emerged to solve coordination problems in the division of labor. One assumption of those models is that agents engage in gendered social learning. This assumption puts the explanatory cart before the horse. How did early humans have a well-developed system of gendered social learning before the gendered (...) division of labor? This paper develops a pair of models that show it is possible for the gendered division of labor to arise on more minimal assumptions. (shrink)

Stollenwerk, Daniel J In our contemporary age that has lost confidence in both faith and reason, Pope Benedict XVI insisted throughout his pontificate upon the need for a new synthesis of both. In this article I consider Benedict's study of faith in relation to the ecumenical dialogue and point out that the schism between the Reformed Churches and the Roman Catholic Church occurred at the same time as the breakdown in the Western synthesis of faith and reason. I argue (...) that Benedict's call for a new synthesis may be the only way toward unity at the same time that such a synthesis would fulfil Christianity's call to help direct history and thus construct a more hopeful future. (shrink)

This article presents Roman Ingarden’s theory of causation, as developed in volume III of The Controversy about the Existence of the World, and defends analternative which uses some important insights of Ingarden. It rejects Ingarden’s claim that a cause is simultaneous with its effect and that a cause necessitates its effect. It uses Ingarden’s notion of ‘inclinations’ and accepts Ingarden’s claim that an event cannot necessitate a later event.

Danièle Henky | : L’hypotexte biblique, lorsqu’il est utilisé par les écrivains, notamment dans des ouvrages destinés à la jeunesse, est susceptible d’agir comme un ferment dans la pâte de l’écriture. Cet article se propose d’observer les effets de cette « fermentation » dans un certain nombre d’albums et de romans destinés à la jeunesse en limitant son analyse à l’un des passages de la Genèse auquel il est le plus souvent fait référence dans la littérature pour la jeunesse qu’il (...) s’agisse d’albums pour jeunes enfants ou de romans pour adolescents, celui du Déluge. | : The biblical hypotext, when used by writers, especially in works for the youth, is likely to act as “a ferment in the dough of writing”. This article aims to observe the effects of this “fermentation” in a number of books and novels for youth by limiting its analysis to one of the passages of Genesis to which it is most often referred in literature for young people, be it albums for young children or novels for teenagers, that of the Flood. (shrink)

Thought: A Journal of Philosophy, Volume 10, Issue 1, Page 42-52, March 2021.

Translation from German to English by Daniel Fidel Ferrer -/- What Does it Mean to Orient Oneself in Thinking? -/- German title: "Was heißt: sich im Denken orientieren?" -/- Published: October 1786, Königsberg in Prussia, Germany. By Immanuel Kant (Born in 1724 and died in 1804) -/- Translation into English by Daniel Fidel Ferrer (March, 17, 2014). The day of Holi in India in 2014. -/- From 1774 to about 1800, there were three intense philosophical and theological (...) controversies underway in Germany, namely: Fragments Controversy, the Pantheism Controversy, and the Atheism Controversy. Kant’s essay translated here is Kant’s respond to the Pantheism Controversy. During this period (1770-1800), there was the Sturm und Drang (Storm and Urge (stress)) movement with thinkers like Johann Hamann, Johann Herder, Friedrich Schiller, and Johann Goethe; who were against the cultural movement of the Enlightenment (Aufklärung). Kant was on the side of Enlightenment (see his Answer the Question: What is Enlightenment? 1784). -/- What Does it Mean to Orient Oneself in Thinking? / By Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). [Was heißt: sich im Denken orientieren? English]. (shrink)