Este estudo teve como objetivo estimar a Qualidade de Vida (QV) em pacientes com transtorno depressivo maior antes e após tratamento antidepressivo eficaz. Participaram do estudo 26 indivíduos (18 a 65 anos) com episódio agudo de Transtorno Depressivo Maior, segundo critérios do DSM-IV. A duração do..

Female sex steroids can affect the motor system, modulating motor cortex excitability as well as performance in dexterity and coordination tasks. However, it has not yet been explored whether FSS affects the cognitive components of motor behavior. Mu is a sensorimotor rhythm observed by electroencephalography in alpha and beta frequency bands in practices such as motor imagery and action observation. This rhythm represents a window for studying the activity of neural circuits involved in motor cognition. Herein we investigated whether the (...) alpha-mu and beta-mu power in the sensorimotor region and the alpha and beta power over frontal, parietal, and occipital regions are modulated differently in the menstrual, follicular, and luteal phases of menstrual cycles in right-handed dominant women. To do so, these women underwent MI and AO in the three menstrual cycle phases. The spectral activity of the cortical regions for the alpha and beta bands were compared between phases of the menstrual cycle and a correlation analysis was also performed in relation to estrogen and progesterone levels. For the hypothesis-based approach, beta-mu event-related desynchronization was significantly stronger in the C3 channel in the follicular phase than in the menstrual and luteal phases. For the data-driven approach, beta ERD during MI was higher in the follicular phase than in the menstrual and luteal phases in the frontal region. These findings suggest the effect of FSS on executive movement control. No effect of menstrual cycle phases was observed in cortical areas investigated during OA, but alpha and beta bands correlated positively with the follicular phase plasma estradiol level. Thus, the attenuation of alpha and beta bands referring to mirror neuron activities appears to be associated with inhibition of cortical activity when estradiol levels are lower, improving cognitive processing of motor action. (shrink)

While this is not the first study of reception histories of Indian and European ideas across East-West boundaries, Thomas J. Green's distinctive contribution is to show–via a microscopic focus on two thinkers whose intellectual trajectories cannot be fully understood within the history of any single nation–how the macroscopic processes of modernity and secularisation in the long nineteenth-century must be seen as transnational phenomena. The argument is centred on the German scholar of comparative religion, Friedrich Max Müller and the Bengali advocate (...) for Hindu socio-religious reform, Swami Vivekananda. Green masterfully brings to light the surprising convergences between these two figures... (shrink)

Partindo do tratamento da questão sobre a função social do filósofo, constroem-se os aportes teóricos para direcionar alguns apontamentos para uma temática semelhante: a função social do professor de filosofia. Serão propostas quatro funções sociais para o filósofo como aportes para a discussão a respeito do papel social do professor de filosofia. É para chegar a esses aportes que a investigação é dividida em dois momentos. No primeiro a função social do filósofo é discutida com amparo das reflexões de Franklin (...) Leopoldo e Silva. Serão extraídas quatro funções sociais do filósofo. No segundo momento é discutida a relação entre filosofia e educação. As quatro funções sociais do filósofo serão aplicadas no contexto da atividade do professor de filosofia. O artigo se encerra com as Considerações Finais. (shrink)

A fim de celebrar o bicentenário da publicação d´ O mundo como vontade e representação, rememoraremos uma polêmica de grandes proporções na filosofia alemã ao final do século XIX: a Pessimismus-Frage. Originada pela recepção da filosofia schopenhaueriana, essa polêmica suscitou – sobretudo após a morte de Schopenhauer - extensos debates entre os partidários do pessimismo filosófico e seus críticos. Iniciaremos descrevendo algumas características do horizonte intelectual alemão da época. A seguir, apresentaremos traços do pensamento de três representantes da chamada escola (...) de Schopenhauer, defensores do pessimismo filosófico. Posteriormente, elencaremos algumas das principais críticas dirigidas contra Schopenhauer e seu pessimismo, oriundas sobretudo do movimento neokantiano, ora dominante na filosofia universitária alemã. Concluiremos mostrando como a Pessimismus-Frage tinha como pressuposto uma discussão acerca da natureza e dos limites da própria filosofia, ressaltando a influência da filosofia schopenhaueriana durante a segunda metade do século XIX na Alemanha. (shrink)

Eric Weil, Karl Jaspers e Martin Heidegger são três filósofos alemães, um deles, judeu: Weil apresenta na categoria do finito uma possibilidade entre os discursos filosóficos que compreende Heidegger e Jaspers. O presente artigo propõe uma compreensão parcial de Jaspers e Heidegger por meio da categoria do finito weiliana e da retomada operada por essa possibilidade do discurso – a finitude – da categoria da obra, cuja fenomenologia é o nazismo. Para esse objetivo, dividiu-se o artigo em três seções, seguidas (...) de uma introdução. Na Introdução apresentamos a relação entre os três pensadores dada por meio de dois textos de Weil. Também elencamos os motivos da escolha das obras de Heidegger e Jaspers que serão discutidas. A primeira seção do artigo contém uma apresentação dos conceitos weilianos que são a base para as seções seguintes. Na segunda seção, esses conceitos são cotejados com o pensamento heideggeriano. Na terceira seção, aplicamos o mesmo método ao pensar de Jaspers, mostrando as limitações que o pensamento de Heidegger encontra no plano político. Encerramos com um pequeno balanço da discussão. (shrink)

ABSTRACT In Eric Weil’s Logic of Philosophy, the work appears as a rupture with the absolute, an attitude of pure violence, whose opposition is realized by acting, therefore, it is mute. And yet, this attitude has a language. This paper seeks to understand how this contradiction is possible, characterizing the language that the work makes use of. To this end, we have divided this paper into three sections. In the first section, we present the distinction between language and discourse as (...) understood by Weil. Thus arises the resource through which the loan of a discourse to violence is understood, which allows access to its language. In the second section we propose a division of the language of the work into three levels: phenomenon, formality and form. In this section we also discuss an example of the formality with the condition category. In the last section, we propose six features that constitute the third level of the language of the work: myth, metaphor, feeling, usefulness, proposition and imperative. The paper concludes with a review of the aspects worked in the light of the lie and with the proposal of an imperative that is opposed to the imperative of the work, therefore, to its language. (shrink)

Nosso propósito é utilizar a figura do literato-filósofo cunhada por Margutti para a compreensão do específico da filosofia brasileira, cujo caso-exemplo tomado por nós no presente artigo é Machado de Assis. Para tanto, o trabalho será dividido em três momentos. No primeiro faremos a apresentação de outras formas de expressão filosófica que não a forma tradicional de sistema, estabelecendo assim uma primeira relação entre filosofia e literatura. O segundo consiste na caracterização geral da filosofia brasileira tendo por premissa a apresentação (...) contida no momento inicial. Destacamos três elementos que serão apresentados para caracterizar a filosofia brasileira: o procedimento do caminho inverso, a dependência das características culturais dos povos ibéricos e o uso do paralelo. A partir desses elementos será possível introduzir na discussão a figura do literato-filósofo. Finalizamos então com a discussão se existe ou não uma filosofia em Machado de Assis, consoante com o exposto nas etapas anteriores. Para tanto, sintetizamos duas leituras de Machado como um autor em que não há uma densidade propriamente filosófica, a de Benedito Nunes e a de Miguel Reale, para em seguida contrapormos duas leituras opostas, em que o veio filosófico do Bruxo do Cosme Velho corre mais vigoroso: as de Maia Neto e Margutti. (shrink)

O mal radical em Eric Weil compreende a suspeita a respeito das paixões: encontra-se nelas o motivo da ação? As paixões, entretanto, podem ser domesticadas. É nessa perspectiva que o mal radical se relaciona com a instrução. Para abordar essa relação, nosso estudo desenvolve um tratamento do mal, desafio para a filosofia, que em Weil tem como resposta o conceito de violência. Após situarmos o desafio do mal como violência, é possível entender no que Weil se difencia de Kant ao (...) apresentar o conceito de mal radical. Apresentarmos brevemente a leitura de Weil do mal radical kantiano, para em seguida comparar as semelhanças e diferenças entre ambos. Encerramos apresentando o modo como a instrução pode educar as paixões. (shrink)

A sociedade moderna weiliana se caracteriza entre outras coisas pela sua sua concepção de ciência. Ambas fundadas no princípio do cálculo eficaz, a compreensão de seu funcionamento e de suas limitações caminham juntas. Assim, analisar a sociedade moderna contempla uma discussão da instância que funciona como sua autoconsciência: a concepção de ciência que lhe é própria, as ciências sociais, cuja matriz é a ciência da natureza. Ciência e sociedade moderna são compreendidas no âmbito da categoria weiliana da condição. Aqui não (...) existe apelo a um princípio incondicionado. Desse modo, a questão do sentido não pode ser feita. Não se trata com isso de renunciar às conquistas da ciência moderna. Na visão de Weil, entretanto, deve-se reconhecer que a questão do sentido pode ser feita adequadamente. Isso porque ela deve ser posta pela filosofia. Nosso objetivo no presente trabalho é discutir a relação entre sociedade moderna, ciência moderna e o sentido. Isso porque se existe uma ciência de uma sociedade eficaz também existe uma ciência do sentido: essa é a filosofia. (shrink)

Entendendo a violência como a negação do sentido e da razão, bem como a recusa daquilo que compõe a essência do mundo do homem que vive em uma determinada atitude, nosso objetivo no presente trabalho é analisar esse conceito na Lógica da Filosofia de Eric Weil, que apresenta o conjunto dos discursos filosóficos no seu itinerário na forma de categorias, nos detendo naquelas nas quais a violência aparece na forma de mal. Tenciona-se tratar do mal na sua especificidade conforme ele (...) é apresentado pelo autor nas categorias selecionadas, constituindo assim um panorama segundo as variadas possibilidades discursivas. Levamos em conta para isso tanto a sucessão das várias categorias bem como a relação das mesmas com as suas respectivas atitudes. Finalmente, procuramos entender o mal não como um falso problema, mas como uma dificuldade real que se apresenta para a elaboração de um sentido para o mundo do homem. (shrink)

We shall revisit a debate which has been going on at least since pioneering British Indologists like William Jones first encountered the ‘Brahmanic theology’ we now know as Vedānta, namely, the nature of the relationship—if any—between certain forms of ‘western’ and ‘Indian’ idealisms, and how these metaphysical systems have influenced Christian theology. Specifically, we look at the question of possible thematic and conceptual convergences between Neoplatonism and Advaita Vedānta, and argue that significant parallels can be found in their common conception (...) of the Absolute as Being. Rather than attempt a comprehensive overview of the two systems, we take the divine ‘I AM’ revealed to Moses in Exodus 3.14 as the locus classicus of Christian philosophical interpretations of God as Being itself, and explore how four seminal figures read this passage in light of Neoplatonic and Vedāntic influences. We shall see that similarities and divergences in the readings of Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Meister Eckhart and Henri Le Saux can be understood in terms of how they negotiate the relation between the One and the many, or between ‘being’ and ‘knowing’. The more these figures allow themselves to be influenced by Neoplatonism and Advaita Vedānta, the more we see any clear ontological distinction between creature and Creator start to break down. This verse, therefore, proves to be an unusually fruitful test case for exploring the relation between the underlying Neoplatonic and Vedāntic metaphysics which structure varying Christian interpretations of it. (shrink)

This paper aims to develop a brief analysis of spirituality in the Christian perspective from Luke 10.25-37, emphasizing the existing elective affinities between the notion of spirituality expressed in this narrative and the Ethics of Alterity in Emmanuel Levinas. The method used in this research is the literature review. For methodological reasons, this reflection was developed from the historical-critical exegetical process. The considerations found in this research line up to a prospect that the Other/Next assumes a vital place in the (...) spirituality of the Christian faith. Despite of the existing elective affinities between the Philosophy of Alterity and the Christian spirituality, the relationship between spirituality and ethics is a complex and essential drama for the search field of philosophy of religion. (shrink)

Uma apresentação da categoria weiliana da obra Resumo: No presente artigo propomos uma apresentação da categoria weiliana da obra, a categoria da violência pura. Para tanto, dividimos o artigo em três seções. Na primeira, descrevemos a atitude e a categoria da obra. Trata-se da categoria weiliana da rejeição consciente da razão e do indivíduo que vive a sua atitude. Na segunda, mostramos como se dá a compreensão da obra pela filosofia weiliana. Essa compreensão só é possível emprestando à obra uma (...) linguagem que ela rejeita, a linguagem filosófica. Na terceira, concluímos com uma descrição do chamado homem da obra, conforme visto na categoria da obra. Utilizamos também a tipologia do líder das multidões desamparadas presente no ensaio Masses et individus historiques. Palavras-chave: Obra; Categoria; Violência; Eric Weil. A presentation of the Weilian category of the work Abstract: In this paper we propose a presentation of the Weilian category of the work, the category of pure violence. To this end, we divided the paper into three sections. In the first, we describe the attitude and the category of the work. It is the Weilian category of conscious rejection of reason and the individual who lives his attitude.In the second, we show how the category of the work is understood by Weilian philosophy. This understanding is only possible by lending the work a language that it rejects, the philosophical language.In the third, we conclude with a description of the so-called man of the work, as seen in the category of the work. In the last section, we also used the typology of the leader of the helpless crowd present in the essay Masses et individus historiques. Keywords: Work; Category; Violence; Eric Weil. Une présentation de la catégorie weilienne de l'œuvre Résumé: Dans cet article, nous proposons une présentation de la catégorie weilienne de l'œuvre, la catégorie de la violence pure. Pour ce faire, nous avons divisé l'article en trois différentes sections. Dans le premier, nous décrivons l'attitude et la catégorie de l'œuvre. C'est la catégorie weilienne du rejet conscient de la raison et de l'individu qui vit cette attitude. Dans la deuxième section, nous montrons comment l'œuvre est comprise par la philosophie weilienne. Cette compréhension n'est possible qu'en prêtant à l'œuvre un langage qu'elle rejette, le langage philosophique. Dans la troisième section, nous concluons par une description du soi-disant homme du travail, vu dans la catégorie travail. Nous avons également utilisé la typologie du chef de la foule désemparées présente dans l'essai Masses et individus historiques. Mots clés: Œuvre ; Catégorie ; Violence ; Eric Weil. Data de registro: 29/04/2021 Data de aceite: 01/12/2021. (shrink)

A visão de Hegel como um pensador conservador não é um fenômeno isolado. Para alguns críticos, Hegel é comumente considerado um apologeta do Estado prussiano e um filósofo daquilo que comumente se denomina estatismo. Eric Weil, contudo, não considera essa definição como condizente com uma retratação fiel do filósofo alemão, assemelhando-se mais a uma caricatura. Nesse sentido, Weil defende uma leitura do pensamento político hegeliano que põe em xeque essa visão, fazendo uma crítica da crítica que, tal como Kant é (...) o rigorista moral, ou Platão é o filósofo das Idéias, coloca Hegel como o filósofo do estatismo e para quem o indivíduo é nada e o Estado é tudo. Para determinar até que ponto essa perspectiva possui lastro, Weil advoga em favor de uma análise do pensamento político de Hegel, inquirindo sobre a real dimensão que o Estado possui no seio desse pensamento. É dessa maneira que é possível delimitar até que ponto esse retrato comumente traçado de Hegel corresponde com a realidade. (shrink)

O mal ocupa a condição de problema para a filosofia desde a Antiguidade. Passando pelas ponderações dos estóicos e de Santo Agostinho, tratado no contexto da teodiceia por Leibniz, o mal aporta como objeto de preocupação para a moral em Kant. Muito conhecido por sua definição como um kantiano pós-hegeliano, é com Kant, mas indo além dele que Weil trata do mal, pensando-o como formas de violência. Considerada como o outro do sentido e da razão, a violência se manifesta de (...) maneiras variadas. Nosso intuito é determinar o conceito de mal em Eric Weil enquanto forma de violência. Para isso, nos propomos a situar no esquema conceitual da violência duas formas de mal discutidas por Weil nos seus textos: o mal radical e o mal diabólico. (shrink)

O objetivo do presente trabalho é oferecer uma via de acesso ao pensamento de Eric Weil por meio de uma apresentação de alguns dos seus principais conceitos. Trata-se dos conceitos de atitude, categoria e retomada, elementos que constituem o léxico próprio do pensamento weiliano e cuja compreensão é capital para o enfrentamento de sua principal obra, a Lógica da filosofia. Oferece-se no presente artigo uma explanação introdutória sobre algumas das ferramentas conceituais fundamentais para a pesquisa na filosofia weiliana. Para tanto, (...) dividiu-se o artigo em três seções. Na primeira, introduziu-se a discussão weiliana a respeito da filosofia e do seu outro, a violência, bem como de uma lógica da filosofia. Encerra-se essa etapa apresentando informações importantes sobre as categorias weilianas. Na segunda seção discute-se de modo mais detido as categorias e atitudes, sua dinâmica e a passagem entre elas. Diferenciam-se atitudes reais das atitudes puras, aquelas que geram as categorias. Na terceira seção, tratamos do conceito de retomada. Concluí-se essa seção com as categorias formais que esquematizam a lógica da filosofia e realizam a transição do formal para o concreto: sentido e sabedoria. (shrink)

Music can reduce stress and anxiety, enhance positive mood, and facilitate social bonding. However, little is known about the role of music and related personal or cultural variables in maintaining wellbeing during times of stress and social isolation as imposed by the COVID-19 crisis. In an online questionnaire, administered in 11 countries, participants rated the relevance of wellbeing goals during the pandemic, and the effectiveness of different activities in obtaining these goals. Music was found to be the most effective activity (...) for three out of five wellbeing goals: enjoyment, venting negative emotions, and self-connection. For diversion, music was equally good as entertainment, while it was second best to create a sense of togetherness, after socialization. This result was evident across different countries and gender, with minor effects of age on specific goals, and a clear effect of the importance of music in people's lives. Cultural effects were generally small and surfaced mainly in the use of music to obtain a sense of togetherness. Interestingly, culture moderated the use of negatively valenced and nostalgic music for those higher in distress. (shrink)

The main objective of the article is to understand the notion of power in Foucault as an action on action in a relationship of forces. In principle, the power of sovereignty and biopower in classical times are investigated. Where it is perceived that the former has negative and repressive connotations, while this one has positive and productive connotations of facts, happenings. Then, an analysis of Foucault's power is analyzed, where it is possible to verify that there is no construction of (...) a Theory of Power in Foucault, but only an ascending analysis of power, thus departing from specificity for general aspects. Finally, we will analyze the power relationship, seen as an action over action, in this action-reaction movement, there is its need, its becoming, its truth, which is the exercise of power, functioning. Thus, from the molecular to the complex composition, from the invisible to the visible, from the body to the population, power is understood, that is, power relations in the Foucaultian web. (shrink)

The indisputable success of the European integration project also prompted other regions of the world to follow suit. On the other side of coin, these regional blocs cultivated free trade within but remained protectionist vis-àvis the outside, thereby impeding the progress of the multilateral trade system. But also the soaring number of WTO member states accompanied by their incompatible interests, its ambitious agenda spanning over 20 diverse issues and, in particular, the single undertaking approach emerged as the Doha’s Round “stumbling (...) blocks”. The utter dismay over the Doha’s Round deadlock has provoked countries to opt for alternative for a outside the WTO in their endeavor to expedite far-reaching trade liberalization. Besides the vast economic growth in Asia and the rise of international production networks, this urge for deeper integration represents one of the central root causes for the most recent wave of PTAs which has been gathering force over the course of the 21st century and increasingly puts the WTO’s raison d’être under critical scrutiny. (shrink)

This collection of essays explores the metaphysical thesis that the living world is not made up of substantial particles or things, as has often been assumed, but is rather constituted by processes. The biological domain is organised as an interdependent hierarchy of processes, which are stabilised and actively maintained at different timescales. Even entities that intuitively appear to be paradigms of things, such as organisms, are actually better understood as processes. Unlike previous attempts to articulate processual views of biology, which (...) have tended to use Alfred North Whitehead’s panpsychist metaphysics as a foundation, this book takes a naturalistic approach to metaphysics. It submits that the main motivations for replacing an ontology of substances with one of processes are to be found in the empirical findings of science. Biology provides compelling reasons for thinking that the living realm is fundamentally dynamic, and that the existence of things is always conditional on the existence of processes. The phenomenon of life cries out for theories that prioritise processes over things, and it suggests that the central explanandum of biology is not change but rather stability, or more precisely, stability attained through constant change. This edited volume brings together philosophers of science and metaphysicians interested in exploring the consequences of a processual philosophy of biology. The contributors draw on an extremely wide range of biological case studies, and employ a process perspective to cast new light on a number of traditional philosophical problems, such as identity, persistence, and individuality. (shrink)

Gilles Deleuze was one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth-century, and Smith is widely recognized to be one of his most penetrating interpreters, as well as an important philosophical voice in his own right. Combining his most important pieces over the last fifteen years along with two new essays, this book is Smith 's definitive treatise on Deleuze. The essays are divided into four sections, which cover Deleuze's use of the history of philosophy, an overview of his philosophical (...) system, an analysis of several Deleuzian concepts, as well as an assessment of his position within contemporary philosophy. (shrink)

1 The Zero-Force Evolutionary Law 2 Randomness, Hierarchy, and Constraint 3 Diversity 4 Complexity 5 Evidence, Predictions, and Tests 6 Philosophical Foundations 7 Implications.

A large body of research in political science claims that the way in which democratic citizens think about politics is motivationally biased by partisanship. Numerous critics argue that the evidence for this claim is better explained by theories in which party allegiances influence political cognition without motivating citizens to embrace biased beliefs. This article has three aims. First, I clarify this criticism, explain why common responses to it are unsuccessful, and argue that to make progress on this debate we need (...) a more developed theory of the connections between group attachments and motivated reasoning. Second, I develop such a theory. Drawing on research on coalitional psychology and the social functions of beliefs, I argue that partisanship unconsciously biases cognition by generating motivations to advocate for party interests, which transform individuals into partisan press secretaries. Finally, I argue that this theory offers a superior explanation of a wide range of relevant findings than purely non-motivational theories of political cognition. (shrink)

There has recently been a focus on the question of statue removalism. This concerns what to do with public history statues that honour or otherwise celebrate ethically bad historical figures. The specific wrongs of these statues have been understood in terms of derogatory speech, inapt honours, or supporting bad ideologies. In this paper I understand these bad public history statues as history, and identify a distinctive class of public history-specific wrongs. Specifically, public history plays an important identity-shaping role, and bad (...) public history can commit specifically ontic injustice. Understanding bad public history in terms of ontic injustice helps understand not just to address bad public history statues, but also understand the value of public history more broadly. (shrink)

ABSTRACTThis article studies multi-stakeholder initiatives as spaces for both deliberation and contestation between constituencies with competing discourses and disputed values, beliefs, and preferences. We review different theoretical perspectives on MSIs, which see them mainly as spaces to find solutions to market problems, as spaces of conflict and bargaining, or as spaces of consensus. In contrast, we build on a contestatory deliberative perspective, which gives equal value to both contestation and consensus. We identify four types of internal contestation which can be (...) present in MSIs—procedural, inclusiveness, epistemic, and ultimate-goal—and argue that embracing contestation and engaging in ongoing revision of provisional agreements, criteria, and goals can enhance the democratic quality of MSIs. Finally, we explore the implications of this perspective for theorizing about the democratic quality in MSIs and about the role of corporations in transnational governance. (shrink)

David Lewis's work is of fundamental importance in many areas of philosophical inquiry and there are few areas of Anglo-American philosophy where his impact has not been felt. Lewis's philosophy also has a rare unity: his views form a comprehensive philosophical system, answering a broad range of questions in metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, philosophy of action and many other areas. This breadth of Lewis's work, however, has meant that it is difficult to know where to start in (...) Lewis's work and a casual reader may often miss some of the illuminating connections between apparently quite disparate pieces of Lewis's work. This book aims to make this body of work more accessible to a general philosophical readership, while also providing a unified overview of the many contributions Lewis has made to contemporary Anglo-American philosophy. The book can be divided into four parts. The first part examines Lewis's metaphysical picture - one of the areas where he has had the greatest impact and also the framework for the rest of his theories. The second section discusses Lewis's important contributions in the philosophy of mind, language and meaning. The third part explores some of Lewis's work in decision theory, metaethics and applied ethics, areas where his work in not necessarily as widely appreciated, but in which he has done a range of work that is both accessible and important. The final section focuses on Lewis's distinctive philosophical method, perhaps one of his most significant legacies, which combines naturalism with "common-sense" theorizing. (shrink)

Several democratic theorists have recently sought to vindicate the ideal of equal political power (“political equality”) by tying it to the non-derivative value of egalitarian relationships. This chapter critically discusses such arguments. It clarifies what it takes to vindicate the ideal of political equality, and distinguishes different versions of the relational egalitarian argument for it. Some such arguments appeal to the example of a society without social status inequality (such as caste or class structures); others to personal relationships among equals, (...) like friendship. Each strategy faces problems. After discussing what social status consists in, the chapter argues that social status equality does not require an equal distribution of power, but only that unequal distributions are not justified on grounds incompatible with the citizens’ fundamental equal moral standing. By contrast, personal relationships among equals do require equal power; but establishing that their norms apply to our political community is challenging. (shrink)

Since 2016, when the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal began to emerge, public concern has grown around the threat of “online manipulation”. While these worries are familiar to privacy researchers, this paper aims to make them more salient to policymakers — first, by defining “online manipulation”, thus enabling identification of manipulative practices; and second, by drawing attention to the specific harms online manipulation threatens. We argue that online manipulation is the use of information technology to covertly influence another person’s decision-making, by targeting (...) and exploiting their decision-making vulnerabilities. Engaging in such practices can harm individuals by diminishing their economic interests, but its deeper, more insidious harm is its challenge to individual autonomy. We explore this autonomy harm, emphasising its implications for both individuals and society, and we briefly outline some strategies for combating online manipulation and strengthening autonomy in an increasingly digital world. (shrink)

Predictive processing and its apparent commitment to explaining cognition in terms of Bayesian inference over hierarchical generative models seems to flatly contradict the pragmatist conception of mind and experience. Against this, I argue that this appearance results from philosophical overlays at odd with the science itself, and that the two frameworks are in fact well-poised for mutually beneficial theoretical exchange. Specifically, I argue: first, that predictive processing illuminates pragmatism’s commitment to both the primacy of pragmatic coping in accounts of the (...) mind and the profound organism-relativity of experience; second, that this pragmatic, “narcissistic” character of prediction error minimization undermines its ability to explain the distinctive normativity of intentionality; and third, that predictive processing therefore mandates an extra-neural account of intentional content of exactly the sort that pragmatism’s communitarian vision of human thought can provide. (shrink)

What is a normative reason for acting? In this paper, I introduce and defend a novel answer to this question. The starting-point is the view that reasons are right-makers. By exploring difficulties facing it, I arrive at an alternative, according to which reasons are evidence of respects in which it is right to perform an act, for example, that it keeps a promise. This is similar to the proposal that reasons for a person to act are evidence that she ought (...) to do so; however, as I explain, it differs from that proposal in two significant ways. As a result, I argue, the evidence-based account of reasons I advance shares the advantages of its predecessor while avoiding many of the difficulties facing it. (shrink)

A normative reason for a person to? is a consideration which favours?ing. A motivating reason is a reason for which or on the basis of which a person?s. This paper explores a connection between normative and motivating reasons. More specifically, it explores the idea that there are second-order normative reasons to? for or on the basis of certain first-order normative reasons. In this paper, I challenge the view that there are second-order reasons so understood. I then show that prominent views (...) in contemporary epistemology are committed to the existence of second-order reasons, specifically, views about the epistemic norms governing practical reasoning and about the role of higher-order evidence. If there are no second-order reasons, those views are mistaken. (shrink)

In this paper, I respond to Frank Hofmann’s reply to my (2022) argument against “evidential minimalism” (EM). According to defenders of EM, there is a close connection between evidence and normative reasons for belief: evidence is either itself, or (under certain “minimal” conditions) gives rise to, a normative reason for belief. In my (2022), I argued against EM by showing that there are cases where: (i) S possesses strong evidence E for the truth of p at time t, (ii) all (...) minimal conditions for the normativity of E are met at t, (iii) S doesn’t believe p at t, yet (iv) S isn’t criticizable on account of (i)-(iii) at t. I then appealed to a linking claim connecting criticizability with the existence of normative reasons for belief. Hofmann’s reply invokes a distinction between two different kinds of epistemic criticism: a strong and a weak form. I will argue that Hofmann’s distinction fails to save EM from my argument. (shrink)

This book discusses a range of important issues in current philosophical work on the nature of possible worlds. Areas investigated include the theories of the nature of possible worlds, general questions about metaphysical analysis and questions about the direction of dependence between what is necessary or possible and what could be.

We should not be creating conscious, humanoid agents but an entirely new sort of entity, rather like oracles, with no conscience, no fear of death, no distracting loves and hates.

Daniel Whistler argues that Hemsterhuis' philosophy matters and that its exclusion from the canon of modern philosophy has been unjust. This is not just because of its influence on later thinkers, but is primarily because Hemsterhuis' philosophy contains a rich assemblage of ideas and philosophical practices.

Evidence is often taken to be “normative” for doxastic agents. What accounts for the normativity of evidence? According to the view that I’ll call “evidential minimalism”, there is a close connection between strong evidence for the truth of p and a normative reason to believe p: evidence is either itself a normative reason for belief, or evidence gives rise to such a reason when certain other minimal conditions are met. In this paper, I argue against evidential minimalism. I will argue (...) that there are cases where: (i) an individual S possesses strong evidence E for the truth of p at time t, (ii) all other minimal conditions for the normativity of E are met at t, (iii) S doesn’t believe p at t, yet (iv) S isn’t open to any form of criticism on account of (i)-(iii) at t. I will then formulate a plausible linking claim connecting openness to criticism and the existence of normative reasons for belief. The minimalist can either accept or reject this linking claim. I will argue that, either way, the minimalist view falters. (shrink)

We study model theory of actions of finite groups on substructures of a stable structure. We give an abstract description of existentially closed actions as above in terms of invariants and PAC structures. We show that if the corresponding PAC property is first order, then the theory of such actions has a model companion. Then, we analyze some particular theories of interest (mostly various theories of fields of positive characteristic) and show that in all the cases considered the PAC property (...) is first order. (shrink)

It's standard in epistemology to approach questions about knowledge and rational belief using idealized, simplified models. But while the practice of constructing idealized models in epistemology is old, metaepistemological reflection on that practice is not. Greco argues that the fact that epistemologists build idealized models isn't merely a metaepistemological observation that can leave first-order epistemological debates untouched. Rather, once we view epistemology through the lens of idealization and model-building, the landscape looks quite different. Constructing idealized models is likely the best (...) epistemologists can do. Once one starts using epistemological categories like belief, knowledge, and confidence, the realm of idealization and model-building is entered. We can object to a model of knowledge by pointing to a better model, but in the absence of a better model, the fact that a framework for epistemologizing theorizing involves simplifications, approximations, and other inaccuracies-the fact of its status as an idealized model-is not in itself objectionable. Once we accept that theorizing in epistemological terms is inescapably idealized, a number of intriguing possibilities open up. Greco defends a package of epistemological views that might otherwise have looked indefensibly dismissive of our cognitive limitations-a package according to which we know a wide variety of facts with certainty, including what our evidence is, what we know and don't know, and what follows from our knowledge. (shrink)

David Lewis’s arguments against magical ersatzism are notoriously puzzling. Untangling different strands in those arguments is useful for bringing out what he thought was wrong with not just one style of theory about possible worlds, but with much of the contemporary metaphysics of abstract objects. After setting out what I take Lewis’s arguments to be and how best to resist them, I consider the application of those arguments to general theories of properties and relations. The constraints Lewis motivates turn out (...) to yield an argument for concretism about possible individuals that is quite different from the better-known Lewisian arguments for that position. The discussion also touches on the puzzling question of whether things are the way they are because of the properties they have, or are the properties and relations the way they are because of the things that have them. (shrink)

A number of authors have argued that, in order for S to be appropriately held morally responsible for some action or attitude (say, via moral blame), that action or attitude must somehow reflect or express a negative aspect of S’s (“true”, “deep”, or “real”) self. Recently, theorists of “epistemic blame” and “epistemic accountability” have also incorporated certain “self-disclosure” conditions into their accounts of these phenomena. In this paper, I will argue that accounts of epistemic responsibility which require disclosure of an (...) objectionable feature of a person’s self neglect central aspects of our responsibility practices. Specifically, I will argue that we can appropriately hold individuals epistemically responsible for things which do not reflect or express negative aspects of “who they are” in any way. While disclosure of an objectionable feature of (what I will call) a person’s “doxastic self” isn’t altogether irrelevant when it comes to holding that person epistemically responsible, it also isn’t necessary. One lesson I wish to draw is that, insofar as our epistemic responsibility practices are capable of shedding light on the nature of epistemic normativity itself, theorists interested in the latter should be focused on more than just accountability responses which track objectionable features of a person’s self. (shrink)

This volume provides a detailed account of the syntax of expressive language, that is, utterances that express, rather than describe, the emotions and attitudes of the speaker... Daniel Gutzmann demonstrates that expressivity has strong syntactic reflexes that interact with the semantic and pragmatic interpretation of these utterances, and argues that expressivity is in fact a syntactic feature on a par with other established features such as tense and gender. Evidence for this claim is drawn from three detailed case studies (...) of expressive adjectives, intensifiers, and vocatives; their puzzling properties are accounted for through a minimalist approach to syntactic features and agreement, which shows that expressivity can partake in agreement operations, trigger movement, and be selected for syntactically. The analysis not only supports the hypothesis of expressive syntax, but also highlights the hidden role that grammar may play in phenomena that are traditionally considered to be solely semantic in nature" -- Publisher. (shrink)

What is the connection between valid inference and true conditionals? Many conditional logics require that when A is a logical consequence of B, "if B then A" is true. Taking counterlogical conditionals seriously leads to systems that permit counterexamples to that general rule. However, this leaves those of us who endorse non-trivial accounts of counterpossible conditionals to explain what the connection between conditionals and consequence is. The explanation of the connection also answers a common line of objection to non-trivial counterpossibles, (...) which is based on a transition from valid arguments to the corresponding conditionals. It also contributes to the wider project of illuminating the connections between contexts of utterance, on the one hand, and the truth-conditions of conditionals uttered in those contexts, on the other. (shrink)

Perception plays a central and wide‐ranging role in the philosophy of Margaret Cavendish. In this paper, I argue that Cavendish holds a naïve realist theory of perception. The case draws on what Cavendish has to say about perceptual presentation, the role of sympathy in experience, the natures of hallucination and of illusion, and the individuation of kinds. While Cavendish takes perception to have representational content, I explain how this is consistent with naïve realism. In closing, I address challenges to the (...) interpretation, one of which turns on whether Cavendish allows for action at a distance. I argue that she does. (shrink)