The author explores and criticises two arguments from ambiguity: S. Pinker’s argument from ambiguity in support of the ‘Language of Thought’ hypothesis, and the argument from ambiguity proposed by K. P. Parsons against Davidsonian ‘semantics of truth-conditions’. Leaning primarily on G. Harman and D. Davidson he aims to demonstrate that the Pinker/Parsons arguments share a common strategy, on the one hand, and imply and/or suggest, as he claims, an implausible view of ambiguity, on the other. Discussing Pinker’s argument he further (...) attempts to elucidate the ways in which the modifications of public and inter-subjectively accessible aspects of the use of language reflect the differences in interpretations of an ambiguity. His exploration of the argument against ‘semantics of truth-conditions’ then aims to explain, contra Parsons, the sense in which talk about the truth conditions for ambiguity does not implicate a threat to Davidson’s perspective on the theory of meaning. Finally, the author argues for the view of ambiguity as a kind of ignorance/undecidability that, as he contends, represents both more realistic and more plausible theoretical option than the one on which both Pinker and Parsons found their arguments and which also comes out in Aristotle, K. Bach and W. Lycan. (shrink)

Autor razmatra i kritizira dva argumenta iz višesmislice: S. Pinkerov argument iz višesmislice za hipotezu takozvanoga ‘jezika misli’ i argument iz višesmislice protiv davidsonovske ‘semantike istinosnih uvjeta’ što ga je predložila K. P. Parsons. Oslanjajući se uglavnom na G. Harmana i D. Davidsona, on nastoji pokazati da Pinker/Parsons argumenti dijele jednu zajedničku strategiju i također impliciraju i/ilisugeriraju jedan, po njegovu sudu neprihvatljiv, pojam višesmislice. Raspravljajući o Pinkerovu argumentu, on nastoji objasniti na koji su način razlike u tumačenju višesmislice reflektirane u (...) promjenama javnih i svima dostupnih aspekata uporabe jezika. U diskusiji pak o argumentu protiv ‘semantike istinosnih uvjeta’ on, contra Parsons,nastoji objasniti u kojem je smislu moguće govoriti o istinosnim uvjetima za višesmislice, a da to ne znači prijetnju Davidsonovom pristupu teoriji značenja. Autor, na koncu, brani teoriju višesmislice kao jednoga vida neznanja/neodlučivosti i tvrdi da ta teorija predstavlja i plauzibilniju i realističniju teorijsku opciju od one nakojoj su Pinker i Parsons temeljili svoje argumente, a koju nalazimo i kod Aristotela , K. Bacha ili W. Lycana.The author explores and criticises two arguments from ambiguity: S.Pinker’s argument from ambiguity in support of the ‘Language of Thought’ hypothesis, and the argument from ambiguity proposed by K. P. Parsons against Davidsonian ‘semantics of truth-conditions’. Leaning primarily on G. Harman and D. Davidson he aims to demonstrate that the Pinker/Parsons arguments share a common strategy, on the one hand, and imply and/or suggest, as he claims, an implausible view of ambiguity, on the other. Discussing Pinker’s argument he further attempts to elucidate the ways in which the modifications of public and inter-subjectively accessible aspectsof the use of language reflect the differences in interpretations of an ambiguity. His exploration of the argument against ‘semantics of truth-conditions’ then aims to explain, contra Parsons, the sense in which talk about the truth conditions for ambiguity does not implicate a threat to Davidson’s perspective on the theory of meaning. Finally, the author argues for the view of ambiguity as a kind of ignorance/undecidability that, as he contends, represents both more realistic and more plausible theoretical option than the one on which both Pinker and Parsons found their arguments and which also comes out in Aristotle , K. Bach and W. Lycan. (shrink)

Saint Gregory understood the mind of man as the most essentially human element of the human composit. It is that spiritual, intelligible element of human nature which is brought into being in the image of God. The image of God in man refers to human nature, but the image of God in whom man is created refers to the Person of the divine Logos. The mind is way in that expresses freedom of human nature. Free will of man or freedom (...) (as possession of self) belongs to human nature, to man’s character as a being created in the image of God. In last analysis the mind according to Saint Gregory constitutes way of manifestation human freedom. The mind as image of God in man has not worth its self. The most important role of mind is knowledge of God. Man is made to exist from the very beginning as a creature in the image of God, so that the fundamental principle of his being is completed only in communion with God. For Gregory this in turn revels man’s nature and destiny to be in loving communion with the Holy Trinity through the ecstatic, transcending movement of the self into the personal, divine life of God. It is the knowledge of God in loving communion with him, God becoming man without ceasing to be God, so that man can become God without ceasing to be man. It is very significant that according to Saint Gregory the Theologian knowledge of God and communion or participation in God are bound together. More than that, knowledge of God and communion with God are explicitly considered as identical. (shrink)

Data gathered by investigators are used to test the validity of a specific scientific hypothesis. When the hypothesis relates to the biology of a disease or its treatment, then data sets may contain specific and identifiable medical information. Since the information in a clinical data set was gathered to test a specific hypothesis and there is usually a sponsor interested in the outcome, the issue of who owns the data is a critical one. In my opinion, data from both publicly (...) and privately funded research should be made available, in a format that protects confidentiality and intellectual property rights, to interested and responsible parties within a reasonable period of time after publication. (shrink)

Prikaz analize mogucnosti dijaloga, kao preduvjeta drustvenog i religijskog pluralizma, na temelju filozofije simbolickih formi Ernsta Cassirera, tema je ovog clanka. Sredisnji dio clanka obuhvaca prikaz osnovnih elemenata filozofije simbolickih formi, potom prikaz odnosa svijesti, simbolickih formi i slobode, zatim opcih postavki Cassirerove analize mita, te njegov opis tehnika modernih politickih mitova. Prikaz ovih elemenata Cassirerove filozofije ima za cilj pokazati aktualnost njegove misli s obzirom na problematiku dijaloga i pluralizma, te ukazati na primjenjivost njegove misli glede analize prisutnosti mitske (...) svijesti u modernim drustvima, pa tako i u drustvima na podrucju bivse Jugoslavije. U zakljucku se nastoji sabrati bogatstvo Cassirerovih analiza i to sazeto primijeniti na analizu situacije na naznacenim podrucjima te ukazati na pravce trazenja mogucih rjesenja. (shrink)

On the twentieth anniversary of the death of one of the most important contemporary political and social philosophers, John B. Rawls (1921–2002), in this paper the authors deal with his understanding of the relationship between civil disobedience and freedom within the framework of a liberal constitutional democracy based on the rule of law. The fundamental starting point of Rawls’s theory, and thus of this work, is that civil disobedience expresses disobedience to the law within the limits of fidelity to the (...) law, although it is at the outer edge thereof. If the freedom of thought expressing disobedience to unjust laws is one of the fundamental freedoms, then civil disobedience can be understood not only as a corrective to liberal constitutional democracy but also as a realistic attempt to “save” it. This is an important topic of contemporary political philosophy, considering the increasingly widespread discourse about the crisis of liberalism in general today, and the impact of that crisis on the institutions of liberal constitutional democracy, among which the state stands out, but in fact law and the legal system as a whole. (shrink)

The specific field of the history of science is the study and explanation of the origin and transformation of the structures of scientific knowledge. The historian of science should render understandable the reality of scientific research. The relationships between the history of science and the philosophy of science are examined stating that (1) the philosophical theories on the development of science have a scientific content only as much as they may be compared with the results of the history of science, (...) and (2) the philosophy of science does not refer to an immediate historical reality but to an intellectual reconstruction of the past. (shrink)

The purpose of the paper is to present the reasons students at the Faculty of Education in Maribor, Slovenija, chose pedagogy for their study direction, and therefore becoming a teacher. A total 237 second?year students of the academic year 2003/04 were included in the research. Of the five groups of reasons for choosing this program (altruistic, material, self?realization and alternative, and reasons arising from aspiration stereotype), students most often asserted self?realization, including: teaching provides a useful public function for the whole (...) society; as a teacher, I can be an example to children and young people; this profession will give me a chance for professional development during my whole career; and teaching will enable me to use all my abilities (and talents?for example, music, verbal, dancing, etc.) Important differences were found to exist between students of different disciplines. (shrink)

To avoid misinterpretations one should substitute the ambiguous notion of 'new disease' with 'emerging disease'. A disease can be classified emergent in at least five dif férent historical situations; 1) it existed before it could be first identified but was overlooked from a médical point of view because it could not be conceptualized as a nosological entity; 2) it existed but was not noticed until a quantitative and/or qualitative change in its mani festations; 3) it did not exist in a (...) particular région of the world before its introduction from other régions; 4) it never existed in a human population but only in an animal population; 5) it is completely new - the triggering germ and/or necessary environmental conditions did not exist prior to the first clinical manifestations. A sériés of historical examples illustrate this classification. (shrink)