Name der Zeitschrift: Semiotica Jahrgang: 2015 Heft: 203 Seiten: 153-177.

This is an essay on McDowell’s naturalism. It is, pace some commentators, argued that McDowell’s naturalism does not end up in any strange metaphysical positions in the philosophy of mind, because second nature non-reductively supervenes on first nature and have causal powers. Pace certain other commentators, it is also argued that McDowell can be read as drawing a clear line between ethical platonism, and his own naturalized platonism, but only at the cost of landing in standard naturalism.

Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie sind Bereiche medizinischer Praxis, die in besonderer Weise ethische Fragen aufwerfen. Die Beiträge des Bandes hierzu werden durch zwei übersetzte Beiträge des polnischen Psychiaters Antoni Kępiński (1918-1972) erweitert. Diese eröffnen neue Perspektiven in der Diskussion um ethische Fragen in der Psychiatrie.

Un texte inédit de Jan Patocka (1907-1977) intitulé " Sur les problèmes des traductions philosophiques " (1968) dans une traduction française originale d'Erika Abrams ouvre ce volume collectif qui cherche à penser l'existence humaine et le monde commun grâce à l'oeuvre aussi capitale que protéiforme de ce philosophe tchèque. Des spécialistes en phénoménologie, en philosophie sociale et politique, en anthropologie et en esthétique déploient ici sa richesse et sa fécondité à travers quatre problématiques : le Monde commun, le Mouvement critique (...) de la liberté, la Phénoménologie et la théorie du mouvement de l'existence, le Temps et l'Histoire. (shrink)

The paper examines the interplays between logic and politics in the Polish School of Logic starting from 1914. The Polish School of Logic flourished between 1920 and 1939. Philosophically, it was influenced by Kazimierz Twardowski (1866–1938). For Twardowski logic is fundamental for every kind of human activity, professional and private and this means that every argument should be formulated and proceed by correct inferential rules. These rules involve semiotics, formal logic and methodology of science. The paper shows how this position (...) was shared by Twardowski’s students, including Jan Łukasiewicz, Stanisław Leśniewski, Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz and Tadeusz Kotrabiński, as well as by the next generation of logicians and philosophers and especially by Alfred Tarski. These authors considered logic, philosophy and science as completely neutral with respect to politics and ideology but they also considered logical skills as indispensable in political activities. (shrink)

The larger part of Yearbook 6 of the Institute Vienna Circle constitutes the proceedings of a symposium on Alfred Tarski and his influence on and interchanges with the Vienna Circle, especially those on and with Rudolf Carnap and Kurt Gödel. It is the first time that this topic has been treated on such a scale and in such depth. Attention is mainly paid to the origins, development and subsequent role of Tarski's definition of truth. Some contributions are primarily historical, others (...) analyze logical aspects of the concept of truth. Contributors include Anita and Saul Feferman, Jan Wolenski, Jan Tarski and Hans Sluga. Several Polish logicians contributed: Gzegorczyk, Wójcicki, Murawski and Rojszczak. The volume presents entirely new biographical material on Tarski, both from his Polish period and on his influential career in the United States: at Harvard, in Princeton, at Hunter, and at the University of California at Berkeley. The high point of the analysis involves Tarski's influence on Carnap's evolution from a narrow syntactical view of language, to the ontologically more sophisticated but more controversial semantical view. Another highlight involves the interchange between Tarski and Gödel on the connection between truth and proof and on the nature of metalanguages. The concluding part of Yearbook 6 includes documentation, book reviews and a summary of current activities of the Institute Vienna Circle. Jan Tarski introduces letters written by his father to Gödel; Paolo Parrini reports on the Vienna Circle's influence in Italy; several reviews cover recent books on logical empiricism, on Gödel, on cosmology, on holistic approaches in Germany, and on Mauthner. (shrink)

Wilhelm Ostwald (1853-1932) est resté dans l’histoire des sciences comme un des principaux adversaires de l’atomisme, qu’il identifiait au « matérialisme scientifique », et comme le théoricien de l’« énergétisme », théorie physique ensuite généralisée à l’ensemble des phénomènes, y compris sociologiques. Dans sa critique de l’atomisme, Ostwald emprunte une partie de ses arguments au positivisme ambiant, celui de Mach notamment, mais aussi, plus discrètement, au positivisme de Comte, pour lequel il affiche une estime sincère. L’article met en lumière certains (...) aspects fondamentaux de la lecture de Comte par Ostwald et montre ce que la classification des sciences par Ostwald doit à celle de Comte. Si Ostwald revendique son identité de savant et si son énergétisme ne doit rien au fondateur du positivisme français, qui aurait refusé toute forme de monisme, en revanche, plusieurs points communs se font jour dans leur conception des sciences. (shrink)

Le bâtiment Minoen Récent I à Vai (Crète) En 1950, l’École française d’Athènes a conduit une fouille de petite ampleur à proximité de la palmeraie de Vai, en Crète orientale. Cette opération a permis de mettre au jour un important ensemble de mobilier minoen dont une partie a été conservée dans les apothèques de Malia. L’intérêt intrinsèque de ce matériel inédit comme la publication de dépôts stylistiquement et chronologiquement similaires provenant de sites voisins, tels que Palaikastro, en encourageaient l’étude. Est (...) ainsi présentée ici la céramique la plus diagnostique. Elle permet de dater l’occupation du site du MR IA et du MR IB. (shrink)

[A dialogue between Kant and Bolzano on mathematical knowledge.].

The aim of this paper is twofold. First, I want to show how hermeneutics can help philosophy of science to focus not only on explanation but also on understanding of meaning as an important part of science. Second, I want to argue that philosophy of science can improve the hermeneutic vision of understanding: a great part of what we call interpretations is in fact explanations of a pre-established meaning. Hence interpretation in the sense of explanation is ‘objective’ as long as (...) the interpretation reflects such a pre-established meaning. At the end I illustrate this point by presenting an interpretation of Botticelli's painting "The Mystical Nativity.". (shrink)

Short-circuit evaluation denotes the semantics of propositional connectives in which the second argument is evaluated only if the first is insufficient to determine the value of the expression. Com...

Belgium is generally perceived as being one of the most fervent supporters of European integration. It is supposed that this is equally true for both, the Belgian political elite and the Belgian population. Unlike in other EU member states, no large public discussion on EU integration has taken place. Therefore, it is generally supposed that Lindberg's concept of the permissive consensus applies to the Belgians. This article aims, first, at challenging empirically the existence ofa permissive consensus in Belgium. In 1997 (...) both qualitative and quantitative data on the policy position on EU issues ofabout 130 Belgian social organisations have been collected. Content analysis ofthese positions shows that the existence ofa permissive consensus seems to be dependent on a number of variables and that a general observation of a permissive consensus has to be relaxed. Second, if permissive consensus is declining, why is it, then, that no open political controversy on European integration has emerged? In answering this, thefocus is on two explanatory variables: the resources of those that would liketo mobilise are quite limited and their opinion on European politics is rather heterogeneous and undeveloped. (shrink)

This book deals with the history of the problem whether or not time can fully exist without the mind. This has been a vital issue in the philosophy of time, with intriguing arguments and solutions, from Aristotle to the present.

The biblical-Christian and the Promethean-Marxist perspectives of man are not mutually exclusive. A clear vision of both the continuity and the disparity between the two is a crucial issue for theology today.

An explanation of the Dunning–Kruger effect is provided which does not require any psychological explanation, because it is derived as a statistical artifact. This is achieved by specifying a simple statistical model which explicitly takes the boundary constraints into account. The model fits the data almost perfectly.JEL ClassificationA22; C24; C91; D84; D91; I21.

Ernest Mandel theorised the capitalist world economy as an articulated system of capitalist, semi-capitalist and precapitalist relations of production, linked to each other by capitalist relations of exchange and domination by the capitalist world market. This seems to be an interesting starting point for an historically well-founded theory, building on and going beyond Marx's work, of the worldwide expansion of the capitalist mode of production from its origins to the present. In his attempt to formulate his theory, Mandel did not (...) succeed in resolving all difficulties, however. His main works – Marxist Economic Theory and Late Capitalism – show a number of dangling loose ends. The central question is whether these loose ends are merely technical difficulties or whether they reveal fatal flaws in the theory as a whole. In order to come a step closer to answering this question, a conference was organised in Amsterdam, November 2003. This introduction formulates the five, closely interrelated issues that were highlighted at this conference. (shrink)

The Effect of Stressor Level Grading on the Stimulus Seeking Behavior of Rats Differing in Emotional Reactivity1 A natural disaster — such as a flood — is a sequence of events: swollen water level leading to the flooding of homesteads — primary stressor and later environmental consequences — secondary stressor syndrome. In order to be valid, an experimental model must ensure similarity of the stress-evoked behavioral symptoms. The most frequently administered behavioral tests measure exploratory behavior in the broad sense. We (...) also included emotional reactivity in the experimental design in order to test the idea that lower emotional reactivity alleviates the consequences of stress and therefore acts preventively. Reduced emotional reactivity and increased stressor intensity additively contribute to increased exploratory behavior. A main handling effect is found for most indices of emotional behavior. The proposed experimental model seems to meet two important criteria: it has face validity and it evokes very clear behavioral consequences, ones which are universal for most indices of exploratory behavior. (shrink)

Józef M. Bocheński began his philosophical career as an eclectic philosopher, then switched to Thomism and finally became a representative of the analytic school. As a Thomist he wanted to reform this orientation by the resources of modern formal logic. This tendency culminated in the establishment of the Cracow Circle (established in 1936) whose members were Bocheński, Jan F. Drewnowski, Jan Salamucha, and Bolesław Sobociński. However, the program of the Cracow Circle was rejected by most Thomists who considered traditional logic (...) as an entirely sufficient device of philosophy. Bocheński was very disappointed by this attitude of his Thomist fellows. His evolution toward analytic philosophy, free of any ideological pressure, can be regarded as his reaction to the conservatism of Thomism. (shrink)

This paper is inspired by Marcin Tkaczyk’s works and discusses the problem of the necessity of the past (is the past determined?) and its role in the analysis of future contingents. The discussion centers on the statements (accepted by Tkaczyk, but slightly paraphrased)) firstly, that every past state of affairs is determined, and, secondly, that at least some some future states of affairs are contingent. The paper argues that because the first assertion is not justified, the antinomy of future contingents (...) does not arise. The argument uses modal and metalogical devices. (shrink)

The Right of Nonuse provides a fresh and remarkably different perspective on the real causes of the ills plaguing the world's resources and environment. It re-examines the very nature of nature, and from this new perspective, argues that what is needed is for humans to grant to natural resources a legal right to be left alone - a right of nonuse. In the process, it explores the following questions: Why do natural resources continue to be depleted and removed at an (...) alarming rate? Why are species becoming extinct at a pace that may be unprecedented? Why does the environment continue to be polluted? Why do the weather and climate seem to be changing? Perhaps most important, why have laws, legal institutions and governments been unable to address and correct these problems? Jan Laitos reviews the history of our relationship with the natural environment and develops new ways of thinking about nature and its protection. Instead of proceeding with human-based goals, Laitos argues that we should protect environmental resources for their own intrinsic value. Instead of giving humans more and more rights to clean up the environment, and to halt resources depletion, a right of nonuse held by the resource itself should be created. Natural resources have always possessed this parallel nonuse function, and society should recognize and legitimize it. (shrink)

The Squaring of the Bermuda Triangle. In the course of the great success of theory programs and the funding of young researchers within media studies and the history of science over the past 15 years, a generation of scholars has emerged (including the authors of this article) who have been genuinely trained in approaching interdisciplinary problems and objects. However, in view of a recently increasing renaissance of scientific ‘disciplines’, this raises the question of how to deal with such an innate (...) lack of discipline in the future. We respond here with two personal scenes that are by no means intended as a self‐adulation of our own research approaches, but as pleas for a continued multi‐voicedness between the history of science, media studies, the history of technology, and other interdisciplinary (non‐)disciplines. (shrink)

Cílem studie je interpretovat fenomenologii obrazotvornosti Gastona Bachelarda jakožto fenomenologickou redukci sui generis. Autor článku představuje snění jako proces návratu do naivního vědomí prvotní (zakládající) a primitivní povahy, v němž je možné dosáhnout stavu dětství, harmonizujícího vztah subjektu ke světu. Svět je v této koncepci znovu zhodnocován (valorizován) a otevírá se jako domov, a to jednak prostřednictvím vzpomínek, jednak recipročním charakterem obrazotvornosti. Studie ukazuje fenomenologickou redukci v Bachelardově pojetí jako opozitní, ale komplementární k vědeckému rozumu a zdůrazňuje její terapeutický charakter.

The invention of computers, and especially their communication capabilities is revolutionary in several ways. They show the paramount importance of communication in human life, as well as facilitating revolutionary improvements in virtually all areas of social life: business, the arts, agriculture, and others. They put in perspective the erroneous outlook of "materialism" -the idea that human well-being is a matter of accumulating material objects, with a corollary that we must be using up the material resources that make such life possible. (...) In fact, we use fewer and fewer material resources to make life better. Given human ingenuity, natural resources simply do not pose any basic restriction on human potential. Humanity can be in for a great future, provided our politics can be kept from wrecking it all. Will we have the wisdom to leave people to their devices and continue to forward all this progress? (shrink)