Nine leading scholars of ancient philosophy from Europe, the UK, and North America offer a systematic study of Book Beta of Aristotle's Metaphysics. The work takes the form of a series of aporiai or 'difficulties' which Aristotle presents as necessary points of engagement for those who wish to attain wisdom. The topics include causation, substance, constitution, properties, predicates, and generally the ontology of both the perishable and the imperishable world. Each contributor discusses one or two of these aporiai in (...) sequence: the result is a discursive commentary on this seminal text of Western philosophy. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Byzantinische Zeitschrift Jahrgang: 107 Heft: 1 Seiten: 37-50.

Né à Cordoue en 1126, mort en 1198, Ibn Rusd (Averroès), juge, médecin et philosophe andalou, a laissé une œuvre considérable : outre des traités polémiques (contre Galien, contre al-Gazâli) et de nombreux essais, il a consacré à Platon, et surtout à Aristote, des commentaires appelés à exercer une influence particulièrement grande dans les domaines de la logique, de la métaphysique, de la noétique. Rédigé dans les dernières années de sa vie, le Grand Commentaire de la Métaphysique marque (...) le couronnement de l'œuvre philosophique d'Averroès. Ce volume présente la première traduction française annotée du texte arabe de Bêta et du commentaire qu'Averroès y consacre. Souvent considéré comme une introduction générale à toute la métaphysique aristotélicienne, le livre Bêta expose une série d'apories que rencontre le philosophe et qu'il doit tâcher de résoudre. La traduction est précédée d'une introduction qui tente de montrer dans quelle perspective Averroès envisage la " problématique " de la métaphysique. Quels sont les principes, les limites, l'objet ou les enjeux de la métaphysique? Voilà les questions, aussi vastes que capitales, auxquelles Averroès tente ici d'apporter une réponse. (shrink)

Dans le commentaire d’Alexandre d’Aphrodise sur la Métaphysique d’Aristote, nous trouvons plusieurs passages concernant « les intermédiaires » (τὰ μεταξύ). Dans cet article, j’en considérerai quelques-uns, tirés des commentaires sur les livres Alpha (6, 987b14-18) et Beta (2, 997a34-b3 ; 997b25-28 ; 998a7-9), car dans ces passages on ne trouve pas une simple paraphrase de ce qu’Aristote dit (comme c’est fréquent chez Alexandre), mais une prise de position qui me semble fort originale. À partir de cette analyse, nous (...) trouverons une confirmation de ce que l’on dit souvent, à savoir qu’Alexandre ne s’intéresse pas aux philosophes (passés et contemporains) en tant que tels, mais seulement en tant qu’objets de considération, souvent polémique, d’Aristote et des aristotéliciens « purs et durs » comme lui. On trouvera aussi une autre confirmation, à savoir qu’Alexandre essaye toujours et à tout prix d’expliquer systématiquement Aristote, même lorsque les thèses aristotéliciennes ne paraissent pas cohérentes ou bien harmonisées entre elles. D’ailleurs, il faudra constater aussi que les passages du commentaire d’Alexandre que l’on analysera ont le mérite de souligner et d’expliquer clairement les difficultés sérieuses que nous rencontrons lorsque nous réfléchissons sur les μεταξύ des Platoniciens : la difficulté de concevoir leur rapport avec la réalité sensible si on les considère comme les objets de certaines sciences mathématiques ; la difficulté de considérer leur existence si on les conçoit comme des objets immanents au réel. (shrink)

Noradrenergic pathways are involved in mediating the central and peripheral effects of physiological arousal. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of noradrenergic transmission in moral decision-making. We studied the effects in healthy volunteers of propranolol (a noradrenergic beta-adrenoceptor antagonist) on moral judgement in a set of moral dilemmas pitting utilitarian outcomes (e.g., saving five lives) against highly aversive harmful actions (e.g., killing an innocent person) in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group design. Propranolol (40 mg (...) orally) significantly reduced heart rate, but had no effect on self-reported mood. Importantly, propranolol made participants more likely to judge harmful actions as morally unacceptable, but only in dilemmas where harms were ‘up close and personal’. In addition, longer response times for such personal dilemmas were only found for the placebo group. Finally, judgments in personal dilemmas by the propranolol group were more decisive. These findings indicate that noradrenergic pathways play a role in responses to moral dilemmas, in line with recent work implicating emotion in moral decision-making. However, contrary to current theorising, these findings also suggest that aversion to harming is not driven by emotional arousal. Our findings are also of significant practical interest given that propranolol is a widely used drug in different settings, and is currently being considered as a potential treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder in military and rescue service personnel. (shrink)

The Protein Ontology (PRO) is designed as a formal and principled Open Biomedical Ontologies (OBO) Foundry ontology for proteins. The components of PRO extend from a classification of proteins on the basis of evolutionary relationships at the homeomorphic level to the representation of the multiple protein forms of a gene, including those resulting from alternative splicing, cleavage and/or posttranslational modifications. Focusing specifically on the TGF-beta signaling proteins, we describe the building, curation, usage and dissemination of PRO. PRO provides a (...) framework for the formal representation of protein classes and protein forms in the OBO Foundry. It is designed to enable data retrieval and integration and machine reasoning at the molecular level of proteins, thereby facilitating cross-species comparisons, pathway analysis, disease modeling and the generation of new hypotheses. (shrink)

This paper aims to enhance security in IoT device networks through a visual tool that utilizes three projection techniques, including Beta Hebbian Learning (BHL), t-distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE) and ISOMAP, in order to facilitate the identification of network attacks by human experts. This work research begins with the creation of a testing environment with IoT devices and web clients, simulating attacks over Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) for recording all relevant traffic information. The unsupervised algorithms chosen provide a (...) set of projections that enable human experts to visually identify most attacks in real-time, making it a powerful tool that can be implemented in IoT environments easily. (shrink)

As it is well known, mobile phones have become a basic gadget for any individual that usually stores sensitive information. This mainly motivates the increase in the number of attacks aimed at jeopardizing smartphones, being an extreme concern above all on Android OS, which is the most popular platform in the market. Consequently, a strong effort has been devoted for mitigating mentioned incidents in recent years, even though few researchers have addressed the application of visualization techniques for the analysis of (...) malware. Within this field, the present work proposes the extension of a new technique called Hybrid Unsupervised Exploratory Plots to visualize Android malware datasets. More precisely, the novel Beta-Hebbian Learning (BHL) method is applied for the first time and validated under the frame of Hybrid Unsupervised Exploratory Plots, in conjunction with clustering methods. The informative visualization achieved provides a picture of the structure of the malware families, allowing subsequent analysis of their organization. To validate the Hybrid Unsupervised Exploratory Plot extension and its tuning, the popular Android Malware Genome dataset has been used in the experimental setting. Promising results have been obtained, suggesting that BHL applied in combination with clustering techniques in Hybrid Unsupervised Exploratory Plots are a viable resource for the visualization of malware families. (shrink)

The three main kinds of theory in normative ethics, namely, consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics, are often presented as the ‘palette’ from which we may choose, or use as a starting point for an investigation. However, this way of doing ethics and philosophy, by the palette, may be leading some of us astray. It has led some to believe that all that there is to ethics, and to ethics of AI, is given in terms of these already devised petrified categories (...) of theory. It has also led others to abandon normative ethics and philosophy altogether and to resort to descriptive methods that are then used to justify action. I wish to argue that (1) we should not abandon traditional philosophical approaches, but (2a) this does not entail that the petrified palette should constitute the beginning of our philosophical investigations. Further, (2b) I recommend a non-methodological approach in which it is instead radical questions that spur these investigations, which arise through consideration of the practical actions (potential or otherwise) of machines and their programmers. (shrink)

More than 15 million people have been affected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) and it has caused 640 016 deaths as of July 26, 2020. Currently, no effective treatment option is available for COVID‐19 patients. Though many drugs have been proposed, none of them has shown particular efficacy in clinical trials. In this article, the relationship between the Adrenergic system and the renin‐angiotensin‐aldosterone system (RAAS) is focused in COVID‐19 and a vicious circle consisting of the Adrenergic system‐RAAS‐Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (...) (ACE2)‐severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) (which is referred to as the “ARAS loop”) is proposed. Hyperactivation of the ARAS loop may be the underlying pathophysiological mechanism in COVID‐19, and beta‐adrenergic blockers are proposed as a potential treatment option. Beta‐adrenergic blockers may decrease the SARS‐CoV‐2 cellular entry by decreasing ACE2 receptors expression and cluster of differentiation 147 (CD147) in various cells in the body. Beta‐adrenergic blockers may decrease the morbidity and mortality in COVID‐19 patients by preventing or reducing acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and other complications. Retrospective and prospective clinical trials should be conducted to check the validity of the hypothesis. Also see the video abstract here https://youtu.be/uLoy7do5ROo. (shrink)

Modal contingentists face a dilemma: there are two attractive principles of which they can only accept one. In this paper I show that the most natural way of resolving the dilemma leads to expressive limitations. I then develop an alternative resolution. In addition to overcoming the expressive limitations, the alternative picture allows for an attractive account of arithmetic and for a style of semantic theorizing that can be helpful to contingentists.

The beta thymosins are a highly conserved family of strongly polar 5 kDa polypeptides that are widely distributed among vertebrate classes; most are now known to bind to monomeric actin and inhibit its polymerization. One beta thymosin, beta four, (Tβ4) is the predominant form in mammalian cells, present at up to 0.5 mM. Many species are known to produce at least two beta thymosin isoforms, in some cases in the same cell. Their expression can be separately (...) regulated. When present outside the cell, the N‐terminal tetrapeptide of beta four appears to affect cell cycle regulation; beta thymosins or smaller fragments derived from them may have additional regulatory functions. We suggest that many developmental changes in beta thymosin levels within cells and tissues may be related to changes in G‐actin pool size. (shrink)

Stroke remains one of the leading causes of various disabilities, including debilitating motor and language impairments. Though various treatments exist, post-stroke impairments frequently become chronic, dramatically reducing daily life quality, and requiring specific rehabilitation. A critical goal of chronic stroke rehabilitation is to induce, usually through behavioral training, experience-dependent plasticity processes in order to promote functional recovery. However, the efficiency of such interventions is typically modest, and very little is known regarding the neural dynamics underpinning recovery processes and possible biomarkers (...) of their efficiency. Some studies have emphasized specific alterations of excitatory–inhibitory balance within distributed neural networks as an important recovery correlate. Neural processes sensitive to these alterations, such as task-dependent oscillatory activity in beta as well as alpha bands, may be candidate biomarkers of chronic stroke functional recovery. In this review, we discuss the results of studies on motor and language recovery with a focus on oscillatory processes centered around the beta band and their modulations during functional recovery in chronic stroke. The discussion is based on a framework where task-dependent modulations of beta and alpha oscillatory activity, generated by the deep cortical excitatory–inhibitory microcircuits, serve as a neural mechanism of domain-general top-down control processes. We discuss the findings, their limitations, and possible directions for future research. (shrink)

In three recent articles it was shown that β‐catenin is crucial for the establishment and the maintenance of the overall polarity and especially for the character ‘posterior’ in planarians. If the transcription of the β‐catenin gene was silenced by RNA interference, the overall polarity is lost, and in regenerating fragments a posterior blastema displays anterior characters by forming eyes and anterior ganglia. An attempt is made to integrate these new data, well‐known older observations, and observations from other regenerating systems into (...) an outline of a model that will clarify our current understanding as well as highlight areas still to be developed. (shrink)

Neurosteroid 17 beta-estradiol (E2) is a steroid synthesized de novo in the nervous system that might influence neuronal activity and behavior. Nevertheless, the impact of E2 on the functioning of those neural systems in which it is slightly synthesized is less questioned. The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) adaptation, may provide an ideal arena for investigating this issue. Indeed, E2 modulates cerebellar parallel fiber-Purkinje cell synaptic plasticity that underlies encoding of VOR adaptation. Moreover, aromatase expression in the cerebellum of adult rodents (...) is maintained at very low levels and localized to Purkinje cells. The significance of age-related maintenance of low levels of aromatase expression in the cerebellum on behavior, however, has yet to be explored. Our aim in this study was to determine whether E2 synthesis exerts an effective and persistent modulation of VOR adaptation in adult male rats. To answer this question, we investigated the acute effect of blocking E2 synthesis on gain increases and decreases in VOR adaptation using an oral dose (2.5 mg/kg) of the aromatase inhibitor Letrozole in peri-pubertal and post-pubertal male rats. We found that Letrozole acutely impaired gain increases and decreases in VOR adaptation without altering basal ocular-motor performance and that these effects were similar in peri-pubertal and post-pubertal rats. Thus, in adult male rats neurosteroid E2 effectively modulates VOR adaptation in both of the periods studied. These findings imply that the adult cerebellum uses E2 synthesis for modulating motor memory formation and suggest that low and extremely localized E2 production may play a role in adaptive phenomena. (shrink)

Logicians have strongly preferred first-order natural deductive systems over Peirce's Beta Graphs even though both are equivalent to each other. One of the main reasons for this preference, I claim, is that inference rules for Beta Graphs are hard to understand, and, therefore, hard to apply for deductions. This paper reformulates the Beta rules to show more fine-grained symmetries built around visual features of the Beta system, which makes the rules more natural and easier to use (...) and understand. Noting that the rules of a natural deductive system are natural in a different sense, this case study shows that the naturalness and the intuitiveness of rules depends on the type of representation system to which they belong. In a diagrammatic system, when visual features are discovered and fully used, we have a more efficacious deductive system. I will also show that this project not only helps us to apply these rules more easily but to understand the validity of the system at a more intuitive level. (shrink)

Phi Beta Kappa Romanell Lectures, given at Michigan State University, February 2008.

Alpha-beta pruning is a technique for pruning trees in artificial intelligence game-playing. This note draws an analogy between the technique, which is, in essence, an application of many-valued logic to the cut-off of the evaluation of conditionals in computer programs (for efficiency).

Let ${\beta(\mathbb{N})}$ denote the Stone–Čech compactification of the set ${\mathbb{N}}$ of natural numbers (with the discrete topology), and let ${\mathbb{N}^\ast}$ denote the remainder ${\beta(\mathbb{N})-\mathbb{N}}$ . We show that, interpreting modal diamond as the closure in a topological space, the modal logic of ${\mathbb{N}^\ast}$ is S4 and that the modal logic of ${\beta(\mathbb{N})}$ is S4.1.2.

The theory of existential graphs, which Peirce ultimately divided into four quadrants , is a rich method of analysis in the philosophy of logic. Its $$\upbeta $$ β -part boasts a diagrammatic theory of quantification, which by 1902 Peirce had used in the logical analysis of natural-language expressions such as complex donkey-type anaphora, quantificational patterns describing new mathematical concepts, and cognitive information processing. In the $$\upbeta $$ β -quadrant, he came close to inventing independence-friendly logic, the idea of which he (...) found indispensable in fulfilling the tasks –. (shrink)

À partir de trois indécisions frappant le concept d’« émotion intérieure de l’âme » (§ 1), on décrit ici les situations topiques où il se déploie (§ 2) et on met en lumière la passivité de l’âme qu’il suppose (§ 3). Dans la mesure où l’émotion intérieure dit l’irréductibilité de l’affectivité à la causalité somatique, il apparaît que ses deux objets privilégiés se donnent finalement comme les deux étants suprêmes de la métaphysique, à savoir l’ ego et Dieu (§ (...) 4), au point que la morale rejoue ici la métaphysique – et que la métaphysique soit le dernier mot de la morale cartésienne (§ 5). (shrink)

Beta integrals for several non-integer values of the exponents were calculated by Leonhard Euler in 1730, when he was trying to find the general term for the factorial function by means of an algebraic expression. Nevertheless, 70 years before, Pietro Mengoli (1626–1686) had computed such integrals for natural and half-integer exponents in his Geometriae Speciosae Elementa (1659) and Circolo(1672) and displayed the results in triangular tables. In particular, his new arithmetic–algebraic method allowed him to compute the quadrature of the (...) circle. The aim of this article is to show how Mengoli calculated the values of these integrals as well as how he analysed the relation between these values and the exponents inside the integrals. This analysis provides new insights into Mengoli’s view of his algorithmic computation of quadratures. (shrink)

Os grafos existenciais (GE) são uma notação lógica de caráter topológico e estão entre as mais originais invenções de C.S. Peirce (1839-1914). Trata-se de um sistema gráfico de diagramas lógicos por meio do qual, segundo Peirce, “qualquer desenvolvimento do pensamento pode ser representado com precisão” (CP 4.530). Eles se dividem em três subsistemas – alfa, beta e gama –, aproximadamente equivalentes ao cálculo proposicional clássico, ao cálculo de predicados clássico de primeira ordem, e a um tipo de lógica modal. (...) Nosso propósito é apresentar o sistema beta. O que apresentaremos se restringe ao cálculo de predicados monádicos, com ênfase na silogística categórica de Aristóteles. (shrink)

Résumé — L’article remet en question l’idée courante selon laquelle la métaphysique serait un produit de la culture grecque classique. C’est en effet contre la culture dominante que la métaphysique a dû s’imposer, comme en témoignent la condamnation à mort de Socrate et l’interprétation qu’en donne Platon dans l’allégorie de la caverne. Nietzsche a bien souligné le caractère « superficiel » de la « belle apparence » pour les Grecs, qui ne renvoie à aucune Idée transcendante. L’article cherche (...) plutôt les origines de la métaphysique grecque dans des particularités linguistiques du grec et dans des traits de la société grecque : enseignement ésotérique des « maîtres de vérité », d’une part ; discussion dialectique dans l’espace public de l’agora, d’autre part. Ces deux traits antagonistes préfigurent la tension entre une protologie « aristocratique » et une ontologie fondée sur l’universalité d’un horizon communicationnel.Ajouter au panier Zusammenfassung — Der Artikel stellt die verbreitete Meinung in Frage, die in der Metaphysik ein Produkt der griechischen Kultur sieht. Die Metaphysik musste sich gegen den Strich der dominierenden Kultur behaupten, wie das Urteil gegen Sokrates und dessen platonische Interpretation in dem Höhlengleichnis es bezeugen. Mit Recht hat Nietzsche die Oberflächlichkeit des « schönen Scheins » für die Griechen betont, der auf keine transzendente Idee hinweist. Der Artikel sucht vielmehr den Ursprung der griechischen Metaphysik in einigen Besonderheiten der griechischen Sprache und andererseits in spezifischen Zügen der griechischen Gesellschaft : esoterische Botschaft der « Lehrmeister der Wahrheit » einerseits, Publizität und Dialektizität des öffentlichen Gesprächs auf der Agora andererseits. Diese beiden Züge, die selbst antagonistisch sind, präfigurieren die Spannung zwischen einer aristokratischen Protologie und einer in der Universalität des kommunikativen Horizonts wurzelnden Ontologie. (shrink)

Résumé : Le thème de la Métaphysique de l’acte d’être a connu un succès jamais démenti au cours du siècle dernier, avec des auteurs comme Gilson, Maritain ou Fabro, pour ne citer que les plus célèbres. Pourtant, des questions de fond n’ont jamais reçu de réponse satisfaisante, et ont laissé le sentiment d’une doctrine inachevée et inachevable. Trois observations contribuent à cette insatisfaction : la quasi-absence d’une telle problématique chez Thomas d’Aquin, les désaccords entre certains points de la théorie (...) ainsi qu’entre les auteurs, et les incompatibilités avec certains thèmes centraux de la philosophie de Thomas d’Aquin. - Abstract: The theme of the Metaphysics of the act of being has known a never denied success over the last century, with authors like Gilson, Maritain or Fabro, to name only the most famous. Nevertheless, some important questions have never been fittingly answered, and have left the feeling of an unachieved and unachievable doctrine. Three observations contribute to this disappointment : a quasi-absence of such a problematic in Thomas Aquinas, contradictions between certain points of the theory as well as between the authors, and incompatibilities with certain central themes of the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas. (shrink)

The well‐known “Consequence Argument” for the incompatibility of freedom and determinism relies on a certain rule of inference; “Principle Beta”. Thomas Crisp and Ted Warfield have recently argued that all hitherto suggested counterexamples to Beta can be easily circumvented by proponents of the Consequence Argument. I present a new counterexample which, I argue, is free from the flaws Crisp and Warfield detect in earlier examples.

Le but de l’article est double. Il s’agit d’abord de présenter la position du maître ès arts Jean de Jandun (m. 1328) concernant les rapports entre métaphysique et politique, puis d’indiquer comment sa solution, fondée sur l’idée d’un agir « en intention seconde », en fait l’héritier d’Averroès et, plus lointainement, de la doctrine de la providence d’Alexandre d’Aphrodise. Si le philosophe doit occuper un rang fondamental dans la cité en tant qu’il enseigne au prince ce qu’il faut savoir (...) de Dieu, cette fonction ne le subordonne aucunement puisqu’il n’est en vue des autres que secunda intentione. Comment Jean de Jandun l’explicite-t-il? Et que doit-il au providentialisme métaphysique de ses prédécesseurs grec et arabe? C’est à cela que l’article est consacré. (shrink)