The goal of this short chapter, aimed at philosophers, is to provide an overview and brief explanation of some central concepts involved in predictive processing (PP). Even those who consider themselves experts on the topic may find it helpful to see how the central terms are used in this collection. To keep things simple, we will first informally define a set of features important to predictive processing, supplemented by some short explanations and an alphabetic glossary. -/- The features described here (...) are not shared in all PP accounts. Some may not be necessary for an individual model; others may be contested. Indeed, not even all authors of this collection will accept all of them. To make this transparent, we have encouraged contributors to indicate briefly which of the features are necessary to support the arguments they provide, and which (if any) are incompatible with their account. For the sake of clarity, we provide the complete list here, very roughly ordered by how central we take them to be for “Vanilla PP” (i.e., a formulation of predictive processing that will probably be accepted by most researchers working on this topic). More detailed explanations will be given below. Note that these features do not specify individually necessary and jointly sufficient conditions for the application of the concept of “predictive processing”. All we currently have is a semantic cluster, with perhaps some overlapping sets of jointly sufficient criteria. The framework is still developing, and it is difficult, maybe impossible, to provide theory-neutral explanations of all PP ideas without already introducing strong background assumptions. (shrink)

A review with commentary on Mark A. Bedau and Emily C. Parke (eds): The Ethics of Protocells: Moral and Social Implications of Creating Life in the Laboratory (Basic Bioethics series) MIT Press, Cambridge,MA, 2009, 365 pp, ISBN 978-0-262-01262-1, ISBN 978-0-262-51269-5.

European Journal of Philosophy, EarlyView.

Firstly, this contribution proposes to address synthographies – images generated through Text-to-image technologies – by deepening the epistemological shift related to the possibility of transposing the image-creation process from the analogue arts to the notational ones (or, by drawing on Nelson Goodman's terminology, from the “autographic” to the “allographic” forms of art). Secondly, the paper highlights how synthographies can be considered partly autographic and partly allographic, since the linguistic prompts constitute only the notational aspect of the generated images. Furthermore, this (...) contribution argues that the recent critiques around such images, which referenced aspects related to the absence of authorial presence and mechanicality, characterised the history of photography since its beginning. Finally, the contribution explores how the possibility to create synthographies that are almost indistinguishable from photographies easily might further separate the interaction between the detective and the depictive functions to the advantage of the latter, erasing what remains of the visual reliability and documental value of images. (shrink)

Reseña de Battistoni, Giulia, Azione e imputazione in G. W. F. Hegel alla luce dell´interpretazione di K. L. Michelet, Napoli: Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici, 2020, 237 pp., ISBN: 978-88-97820-37-6.

Esta investigación tiene por objetivo indagar el fenómeno de la huida (φυγή, fuga) tal como aparece en el libro IX, capítulo 4 de la Ética Nicomáquea de Aristóteles. La finalidad temática principal estriba en sacar a la luz que tanto su fundamentación teorética última, así como también su fundamento intrínseco radican en el principio metafísico del acto y potencia. Sobre la base de este principio metafísico mostramos que el “sí mismo” del cual el vicioso vive dividido en la huida consiste (...) en el entendimiento recto actual, revelándose este como el correlato preciso ante el cual huye el vicioso. Esta interpretación recupera la relevancia sistemática de la huida en el contexto de la amistad, ya que la huida hace visible concretamente la relación “amical” que el vicioso mantiene con sus prójimos, a quienes comprende tácitamente como medios-de-huida. (shrink)

Once upon a time, academic philosophy in the Global North was characterized by a dichotomy between ‘analytic philosophy’ and ‘Continental philosophy.’ This distinction often determined not just one...

Perhaps almost all non-theists will agree that ‘the problem of evil’ has some role in their reasons for rejecting traditional Western theism. When they consult their intuitions, non-theists typically do not find it credible to suppose that this is the kind of world which could have been created by an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good being. Moreover, when they review their reasons for non-belief, non-theists typically find that a catalogue of the amounts and kinds of evils which are to be found in (...) the world adds some weight to the case against the existence of such a being. (shrink)

Mark Freeman deploys insight and empathy, as well as a sense of humour, introducing ‘University Extension’ in Chapter 1 with the quizzical title of ‘Mustard left on dinner plates’. This was the inf...

For an educational zeitgeist so rooted, and understandably so, in measurable, scalable, and replicable results, it is difficult to entertain the idea of an unquantifiable goalpost. Although terms l...