It is often assumed that adaptation — a temporary change in sensitivity to a perceptual dimension following exposure to that dimension — is a litmus test for what is and is not a “primary visual attribute”. Thus, papers purporting to find evidence of number adaptation motivate a claim of great philosophical significance: That number is something that can be seen in much the way that canonical visual features, like color, contrast, size, and speed, can. Fifteen years after its reported discovery, (...) number adaptation’s existence seems to be nearly undisputed, with dozens of papers documenting support for the phenomenon. The aim of this paper is to offer a counterweight — to critically assess the evidence for and against number adaptation. After surveying the many reasons for thinking that number adaptation exists, we introduce several lesser-known reasons to be skeptical. We then advance an alternative account — the old news hypothesis — which can accommodate previously published findings while explaining various (otherwise unexplained) anomalies in the existing literature. Next, we describe the results of eight pre-registered experiments which pit our novel old news hypothesis against the received number adaptation hypothesis. Collectively, the results of these experiments undermine the number adaptation hypothesis on several fronts, whilst consistently supporting the old news hypothesis. More broadly our work raises questions about the status of adaptation itself as a means of discerning what is and is not a visual attribute. (shrink)

The visual system adapts to a wide range of visual features, from lower-level features like color and motion to higher-level features like causality and, perhaps, number. According to some, adaptation is a strictly perceptual phenomenon, such that the presence of adaptation licenses the claim that a feature is truly perceptual in nature. Given the theoretical importance of claims about adaptation, then, it is important to understand exactly when the visual system does and does not exhibit adaptation. Here, we take as (...) a case study one specific kind of adaptation: visual adaptation to size. Supported by evidence from four experiments, we argue that, despite robust effects of size adaptation in the lab, (1) size adaptation effects are phenomenologically underwhelming (in some cases, hardly appreciable at all), (2) some effects of size adaptation appear contradictory, and difficult to explain given current theories of size adaptation, and (3) prior studies on size adaptation may have failed to isolate size as the adapted dimension. Ultimately, we argue that while there is evidence to license the claim that size adaptation is genuine, size adaptation is a puzzling and poorly understood phenomenon. (shrink)

Koonin argues that CRISPR-Cas systems present the best-known case in point for Lamarckian evolution because they satisfy his proposed criteria for the specific inheritance of acquired adaptive characteristics. We see two interrelated issues with Koonin’s characterization of CRISPR-Cas systems as Lamarckian. First, at times he appears to confuse an account of the CRISPR-Cas system with an account of the mechanism it employs. We argue there is no evidence for the CRISPR-Cas system being “Lamarckian” in any sense. Second, it is unclear (...) whether the mechanism is more “Lamarckian” than many other forms of genetic change already well-characterized in Darwinian terms. We present three conceptually distinct senses in which the mechanism of IAC may be considered Lamarckian and argue that only the strongest sense of goal-directed IAC would be difficult to accommodate in a Darwinian account. As the CRISPR-Cas mechanism does not qualify as “Lamarckian” in this strong sense, we argue there is no conceptual value in calling it “Lamarckian”. Finally, we suggest that CRISPR-Cas systems do hold the potential for genuinely non-Darwinian, directed evolution in a way that Koonin did not discuss, involving their potential use as a human gene-editing tool. (shrink)

Relationships are central to human life strategies and have crucial fitness consequences. Yet, at the same time, they incur significant maintenance costs that are rarely considered in either social psychological or evolutionary studies. Although many social psychological studies have explored their dynamics, these studies have typically focused on a small number of emotionally intense ties, whereas social networks in fact consist of a large number of ties that serve a variety of different functions. In this study, we examined how entire (...) active personal networks changed over 18 months across a major life transition. Family relationships and friendships differed strikingly in this respect. The decline in friendship quality was mitigated by increased effort invested in the relationship, but with a striking gender difference: relationship decline was prevented most by increased contact frequency (talking together) for females but by doing more activities together in the case of males. (shrink)

Judgements of the value or likelihood of a focal object or outcome have been shown to vary dramatically as a function of whether judgement is based on selective or comparative processing. This article explores the question of when selective versus comparative processing is likely, and demonstrates that as motivation and opportunity to process information carefully (operationalised as accountability and time pressure, respectively) decrease, the likelihood of selective processing increases. Moreover, we document how individuals manage to render judgements when in selective (...) processing mode by relying on categorical knowledge. (shrink)

The program of Reverse Mathematics (Simpson 2009) has provided us with the insight that most theorems of ordinary mathematics are either equivalent to one of a select few logical principles, or provable in a weak base theory. In this paper, we study the properties of the Dirac delta function (Dirac 1927; Schwartz 1951) in two settings of Reverse Mathematics. In particular, we consider the Dirac Delta Theorem, which formalizes the well-known property \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} (...) \begin{document}$${\int_\mathbb{R}f(x)\delta(x)\,dx=f(0)}$$\end{document} of the Dirac delta function. We show that the Dirac Delta Theorem is equivalent to weak König’s Lemma (see Yu and Simpson in Arch Math Log 30(3):171–180, 1990) in classical Reverse Mathematics. This further validates the status of WWKL0 as one of the ‘Big’ systems of Reverse Mathematics. In the context of ERNA’s Reverse Mathematics (Sanders in J Symb Log 76(2):637–664, 2011), we show that the Dirac Delta Theorem is equivalent to the Universal Transfer Principle. Since the Universal Transfer Principle corresponds to WKL, it seems that, in ERNA’s Reverse Mathematics, the principles corresponding to WKL and WWKL coincide. Hence, ERNA’s Reverse Mathematics is actually coarser than classical Reverse Mathematics, although the base theory has lower first-order strength. (shrink)

Intellectual humility, which entails openness to other views and a willingness to listen and engage with them, is crucial for facilitating civil dialogue and progress in debate between opposing sides. In the present research, we tested whether intellectual humility can be reliably detected in discourse and experimentally increased by a prior self-affirmation task. Three-hundred and three participants took part in 116 audio and video-recorded group discussions. Blind to condition, linguists coded participants’ discourse to create an intellectual humility score. As expected, (...) the self-affirmation task increased the coded intellectual humility, as well as participants’ self-rated prosocial affect (e.g., empathy). Unexpectedly, the effect on prosocial affect did not mediate the link between experimental condition and intellectual humility in debate. Self-reported intellectual humility and other personality variables were uncorrelated with expert-coded intellectual humility. Implications of these findings for understanding the social psychological mechanisms underpinning intellectual humility are considered. (shrink)

Rationale: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the hippocampus is proposed for enhancement of memory impaired by injury or disease. Many pre-clinical DBS paradigms can be addressed in epilepsy patients undergoing intracranial monitoring for seizure localization, since they already have electrodes implanted in brain areas of interest. Even though epilepsy is usually not a memory disorder targeted by DBS, the studies can nevertheless model other memory-impacting disorders, such as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Methods: Human patients undergoing Phase II invasive monitoring for (...) intractable epilepsy were implanted with depth electrodes capable of recording neurophysiological signals. Subjects performed a delayed-match-to-sample (DMS) memory task while hippocampal ensembles from CA1 and CA3 cell layers were recorded to estimate a multi-input, multi-output (MIMO) model of CA3-to-CA1 neural encoding and a memory decoding model (MDM) to decode memory information from CA3 and CA1 neuronal signals. After model estimation, subjects again performed the DMS task while either MIMO-based or MDM-based patterned stimulation was delivered to CA1 electrode sites during the encoding phase of the DMS trials. Each subject was sorted (post hoc) by prior experience of repeated and/or mild-to-moderate brain injury (RMBI), TBI, or no history (control) and scored for percentage successful delayed recognition (DR) recall on stimulated vs. non-stimulated DMS trials. The subject’s medical history was unknown to the experimenters until after individual subject memory retention results were scored. Results: When examined compared to control subjects, both TBI and RMBI subjects showed increased memory retention in response to both MIMO and MDM-based hippocampal stimulation. Furthermore, effects of stimulation were also greater in subjects who were evaluated as having pre-existing mild-to-moderate memory impairment. Conclusion: These results show that hippocampal stimulation for memory facilitation was more beneficial for subjects who had previously suffered a brain injury (other than epilepsy), compared to control (epilepsy) subjects who had not suffered a brain injury. This study demonstrates that the epilepsy/intracranial recording model can be extended to test the ability of DBS to restore memory function in subjects who previously suffered a brain injury other than epilepsy, and support further investigation into the beneficial effect of DBS in TBI patients. (shrink)

The uncountability of$\mathbb {R}$is one of its most basic properties, known far outside of mathematics. Cantor’s 1874 proof of the uncountability of$\mathbb {R}$even appears in the very first paper on set theory, i.e., a historical milestone. In this paper, we study the uncountability of${\mathbb R}$in Kohlenbach’shigher-orderReverse Mathematics (RM for short), in the guise of the following principle:$$\begin{align*}\mathit{for \ a \ countable \ set } \ A\subset \mathbb{R}, \mathit{\ there \ exists } \ y\in \mathbb{R}\setminus A. \end{align*}$$An important conceptual observation is (...) that the usual definition of countable set—based on injections or bijections to${\mathbb N}$—does not seem suitable for the RM-study of mainstream mathematics; we also propose a suitable (equivalent over strong systems) alternative definition of countable set, namelyunion over${\mathbb N}$of finite sets; the latter is known from the literature and closer to how countable sets occur ‘in the wild’. We identify a considerable number of theorems that are equivalent to the centred theorem based on our alternative definition. Perhaps surprisingly, our equivalent theorems involve most basic properties of the Riemann integral, regulated or bounded variation functions, Blumberg’s theorem, and Volterra’s early work circa 1881. Our equivalences are alsorobust, promoting the uncountability of${\mathbb R}$to the status of ‘big’ system in RM. (shrink)

Cantor’s first set theory paper (1874) establishes the uncountability of ${\mathbb R}$. We study this most basic mathematical fact formulated in the language of higher-order arithmetic. In particular, we investigate the logical and computational properties of ${\mathsf {NIN}}$ (resp. ${\mathsf {NBI}}$ ), i.e., the third-order statement there is no injection resp. bijection from $[0,1]$ to ${\mathbb N}$. Working in Kohlenbach’s higher-order Reverse Mathematics, we show that ${\mathsf {NIN}}$ and ${\mathsf {NBI}}$ are hard to prove in terms of (conventional) comprehension axioms, (...) while many basic theorems, like Arzelà’s convergence theorem for the Riemann integral (1885), are shown to imply ${\mathsf {NIN}}$ and/or ${\mathsf {NBI}}$. Working in Kleene’s higher-order computability theory based on S1–S9, we show that the following fourth-order process based on ${\mathsf {NIN}}$ is similarly hard to compute: for a given $[0,1]\rightarrow {\mathbb N}$ -function, find reals in the unit interval that map to the same natural number. (shrink)

Study of Samayasāra, treatise on Jaina philosophy by Kundakunda.

Sometimes the right book finds you at the right time, and it shifts your perception of a familiar subject just a little, just enough to make a difference. It reminds you of something important you haven’t thought of in a while, or it shows you a new way of looking at and interacting with the world. Last winter, for me, that book was The Disappearing Spoon, by Sam Kean. I heard a very fuzzy description of the book at a holiday (...) party, something about the periodic table and political history. As someone eternally interested in chemistry and its impact on society at large, I was intrigued. (shrink)

Sam Harris’ new book “The Moral Landscape” is the latest in a series of attempts to provide a new “science of morality.” This essay argues that such a project is unlikely to succeed, using Harris’ text as an example of the major philosophical problems that would be faced by any such theory. In particular, I argue that those trying to construct a scientific ethics need pay far more attention to the tradition of moral philosophy, rather than assuming the debate is (...) simply between a scientific ethics and a “supernatural” ethics provided by religion. (shrink)

하루 10분, 나를 변화시키는 짧고 깊은 생각 고전문헌학자 배철현의 인문 에세이 ◎ 도서 소개 베스트셀러 『심연』 『수련』 『정적』 『승화』 4부작 완결판! 승화, 더 높은 차원의 삶을 산다는 것 자신의 마음을 변화시킬 수 없는 사람은 그 무엇도 바꿀 수 없다. 내가 바라는 나 자신이 되기 위해 오늘 어떤 생각을 하고 어떤 행동을 할 것인가! 고전문헌학자 배철현의 인문 에세이 시리즈 중 마지막 책인 『승화』는, 흔들리는 삶 속에서 나를 지켜내기 위한 성찰의 방법을 이야기한다. 저자는 ‘흠모하는 나 자신으로 살고 있는가’라는 질문을 마음에 새긴 하루는 (...) 어제와 다를 것이라고 말한다. ‘승화’란 더 나은 자신을 위해 혁신하려는 용기를 갖는 삶의 태도다. 단어의 어원과 개념 속에서 숨은 의미를 발굴해 풀어내는 저자의 문장들은, 삶의 의미를 찾고 싶은 사람들에게 소중한 매뉴얼이 되어줄 것이다. ◎ 출판사 서평 산다는 것은 매일 천천히 태어나는 과정이다 이대로 살 것인가, 내가 바라는 삶을 살 것인가 『승화』는 『심연』(2016), 『수련』(2018), 『정적』(2019)을 거쳐 완성한 인문 에세이 4부작의 마지막 책이다. 자신의 ‘심연’에서 내면의 소리를 듣고, 삶의 군더더기와 같은 불필요한 생각을 버리는 ‘수련’을 한 후, 평정심을 위한 마음의 ‘정적’을 지니고 나면 비로소 만나는 단계가 ‘승화’다. ‘승화’는 지금의 삶보다 더 높은 차원의 삶을 추구하려는 마음을 뜻한다. ‘승화’는 아무런 유혹도 시련도 없는 완성된 상태가 아니다. 이전에는 보이지 않던 더 높은 정상을 발견한 후 생기는 겸허한 마음이다. 마치 동네 야산의 정상에 오른 사람이 그 산보다 높은 산의 존재가 있다는 것을 깨닫고 겸손한 마음을 지니게 되는 것과 같다. 이때 필요한 질문이 “내가 바라는 나는 무엇인가”, “나는 나 자신을 흠모하며 살고 있는가”이다. 저자는 다른 사람과의 관계가 아니라 ‘자기-자신’과의 관계를 새롭게 정의하려는 노력이 필요하다고 말한다. 변화는 삶의 가치와 방향을 외부가 아닌 자기 내부에 두는 것에서 시작한다. 어제와 달라질 오늘의 자기 자신에 대한 신뢰, 지속적으로 자신을 혁신하려는 용기 있는 도전이 일상의 변화를 만든다. 자기 성찰을 돕는 28개의 단어 사유의 정수가 응축된 인생의 아포리즘 이 책은 공허, 고통, 양심, 내면, 변모, 미지 등 28개의 글로 이루어져 있다. 각각의 단어는 자기 자신을 변화시키는 길잡이이기도 하다. 고전문헌학자인 저자는 산스크리트어, 히브리어, 라틴어 등 고대 언어에서 어원을 찾아 숨은 뜻을 발굴해내고 새롭게 재구성했다. 또한 『요가수트라』, 『우파니샤드』와 같은 잘 알려지지 않은 경전에서부터 단테, 소포클레스, 아우렐리우스 등의 고전에 대한 깊이 있는 해석은 시대와 학문의 경계를 넘어 사유의 정수를 느끼게 한다. 나아가 저자가 시골 생활을 하며 느낀 자연에 대한 묵상이 어우러져 삶의 본질에 대한 묵직한 울림을 준다. [주요 문장] - 오늘 나는 누구와 또 무엇과 부딪칠까? 내 머릿속 어떤 생각들과 만나 어떻게 반응할까? 나는 오늘 내가 그것들을 어떻게 처리하는지를 관찰하고 싶다. - 하루의 마무리는 저녁이 아니라 아침에 완성된다. 아침을 어떻게 보내느냐에 따라 하루의 질이 결정된다. - 자신의 일에 몰입하면 우주의 주인인 시간조차 달아나버린다. 자기 자신에게 몰입하는 사람은 시간에게 자신을 양보하지 않는다. - 하루라는 시간은 흠모하는 나를 만들기 위한 훈련이다. 훈련은 과거의 나로 주저앉히는 게으름과 욕심에 대한 체계적인 공격이다. 변화란 내가 나에게 하는 간절한 부탁이다 나는 오늘, 나에게 무엇을 당부할 것인가 일상에서 부딪히는 벽은 방해물이 아니라 내가 극복해야 할 유일한 길이다. 하지만 극복의 결과는 미미할 수 있음을 기억해야 한다. 불안한 일상은 변함없을 것이기 때문이다. 그럼에도 무의미와 모순으로 가득해 보이는 삶을 있는 그대로 수용하고, 오늘 하루를 인생의 마지막 날처럼 정성스럽게 살려는 노력만이 우리가 할 수 있는 최선일 것이라고 저자는 말한다. 이른 아침 혹은 잠들기 전, 하루 10분씩이라도 책에서 소개하는 단어들을 삶의 일부로 받아들인다면 조용한 변화가 일어나는 것을 경험할 수 있을 것이다. 내가 발견해야 할 별은 도달할 수 없는 먼 하늘에 있지 않다. 그 별은 눈을 감고 자신의 마음을 들여다볼 때 비로소 보이는 원석이기 때문이다. 그 원석은 지금도 발견되기만을 기다리고 있다. ◎ 본문 중에서 현대 문명은 키르케고르가 말한 “죽음에 이르는 병”처럼 영적인 병에 걸려 외로움이라는 늪에 빠져 있다. 우리는 그 안에 갇혀 심연에 묻어둔 금기된 악을 분출하고 있는 것인가? (…) 오늘날 우리를 이 늪에서 건져낼 가치는 무엇인가? [공허, 자신을 관찰하는 터전 : 32쪽] 어리석은 자는 그런 역경을 상상한 적이 없다. 그는 모든 것들이 자기 생각대로 ‘순조롭게’ 흘러갈 거라고 착각한다. 우주와 자연은 인간의 상상대로 돌아가는 법이 없다. 인간의 생각은 언제나 부족하고 편협하기 때문이다. [고통, 생명의 존재 방식 : 40쪽] 오늘 하루, 내가 가야 할 방향을 지시하는 ‘또 다른 나’와 마주한다. 부산한 일과 생각을 정지시키고 나만의 제단에서 가만히 눈을 감는다. 묵상이란 좌정과 몰입을 방해하기 위해 계속 짖어대는 사납고 무시무시한 한 마리 검은 개 앞에서도 꿈쩍하지 않는 개다. [도야, 나만의 임무 : 116쪽] 요즘처럼 속절없이 흐르는 시간이 야속하기도 하고 아쉽기도 한 적이 없다. 나 자신에게 무언가를 요구하지만, 그것에 잘 부응하지 못하는 것 같아 늘 아쉽다. 그 아쉬움을 방치하면 소홀과 게으름이 나를 꼼짝달싹 못 하게 붙들고 깊은 실의의 늪으로 데려간다. [신중, 허상으로부터의 탈출 : 161쪽] 우리가 사는 세상은 베이스캠프다. 우리는 이곳에서 영원히 살 수 없다. 인간은 탐구하고 모험하고 자신이 가진 잠재력의 한계를 팽창시키려 시도할 때, 비로소 대중에서 개인으로, 범인에서 초인으로, 동물적 인간에서 신적 인간으로 승화한다. [안내, 인생이라는 베이스캠프 : 211쪽] 침묵한 채 자족하는 나무들을 내려다보았다. 모두 자기 모습 그대로의 품위를 지키며 순간을 즐기고 있다. 옆에 있는 나무를 쳐다보지도 부러워하지도 시기하지도 않는다. 나무들이 나에게 묻는다. “당신은 당신입니까?” [자기문화, 개화를 기다리는 인내 : 221쪽] 변화는 누구에게 요구하는 폭력이 아니라 자신에게 부탁하는 정중한 초대이며, 그 변화를 이루기 위해 의도하는 섬세한 연습이다. 당신은 지금 누군가를 변화시키려 하고 있지는 않은가? 아니면 자신을 변화의 대상으로 삼아 변화하는 중인가? [변화, 나에게 보내는 정중한 초대 : 281쪽]. (shrink)

Sources of Tibetan Tradition. Edited by Kurtis R. Schaeffer, Matthew T. Kapstein, and Gray Tuttle. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013. Pp. xxxvii + 810, 3 maps. $120, $40. The Tibetan History Reader. Edited by Gray Tuttle and Kurtis R. Schaeffer. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013. Pp. xxii + 720, 3 maps. $120, $40.

Sam Lebens offers an intriguing set of arguments from theism to idealism. In this paper, I shall focus on the argument from perfect rationality to Hassidic Idealism. I will offer a critical analysis of this argument and draw out a series of conflicts between Hassidic Idealism and divine freedom, the divine ideas, and creation ex nihilo.

The legend of the encounter between Wilberforce and Huxley is well established. Almost every scientist knows, and every viewer of the BBC's recent programme on Darwin was shown,* how Samuel Wilberforce, bishop of Oxford, attempted to pour scorn on Darwin's Origin of Species at a meeting of the British Association in Oxford on 30 June 1860, and had the tables turned on him by T. H. Huxley. In this memorable encounter Huxley's simple scientific sincerity humbled the prelatical insolence and clerical (...) obscurantism of Soapy Sam; the pretension of the Church to dictate to scientists the conclusions they were allowed to reach were, for good and all, decisively defeated; the autonomy of science was established in Britain and the Western world; the claim of plain unvarnished truth on men's allegiance was vindicated, however unwelcome its implications for human vanity might be; and the flood tide of Victorian faith in all its fulsomeness was turned to an ebb, which has continued to our present day and will only end when religion and superstition have been finally eliminated from the minds of all enlightened men. Even churchmen concede that it was a disastrous defeat.1 Only Owen Chadwick strikes a note of caution, observing that the account given of the incident in Wilberforce's biography seems hardly consistent with an overwhelming defeat, and maintaining that the received account must be a largely legendary creation of a later date. (shrink)

A radical, optimistic exploration of how humans evolved to develop reason, consciousness, and free will. Lately, the most passionate advocates of the theory of evolution seem to present it as bad news. Scientists such as Richard Dawkins, Lawrence Krauss, and Sam Harris tell us that our most intimate actions, thoughts, and values are mere byproducts of thousands of generations of mindless adaptation. We are just one species among multitudes, and therefore no more significant than any other living creature. Now comes (...) Brown University biologist Kenneth R. Miller to make the case that this view betrays a gross misunderstanding of evolution. Natural selection surely explains how our bodies and brains were shaped, but Miller argues that it’s not a social or cultural theory of everything. In The Human Instinct, he rejects the idea that our biological heritage means that human thought, action, and imagination are pre-determined, describing instead the trajectory that ultimately gave us reason, consciousness and free will. A proper understanding of evolution, he says, reveals humankind in its glorious uniqueness—one foot planted firmly among all of the creatures we’ve evolved alongside, and the other in the special place of self-awareness and understanding that we alone occupy in the universe. Equal parts natural science and philosophy, The Human Instinct is a moving and powerful celebration of what it means to be human. (shrink)

Osmanlılar, İbnü’l-Arabî’nin (ö. 638/1240) düşüncelerine ve kitaplarına büyük ilgi göstermiştir. Osmanlı padişahları da, devletlerinin kuruluşunu İbnü’l-Arabî'ye nispet eden rivayetlere değer vermiş ve onun fikirlerini desteklemiştir. Osmanlı’da kurulan medreselerin başında olan kişilerin, ilk dönem şeyhülislam ve kadıların İbnü’l-Arabî'nin fikirlerini yayma çabaları dikkat çekmektedir. Bu durum, İbnü’l-Arabî'nin Osmanlı toplumunda nazarî tasavvuf ekolünün sembolü haline gelmesine neden olmuştur. Şam toplumu ise genelde Osmanlı ile karşılaşmadan önce İbnü’l-Arabî’ye ve eserlerine az ilgi göstermekteydi. Şam’ın Osmanlı yönetimine girmesinden sonra ise bölgede İbnü’l-Arabî’ye ilgi artmıştır. Osmanlı valileri (...) ve kadıların İbnü’l-Arabî'nin kabrini ziyaret etmeyi gelenek haline getirmeleriyle daha da belirgin hale gelmiştir. Halk arasında da İbnü’l-Arabî’nin velayetine inanılarak büyük bir hürmet görmüştür. Bu gelişmeler Şam’da İbnü’l-Arabî’nin fikirlerinin yayılmaması açısından önem arz etmekdedir. Osmanlı döneminde, özellikle on altıncı yüzyılda İbn Kemal Paşa'nın desteğiyle İbnü’l-Arabî'ye olan ilgi artmıştır. On yedinci yüzyılda da bu ilgi devam etmiştir. Abdulganî en-Nablusî, on sekizinci yüzyılda İbnü’l-Arabî ekolünün önde gelen ismi olmuştur. On dokuzuncu yüzyılda, Emir Abdülkâdir el-Cezâirî'nin çabalarıyla İbnü’l-Arabî ekolüne mensup sufi ve âlimler çoğalmıştır. Bu dönemde İbnü’l-Arabî'nin evrâdı ve şerhleri de önem kazanmıştır. Şam ulemasından birçok kişi, özellikle Bahâüddin b. Abdülganî el-Baytar ve Muhammed Emin b. Muhammed Süveyd gibi şahsiyetler, İbnü’l-Arabî'nin eserlerini düzenli bir şekilde okumuş ve öğrencilere okutmuştur. Şam'da İbnü’l-Arabî'ye olan ilgi ve saygı, genel tasavvufî çizgi içinde amelî tasavvufa ağırlık verilmesine rağmen, nazarî tasavvufa yönelik bir eğilim göstermiştir. Şam toplumunda tarih boyunca İbnü’l-Arabî'nin şahsiyeti özel bir konum kazanmıştır. Onun için Şeyhu’l-Ekber gibi lakapların yaygınlaşması bunun göstergesi olmuştur. Âlimler ve mutasavvıflar İbnü’l-Arabî'nin öğretilerine büyük değer vermiş, özellikle baş eseri Fusûs’a önemli şerhler yazılmıştır. İbnü’l-Arabî'ye yönelik eleştiriler ve tartışmalar da yaşanmıştır. Özellikle Fusûsu'l-Hikem kitabındaki görüşleri bazı âlimler tarafından eleştirilmiş ve hatta tekfir edilmiştir. Ancak Osmanlı Devleti'nin resmi tutumu, İbnü’l-Arabî'ye destek vermek ve eleştirilere karşı çıkmak şeklinde olmuştur. Zamanla, İbnü’l-Arabî'nin eserleri savunulmuş ve eleştirilere cevaplar verilmiştir. Osmanlı valileri, Şam'da İbnü’l-Arabî'nin görüşlerine saldıran kişileri soruşturmuş ve cezalandırmıştır. Ancak bu tutum, Osmanlı fakihleri arasında da eleştiri ve karşıt görüşlerin ortaya çıkmasına neden olmuştur. İbnü’l-Arabî'nin kabri Osmanlı döneminde sürekli olarak ziyaret edilmiş, bu ziyaretler cuma geceleri özel olarak artmıştır. Osmanlı devlet adamları şeyhler ve âlimler, Şam'a girişlerinde önce İbnü’l-Arabî'nin kabrini ziyaret etmişlerdir. Kabir ziyaretine olan bu ilgi, zaman içinde önemli şahsiyetlerin defnedilme arzusuna dönüşmüş, Osmanlı büyüğü olan birçok kişi İbnü’l-Arabî'nin kabri yakınında gömülmeyi tercih etmiştir. Osmanlı devlet adamları ve şeyhlerinin İbnü’l-Arabî'nin etrafında defnedilme çabaları, bu bölgenin Osmanlılar dönemindeki etkisini göstermektedir. Osmanlı döneminde Şam'da İbnü’l-Arabî'nin öğretileri önemli ölçüde ilgi görmüş, devlet adamları, âlimler ve sûfîler tarafından benimsenmiştir. Osmanlılar, İbnü’l-Arabî'nin mirasını koruma ve destekleme amacıyla çeşitli önlemler almıştır. Ancak bu ilgi genellikle belirli gruplar arasında kalmış ve geniş kitlelere ulaşmamıştır. Tarikatlar genellikle İbnü’l-Arabî'nin vahdet-i vücûd anlayışına ilgi göstermiştir. Şam’da İbnü’l-Arabî'nin fikirleri zaman zaman eleştirilmiş ve savunulmuştur. (shrink)

There is a prevailing opinion that conjectural knowledge (zann) cannot be taken as a basis in determining the fundamental theological principles among the theologians. However, from which sources and how to obtain certainty (yaqīn) and which types of knowledge are definitive (qat‘ī) have been discussed extensively. Certain and conjectural knowledge meet at a common point in terms of relying on evidence. Conjectural knowledge obtained via reasoning and/or religious scripture that do not express certainty. While conjectural knowledge has been essentially related (...) to the concepts of estimation, doubt, belief and knowledge, by its in term of value, it is stands closer to the concepts of knowledge and belief. Conjectural knowledge contains different degrees of certainty. When it is chosen to be more certain, it is considered as a valid conjecture, when it is disregarded, it is considered as erroneous conjecture. If there is no choice for its certainty, then it is called doubt (shakk). If the information/judgment obtained through reasoning becomes fixed, unchangeable and in a coherence that does not allow it to be otherwise, then it is called definitive (qat‘ī) knowledge. To achieve that, theologians generally used methods of argumentations like syllogism, induction, exhaustive investigation and disjunction (al-sabr wa’l-taqsīm) to provide such knowledge about divinity and prophethood. Theologians have used conjectural knowledge, which are based on endoxic (mashhūrāt), already granted (musallamāt) and acceptance of authority (maqbūlāt), in their dialectics to persuade their discussants, rather than to justify the fundamental theological issues of religion. While theologians mostly use rational proofs in theological issues, they also gave significant place to the scriptural narrative that determines the creed. In this context, theologians accepted the narrated evidence as binding and decisive, as long as it is certain in terms of both authenticity and implication. Ultimately, the fundamental theological principles of religion are based on these narrative evidences. Although the theologians do not accept single reports (khabar al-wahid) for their questionable authenticity, they also made inferences regarding subjects of traditions (sam‘iyyāt). Acting from this perspective, theologians tried to justify with narrative evidence rather than rational arguments on these issues such as torment in grave, intercession (shafā‘ah) and sirât, which are mostly matters of eschatology and the unseen (ghayb). Finally, it has been concluded that the conjectural knowledge is still valid in some secondary theological issues and the assumption that the conjectural knowledge has no deduction value in theology is not absolute. (shrink)

Flavin‐containing monooxygenases (FMOs), traditionally known for detoxifying xenobiotics, are now recognized for their involvement in endogenous metabolism. We recently discovered that an isoform of FMO, fmo‐2 in Caenorhabditis elegans, alters endogenous metabolism to impact longevity and stress tolerance. Increased expression of fmo‐2 in C. elegans modifies the flux through the key pathway known as One Carbon Metabolism (OCM). This modified flux results in a decrease in the ratio of S‐adenosyl‐methionine (SAM) to S‐adenosyl‐homocysteine (SAH), consequently diminishing methylation capacity. Here we discuss (...) how FMO‐2‐mediated formate production during tryptophan metabolism may serve as a trigger for changing the flux in OCM. We suggest formate bridges tryptophan and OCM, altering metabolic flux away from methylation during fmo‐2 overexpression. Additionally, we highlight how these metabolic results intersect with the mTOR and AMPK pathways, in addition to mitochondrial metabolism. In conclusion, the goal of this essay is to bring attention to the central role of FMO enzymes but lack of understanding of their mechanisms. We justify a call for a deeper understanding of FMO enzyme's role in metabolic rewiring through tryptophan/formate or other yet unidentified substrates. Additionally, we emphasize the identification of novel drugs and microbes to induce FMO activity and extend lifespan. (shrink)

Sam Harris, a previously unknown neuroscientist, single-handedly generated the New Atheism with his best-selling book The End of Faith, which quickly became a huge best-seller following its release in 2004. Harris went on to write several more best-sellers on a range of topics and has become one of the world's most followed podcasters. He is well-known for his controversial positions in many areas, including the unique danger of Islam, the advocacy of atheist spirituality through meditation, the beneficial use of psychedelics, (...) denial of the existence of free will, his belief that science can tell us what's right and wrong, and his extreme alarmism with regard to the future of artificial intelligence. Sam Harris: Critical Responses is a collection of essays criticizing different aspects of Harris's thinking from a range of diverse perspectives--left and right, Christian and atheist, philosophical, psychological, and political. These twenty serious criticisms of Sam Harris, written by experts from diverse political and ideological backgrounds, are often severe while maintaining an approach that is reasonable and respectful. As one noted author commented on Sandra Woien's previous collection, Jordan Peterson: Critical Responses, "Both fans and foes will appreciate this volume." Forward by Stephen R. C. Hicks. Stephen R.C. Hicks is a professor of Philosophy at Rockford University. He is the author of Explaining Postmodernism (2004) and Nietzsche and the Nazis (2010). (shrink)

Supercommentary on Jayatīrtha's R̥gbhāṣyaṭīkā, which in turn is a supercommentary on Madhva's R̥gbhāṣya, setting forth the Dvaita point of view in Hindu philosophy.

On the development of Buddhist philosophy after Buddha's exit from the world.

My assigned task is to lay out the shape of my father's life and faith. This is daunting, but it is also a privilege because I loved him and admired him, and his life has been central in shaping my own. I am speaking also on behalf of my mother, my three sisters, Bridget, Louise and Ellie, and our children, Catherine and Andrew, Sam and Anisa, Hannah and Matty.

This paper examines the meaning and significance of the numerical phrase tríḥ saptá and its compounded form triṣaptá in the R̥gveda and Atharvaveda in order to understand its use in the opening hymn of the Śaunakīya Saṃhitā. It argues that by invoking Vācaspati and the “Thrice Seven” the hymn’s composer makes a complex poetic and mythological statement about the cosmological importance of his ritual tradition, its founding fathers, and the powerful nature of ritual speech and knowledge, a message that the (...) redactors of the Śaunakīya Saṃhitā wished to foreground by opening their text with this hymn. (shrink)

The thought system of Qâdî ‘Abd al-Jabbâr, who is a productive intellectual worker in the Mu‘tazilî school, is established on the contingency (imkân) of obligation (taklîf) of the God upon people. In other words he has a universe and order of thought which is built around the term obligation. Therefore, the content of Qâdî’s aforementioned thought which has a very significant place in Mu‘tazilî thought is constituted of responsbilities of human beings. These responsibilities of the human beings are gathered under (...) the title of rational ones (aqliyyât) in terms of being held responsible by reason and the title sem‘iyyât which covers the things that fall under the category of responsibilities that can be only known by revelation (wahy) due to the imposibility of being assigned by the sole reason. In short, aqliyyât corrresponds to the rational field of obligation whereas se‘miyyât corresponds to the legal (shar’i) field of responsibility. The responsibilites under the title aqliyyât are such as tawhîd, justice, and other non-primary premises that serve as instruments for comrehending these two terms. The content of sem‘iyyât, on the other hand, is constituted of the issues that fall outside of the rational obligation (taklîf al-aqlî) and can only be known by means of sam‘ (revelation) such as the knowledge that adultry leads to moral corruption or the knowledge of juristic worships. We can observe that Qâdî ‘Abd al-Jabbâr, did make use of three different kinds of proofs in order to prove, found, and justify the aforementioned issues which lay the foundations for his thought. These are rational (aqlî), revelational (sam‘î) and linguistic (lugawi) proofs, respectively. For each of these kinds of proofs there is an idiosyncratic domain of coverage on which that kind of proof is considered as the unique authority. This research aims to elaborate the domain the only authority of which is the linguistic proofs and also aims to render it comprehensive. So to speak, the motivating factor of this research is to clarify the question of to what extent the language plays a role in Qâdî’s thought and its domain of influence in the simplest way. (shrink)

Článek seznamuje s kritikou psychologismu v logice, která je jedním z hlavních témat Husserlových Prolegomen k čisté logice. Psychologismus v logice spočíval v podstatě v tom, že logika byla chápána jako součást psychologie, příp. že psychologie se považovala za jediný a dostatečný teoretický základ logiky. Pozornost je věnována dvěma hlavním liniím kritiky psychologismu, které se v tomto Husserlově díle objevují. První z nich vychází z analýzy povahy zákonů čisté logiky (zákon sporu, sylogistické figury aj.). Analýza ukazuje, že tyto zákony se (...) nemohou zakládat na empirických psychologických pravidlech, a psychologie (jako empirická věda) tudíž nemůže být základem logiky. Druhá linie Husserlovy kritiky psychologismu v logice směřuje k prokázání vnitřní rozpornosti psychologistického stanoviska, jsou-li z něj vyvozeny jeho nejzazší důsledky. Tato rozpornost spočívá v tom, že psychologismus na jedné straně vystupuje jako vědecká teorie, na straně druhé však svou základní tezí popírá některé z nutných podmínek možnosti každé vědecké teorie vůbec, a tím sám sebe ruší jako teoreticky věrohodnou tezi. Závěrem upozorníme na jedno z pokračování boje proti psychologismu v rané fenomenologické tradici, a to na Ingardenovu kritiku psychologismu v pojetí literárního díla.The article outlines some of the main argumentation-strategies deployed by Husserl in his famous critique of the psychologistic logic in Prolegomena to pure logic. Fundamentally, the psychologism in logic consisted in considering logic to be a part of psychology, resp. in considering psychology as the exclusive and sufficient foundation of logic. The attention is given to the two main lines of argumentation against psychologism appearing in the work of Husserl. The starting point of the first one is an analysis of the laws of pure logic (principle of contradiction, the figures of syllogism etc.). It shows that these laws can not be based on mere empirical rules of psychology, and thus psychology (as an empirical discipline) can not be the foundation of logic. The second line of Husserl’s critique of psychologism aims at showing the contradictions in the psychologistic standpoint that become visible if one uncovers its ultimate implications. The main contradiction consists in that while psychology claims to be a scientific theory it contradicts at the same time by its fundamental claim some of the necessary conditions of a scientific theory as such, and thus it cancels itself as a theoretically credible set of claims. Toward the end of the paper the attention is given to one of the continuations of the fight against psychologism in the phenomenological tradition, namely to R. Ingarden’s critique of the psychologism in the conception of the literary work of art. (shrink)