Many studies have shown that environmentalist attitudes are increasingly prominent both domestically and internationally, although they often vary in depth and commitment. However, consumption studies and the rate of depletion and pollution of natural resources have shown even more clearly that detrimental human activity, per capita, is still rising. These observations contradict each other, resulting in a disparity between values/attitudes and consumptive behavior. We argue that this condition cannot be rationalized away with simplistic explanations followed by a call for better (...) education, shifts in morality, changes in consciousness, or new laws, policies and other forms of social control. Thus, the purpose of our study was to find out why the disparity between positive (green) values and negative (consumptive-exploitative) behavior exists in the majority of our sampled population. 1047 participants completed a 2-part survey that included both demographic variables and value/attitude test items. Our analysis isolated 4 main Factors; 3 were relevant to the goals of the study. These three Factors captured aspects of (1) political correctness, (2) a deep-ecology mindset, and (3) a politically conservative-religious value system best characterized as antithesis of factor 2. (shrink)

More widespread farming of species not typically used as livestock may be part of a sustainable approach for promoting human health and economic prosperity in a world with an increasing population; a current example is peccary farming in the Neotropics. Others have argued that species that are local to a region and which are usually not farmed should be considered for use as livestock. They may have a more desirable nutrient profile than species that are presently used as livestock. It (...) may also reduce the pressure from hunting on other wild species, and cause less environmental damage than exotic species. We propose a sentiocentric utilitarian framework that could be used to decide whether species that are local, but generally not used as livestock, should be farmed. To illustrate the use of our decision-making framework, we employ two contrasting neotropical case studies: the Spotted Paca (Cuniculus paca) and the Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris). We argue that it may be acceptable to use non-sentient species that are typically not farmed as livestock. However, research should determine whether farming them offers human, environmental or sustainability benefits. In addition, we recommend that if invertebrate species are considered for farming, research should be conducted to determine the likelihood that they are sentient. Finally, given the ethical failings of current livestock farming practices, we argue that a high bar must be met if ‘new’ species that are sentient are to be farmed. (shrink)

More widespread farming of species not typically used as livestock may be part of a sustainable approach for promoting human health and economic prosperity in a world with an increasing population; a current example is peccary farming in the Neotropics. Others have argued that species that are local to a region and which are usually not farmed should be considered for use as livestock. They may have a more desirable nutrient profile than species that are presently used as livestock. It (...) may also reduce the pressure from hunting on other wild species, and cause less environmental damage than exotic species. We propose a sentiocentric utilitarian framework that could be used to decide whether species that are local, but generally not used as livestock, should be farmed. To illustrate the use of our decision-making framework, we employ two contrasting neotropical case studies: the Spotted Paca (Cuniculus paca) and the Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris). We argue that it may be acceptable to use non-sentient species that are typically not farmed as livestock. However, research should determine whether farming them offers human, environmental or sustainability benefits. In addition, we recommend that if invertebrate species are considered for farming, research should be conducted to determine the likelihood that they are sentient. Finally, given the ethical failings of current livestock farming practices, we argue that a high bar must be met if ‘new’ species that are sentient are to be farmed. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to introduce the debate on some relevant philosophical problems raised by Damasio‟s works. I will start with some critiques against Damasio‟s approach, such as his falling back into cartesianism or into some form of mentalism, his failing to consider the results of psychiatry and neurodynamics, the «mereological fallacy» of his representationalism. I will discuss other issues such as the interpretation of emotional processes, the problem of separation between feelings and emotions, the marginal role of (...) the sensory-motor system in his „sensory-centric‟ theory of emotions. Then I will focus on the problem of consciousness, the different forms of emergency of the self and the role played by emotions in the constitution of mental representations. I will finally analyze some philosophical aspects of the critical debate on Damasio‟s approach and I will briefly hint at the ethical implications raised by the debate. (shrink)

Riassunto: Le “distorsioni” temporali paiono riguardare l’agentività umana in tutte le proprie manifestazioni. Da una prospettiva strutturale, l’azione si manifesta come un intreccio di processi che fondamentalmente comprende la formulazione di un’intenzione, l’esecuzione di un movimento e infine il processamento di un feedback che include gli effetti dell’azione. Lo studio dell’agentività umana ha incontrato molti ostacoli dovuti principalmente alla complessità dei processi mentali che accompagnano azioni specifiche. E tuttavia studi recenti hanno gettato luce sui processi mentali sottostanti l’azione. In questo (...) articolo intendo sostenere che, lungi dall’essere “distorsioni” temporali, le discrepanze tra tempo soggettivo e tempo oggettivo mostrano più profonde modalità soggettive inconsce di costituzione del tempo, che aggirano l’indagine scientifica e puntano direttamente alla costituzione fenomenologica di una rappresentazione del mondo coerente e dotata di significato, che non può essere ulteriormente ridotta mediante il riferimento al tempo oggettivo. Parole chiave: Soggettività; Tempo; Agentività; Distorsioni temporali; Esperienza Temporal Distorsions and Consciousness of Intentional Action: Temporal “distortions” seem to affect human agency in all its manifestations. From a structural point of view, action manifests itself as a plot of processes that essentially include the formulation of an intention, the execution of a motion, and, finally, processing feedback including the effects of the action. The study of human agency has encountered several obstacles which are mainly due to the complexity of mental processes that accompany specific actions. Yet recent studies have shed light on the mental processes underlying action. In my paper I argue that, far from being temporal “distortions”, mismatches between subjective time and objective time indicate deeper unconscious subjective modes of in-forming time, which bypass scientific exploration and point directly to the phenomenological constitution of a consistent and meaningful representation of the world, which cannot be further reduced by referring to clock time. Keywords: Subjectivity; Time; Agency; Temporal Distorsions; Experience. (shrink)

Equational reasoning arises in many areas of mathematics and computer science. It is a cornerstone of algebraic reasoning and results essential in tasks of specification and verification in functional programming, where a program is mainly a set of equations. The usual manipulation of identities while conducting informal proofs obviates many intermediate steps that are neccesary while developing them using a formal system, such as the equationally complete Birkhoff calculus ${\mathcal{B}}$. This deductive system does not fit in the common manner of (...) doing mathematical proofs, and it is not compatible with the mechanisms of proof assistants. The aim of this work is to provide a deductive system ${\mathcal{B}}^{\textrm{GOAL}}$ for equality, equivalent to ${\mathcal{B}}$ but suitable for constructing equational proofs in a backward fashion. This feature makes it adequate for interactive proof-search in the approach of proof assistants. This will be achieved by turning ${\mathcal{B}}^{\textrm{GOAL}}$ into a transition system of formal tactics in the style of Edinburgh LCF, such transformation allows us to give a direct formal definition of backward proof in equational logic. (shrink)

Cicero’sTimaeuslegitimately stands as the first Latin exegesis of the Platonic dialogue. I shall deal with the interpretation of §§19–21, a passage that departs significantly from the Greek text in several respects. The aim of this paper is to explore the role Aristotelianism might have played in Cicero’sTimaeus. Among the points that support such an analysis is the mention of the Peripatetic Cratippus in the prologue. The interpretative scenario I suggest considers both Cratippus’ role and Antiochus’s philosophical system with its agreement (...) between Platonism and Aristotelianism. (shrink)

At the neuronal level, the visual experience is continually interrupted by moments of blindness due to the saccades, the rapid ocular movements that accompany the dynamic exploration of the visual scene. Unlike what happens during ocular stasis, in which the salient information about the surrounding space is collected and processed in the visual system, the saccadic movements are instead associated with an inhibition mechanism, through which the conscious processing of the stimuli is systematically interrupted. How is it possible that the (...) information gathered in the course of the saccades is integrated into a unique and coherent experience? A ‘remapping’ mechanism of inputs at their meeting with the neuronal fields of sensory receptors has been assumed as a fundamental factor in the explanation of the maintenance of visual continuity through the constant change of the retinal coordinates of perceived objects. Subjective time is elusive if we assume that the clock time is the only ‘real’ and ‘objective’ time. In contrast, subjectivity shows modes of timing that are irreducible at the time of clocks – modes, which refer to unconscious modalities of experiencing an ‘extended present’ that is not made of instant points, but of processes qualitatively different from the experimentally measured time. (shrink)

We present a proof of the equivalence between two deductive systems for constructive necessity, namely an axiomatic characterisation inspired by Hakli and Negri's system of derivations from assumptions for modal logic , a Hilbert-style formalism designed to ensure the validity of the deduction theorem, and the judgmental reconstruction given by Pfenning and Davies by means of a natural deduction approach that makes a distinction between valid and true formulae, constructively. Both systems and the proof of their equivalence are formally verified (...) using the state-of-the-art proof assistant Coq. The proof approach taken throughout the paper unveils the use of some alternative proof methods that allow for a smooth transition from the high-level mathematical proofs to their mechanised counterparts. (shrink)

A long‐standing debate in the study of human communication centers on the degree to which communicators tune their communicative signals (e.g., speech, gestures) for specific addressees, as opposed to taking a neutral or egocentric perspective. This tuning, called recipient design, is known to occur under special conditions (e.g., when errors in communication need to be corrected), but several researchers have argued that it is not an intrinsic feature of human communication, because that would be computationally too demanding. In this study, (...) we contribute to this debate by studying a simple communicative behavior, communicative pointing, under conditions of successful (error‐free) communication. Using an information‐theoretic measure, called legibility, we present evidence of recipient design in communicative pointing. The legibility effect is present early in the movement, suggesting that it is an intrinsic part of the communicative plan. Moreover, it is reliable only from the viewpoint of the addressee, suggesting that the motor plan is tuned to the addressee. These findings suggest that recipient design is an intrinsic feature of human communication. (shrink)

What does it mean to keep an “open mind”? In casual conversation it’s a popular phrase with enough common sense to negate much need for debate about what the speaker means. Someone with an open mind might be considered considerate, equanimous, empathetic, a good listener, curious, or flexible in opinion. In Western culture an open-minded person might be receptive to new ideas, possibilities, and interpretations, suggesting that they successfully maintain an engaged yet dynamic mental relationship to various subjects or challenges. (...) Yet in science’s nascent study of consciousness, the notion of a mind “opening” is complicated by the field’s inability to clearly articulate what a mind is, let alone how, or into what, it might open. It is the purpose of this research to present the biological significance of “open-mindedness” in order to discuss possible phenomenological implications pertaining to neural correlates of consciousness (NCC). In his seminal book The Open Work, Umberto Eco describes “openness” as a phenomenon of conscious organization that “locates the infinite at the very core of the finite,” and “invites us to conceive, feel, and thus see the world as possibility.” Utilizing the methods of Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics (MDA) analysis, my critical phenomenological inquiry extends Eco’s lens of cultural semiotics into quantum biology to provide key insights for understanding the aesthetic role of field dynamics in qualia physics—as interpretive events (i.e., watching a film, tasting a dessert, or drawing). In particular, pairing Eco’s semiotic analysis of openness with Hameroff and Penrose’s OR Theory concerning cognitive qualia-producing architectures such as microtubules, raises how sensations between organisms and the Zero Point Field (ZPF) are absorbed, integrated, and transmitted through quantum Stochastic Electrodynamic (SED) information states proposed by Joachim Keppler. Therefore, we can say that living systems are those systems that have adapted their material capabilities (including fundamental principles of self-organization and complexity in common cognitive architectures like awareness and attention) to perceive and critically interpret coherently. That is to say—biology has evolved to make meaning through its very aliveness. Our conscious ability to open our minds in order to interpret and communicate our sensations, thoughts, and complete experiences, therefore reveals a radically multidimensional bio-geometry and biolinguistics based on a field dynamics, which Eco’s work constructs. Via an aesthetic information theory, Eco describes this phenomenon as, “a practical level of poetics that acts as programmatic projects for creation.” The writings of Rumi, Husserl, Dewey, Emerson, Merleau-Ponty, Hegel, and others confer depth to the emergent mechanics of perception found throughout biotic systems. Eco’s ideas thereby provoke discourse on the role of openness within recent theoretical works by Jeremy England, Anirban Bandyopadhyay, Robert Lanza, Deepak Chopra, Ervin Laszlo, Giulio Tononi, Stuart Kauffman, Walter J. Freeman, Robin Carhart-Harris, Mark P. Mattson, Robert R McCrae, Selen Atasoy, Katherine Peil, Terence Deacon, and David Chalmers. Unlike models of consciousness that arise from closed, local computation, I argue that the phenomenon of open mindedness unifies cultural and scientific concepts of consciousness as life’s critical integrative force. (shrink)

John Locke was one of the towering philosophers of the Enlightenment and arguably the greatest English philosopher. Many assumptions we now take for granted, about liberty, knowledge and government, come from Locke and his most influential works, _An Essay Concerning Human Understanding_ and _Two Treatises of Government_. In this superb introduction to Locke's thought, E.J. Lowe covers all the major aspects of his philosophy. Whilst sensitive to the seventeenth-century background to Locke's thought, he concentrates on introducing and assessing Locke in (...) a contemporary philosophical setting, explaining why he is so important today. Beginning with a helpful overview of Locke's life and times, he explains how Locke challenged the idea that the human mind and knowledge of the external world rested on innate principles, laying the philosophical foundations of empiricism later taken up by Berkeley and Hume. Subsequent chapters introduce and critically assess topics fundamental to understanding Locke: his theories of substance and identity, language and meaning, philosophy of action and free will, and political freedom and toleration. In doing so, he explains some of the more complex yet pivotal aspects of Locke's thought, such as his theory that language rests on ideas and how Locke's theory of personal identity paved the way for modern empirical psychology. A final chapter assesses Locke's legacy, and the book includes a helpful chronology of Locke's life and glossary of unfamiliar terms. (shrink)

Part four of the Proceedings of the fifth International Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science, London, Ontario, Canada, August 27-September 2, 1975.

L'éducation est dans ce livre envisagée comme un geste anthropologique intégral par lequel chaque personne s'achemine vers la plénitude de son être, dans le respect de sa destination naturelle et surnaturelle. À la lumière de cette mystique éducative qui nous fait entrer au coeur de la réalité humaine, l'existence se trouve intensifiée, parce que vécue avec un maximum de profondeur. Encore trop méconnu, l'apport d'Edith Stein en matière d'éducation méritait d'être enfin présenté sous une forme synthétique et accessible. La question (...) éducative occupe une place centrale dans la pensée d'Edith Stein, sans toutefois faire l'objet d'une mise en forme systématique. Cela justifie amplement le projet d'une reconstitution de son architecture d'ensemble. (shrink)

Part Three of the Proceedings of the Fifth International Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science, London, Ontario, Canada, August 27-September 2, 1975.

Selected articles of Ēṭukūru Balarāmamūrti on Marxist philosophy; includes contributed on his life and work.

À l'école d'Édith Stein -- À la recherche du geste intérieur -- Révéler la presence -- Anthropologie phénoménologique et théorie de l'éducation dans l'oeuvre d'Édith Stein (Résumé).

E. Rae Harcum argues that Christians do not have to give up their religious faith to keep the contributions of science. He confronts the relation between the human body and its non-material parts—the mind and spirit—and provides a way of looking at these metaphysical issues.

In this paper we aim at discussing cognitive and epistemic features of online communities, by the use of cognitive niche constructions theories, presenting them as virtual cognitive niches. Virtual cognitive niches can be considered as digitally-encoded collaborative distributions of diverse types of information into an environment performed by agents to aid thinking and reasoning about some target domain. Discussing this definition, we will also consider how online communities, as networks displaying a social bias, can both foster civic awareness and promote (...) problematic group-led behaviors in the virtually aggregated crowds. To support this affirmation, we will take into account the use of online communication networks during crises and we will argue that it can lead to ethically dubious consequences. (shrink)

To the historian of art, it is evident that the two authors’ notion of ‘art’ is of very recent date, and not shared by everybody. They claim: ‘The purpose of art, surely, is not merely to depict or represent reality -- for that can be accomplished very easily with a camera -- but to enhance, transcend, or even to distort reality’ . They do not explain how one could photograph Paradise or Hell, the Creation of the World, the Passion of (...) Christ, or the escapades of the ancient gods -- all subjects that can be found represented in our museums. Nor is it more legitimate to generalize from certain Indian conventions of representing the female nude than it is for the academic tradition to take the Venus de Medici for the same purpose. Even a fleeting visit to one of the great museums might serve to convince the authors that few of the exhibits conform to the laws of art they postulate. [followed by response from V.S. Ramachandran]. (shrink)

The Anthropocene is heralded as a new epoch distinguishing itself from all foregoing eons in the history of the Earth. It is characterized by the overarching importance of the human species in a number of respects, but also by the recognition of human dependence and precariousness. A critical human turn affecting the human condition is still in the process of arriving in the wake of an initial Copernican Revolution and Kant's ensuing second Copernican Counter-revolution. Within this landscape, issues concerning the (...) human - its finitude, responsiveness, responsibility, maturity, auto-affection and relationship to itself - appear rephrased and re-accentuated as decisive probing questions. In this book Sverre Raffnsøe explores how the change has ramifications for the kinds of knowledge that can be acquired concerning human beings and for the human sciences as a study of human existential beings in the world. (shrink)

A.E. Taylor's ARISTOTLE is a brilliantly written account of the great Greek philosopher and his thought. More than simply a listing and abstract discussion of ideas, the book presents a searching analysis of Aristotle's thought, both in terms of its historical background as well as its modern application.

Il «nuovo» pensiero non è più cronologicamente nuovo ad oltre ottant’anni dalla sua nascita e, tuttavia, forse oggi manifesta un carattere di novità e di urgenza maggiore di allora, come si suol dire una «rinascita» che giustifica l’interrogativo sul suo «futuro». La particolare situazione in cui ci troviamo a pensare e soprattutto a vivere, le nuove domande che le mutate condizioni storico-culturali pongono alla filosofia, possono trovare un modello di risposta se ci si volge indietro a quella particolare stagione della (...) filosofia tedesca che abbraccia i primi tre decenni del Novecento e che fu tragicamente strozzata e azzittita dal nazionalsocialismo. Non si tratta di affermare un ysteron-proteron, sarebbe troppo semplicistico, decisamente acritico e storicamente e filosoficamente inaccettabile. Accade però, nella storia, che dei fermenti non riescano a produrre frutti perché la temperie del tempo non lo permette oppure perché «inattuali», non pienamente adeguati al tempo, e rimangono quindi latenti finché non si verificano le condizioni ottimali per il loro sviluppo, divenendo in tal modo «adeguati » al tempo. È appunto quanto si è verificato con tutti gli autori che si ritrovano accomunati da un «dialogisches Prinzip», se vogliamo riprendere l’espressione di Martin Buber e che si è concretizzato nelle varie figure rappresentative e nei vari pensatori a cui lo stesso Rosenzweig farà riferimento nel suo breve excursus storico, come, neues Denken, Begegnungsphilosophie, Beziehungsphilosophie, Sprachdenken. (shrink)

De la psychologie sociale aux Théories critiques de J Habermas et A Honneth, en passant par l'interactionnisme symbolique ou la sociologie pragmatiste héritière de l'école de Chicago, l'oeuvre de GH Mead (1863-1931) constitue une source majeure de la théorie sociale. Cet ouvrage invite à la (re)découvrir. Tout en examinant les sources de la pensée de Mead et en discutant ses concepts fondamentaux, il propose de mettre en lumière le potentiel critique et créateur des perspectives qu'elle ouvre pour la théorie sociale. (...) Il montre comment ses développements consacrés au self, à l'Autrui généralisé, à l'interaction, au contrôle social, etc., ainsi que son traitement des problèmes liés, notamment, à la conscience de soi, à la communication, à la reconnaissance ou aux institutions peuvent être mis en dialogue et en confrontation avec les analyses de A Smith, GWF Hegel, W James, G Simmel, J Dewey, RE Park, E Goffman, H Blumer, A Schütz, H Garfinkel, J Habermas, A Honneth, R Collins. Il propose des traductions inédites de textes de GH Mead qui permettent de saisir le processus d'élaboration et la richesse de sa psychologie sociale. A la fois introduction, examen critique et mise en perspective de la pensée de Mead, ce livre s'adresse aux philosophes, sociologues et psychologues, étudiants ou chercheurs, intéressés par l'auteur et, plus généralement, par la théorie sociale d'hier et d'aujourd'hui. (shrink)