In this paper we introduce the view that realism about a social kind K entails that the grounding conditions of K are difficult (or impossible) to manipulate. In other words, we define social kind realism in terms of relative frame manipulability (RFM). In articulating our view, we utilize theoretical resources from Epstein’s (Epstein, The ant trap: Rebuilding the foundations of the Social Sciences. Oxford University Press, 2015) grounding/anchoring model and causal interventionism. After comparing our view with causal and principle-based (Tahko, (...) Synthese 200(2):1–23, 2022) proposals, we motivate RFM by showing that it accommodates important desiderata about the social landscape (such as recognizing the context-relativity of social properties and the emancipatory dimension of social practice). Finally, we consider three objections. First, we tackle frame-necessitarianism (FN), the view that social kind frames are metaphysically necessary (and thus unmanipulable). Secondly, we engage with what Epstein (Epstein, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 99(3):768–781 2019a) calls UNIVERSALITY (the view that social kinds can hold in the absence of anchors) and we argue that it should also be resisted. Finally, we tackle a recent objection from Mason’s (Mason, Philosophical Studies, 178(12):3975–3994) essentialism about social kinds. (shrink)

The study of controversies is not only helpful for the further understanding of the subtleties of the theories involved, but it also contributes to the clarification of a series of issues related to the problem of theory choice. Discussions and disagreements — however heated — over two theories do not necessarily entail the features of what I would like to consider as controversies. This is especially so when there is a crucial experiment that can be performed in a relatively short (...) period. Controversies are disputes over theoretical issues, methodological questions, and not infrequently, philosophical positions. It is in this respect that controversies are also a quite suggestive probe into the conceptual framework of the various researches. (shrink)

How happy it is to recall Imre Lakatos. Now, fifteen years after his death, his intelligence, wit, generosity are vivid. In the Preface to the book of Essays in Memory of Imre Lakatos, the editors wrote:... Lakatos was a man in search of rationality in all of its forms. He thought he had found it in the historical development of scientific knowledge, yet he also saw rationality endangered everywhere. To honor Lakatos is to honor his sharp and aggressive criticism as (...) well as his humane warmth and his quick wit. He was a person to love and to struggle with. The book before us carries old and new friends of that Lakatosian spirit further into the issues which he wanted to investigate. That the new friends include a dozen scientific, historical and philosophical scholars from Greece would have pleased Lakatos very much, and with an essay from China, he would have smiled all the more. But the key lies in the quality of these papers, and in the imaginative organization of the conference at Thessaloniki in summer 1986 which worked so well. (shrink)

This stunning new edition retains the book's broad aims, intended audience, and multidisciplinary approach. New chapters take into account the more current backdrop of globalization, particularly events such as 9/11, and attendant developments that make a reconsideration of race relations in education quite urgent.

(1984). Some methodological and historical considerations in low temperature physics: The case of superconductivity 1911–57. Annals of Science: Vol. 41, No. 2, pp. 135-149.

In this paper we attempt to investigate the historical and methodological aspects of the developments related to superfluid helium, concentrating on the period between 1941 and 1955. During this period, the various developments constituted a series of steps towards redefining and refining the two-fluid concept devised to explain the unexpected macroscopic behaviour of superfluid helium. The idea that superfluids are essentially ‘quantum structures on a macroscopic scale’ functioned as a heuristic principle which guided the theoretical physicists engaged in the above (...) research programme. (shrink)

In this paper we study some of the methodological problems associated with the development of the various theoretical schema devised to explain the phenomenon of superfluidity. The physical behaviour of supercooled helium defied explanation in terms of the known atomic laws for helium and their ‘natural’ extrapolations. We show that the basic conceptual difficulties involved were circumvented by the development of intermediate intermediaries through a process of contextual reinterpretation.

Supraleitfähigkeit und Superfluidität sind die einzigen bekannten makroskopischen Quantenphänomene. Ihre Untersuchung liefert interessante Hinweise, um einige der Fragen zu verstehen, die mit den Grenzen der Gültigkeit der Quantenmechanik verbunden sind. In diesem Aufsatz wollen wir den Prozeß entzifferen, durch den ein beobachtetes unerwartetes Phänomen in ein physikalisches Problem übergeführt wird, und wir zeigen die kontinuierliche Reinterpretation der Begriffe, um eine zufriedenstellende Erklärung der Supraleitfähigkeit und Superfluidität zu erreichen.

We introduce a bimodal epistemic logic intended to capture knowledge as truth in all epistemically alternative states and belief as a generalised ‘majority’ quantifier, interpreted as truth in most of the epistemically alternative states. This doxastic interpretation is of interest in knowledge-representation applications and it also holds an independent philosophical and technical appeal. The logic comprises an epistemic modal operator, a doxastic modal operator of consistent and complete belief and ‘bridge’ axioms which relate knowledge to belief. To capture the notion (...) of a ‘majority’ we use the ‘large sets’ introduced independently by K. Schlechta and V. Jauregui, augmented with a requirement of completeness, which furnishes a ‘weak ultrafilter’ concept. We provide semantics in the form of possible-worlds frames, properly blending relational semantics with a version of general Scott–Montague frames and we obtain soundness and completeness results. We examine the validity of certain epistemic principles discussed in the literature, in particular some of the ‘bridge’ axioms discussed by W. Lenzen and R. Stalnaker, as well as the ‘paradox of the perfect believer’, which is not a theorem of. (shrink)

Research on female stereotypes in online advertisements is particularly scant, and thus, we lack evidence on whether women are depicted in derogatory (stereotypical) terms on the Internet or not. This theme has significant ethical implications. Hence, the objectives of this study are: (1) to provide evidence on female role portrayals in online advertisements of global products, and (2) to explore female role portrayals across web pages for different audience types. The results indicate that women are generally portrayed in a stereotypical (...) way, supporting the notion that sexism is prevalent in online advertisements worldwide. Portrayal of women across web pages varies considerably, with female-audience web pages embracing “decorative” female images; male-audience web pages promoting polarizing depictions of women in “dependent” or “non-traditional” roles; and general-audience web pages using portrayals of women as housewives or equal to men. Overall, the findings suggest that “traditional” or “decorative” stereotypes are largely evident in all three audience types, although some “non-traditional” roles may occur. Implications and future research directions are discussed. (shrink)

Weak filters were introduced by K. Schlechta in the ’90s with the aim of interpreting defaults via a generalized ‘most’ quantifier in first-order logic. They arguably represent the largest class of structures that qualify as a ‘collection of large subsets’ of a given index set |$I$|⁠, in the sense that it is difficult to think of a weaker, but still plausible, definition of the concept. The notion of weak ultrafilter naturally emerges and has been used in epistemic logic and other (...) knowledge representation (KR) applications. We provide a comprehensive exposition of weak filters and ultrafilters, comparing them with their classical counterparts that have found very important applications in logic, set theory and topology. Weak (ultra)filters capture the ‘majorities’ of social choice theory (which coincide with the commonsense understanding of a ‘large subset’) and in that respect, they outperform classical (ultra)filters in their role as ‘collections of large subsets’. Yet, they lack some of the elegant properties of classical (ultra)filters that make them an almost perfect match for logical theories. We investigate the extent to which some important classical results carry through in this new setting, and we focus on genuinely weak filters and genuinely weak ultrafilters. For weak ultrafilters, we proceed to provide concrete examples, answer questions of existence and characterize their construction. The class of weak (ultra)filters represents a genuine contribution of KR to set theory that might be of some interest to set theorists too and we initiate this study by providing a glimpse on natural set-theoretic questions. (shrink)

S4.2 is the modal logic of directed partial pre-orders and/or the modal logic of reflexive and transitive relational frames with a final cluster. It holds a distinguished position in philosophical...

Due to the spread of COVID-19, a key challenge was to reduce potential staff shortages in the healthcare sector. Besides recruiting retired healthcare workers, medical students were considered to support this task. Commitment of medical students in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic was evaluated using an online survey, with particular focus on their burdens and anxieties. This survey was distributed to students within a 2-week period in April and May 2020. Ultimately, 1241 participants were included in the analysis. During the (...) pandemic, 67.9% of the participants reported that they had volunteered. Furthermore, 88.9% stated that they were against compulsory recruitment in this context. Students who volunteered had a significantly lower anxiety index than non-committed students. Additionally, students were more concerned about infecting other patients and relatives than themselves. Higher levels of anxiety were related to lower levels of commitment. A mandatory assignment during the pandemic was rejected by the students and does not seem to be necessary due to the large number of volunteers. (shrink)

El presente estudio analiza cuándo y cómo audiodescribe la ONCE el lenguaje de la cámara en The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2018) para identificar excesos y defectos por redundancia sonora que puedan comprometer la comprensión del mensaje y la experiencia artística en ciegos. Con este fin se han analizado los códigos visuales, el contexto de la producción, el sonido y las estrategias semánticas y lingüísticas utilizadas en su descripción. Los resultados demuestran que el texto ignora aspectos formales relacionados con la (...) transcripción de la realidad, la composición y el movimiento que afectan a la interpretación y percepción estética del filme. (shrink)