One of the cornerstones of modern medicine is the search for what causes diseases to develop. A conception of multifactorial disease causes has emerged over the years. Theories of disease causation, however, have not quite been developed in accordance with this view. It is the purpose of this paper to provide a fundamental explication of aspects of causation relevant for discussing causes of disease.The first part of the analysis will discuss discrimination between singular and general causality. Singular causality, as in (...) the specific patient, is a relation between a concrete sequence of causally linked events. General causation, e.g. as in disease etiology, means various categories of causal relations between event types. The paper introduces the concept of a reference case serving as a source for causal inference, reaching beyond the concept of general causality. (shrink)

Within epistemology and the philosophy of science there is, in a number of cases, an a-symmetrical relation or even complementarity between innovation and justification. Innovations are not always justifiable, within the currently accepted body of scientific knowledge and readily justifiable innovations are seldom too interesting. This paper describes some such cases drawn from the history of science and attempts to classify different types of innovations.

From the point of view of the KaLC-paradigm this paper has two aims. First of all it attempts to sketch some of the pertinent problems of scientific discovery and secondly, it outlines how these problems can be treated in the KaLC -paradigm.

hiS volume in the Synthese Library Series is the result of a conference T held at the University of Roskilde, Denmark, October 31st-November 1st, 1997. The aim was to provide a forum within which philosophers, math ematicians, logicians and historians of mathematics could exchange ideas pertaining to the historical and philosophical development of proof theory. Hence the conference was called Proof Theory: History and Philosophical Significance. To quote from the conference abstract: Proof theory was developed as part of Hilberts Programme. (...) According to Hilberts Programme one could provide mathematics with a firm and se cure foundation by formalizing all of mathematics and subsequently prove consistency of these formal systems by finitistic means. Hence proof theory was developed as a formal tool through which this goal should be fulfilled. It is well known that Hilbert's Programme in its original form was unfeasible mainly due to Gtldel's incompleteness theorems. Additionally it proved impossible to formalize all of mathematics and impossible to even prove the consistency of relatively simple formalized fragments of mathematics by finitistic methods. In spite of these problems, Gentzen showed that by extending Hilbert's proof theory it would be possible to prove the consistency of interesting formal systems, perhaps not by finitis tic methods but still by methods of minimal strength. This generalization of Hilbert's original programme has fueled modern proof theory which is a rich part of mathematical logic with many significant implications for the philosophy of mathematics. (shrink)

This book sheds light on some recent discussions of the problems in probability theory and their history, analysing their philosophical and mathematical significance, and the role pf mathematical probability theory in other sciences.

'Possible worlds' have been one of the true conundrum notions in philosophy. On the hand possible worlds have proved very useful in philosophical logic for obtaining significant formal results with sunbstantial philosophical import. Yet on the other they have generated much noise and commotion in especially metaphysics and epistemology. From a logical point of view they are useful tools or conceptual constructions, from a philosophical point of view troublesome entitites generating endless discussions.

An anthology of previously unpublished essays from some of the most outstanding scholars working in philosophy, mathematics, and computer science today, _Self-Reference_ reexamines the latest theories of self-reference, including those that attempt to explain and resolve the semantic and set-theoretic paradoxes. With a thorough introduction that contextualizes the subject for students, this book will be important reading for anyone interested in the general area of self-reference and philosophy.

The aim of this thematically unified anthology is to track the history of epistemic logic, to consider some important applications of these logics of knowledge and belief in a variety of fields, and finally to discuss future directions of research with particular emphasis on 'active agenthood' and multi-modal systems. It is accessible to researchers and graduate students in philosophy, computer science, game theory, economics and related disciplines utilizing the means and methods of epistemic logic.

Engineering science is a scientific discipline that from the point of view of epistemology and the philosophy of science has been somewhat neglected. When engineering science was under philosophical scrutiny it often just involved the question of whether engineering is a spin-off of pure and applied science and their methods. We, however, hold that engineering is a science governed by its own epistemology, methodology and ontology. This point is systematically argued by comparing the different sciences with respect to a particular (...) set of characterization criteria. (shrink)

The essays both represent a variety of epistemological approaches, including those of the humanities, social studies, natural science, sociology, psychology, and engineering sciences and reflect a diversity of philosophical traditions such ...

The essays both represent a variety of epistemological approaches, including those of the humanities, social studies, natural science, sociology, psychology, ...

This chapter contains sections titled: History of Technology Technology and Science Technology and Philosophy Technology and Environment Technology and Politics Technology and Ethics Technology and the Future.

This collection of essays in honor of Prof. Stig Andur Pedersen's 60th Birthday spans over a broad scope of topics, ranging from mathematical modelling over realism in philosophy of science to an analysis of apology after medical mistakes. The unusually broad range is a fair but still inadequate reflection of the work of Stig Andur Pedersen, a philosopher and scientist whose range of interests, abilities and production is itself unusually broad.

Dette kapitel fokuserer på ’etik og patientinddragelse’, men søger med afsæt i devisen ‘sapere aude’ også at skabe interesse for filosofi og etik blandt sygeplejestuderende. Kapitlet er en opfordring til sygeplejestuderende om at betjene sig af egen forstand og finde mod til at filosofere over problematikker i forbindelse med patientinddragelse frem for at falde tilbage i umyndighedens bekvemmelighed og vente på at andre træder til. Kapitlet starter med at se nærmere på, hvordan patientinddragelse italesættes i vor tid efterfulgt af en (...) kort eksposition af to af oplysningstidens vigtigste libera- le filosoffer, herunder pligtetikeren Immanuel Kant og nytteetikeren John Stuart Mill, hvis syn på henholdsvis autonomi og frihed influerer debatten om patientinddragelse. Efterfølgende præsenteres og diskuteres to eksempler, hvor patientinddragelse og etik er i rampelyset. Mere specifikt rettes fokus på 1) etik, patientinddragelse og den psykiatriske patient og 2) etik, patientinddragelse og unge mennesker. Eksemplerne er udvalgte med henblik på at belyse, hvad der kan komme på spil i sundhedsfaglige situationer udspændt mellem individuel frihed, herunder også ideen om autonomi; sygehusvæsenet, inklusive personale, som autoritær vi- dens-institution/aktør og det etiske, herunder ideen om ’det gode’ eller efterstræbelsesværdige. Afslutningsvis argumenteres der for, at sundhedsarbejdere med blik for etik og patientinddragelse kan udgøre en positiv kraft for den inddragede patient, men at det kræver, at denne vover at være vis. Afsnit: Resume Patientinddragelse i vor tid Autonomi, frihed og patientinddragelse Etik, patientinddragelse og den psykiatriske patient Etik, patientinddragelse og den unge Afslutning . (shrink)

I dette bogkapitel skrevet sammen med Ingeborg Ilkjær fremlægges tre etiske positioner herunder dydsetik, pligtetik og konsekvensetik. Disse teorier er sammen med eksempler på etiske principper og værdier det grundlag, som sygeplejersker kan benytte sig af i arbejdet med patientinvolvering og etiske dilemma, hvor der skal foretages et valg, der har betydning for patienter, pårørrende og de klinisk involverede. -/- For at kunne træffe valg af denne art er det vigtigt at kunne gøre det på et oplyst grundlag samt at (...) kunne påtage sig et klinisk lederskab. Derfor er det nødvendigt at benytte sig af en etisk refleksionsmodel. Dette arbejde kan være med til at skabe klarhed over en given situation, der rummer vanskelige etiske dilemmaer. -/- Bogkapitlet findes i bogen Sygepleje & Patientinvolvering Bind 3 redigeret af Steen Hundborg og udgivet på FADL’s Forlag I 2019. (shrink)

A common objection to paternalism concerns its expressive content. Many reject paternalistic policies and actions on the ground that they arguably involve insulting expressions of disrespect toward those subjected to them. The paper challenges this view. It argues that refraining from acting paternalistically can be disrespectful. Specifically, the paper argues that there is a relevant way in which A disregards the moral worth of B if A stands idly by when B is about to act very imprudently. If true, treating (...) others with equal respect and concern, as relational egalitarians and others rightly ask us to do, will somewhat surprisingly sometimes involve treating them paternalistically. (shrink)

In the work of both Ludwik Fleck and Thomas Kuhn the scientific literature plays important roles for stability and change of scientific phenomenal worlds. In this article we shall introduce the analyses of scientific literature provided by Fleck and Kuhn, respectively. From this background we shall discuss the problem of how divergent thinking can emerge in a dogmatic atmosphere. We shall argue that in their accounts of the factors inducing changes of scientific phenomenal worlds Fleck and Kuhn offer substantially different (...) approaches, and we shall discuss in which respects their approaches may be compatible. (shrink)

This is the introduction to Moretti, Luca and Nikolaj Pedersen (eds), Non-Evidentialist Epistemology. Brill. Contributors: N. Ashton, A. Coliva, J. Kim, K. McCain, A. Meylan, L. Moretti, S. Moruzzi, J. Ohlorst, N. Pedersen, T. Piazza, L. Zanetti.