Several commentators since Aristotle have sought to convince us that Plato’s discussion of political constitutions or politeiai in Republic 8 is full of problems. In effect, such commentators argue that Plato’s account is not all that helpful in our efforts to understand political life. This paper argues that, despite several objections to Plato’s discussion of political constitutions in Republic 8, there is much that is helpful for thinking about political life. The following issues are taken up in an effort to (...) clarify Plato’s account of regimes: the role of such an account in the main ethical argument of the dialogue ; whether Plato’s discussion has both an a priori perspective and one based on experience; the analogy of the city and the soul and whether this holds together in Republic 8; Plato’s depiction of regime change in temporal/historical terms; and the fact that the account of political regimes seems incomplete because each regime is presented in the manner of a sketch. (shrink)

The cognitive purpose of the research presented in the article is to identify the propensity for pro-social and altruistic behavior among first-year military students in three simulated situations of need for help to other people. It raised the question contained in the main research problem: to what extent do military students at universities tend to behave in a pro-social and altruistic way in situations that pose a threat to the other people’s life and health, and what is the relationship between (...) these behaviors and socialization in the civil environment? At the outset, the hypothesis was adopted that the candidates for professional soldiers show a higher propensity for this type of behavior. For its verification, the population of the first-year military students during their basic training was assumed as a research area. The study covered 246 people selected randomly from among military students in the first year of studies of the command profile of all military specialties and the medical profile. The selection of the research sample based on first-year students during the basic training aimed to identify the impact of environmental factors on the tendency to altruistic and pro-social behavior in two different groups of candidates for professional soldiers. (shrink)

In this paper I argue that Cartesian skepticism about the external world is self-defeating. The Cartesian skeptic holds that we are not justified in believing claims about the external world on the grounds that we cannot rule out the possibility of our being in a radical skeptical scenario. My argument against this position builds upon a critique of Wilson in Analysis, 72, 668–673. Wilson argues that the Cartesian’s skeptical reasoning commits him to mental state skepticism and that this undermines his (...) ability to claim that he is truly skeptical about the external world. I show that Wilson’s argument does not succeed. She is correct that the Cartesian is committed to mental state skepticism. However, she is mistaken in thinking that there is anything incoherent about combining the Cartesian position that one ought to doubt external world claims with doubt about whether one is in fact such a skeptic. I propose an alternative explanation as to why mental state skepticism proves to be the Cartesian’s undoing. I suggest that mental state skepticism leads to epistemic skepticism and that this undermines the Cartesian’s position that belief about the external world is unjustified. (shrink)

همراه با احیای دوبارۀ اخلاق فضیلت در سال 1958 بحث‌های فلسفی جدیدی در حوزۀ دوستی پا گرفت. در عصر حاضر نوارسطوییان از جمله مکاتبی هستند که علاوه بر احیا و نیز جرح‌وتعدیل مفاهیم ارسطویی دوران باستان بر مکاتب پساارسطویی دوران باستان نیز تعمق کرده و مهم‌ترین مطالبۀ اخلاق فضیلت را شکل دادن عقلانی احساسات، عواطف و هیجانات درونی فرد برای خوب زندگی کردن به لحاظ درونی تلقی کرده‌اند. مهم شمردن درونیات انسانی به این شکل سبب وارد آمدن اتهاماتی مانند خودگزینانه (...) بودن به آنها شده است. در این مقاله، ضمن پرداختن به «دغدغۀ دیگری» به منزلۀ مؤلفه‌ای جدید در اخلاق فضیلت نوین و بررسی اهمیت و نقش «دغدغۀ دیگری» و دوستی در سعادت انسان از منظر ارسطو و مکاتب پساارسطویی و نوارسطوییان، به این مهم پرداخته می‌شود که جولیا آناس در مقام فیلسوفی نوارسطویی بر چه اساسی نظریه‌های مکاتب باستانی در باب سعادت را آغشته به خودگزینی نمی‌داند، و چه جایگاه و حد مرزی برای دوستی و دغدغۀ دیگری متصور است. (shrink)