William Whewell’s 19th century philosophy of science is sometimes glossed over as a footnote to Kant. There is however a key feature of Whewell’s account worth noting. This is his appeal to Aristotle’s form/matter hylomorphism as a metaphor to explain how mind and world merge in successful scientific inquiry. Whewell’s hylomorphism suggests a middle way between rationalism and empiricism reminiscent of experience pragmatists like Steven Levine’s view that mind and world are entwined in experience. I argue however that Levine does (...) not adequately explain exactly how mind and world entwine. He could nonetheless do so if he appealed to Whewell’s hylomorphic metaphor. We may prefer a reductive metaphysical explanation, but I suggest that pragmatists only have recourse to metaphor in this case. Both reductive and metaphorical explanations can enjoy great explanatory power if they exhibit a suitable measure of what I will call sematic distance. Semantic distance measures how close or how far apart explanandum and explanans are from each other in meaning. Metaphorical explanation - as evident in Whewell’s hylomorphism and as detailed via the notion of semantic distance - presents a valuable new explanatory tool to those who hold that mind and world are entwined sans recourse to metaphysics. (shrink)

. From the bankruptcy of relations to the reality of connections: language and semantics in Bradley and Bosanquet. British Journal for the History of Philosophy: Vol. 26, Special Issue: British Idealism: Language, Aesthetics and Emotions. Guest Editors: Colin Tyler and James Connelly, pp. 700-718.

John Dewey developed a pragmatic theory of inquiry to provide intelligent methods for social progress. He believed that the logic and attitude of successful scientific inquiries, properly conceived, could be fruitfully applied to morals and politics. Unfortunately, his project has been poorly understood and his logic of inquiry neglected as a resource. Contemporary pragmatists, like Richard Rorty, for example, dismiss his emphasis on method and avoid judgments of moral progress that are in any way independent of the biases of particular (...) cultures. In this article, I argue that Dewey’s theory of inquiry indeed provides intelligent methods and intellectual criteria for engaging moral and political matters. Inquiry, as Dewey conceives it, issues in judgments that are increasingly objective, reliable and refined in application. These judgments are rooted in particular times and places, in actual ‘situations’, but are not entirely hostage to specific cultures. I then apply Dewey’s theory to two standard moral problems to demonstrate how it works. The conclusion is that Dewey’s theory of inquiry gets it just right: it provides solid ground for criticism and moral progress while remaining acutely sensitive to cultural differences and changing circumstances. (shrink)

In this paper I make a radical claim regarding selective non-disclosure of treatment options that have some hope of prolonging a patient's life. I suggest that selective non-disclosure under such circumstances is tantamount to what might be called “euthanasia by deception.” I offer a case to test the validity of my claim and to demonstrate how the failure to offer or, at least, to discuss renal dialysis in this case (and, by inference, any other form of treatment which has some (...) hope of prolonging a patient's life) qualifies as paternalism in its most egregious form. I discuss the actions of the health care team and try to find some plausible reasons why they acted as they did. I conclude that there must be greater emphasis placed on teaching clinicians how better to incorporate frank, open and on-going discussion about the central elements of the therapeutic relationship with patients long before they lose decisional capacity. (shrink)

A recent paper in this journal (1) suggests that involving terminally ill patients in choices concerned with Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) produces 'psychological pain' and therefore is ill-advised. Such a claim rests on anecdotal observations made by the authors. In this paper I suggest that drawing conclusions in ethics, no less than in science, requires a rigorous framework and cannot be relegated to personal observation of a few cases. The paper concludes by suggesting that patients, if we acknowledge their valid interest (...) in making their own choices, must themselves be allowed to make a prior choice about choosing. Those who may not wish to choose may properly be relieved of this burden and may allow another to choose for them. Routinely allowing others to make choices for competent adults, however, is likely to decrease communication with the dying patient and to introduce an atmosphere of suspicion and fear and to exclude the competent patient from his/her rightful place in the community. (shrink)

For the first time, in the formal axiomatic epistemology theory Sigma such a theorem is formally proved which means that under the condition of knowledge a-priori-ness, a statement of formal-axiological equivalence of moral-evaluation-functions is logically equivalent to logic equivalence of corresponding statements of being. For the first time it is shown that this theorem undermines universality of the conception of Hume and Moore. A precise definition is given for the formal axiomatic theory Sigma, which is a result of logical formalization (...) of the universal philosophical epistemology; and a relevant interpretation of this formal theory is submitted. The formal proof of the theorem can be examined by readers step by step as it is accomplished in accordance with the formalism standards. (shrink)

حباب معرفتی و اتاق بازتاب دو پدیده دوران پسا-حقیقت هستند که در آن‌ها دانش علمی انکار می‌شود. تای نوین معتقد است این پدیده‌ها دانش علمی را با طرد و بی‌اعتمادی به آن انکار می‌کنند. هدف از پژوهش حاضر این است که راه‌کاری برای تمیز میان دانش علمی و دانش درون این جوامع به دست آورده تا امکان خروج از آن‌ها میسر شود. به این منظور، با استفاده از روش تحلیلی-توصیفی ابتدا به تبیین این دو پدیده و بررسی راه‌کار ارائه‌شده برای (...) خروج از آن‌ها پرداخته و ایرادات این راه‌کارها را نمایان می‌سازیم. سپس نظریه نظام‌مندی دانش علمی هوینینگن-هون معرفی خواهد شد که بر اساس آن یک در موضوع مشترک، دانش علمی در ابعاد توصیف، توضیح، پیش‌بینی، دفاع از ادعاهای دانش، گفتمان انتقادی، پیوند معرفتی، ایده‌آل کامل بودن، تولید دانش و بازنمایی دانش، نظام‌مندتر از دانش روزمره است. مطابق این نظریه، نظام‌مندی به این معنا است که دانش علمی تصادفی، دلخواهانه، بدون برنامه، بدون نظم و ترتیب نبوده و روشمند (متدولوژیک) است. در بخش پایانی به بحث و بررسی استفاده از نظریه نظام‌مندی در پدیده‌های ذکرشده می‌پردازیم. نتایج پژوهش حاضر نشان می‌دهد نظریه نظام‌مندی بدون آن‌که به دام ایرادات راه‌کار نوین بیافتد، قادر است به عامل معرفتی کمک کند میان دانش علمی و دانش روزمره تمیز داده و امکان خروج از آن‌ها را پدید می‌آورد. (shrink)