Genera, typically hand-in-hand with their branching species, are essential elements of vocabulary-based information constructs, in particular scientific taxonomies. Should they also feature in formal ontologies, the highest of such constructs? I argue in this article that the answer is “Yes” and that the question posed in its title also has a Yes-answer: The way medieval ontologists sliced up the world into genera does matter to formal ontology. More specifically, the way Dietrich of Freiberg, a Latin scholastic, conceived and applied strictly (...) generic criteria to slice up the world into its entities can provide some guidelines to the field of formal ontology with respect to not only its contents, but also its scope. In particular, Dietrich's information criterion plays here a central role. (shrink)

[full article, abstract in English; only abstract in Lithuanian] This paper investigates a particular strategy for establishing the deep connection between metaphysics and logic using Aristotle’s principle of non-contradiction and the theory of predication. The decisive move, according to this strategy, is to formulate and interpret the said principle as a metaphysical principle. In this paper, it is argued that: despite the strategy’s initial appeal, a successful argument still needs to be made in order to fully establish that metaphysics and (...) logic are deeply connected, and the theory of predication is more fundamental than the principle of non-contradiction. The main reason for above is that the strategy is prone to a very powerful objection that Aristotle’s criterion of primary substance is inconsistent. The main reason for above is that the principle of non-contradiction itself is best explained using the theory of predication. In addition, it is the theory of predication that does all the important explanatory work in the context of Aristotle’s philosophical theory. (shrink)

Bu çalışmanın amacı Heidegger'in varlık kavramını ve bu kavramın çok anlamlılığını, pratik problemler açısından ele almaktır. Heidegger'in erken dönem çalışmalarında üzerinde yoğunlaşmış olduğu Aristoteles'in ontolojisi, onun varlık kavrayışını belirlemek açısından önemli bir yere sahiptir. Diğer yandan, varlığın çok anlamlılığı kavrayışı, -diğer varlıklarla birlikte-dünya içinde olmak için bir olanak sunabilir.

Digital media technology, when deployed in ways that cultivate shared learning communities in which students and teachers are empowered to participate as partners in conjoint educational practices, can transform the way we teach and learn philosophy. This essay offers a model for how to put blogging and podcasting in the service of a cooperative approach to education that empowers students to take ownership of their education and enables teachers to cultivate in themselves and their students the excellences of dialogue. The (...) essay is organized around a compelling story of how the students in an Ancient Greek Philosophy course responded to an anonymous, belligerent commenter on the blog from outside of the class. The incident brings the pedagogy of cooperative education into sharp relief. (shrink)

The following books have been received, and many of them are available for review. Interested reviewers please contact the reviews editor: [email protected]. Abel, C. and Fuller, T., The Intel...