In his absorbing book Art as Performance, David Davies argues that artworks should be identified, not with artistic products such as paintings or novels, but instead with the artistic actions or processes that produced such items. Such a view had an earlier incarnation in Currie’s widely criticized “action type hypothesis”, but Davies argues that it is instead action tokens rather than types with which artworks should be identified. This rich and complex work repays the closest study in spite of some (...) basic objections to be raised concerning Davies’s central concept of an action token. (shrink)

Amazon Book Review Series of “Wild Wise Weird”.

I rarely write reviews, but this book gently nudged me to think deeper. As an older man, I appreciate its simple yet profound insights. The anecdotes and reflections are like wise words from a trusted friend—they make you smile and pause. It’s a modest read with genuine lessons that resonate, inviting you to see life’s quirks with fresh eyes.

"Wild Wise Weird: The Kingfisher Story Collection" by Quan-Hoang Vuong is a remarkable collection of fables that views the world through the perspective of a sharp-witted, sometimes arrogant kingfisher. The stories are humorous, satirical, and thought-provoking.

"Meandering Sobriety" by Quan-Hoang Vuong is a fascinating and intellectually rich book that blends philosophy, paradoxes, and scientific insights into a reflective journey on the nature of thinking. The author masterfully weaves anecdotes, scientific concepts, and personal reflections, creating a unique narrative that stimulates the mind while offering moments of tranquility in today’s chaotic “infosphere.”.

Reading these stories felt like stepping into a vibrant little universe where cheeky birds mirror our own quirks. The blend of Vietnamese folklore and modern humor made it both nostalgic and refreshingly new. Kingfisher’s wit struck me as a playful echo of Aesop’s timeless lessons, yet with a distinctly original twist. I loved how each brief tale entertained me on the surface while nudging me to ponder deeper truths. It’s a perfect pick for anyone seeking a gentle escape that still (...) packs a surprising dose of insight. (shrink)

"Wild Wise Weird: The Kingfisher Story Collection" by Quan-Hoang Vuong is an exceptional collection that blends wisdom, satire, and wit into 45 thought-provoking tales. Each story feels like a journey through a world where unconventional wisdom meets quirky humor, challenging readers to think critically while also offering moments of reflection.

This book is a look at the power of thinking, wrapped in an entertaining and clever story. The paradox with the king and the sage is both humorous and thought-provoking. It really makes you think about logic in a new way. While the book’s main ideas are interesting, it sometimes feels a bit more abstract than I'd have liked, but it's still an enjoyable read. The mix of humor and philosophy keeps things light, while still making you reflect on how (...) we think and reason. But it's worth checking out if you like stories that make you think. (shrink)

I stumbled upon this little gem of a book and honestly wasn't sure what to expect at first. It turned out to be such a delightful surprise - like having a fascinating conversation with a wise friend over coffee. The way the author weaves together personal stories, scientific insights, and clever paradoxes really got me thinking. What I loved most was how peaceful it felt reading these bite-sized reflections. Sure, some parts were a bit scattered, but that's kind of the (...) charm. If you're looking for a thoughtful break from our noisy world, this one's worth picking up. (shrink)

Prepublication peer review should be abolished. We consider the effects that such a change will have on the social structure of science, paying particular attention to the changed incentive structure and the likely effects on the behaviour of individual scientists. We evaluate these changes from the perspective of epistemic consequentialism. We find that where the effects of abolishing prepublication peer review can be evaluated with a reasonable level of confidence based on presently available evidence, they are either positive (...) or neutral. We conclude that on present evidence abolishing peer review weakly dominates the status quo. (shrink)

Should one read T.H. Irwin’s three volume history of Western ethics, or parts of it? Here one might turn to reviews. The journal The Philosophical Forum uses the sensible strategy of getting different specialists to review different parts of the book. There are two chapters on Rawls, each one reviewed by a Rawlsian. I wish to register discontent with Steven Ross’s review.

Editors van Ditmarsch, Hendriks and Verbrugge of this special issue of topiCS on lying describe some recent trends in research on lying from a multidisciplinary perspective, including logic, philosophy, linguistics, psychology, cognitive science, behavioral economics, and artificial intelligence. Furthermore, they outline the seven contributions to this special issue.

In “Ontologies Relevant to behaviour change interventions: A Method for their Development” Wright, et al. outline a step by step process for building ontologies of behaviour modification – what the authors call the Refined Ontology Developmental Method (RODM) – and demonstrate its use in the development of the Behaviour Change Intervention Ontology (BCIO). RODM is based on the principles of good ontology building used by the Open Biomedical Ontology (OBO) Foundry in addition to those outlined in (Arp, Smith, and Spear (...) 2015). BCIO uses as its top-level ontology Basic Formal Ontology (BFO). The methods outlined in Wright, et al. are a valuable contribution to the field, especially the use of formal mechanisms for literature annotation and expert stakeholder review, and the BCIO will certainly play an important role in the extension of OBO Foundry ontologies into the behavioural domain. (shrink)

Johan Georg Granström’s Treatise on Intuitionistic Type Theory represents a landmark contribution to our understanding of the philosophical foundations of Per Martin-Löf’s intuitionistic type theory (ITT). The work is particularly noteworthy for its careful exposition of how ITT emerges as a sophisticated codification of Brouwerian intuitionism while simultaneously advancing a distinctly Kantian program in the philosophy of mathematics. This philosophical grounding, drawing heavily on both Kantian and Husserlian phenomenology, offers valuable insights into the nature of mathematical knowledge and computation. The (...) significance of this work cannot be overstated. At a time when type theory is gaining increasing prominence in both mathematics and computer science, Granström provides a philosophical foundation that helps explain why type-theoretic approaches have proven so successful. By situating ITT within the broader philosophical tradition, particularly in relation to Kant’s views on mathematical knowledge, the book illuminates both the historical development of constructive mathematics and its contemporary relevance. The work comes at a crucial moment in the development of mathematical foundations. The increasing importance of computer-assisted proof and formal verification has led to renewed interest in constructive approaches to mathematics. Granström’s analysis helps explain why type-theoretic foundations are particularly well-suited to meet these contemporary challenges. His careful exposition of the philosophical foundations of ITT provides essential context for understanding both its historical development and its future potential. Moreover, the book represents a significant contribution to our understanding of the relationship between philosophy and mathematics. By showing how deep philosophical insights about the nature of mathematical knowledge inform the development of formal systems, Granström demonstrates the continuing relevance of philosophical reflection for mathematical practice. This is particularly valuable at a time when the relationship between philosophy and mathematics is often questioned. (shrink)

Contemporary reasoning about health is infused with the work products of experts, and expert reasoning about health itself is an active site for invention and design. Building on Toulmin’s largely undeveloped ideas on field-dependence, we argue that expert fields can develop new inference rules that, together with the backing they require, become accepted ways of drawing and defending conclusions. The new inference rules themselves function as warrants, and we introduce the term “warranting device” to refer to an assembly of the (...) rule plus whatever material, procedural, and institutional resources are required to assure its dependability. We present a case study on the Cochrane Review, a new method for synthesizing evidence across large numbers of scientific studies. After reviewing the evolution and current structure of the device, we discuss the distinctive kinds of critical questions that may be raised around Cochrane Reviews, both within the expert field and beyond. Although Toulmin’s theory of field-dependence is often criticized for its relativism, we find that, as a matter of practical fact, field-specific warrants do not enjoy immunity from external critique. On the contrary, they can be opened to evaluation and critique from any interested perspective. (shrink)

Internet, a revolutionary invention, is always transforming into some new kind of hardware and software making it unpreventable for anyone. The type of communication that we see today is either human-to-human or human-to-device, but the Internet of Things (IoT) promises a great future for the internet where the type of communication is machine-to-machine (M2M). The Internet of Things (IoT) is defined as a paradigm in which objects provide with sensors, actuators, and processors communicate with each other to serve a meaningful (...) purpose. In this paper we discussed IoT and its architecture. Further we explained different applications of IoT for users, IoT advantages and disadvantages. (shrink)

Have you been surprised by the recent development and diffusion of generative artificial intelligence (AI)? Many institutions of civil society have been caught off guard, which provides them with motivation to think ahead. And as many new plausible pathways of socio-technical development are opening up, a growing interest in technology ethics that addresses our corresponding moral uncertainties is warranted. In Sven Nyholm’s words, “[t]he field of technology ethics is absolutely exploding at the moment” (p. 262), and so the publication of (...) his introduction to the topic is well timed. (shrink)

Mark Coeckelbergh starts his book with a very powerful picture based on a real incident: On the 9th of January 2020, Robert Williams was wrongfully arrested by Detroit police officers in front of his two young daughters, wife and neighbors. For 18 hours the police would not disclose the grounds for his arrest (American Civil Liberties Union 2020; Hill 2020). The decision to arrest him was primarily based on a facial detection algorithm which matched Mr. Williams’ driving license photo with (...) the picture of a man who was suspected of watch theft two years earlier. Not only did the computer ‘get it wrong’ as one of the detectives said, when Mr. Williams made them aware that the picture of the suspect obviously wasn’t resembling him, the probably unreliable algorithm very likely contributed to racial discrimination (Hill 2020). It is well documented that many available facial detection algorithms at this time had significant problems (e.g. a comparably high false positive rate) with respect to black persons, like Mr. Williams (NIST 2019). Multiple causes may exist, such as unbalanced training datasets and insufficient optimization. Coeckelbergh compares the disturbing case of Mr. Williams with a political interpretation of Franz Kafka’s The Trial, where the protagonist, Josef K., is accused of an unspecified crime by an opaque, oppressive and absurd bureaucracy: “In the 21st-century United States, Josef K. is black and is falsely accused by an algorithm, without explanation” (p. 2). (shrink)

Padartha is a concept which has been clinically and academically described in Ayurveda. Health and disease are prime focus of Ayurveda and the principle causes behind both of these are Padatha. Ayurveda and Vaisheshika darshan considers similar padartha but with different views. How this view is different has been explained? Disease is a state of disequilibrium of physiological functions causing vriddhi or kshaya of structural entity (Dhatus). Vriddhi or Kshaya is based on samanya and vishesha and its treatment is also (...) based on same. An attempt to explain Doshavada, Dhatuposhan (nourishment of structural entity), Loka Purusha samyata (Universe human unified theory) etc. on basis of Samanyavada has been explained. How is Dravya, Guna, karma basis for therapeutics involving principles of samanya and vishesha with Samavaya acting as a cause for determined action due to its inherent relationship has been explained. From all findings, it can be said that sadapadartha are basic plinth of this Ayurveda. (shrink)

At the heart of Jennifer Lackey's recent book is highly original work in identifying a form of testimonial injustice that is quite distinct from those hitherto identified. Since the publication of Miranda Fricker’s Epistemic Injustice there has been an enormous flurry of work done on injustices where people are wronged as givers of knowledge (testimonial injustice) or where people are wronged in their capacity as a subject of social understanding (hermeneutical injustice). Fricker’s focus in that book was on cases where (...) people are not believed or where deflated credibility is given to their word as a result of prejudice in the hearer . However, Lackey points out that there are many instances where people are wronged not by being granted too little credibility but by being given too much credibility. False confessions, guilty pleas, and eyewitness testimony are sometimes taken as sufficient to imprison people or even execute them, despite the fact that the testimony in question has been extracted through manipulation, deception, and coercion and despite the fact that other evidence is lacking or conflicts with the false confessions, guilty pleas, or eyewitness testimony. (shrink)

Science is a study of nature. For this purpose, two approaches are used to investigate a physical system i.e. the dogmatic & the pragmatic approach. Both have different ways of investigation. The dogmatic approach is related to realism but the pragmatic approach is related to idealism. Generally, physicists use both approaches separately for solving a system. The following paper has keenly attempted to express the relation between these approaches on behalf of examples from physics. Both can be used individually, but (...) it is better for studying a system proficiently both are used collectively. (shrink)

Kant is probably one of the most misunderstood philosophers in the history of Western thought. Some of the most well-known and pervasive objections to Kant’s practical philosophy often rest on considerable misunderstandings of his central theses or a poor and superficial reading of his work. A common misconception is that in Kant’s practical philosophy there is no place or role for human happiness. In Happiness in Kant’s Practical Philosophy: Morality, Indirect Duties, and Welfare Rights, Alice Pinheiro Walla dispels this misunderstanding (...) by elucidating Kant’s conception of happiness (understood in broadly hedonist terms) and showing that, for Kant, the pursuit of happiness plays an important role in our personal and collective lives. This means that, far from endorsing an ascetic ideal of the moral agent, as it is commonly thought, Kant’s system embraces an ideal of the human life in which there is significant space, and even a duty, to pursue pleasurable endeavours. Somehow surprisingly, in Pinheiro Walla’s reading, Kant’s ethics is arguably less demanding than standard interpretations of Aristotelian and Utilitarian ethical theories. (shrink)

Lanthimos’ film, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, though widely unpopular, can be seen as a profound interpretation of the question of our freedom to choose and how unconditional love leads us to self-responsibility. The film is rich with symbolism which echoes Iphigenia with subtle Christian references, such as the use of Schubert’s Jesus Christus and Bach’s St. John Passion. Perhaps the film has been poorly received also because of the actors’ striking performances which, without seeing the meaning of the (...) story, could be considered wooden. Rather, the coldness of the characters is intentional because it portrays the shirking of responsibility for our actions which turns a person into a lifeless being. Keywords: Agape, freedom, Greek tragedy, justice, responsibility. (shrink)

Strange Tools foregoes stolid conventions of professional philosophy, laudably broadening the book’s appeal to accommodate a popular audience. However, Noë’s manner of glossing over complex issues about art does not necessarily render these topics intelligible to philosophical novices. Instead, his oversimplifications will tend to confirm naïve notions that art is straightforward – a common misconception that a foray into philosophy of art ought to dispel, not corroborate.

This is an excellent book, meant for an informed lay readership. But one of the hesitations a some might harbor is that it lacks a prose style suitable to the widest audience. More thoughtful readers on the other hand will recognize here a challenge worth taking up rather than a deficiency needing editorial rescue. The favorable reception this book has received from hundreds of students and parishioners attests to the fact that its audience is wide enough to have a considerable (...) impact. So for them at least, the book's style befits its content. -/- And as for others, it may be no deep deficiency on any reader's part if s/he cannot fathom a particular style. (Think about discussions over the complexities of Greek exegesis: are only Greek scholars said to get to heaven?) St Therese of Lisieux would probably have little interest in a book like Christopher Morse's - and this says nothing about her spiritual status. But then this alone says nothing about the quality of Morse's finished project either. It hardly means that, in a book like this, many might not find just what they are seeking. (shrink)

Walter Wink’s last major theological book is the culmination of an expanding vision that took three decades to formulate, based upon what he takes to be a seminal historical moment. This was the “mutation in God-consciousness” that is said to occur with the appearance of “son of man” terminology in the first book of Ezekiel. Drawing upon that language, Wink wants to claim that we can relate to God as human beings only because God is truly Human – in fact, (...) Wink announces that only God is truly human. In this bold pronouncement, Wink not only draws inspiration from Ludwig Feuerbach – he stands Feuerbach virtually on his head. (shrink)

This book by Paul F. M. Zahl, Dean of Cathedral Church of the Advent (Episcopal) in Birmingham, Alabama, is billed as “an exercise in New Testament theology.” Jesus, Zahl declares, was “the First Christian,” and this can be so only because the relation between Jesus and his Judaic background is not what mainstream biblical scholars have thought. Zahl sees the historical Jesus as mainly discontinuous with his own Judaic context and (or, it seems, because) he thinks that this is the (...) only way the Christian faith can offer more than simply “Judaism for gentiles.” Despite some very good material in the book, Zahl seems unaware that the conservative Protestant reliance on Romans as a primary lens for interpreting the mission of the historical Jesus has faced serious challenges in recent decades, and though Zahl is not unaware of “higher criticism,” his book reflects only a rather limited engagement with it. (shrink)

'Caring to Know' argues that “caring is not the ‘other’ of reason and that our lived experiences of caring and being cared for can be useful resources for truth-seeking” (1). This claim is fleshed out over six chapters using a creative blend of analytical feminist theory, virtue theory of knowledge, and cross-cultural philosophy. The brief conclusion braids together different strands of the argument. The review examines the potential of Dalmiya's 'humble relational knowers' for cross-cultural philosophy.

This aims to be a prophetic book. In his previous work from 1998, Tom Beaudoin had begun articulating, on behalf of his own generation, a quest that reflected GenXers' irreverence toward social institutions, which have typically failed to address the spiritual dimensions of their own experience. Beaudoin began to notice that many of his own cohort were getting lost in hyperspace, collapsing their real identity into a virtual artifice. Since then, in the age of internet and Instagram, this has only (...) been magnified for GenY and GenZ (etc), and nowadays this makes Beaudoin’s worries seem as poignant as the prophet Jeremiah’s. One of Beaudoin’s challenge, which he only began to address in this book, has been how to articulate a prophetic voice without lapsing into a moralizing posture which, for his demoralized young audience, would surely de-authenticate it. (shrink)

Victor Kestenbaum, already well-known for his _Phenomenological Sense of John Dewey_ (1977), has anthologized his own treatment of Dewey, along with Gadamer, Michael Oakeshott, John Findlay, and Wallace Stevens, under the theme of transcendence. Kestenbaum sees this an unappreciated insight from Dewey, which he carries beyond strictly Deweyan issues.

La definizione di vita che il premio Nobel per la medicina Paul Nurse propone nel suo libro Che cosa è la vita? (Mondadori), qui recensito, si alimenta di cinque concetti fondamentali: cellula, gene, evoluzione per selezione naturale, processo chimico ed informazione.

This volume, a lightly-edited version of Professor Samuel Scolnicov’s 1974 Ph.D. thesis, is a fitting tribute to his impressive career. It will perhaps be most useful for those interested in better understanding Scolnicov’s work and his views on Plato as a whole, not least for the comprehensive list of his publications that requires a full twelve pages of print. Scholars with an interest in Plato’s method of hypothesis will also find some useful remarks on key passages in the Meno, Phaedo, (...) and Republic as well as on Greek mathematical analysis.Illuminating other aspects of Scolnicov’s work is clearly part of the intention behind enabling broader access to this study. As Harold Tarrant notes in his introduction... (shrink)