En la obra de Hegel la filosofía de lo bello es eminentemente filosofía del espíritu. Uno de los temas insoslayables acerca de la belleza es su presencia en la naturaleza y en el arte. En las Lecciones de Estética la belleza del arte se pondera como la más excelente. En este punto la postura hegeliana diverge llamativamente de la de Schelling; quien trató explícitamente de la relación de las artes plásticas con la naturaleza, como consta en el texto que lleva (...) este tema por título (generalmente llamado “discurso de la academia”). Su propuesta es clara: la superioridad de la naturaleza frente a las artes plásticas. Lo más interesante de esta disputa no es el desacuerdo en sí mismo, sino las argumentaciones que uno y otro autor alegan a favor de sus tesis respectivas. (cuánto se parece y cuánto divergen) A través de ellas se pueden ver los diversos matices en torno a los conceptos de belleza y de espíritu. A esta cuestión es a lo que se dedicará esta comunicación: a analizar brevemente algunos argumentos de ambos autores acerca de la belleza en la naturaleza y en el arte. A lo largo de este artículo se lleva a cabo una comparación de textos, de algunas discrepancias concretas: en todas ellas lo llamativo es cómo son a la vez tan cercanos y tan contrarios. Tanto para Schelling como para Hegel, la belleza es del espíritu: lo más bello es lo que está penetrado de espíritu y es vivificado por él. Pero más allá de estos principios comunes hay mil matices que acaban desembocando en dos posturas contrapuestas. (shrink)

Según una historia estándar, devenida habitual especialmente por influencia del pensamiento heideggeriano, la filosofía occidental se encuentra atrapada en la trampa de la metafísica. La trampa de la metafísica centra la crítica a la metafísica en torno a la tesis según la cual el esencialismo y una concepción de la verdad condicionada por él determinan qué significa “ser” o “existencia”. Detrás de la realidad se supone un fundamento que bajo la forma de un “trasmundo” (Hinterwelt) produce una manifestación cuasi-causal, a (...) saber: el “mundo” (Welt), el cual se deja con ello concebir como la aparición del ser que se ha retraído en sí mismo. La diferencia entre ser y apariencia mantiene al pensamiento metafísico atrapado, en la medida en que éste no es capaz de reconocer esa diferencia misma como una apariencia. En Siete ensayos sobre la muerte de la metafísica, Héctor Ferreiro ofrece frente a esta historia estándar una convincente contrahistoria. Esta contrahistoria tiene su punto de partida en Hegel, quien intenta, de modo opuesto a la lectura propuesta por Heidegger, superar a la metafísica con sus propios medios y sepultarla a partir de su propia dinámica interna. Precisamente a esta superación está dedicado el debate y discusión de Hegel con el argumento ontológico. Como Kant, Hegel ve en el argumento ontológico uno de los centros operacionales de la metafísica clásica. La cuestión es, pues, cómo abordar el argumento ontológico del modo correcto desde un punto de vista crítico a la metafísica. La estrategia que ofrece Hegel consiste, como lo expone Ferreiro, en desenmascarar la distinción misma entre el ser y la apariencia producida por él como una operación de tipo conceptual. Según Hegel, la metafísica ha sido desde siempre el intento por desarrollar una teoría de la totalidad. Pero una teoría de la totalidad que coloca al ser de un lado y a su aparición del otro lado de un límite no advierte su propia operación, dado que el trazado de un límite pertenece él mismo a la teoría de la totalidad. De lo que se trata, pues, es de examinar los trazados de límite constitutivos de la metafísica para reconocerlos como productos de la reflexión y no como hechos dados que el pensamiento tan sólo debe reflejar. El movimiento de autosuperación de la metafísica que culmina en la discusión de Kant y Hegel con el argumento ontológico pertenece ya, sin embargo, a la tradición de la metafísica. Como lo muestra Ferreiro, la metafísica está a más tardar a partir de la distinción medieval entre esencia y existencia en proceso de superarse a sí misma, pues ya Tomás de Aquino logra reconocer en dicha distinción la verdadera fuente de la producción del mundo. Tomás persiste aún, sin embargo, en una concepción sustancialista, en la medida en que considera a la distinción entre esencia y existencia como un hecho in-dependiente de la teoría y del sujeto. Sin embargo, esa distinción es una operación conceptual y no un objeto que se encuentra en el mundo. En esta medida, la tesis de la distinción de razón entre ambas categorías se presenta como un indicador de la reflexión de la metafísica sobre sí misma. Ferreiro demuestra que el célebre comienzo de la Cien-cia de la Lógica de Hegel significa precisamente una profundización y radicalización de esa autorreflexión. Ahora bien, a ojos de Hegel el ser del comienzo de la Lógica es en sí mismo como tal el resultado del argumento ontológico; en su formulación clásica, sin embargo, el argumento ontológico sólo aspira a probar que hay algo (Dios), pero el argumento mismo no es como tal capaz de determinar ulteriormente ese algo –esto constituye justamente la tarea de la ontología en el sentido de Hegel, es decir, la tarea de la Lógica. Así, lo que podría denominarse en Hegel una “metafísica” es expresamente una crítica a la metafísica tradicional. En efecto, la ontología que Hegel propone en modo alguno significa una recaída en la metafísica anterior a Kant; por el contrario, en la filosofía de Hegel metafísica y crítica a la metafísica se vinculan íntimamente y con ello se cierra un círculo que se había abierto en la metafísica teológica de la Edad Media: precisamente que este movimiento estaba contenido ya programáticamente en la ontología de la distinción entre esencia y existencia es algo que Ferreiro analiza en forma clara y meticulosa. En cuanto disciplina, la ontología está hoy nuevamente en el centro de la atención de la reflexión filosófica a nivel mundial. Siete ensayos sobre la muerte de la metafísica no sólo ofrece en este respecto un análisis de índole histórica; es también una importante contribución teórica al actual retorno a la ontología. (shrink)

Este libro es invaluable como sinopsis de algunos de los trabajos de uno de los más grandes filósofos de los últimos tiempos. Hay mucho valor en el análisis de sus respuestas a las confusiones básicas de la filosofía, y en los intentos generalmente excelentes de conectar el pensamiento chino clásico con la filosofía moderna. Tomo una visión moderna de Wittgensteiniano para colocarla en perspectiva. Aquellos que deseen un marco completo hasta la fecha para el comportamiento humano de la moderna dos (...) sistemas punto de vista puede consultar mi libros Talking Monkeys 3ª ed (2019), Estructura Logica de Filosofia, Psicología, Mente y Lenguaje en Ludwig Wittgenstein y John Searle 2ª ed (2019), Suicidio pela Democracia 4ª ed (2019), La Estructura Logica del Comportamiento Humano (2019), The Logical Structure de la Conciencia (2019, Comprender las Conexiones entre Ciencia, Filosofía, Psicología, Religión, Política y Economía, Historia y Literatura (2019), Delirios Utópicos Suicidas en el siglo 21 5ª ed (2019), Observaciones sobre Imposibilidad, Incompletitud, Paraconsistencia, Indecidibilidad, Aleatoriedad, Computabilidad, Paradoja e Incertidumbre en Chaitin, Wittgenstein, Hofstadter, Wolpert, Doria, da Costa, Godel, Searle, Rodych Berto, Floyd, Moyal-Sharrock y Yanofsky(2019) y otros. Este libro es un intento único de correlacionar la filosofía clásica china con la de Searle (S), a quien considero como el mejor desde Wittgenstein (W) y su heredero intelectual. La calidad de los artículos es inusualmente alta para una colección de este tipo, que debe deberse a la cuidadosa selección de papeles de Mou. A los lectores les resultará instructivo comparar esto con otro volumen reciente de artículos sobre la filosofía de S, "Pensando en el mundo real", otro libro en el que he escrito la única reseña. Al igual que con W, todo lo que S escribe es un tesoro, pero lamentablemente este tome ha atraído tan poca atención que esta parece ser la única revisión, a pesar de que apareció hace 6 años. Su única deficiencia real es la falta de impresión de la respuesta de S a Allinson, ya que corregiría sus numerosos errores sustanciales. Como se señaló en mis otras críticas, tales errores son de interés ya que son los impagos universales de nuestra psicología debido al hecho de que nuestro lenguaje carece de perspicuidad, como W señaló por primera vez en el BBB (Blue and Brown Books) hace 3/4 de un siglo. Cuando se grabó la conferencia, traté de obtener el video o una transcripción de la respuesta de S de Mou, S, Allinson y 3 personas en HKUST, pero nadie ayudaría. La cuestión de la espiritualidad se mezcla inevitablemente con las cuestiones del lenguaje de la filosofía en algunos de los artículos aquí. Las muchas sutilezas en el camino para disipar la ilusión del ego y la consecución de la iluminación son otra cuestión entera, aunque como en todas las demás arenas, inevitablemente surgen confusiones filosóficas cuando se habla de religión, en lugar de practicarla. Es decir, la filosofía en el sentido amplio, como la reflexiona sobre la ética, la religión, la moralidad, cómo debemos vivir o sentir nos acerca de nuestra vida y el mundo no es el sentido más estrecho en el que W y S lo están practicando, aunque inevitablemente y casi universalmente el sentido amplio se mezcla con i acerca de cómo funciona el lenguaje (la mente como W nos mostró). Como siempre, lo primero que hay que tener en cuenta es el dictum de W de que no hay nuevos descubrimientos que hacer en filosofía ni explicaciones que dar, sino sólo descripciones claras del comportamiento (lenguaje). Una vez que uno entiende que todos los problemas son confusiones sobre cómo funciona el lenguaje, estamos en paz y la filosofía en su sentido ha logrado su propósito. Como W/S ha señalado, sólo hay una realidad, por lo que en el sentido estrecho, no hay múltiples versiones de la mente o la vida o el mundo que se pueden dar significativamente, y sólo podemos comunicarnos en nuestro lenguaje público único. Mostró famosamente que no puede haber un lenguaje privado y que cualquier pensamiento "privado interno" no puede ser comunicado y no puede tener ningún papel en nuestra vida social. También debería ser muy sencillo resolver problemas filosóficos en este sentido. "Ahora bien, si no son las conexiones causales que nos preocupan, entonces las actividades de la mente están abiertas ante nosotros". Wittgenstein" El Libro Azul" p6(1933). (shrink)

Hace algunos años, Llegué al punto en el que normalmente puedo decir del título de un libro, o al menos de los títulos de los capítulos, qué tipos de errores filosóficos se harán y con qué frecuencia. En el caso de trabajos nominalmente científicos, estos pueden estar en gran parte restringidos a ciertos capítulos que enceran filosóficos o tratan de sacar conclusiones generales sobre el significado o significado a largo plazo de la obra. Normalmente, sin embargo, las cuestiones científicas de (...) hecho se entrelazan generosamente con la galimatías filosóficas en cuanto a lo que estos hechos significan. Las claras distinciones que Wittgenstein describió hace unos 80 años entre los asuntos científicos y sus descripciones por varios juegos de idiomas rara vez se toman en consideración, y por lo tanto uno es cautivado alternativamente por la ciencia y consternado por su incoherente Análisis. Así es con este volumen. -/- Si uno es crear una mente más o menos como la nuestra, uno necesita tener una estructura lógica para la racionalidad y una comprensión de los dos sistemas de pensamiento (teoría del proceso dual). Si se trata de filosofar sobre esto, se necesita entender la distinción entre cuestiones científicas de hecho y la cuestión filosófica de cómo funciona el lenguaje en el contexto en cuestión, y de cómo evitar las trampas del reduccionismo y el cientismo, pero Kurzweil, como más estudiantes de conducta, no tiene ni idea. Él está encantado con los modelos, teorías y conceptos, y el impulso de explicar, mientras que Wittgenstein nos mostró que sólo necesitamos describir, y que las teorías, conceptos, etc., son sólo formas de usar el lenguaje (juegos de idiomas) que tienen valor sólo en la medida en que tienen un claro prueba (claro que los creadores de la verdad, o como John Searle (el crítico más famoso de AI) le gusta decir, claras condiciones de satisfacción (COS)). He intentado proporcionar un comienzo en este en mis escritos recientes. -/- Aquellos que deseen un marco completo hasta la fecha para el comportamiento humano de la moderna dos sistemas punta da vista puede consultar mi libro 'La estructura lógica de la filosofía, la psicología, la mente y lenguaje en Ludwig Wittgenstein y John Searle ' 2a ED (2019). Los interesados en más de mis escritos pueden ver 'Monos parlantes--filosofía, psicología, ciencia, religión y política en un planeta condenado--artículos y reseñas 2006-2019 3rd ED (2019) y Delirios utópicos suicidas en el siglo 21 4a Ed (2019) y otras. -/- También, como es habitual en las cuentas "fácticas" de la IA/robótica, no da tiempo a las amenazas muy reales a nuestra privacidad, seguridad e incluso la supervivencia de la creciente ' androidización ' de la sociedad que es prominente en otros autores (Bostrum, Hawking, etc.) y frecuentes en SciFi y películas, así que hago algunos comentarios sobre las delirios utópicos muy posiblemente suicidas de androides ' agradables ', humanoides, inteligencia artificial (IA), la democracia, la diversidad y la ingeniería genética. -/- Me da por sentado que los avances técnicos en electrónica, robótica e IA ocurrirán, resultando en profundos cambios en la sociedad. Sin embargo, creo que los cambios provenientes de la ingeniería genética son al menos tan grandes y potencialmente mucho mayores, ya que nos permitirán cambiar totalmente Quiénes somos. Y será factible hacer servidores SuperSmart/súper fuertes modificando nuestros genes o los de otros monos. Al igual que con otras tecnologías, cualquier país que resista se quedará atrás. Pero, ¿será socialmente y económicamente factible implementar BioBots o superhumanos a gran escala? E incluso si es así, no parece Probable, económica o socialmente, para evitar que el Destrucción de la civilización industrial por la sobrepoblación, el agotamiento de los recursos, el cambio climático y probablemente también la regla tiránica de los siete sociópatas que gobiernan China. -/- Por lo tanto, ignorando los errores filosóficos en este volumen como irrelevantes, y dirigiendo nuestra atención sólo a la ciencia, lo que tenemos aquí es otra ilusión utópica suicida enraizada en el fracaso de captar la biología básica, la psicología y la ecología humana, las mismas ilusiones que están destruyendo Estados Unidos y el mundo. Veo una remota posibilidad de que el mundo se pueda salvar, pero no por Ia robótica, CRISPR, ni por neomarxismo, diversidad y la igualdad. (shrink)

Pragmatist philosopher John Dewey famously stated that man is a creature of habit, and not of reason or instinct. In this paper, I will assess Dewey’s explication of the habituated self and the potential it holds for radical transformative processes. In particular, I will examine the process of coming to feminist consciousness, and will show that a feminist-pragmatist reading of change can accommodate a view of the self as responsible agent. Following the elucidation of the changing self, I will appraise (...) key pragmatist concepts of inquiry, such as doubt and self-reflexivity, with regard to their treatment of deep-seated internalisations of oppressive norms and the initiation of change. Ultimately, I will argue that a feminist-pragmatist understanding of transformation is conducive not only to the project of personal transformation, but also to social and political change more generally. (shrink)

This chapter examines two basic philosophical challenges for the idea of reparations for past injustices (using colonialism as the focal point). The first challenge is that requiring people today to make reparations for an injustice they themselves did not commit is unfair. The second is that if reparative claims are invoked because of lingering injustices, then recalling the past is in fact normatively redundant if lingering present injustices can be handled by forward-looking principles. In response to the first challenge, I (...) argue that the unfairness worry is deflected if we adopt a collectivist-model of responsibility, ie, one that holds states instead of individuals to be the responsible actor. Against the redundancy objection, I suggest that reparative arguments can supplement and reinforce forward-looking distributive principles. (shrink)

Debates on humanitarian intervention have focused on the permissibility question. In this paper, I ask whether intervention can be a moral duty, and if it is a moral duty, how this duty is to be distributed and assigned. With respect to the first question, I contemplate whether an intervention that has met the "permissibility" condition is also for this reason necessary and obligatory. If so, the gap between permission and obligation closes in the case of humanitarian intervention. On the second (...) question, I propose 'institutionalizing" the duty to intervene. In this way, an otherwise imperfect obligation to intervene can be made "perfect" and specific to some agent. (shrink)

Luck egalitarianism provides one powerful way of defending global egalitarianism. The basic luck egalitarian idea that persons ought not to be disadvantaged compared to others on account of his or her bad luck seems to extend naturally to the global arena, where random factors such as persons’ place of birth and the natural distribution of the world’s resources do affect differentially their life chances. Yet luck egalitarianism as an ideal, as well as its global application, has come under severe criticisms (...) in recent debate. My aim in this article is to restore plausibility to the luck egalitarian idea, and to suggest how it could then provide a plausible grounding for global egalitarianism. To do this, I will propose a more modest but also more defensible conception of luck egalitarianism that can also strengthen the case for global distributive justice. (shrink)

Kant divides moral duties into duties of virtue and duties of justice. Duties of virtue are imperfect duties, the fulfillment of which is left to agent discretion and so cannot be externally demanded of one. Duties of justice, while perfect, seem to be restricted to negative duties (of nondeception and noncoercion). It may seem then that Kant's moral philosophy cannot meet the demands of global justice. I argue, however, that Kantian justice when applied to the social and historical realities of (...) the world can generate positive duties to promote and provide for the well being of others. (shrink)

Heidegger ringt in der Abhandlung und dem Vortrag Der Begriff der Zeit 1924 mit einer Unterscheidung zwischen der uneigentlichen und der eigentlichen Seinsweise, auf die die Seinscharaktere hin ausgelegt werden und auf die sich die Ausarbeitung der hermeneutischen Situation für eine Ontologie des Daseins zuspitzt. Während die uneigentliche Seinsweise darin ausführlich charakterisiert wird, beschränkt sich die positive Ausführung der eigentlichen Seinsweise auf einige wenige Ausdrücke und Sätze. Hierbei fasst Heidegger die Eigentlichkeit als ‚Wahl‘ und als ein ‚Wie‘. Dieses ‚Wie‘ schließt (...) er im Vortrag explizit an das Grundprinzip von Kants Ethik an, während er sich in der Abhandlung von Kants Personbegriff abgrenzt. Dieser Beitrag geht vor dem Hintergrund Kants der Frage nach einer positiven Bestimmung der eigentlichen Seinsweise über die Abgrenzung zur Uneigentlichkeit hinaus in Heideggers Abhandlung und Vortrag Der Begriff der Zeit nach. (shrink)

Trong bối cảnh toàn cầu đang đối mặt với những thách thức ngày càng nghiêm trọng từ biến đổi khí hậu, tín chỉ carbon đã được xem như một giải pháp tài chính nhằm khuyến khích việc giảm phát thải khí nhà kính. Tuy nhiên, liệu giải pháp này có thực sự hiệu quả trong việc bảo vệ môi trường, hay chỉ đơn thuần là một cách để thương mại hóa thiên nhiên, mang lại lợi ích ngắn hạn nhưng tiềm (...) ẩn nhiều rủi ro lâu dài? (shrink)

The criticism of the theist arguments for the existence of God by philosophers like Spinoza, Hume and Kant has led religious thinkers to new searches. One of these is the argument of religious experience. Religious experience is classified according to its ways of occurrence. It needs be criticised whether mystic experience, which is included under this classification, should be taken as ‘religious’ or not. This is because many claims of mystic thought, which can be found in any religious tradition in (...) different disguises, do not comply with theistic religions’ understanding of religion, morals and God. Whereas the mystic thought argues for union with the God, this is out of question in the theistic understanding of religion. The duality, that is; the separateness of God and man, that they cannot unite, the impossibility of man to become a God are oft-repeated in the sacred texts and the oneness of God is the main theme being taught to mankind. For this reason, the teachings of mystic thought should not be included in ‘religious experience’. (shrink)

Two classes of arguments are often deployed by the anti-global egalitarians against attempts to universalize the demands of distributive equality. One are arguments attempting to show that global egalitarians have misconstrued the reasons for why equality matters domestically, and hence have wrongly extended these reasons to the global arena. These arguments hold that the boundary of distributive justice is effectively coextensive with the boundaries of state. The other are arguments that attempt to show that membership in political societies generates special (...) duties among members that may outweigh the demands of global egalitarianism. These arguments appeal to the ethical significance of state boundaries and membership. In my defense of global egalitarianism, I reject both the attempts to limit the boundary of justice and the attempts to give state boundaries special moral significance and priority. In particular, I will argue that the boundary of justice cannot coincide with the boundaries of states when the justice of the boundaries is at issue. (shrink)

Đầu tư vào rừng đô thị không chỉ là một chiến lược môi trường, mà còn là đầu tư cho sức khỏe cộng đồng và phúc lợi kinh tế.

I outline what I call a relational account of toleration. This relational account helps explain the apparent paradox of toleration in that it involves two competing moral stances, of acceptance and disapproval, towards the tolerated. It also helps clarify the way toleration is a normative ideal, and not a position one is forced into out of the practical need to accommodate or accept. Specifically, toleration is recommended out of respect for that which the tolerant agent also disapproves of. This combination (...) of respect entangled with disapproval results from two different evaluative perspectives of the tolerant agent. The relational account explains how an agent can hold these competing evaluative perspectives. I also discuss the proper scope of state toleration under this relational account. (shrink)

This article argues that the contemporary acceptability of abortion is not solely due to the Liberal imperative to exercise individual choice. Rather, abortion's acceptability needs to be explained with reference to the techniques of consumer culture. This article will begin by explaining how practices in general predispose one to gravitate towards one form of practices rather than another. It will then look at how consumer practices generate a biopolitics of economic efficiency and corporeal commodification which culminates in a politics of (...) visibility. Under such conditions, even basic categories like mere existence is dependent on its ability to be displayed for public view. This article will conclude by reflecting on the necessity of forging the Church not as a subsection of a public framed by consumerism, but as an alternative public in its own right. (shrink)

Inferentialists about scientific representation hold that an apparatus’s representing a target system consists in the apparatus allowing “surrogative inferences” about the target. I argue that a serious problem for inferentialism arises from the fact that many scientific theories and models contain internal inconsistencies. Inferentialism, left unamended, implies that inconsistent scientific models have unlimited representational power, since an inconsistency permits any conclusion to be inferred. I consider a number of ways that inferentialists can respond to this challenge before suggesting my own (...) solution. I develop an analogy to exploitable glitches in a game. Even though inconsistent representational apparatuses may in some sense allow for contradictions to be generated within them, doing so violates the intended function of the apparatus’s parts and hence violates representational “gameplay.”. (shrink)

I investigate Du Châtelet's contribution to the concept of time and position the relevance and content of that contribution between Leibniz and Kant. I argue that Du Châtelet advances Leibniz's concept of time by explaining how we form the idea of time in our mind and how time as an ideal being relates to succession in real beings. I show that Du Châtelet, differently to Kant, recognizes the dependency of time in its constitution on succession in "real things" and that (...) her concept of time is in this respect superior to Kant's. With a detailed investigation into Du Châtelet's notion of time in its own right and without prematurely "fitting" it into a defined debate between her contemporaries, I am aiming to reveal her original contribution to an understanding of time. I locate her concept of time in a context that is explicitly philosophical in terms of an investigation into how the idea of time is formed and constituted rather than a physical debate on the nature of time as a phenomenon relating to the movement of bodies. (shrink)

How should liberal societies respond to nonliberal ones? In this paper I examine John Rawls’s conception of international toleration against what is sometimes called a cosmopolitan one. Rawls holds that a just international order should recognize certain nonliberal societies, to which he refers as decent peoples, as equal members in good standing in a just society of peoples. It would be a violation of liberalism’s own principle of toleration to deny the international legitimacy of decent peoples who, among other things, (...) affirm human rights and accept peaceful coexistence with other societies. According to the cosmopolitan idea of international toleration, on the contrary, only societies that are liberal in character meet the criteria for toleration. I suggest that, against the Rawlsian conception of international toleration, the cosmopolitan idea is more consistent with the fundamentals of liberal political morality. I then clarify the ways in which cosmopolitan toleration is not worryingly interventionist even as it is not altogether toothless; and I end with some reflections on why cosmopolitism is not morally imperialistic. (shrink)

This review essay on John Rawls’s The Law of Peoples focuses on two of its more contentious claims. The first is that international economic justice is secured by a principle of assistance and that a principle of distributive justice will in fact have “unacceptable” results. The other is that certain non-liberal societies, or peoples, fall within the limits of international toleration. The essay evaluates and critiques these claims from a liberal cosmopolitan perspective.

In group discussions of any kind there tends to be an up and down in the level of deliberation. To capture this dynamic we coined the concept of Deliberative Transformative Moments (DTM). In deeply divided societies deliberation is particularly important in order to arrive at peace and stability, but deliberation is also very difficult to be attained. Therefore, we wanted to learn about the conditions that in group discussions across the deep divisions of such societies help deliberation. We organized such (...) group discussions between ex-guerrillas and ex-paramilitaries in Colombia, Serbs and Bosnjaks in Srebrenica, and poor residents and local police officers in the favelas (slums) of Brazil. We could identify factors that help to transform discussions from low to high deliberation and risk transformations in the opposite direction. We could also identify factors that help to keep a discussion at a high level of deliberation, and, in a next step, we could determine to what extent long sequences of deliberation had a positive impact on the outcomes of the discussions. Finally, we show how our research results can have a long term effect if it is used in schools of such deeply divided societies. (shrink)

The gig economy is a phenomenon that is rapidly expanding, redefining the nature of work and contributing to a significant change in how contemporary economies are organised. Its expansion is not unproblematic. This article provides a clear and systematic analysis of the main ethical challenges caused by the gig economy. Following a brief overview of the gig economy, its scope and scale, we map the key ethical problems that it gives rise to, as they are discussed in the relevant literature. (...) We map them onto three categories: the new organisation of work (what is done), the new nature of work (how it is done), and the new status of workers (who does it). We then evaluate a recent initiative from the EU that seeks to address the challenges of the gig economy. The 2019 report of the European High-Level Expert Group on the Impact of the Digital Transformation on EU Labour Markets is a positive step in the right direction. However, we argue that ethical concerns relating to algorithmic systems as mechanisms of control, and the discrimination, exclusion and disconnectedness faced by gig workers require further deliberation and policy response. A brief conclusion completes the analysis. The appendix presents the methodology underpinning our literature review. (shrink)

The first part of this paper investigates the purpose, methodological approach, and fundamental thesis of Du Châtelet’s theory of simple beings. The paper shows that ‘simple beings’ in Du Châtelet is a theory concerned with the understanding of extended bodies. The second part of the paper shows that her theory of simple beings, while it has important roots in both Leibniz and Wolff, is remarkably different from theirs. Thus, contrary to a common thread in the literature, Du Châtelet’s theory of (...) simple beings does not commit her to an ontology that can be equated with that of Leibniz or Wolff. Instead, her theory of simple beings is faculty-centred and draws a fundamental and novel distinction between the phenomenal realm of the senses and ‘real’ substances, which can only be grasped through the understanding. (shrink)

Sometimes, scientific models are either intended to or plausibly interpreted as representing nonactual but possible targets. Call this “hypothetical modeling”. This paper raises two epistemological challenges concerning hypothetical modeling. To begin with, I observe that given common philosophical assumptions about the scope of objective possibility, hypothetical models are fallible with respect to what is objectively possible. There is thus a need to distinguish between accurate and inaccurate hypothetical modeling. The first epistemological challenge is that no account of the epistemology of (...) hypothetical models seems to cohere with the most characteristic function of scientific modeling in general, i.e., surrogative representation. The second epistemological challenge is a version of “reliability challenges” familiar from other areas. There is a challenge to explain how hypothetical models could be a reliable guide to what is possible, given that they are not and cannot be compared against their nonactual targets and updated accordingly. I close with some brief remarks on possible solutions to these challenges. (shrink)

Jean Piaget's theory of human mental development mirrors many issues related to human. According to this theory, one's view of himself, nature/universe and God is changing. According to this theory, which is basically divided into four main periods and subtitles, the thinking skill of man changes according to age, physical development, education and society. These differences affect the way individuals obtain information. Individuals who acquire knowledge with an emotional intuition before the age of seven acquire information through an inductive way, (...) in other words, through concrete intuition, through concrete processes, experimentation and observation, in parallel with the development of the brain and senses. At the age of eleven and after which intellectual reasoning develops, information becomes abstract and information is obtained through abstract intuition based on theories, hypotheses and assumptions. In the love experience of Rumi, a mystical thinker, knowledge is obtained only with emotional intuition, and it is claimed that the only way to obtain information is love-based emotional intuition. In this love-based emotional intuition, the ways of obtaining concrete/experimental and abstract/rational knowledge requiring high level mental skills are rejected and these methods are said to be 'devil’s work'. In this study, Rumi's approach to human, universe and God in this one-sided and emotional way is criticized and its inconsistency is revealed. (shrink)

The following paper focuses on analyzing the different occurrences of a significant and symbolic image. In this case the image taken into consideration is the photograph in which the statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square, Baghdad, is being taken down. This picture was taken in 2003, during the Iraqi war, and it shows Americans and Iraqis working together to take this symbol of Saddam’s dictatorship down. For years this image has been considered representative of the end of the war (...) and the victory of the U.S.A. over the terroristic threat. In fact, after the image started circulating, newspapers and TV news nearly stopped covering the topic because it seemed to be less urgent. We now know that hardship and violence were far from over and in the last ten years several online articles started talking about what happened after what we thought was the end. This paper’s aim is to put together as many articles as possible to see how this image has been portrayed in more recent years, in different western countries, in different cultural and social contexts. (shrink)

Felsefe Optiğinden Aşkın Renkleri kitabı Senail Özkan’ın bir takdim yazısı, giriş ve yedi bölümden oluşmaktadır. Kitapta kaynakçaya yer verilmemiştir. Halilov, kitabın giriş kısmında ‘aşk’ın ne olduğunu ve hangi ilim dalı tarafından ele alınması gerektiğini açıklamıştır. Ona göre aşk insanın manevi âleminin en derin katmanlarında ortaya çıktığı için temel itibariyle bilinçdışı alana aittir. İlim onu irdeleyemez, aşk, ilim için muğlak bir alandır ve mantıki düzlemde değerlendirilmesi oldukça zordur. İlim açısından incelenemediği için bu işi felsefe ve şiir üstlenmektedir.(s.16, s. 55) Şiir ve (...) aşk ilişkisine değinen Halilov, şiirin aşk ile büyük bir ilgisi olduğunu Doğu’da ve Batı’da aşk konusunun şiir sanatının kapsamı içinde değerlendirildiğini söyler. Doğu’da Nizami, İbn Arabi, Mevlana, Fuzuli, İkbal ve Cavid’e kadar Doğu şairlerinin aşk konusunu ele aldığı ve bununla ilgili eserler verdiğini ekler. Halilov’a göre Doğu’da aşk, ‘ilahi nitelikte’ ele alınmaktadır. Bütün kitap boyunca ‘ilahi aşk’ meselesi üzerinde duran Halilov bazen bu görüşü savunmuş bazen de tutarsız ve gerçek hayattan uzak olduğunu anlatmaya çalışmıştır. Ona göre aşk, ilahi olmaktan ziyade ferdi, bireysel veya insanidir. Aşk, ‘yerle gök arasında’ olması gerekmektedir. Bu açıdan Halilov aşkı, rasyonel bir düzlemde alan Batı öğretisini tercih ettiğini söylemektedir.(s.18) Fakat kitabına baktığımızda aslında Halilov’un bazı gerekçeler nedeniyle bu konuda biraz tereddütte kaldığını göreceğiz. (s.25). (shrink)

In the present work, we will analyze the concept of intuition mainly in relation to the epistemological and the metaphysical theses of Schopenhauerian theory. In the first section, we will discuss the central axes of Schopenhauer’s metaphysical system, especially regarding the concept of will (Wille) and the relationship that this entails with his theory of knowledge. Then, we will examine the difference that the German philosopher establishes between representative —or mediated— rational knowledge and direct —or immediate— intuitive knowledge. Likewise, we (...) will trace at first the theses and the fundamental problems of the dualism of representation and we will furtherly establish the problem of the intuition of one’s own body. Finally, we will consider the scope and the limits of intuition, as well as its different variants: mainly aesthetic intuition and its culmination in mystical intuition. (shrink)

This paper compares criticisms of Singapore’s meritocracy, especially against its impact on income disparities and class divisions, with Michael Sandel’s critique of the meritocratic ethic in the United States. Despite significant differences in their history and politics, meritocracy has similar dysfunctions in both societies, allowing us to draw theoretical conclusions about meritocracy as an ideal of governance. It then contrasts Sandel’s communitarian critique of meritocracy with recent Confucian promotion of political meritocracy and meritocratic justice and argues that the Confucian principle (...) of “promoting the virtuous and talented” is different from the contemporary conception of meritocracy. Textual evidence indicates that a Confucian understanding of “merit” is contrary to the technocratic expertise of contemporary meritocracies. Furthermore, pre-Qin Confucian texts do not support a conception of justice that emphasizes individual desert; they address distributive problems from the perspective of needs and sustaining social relations. The texts also support limiting the reign of merit when it results in inequalities that cause suffering, inhibit personal cultivation of some groups, or undermine social relations. The paper concludes with an assessment of Singapore’s on-going attempts to improve its meritocracy from a Confucian perspective. (shrink)

Nell’era attuale, già profondamente segnata da un genere di violenza e di terrore che sta assumendo forme inconcepibili e proporzioni incontrollabili, sempre più s’impone una sfida educativa la cui sostanza più densa l’autrice del saggio ritiene essere rappresentata dall’educazione a un bene assoluto e radicale che non lasci spazio a compromessi e che possa costituire una risposta efficace e drastica al male assoluto al quale, la storia e la Shoah insegnano, è possibile arrivare. Educatori ed educandi devono tutti sentirsi coinvolti, (...) personalmente e come membri attivi di una collettività, in un processo responsabile di autoeducazione e di educazione alla libertà interiore, l’unica che può condurre l’uomo a un rifiuto fattivo e categorico di ogni forma di sopruso, di violenza e di prevaricazione contro l’uomo e contro la vita. È in questo tipo d’impegno formativo-culturale e sociale che vanno collocate le iniziative organizzate dalla Rete Universitaria per il Giorno della Memoria, dai Corsi di Storia e didattica della Shoah alle ricerche scientifiche e pubblicazioni che ne scaturiscono. (shrink)

Liver transplantation (LT) activities during the COVID-19 pandemic have been curtailed in many countries. The impact of various policies restricting LT on outcomes of potential LT candidates is unclear. We studied all patients on the nationwide LT waitlists in Hong Kong and Singapore between January 2016 and May 2020. We used continuous time Markov chains to model the effects of different scenarios and varying durations of disruption on LT candidates.

the following paper focuses on the phenomenon of “that girl” narrative, a recent social media trend that portrays in a very esthetically pleasing and conventional way what it means to be a successful female in today’s world. “That girl” is usually a traditionally pretty, white, skinny girl, who lives the picture-perfect life, striking to be her most efficient, productive and healthy self and who encourages others to feel the same kind of empowerment. Besides offering some tips and tricks on how (...) to live “that girl” lifestyle, the creators of such content seem to be mostly devoted to painting an ideal image: it looks like they are more concerned about how the content looks esthetically rather than conveying a positive and empowering message. The paper takes into account some significant images, taken from a leading Instagram profile in this field, and analyses them in a semiotic context, to see what the conveyed message is, what kind of ideology is here portrayed and how this plays in today’s society. (shrink)

In this context, the study explored the relationship between organizational climate and employee innovative work behaviour among food manufacturing industries in Malaysia. The study is a descriptive correlational survey research design where data is sourced out from a total of randomly sampled 260 employees. Results revealed that a favourable organizational climate on innovation, proactivity, and risk-taking is prevailing among the companies. A very high level of innovative work behaviour is emanating among the employees on idea exploration, generation, championing, and implementation. (...) Test of differences showed that employee gender, position, unit, and years of service spelt significant differences in the perception of the employees on organizational climate and innovative work behaviour. A meaningful relationship surfaced between organizational climate and employee innovative work behaviour, suggesting that for food manufacturing industries to sustain innovative and competitive advantages, there is a need to promote a nurturing and encouraging entrepreneurial organizational climate. Finally, a congruency among the domains of organizational climate and employee innovative work behaviour emerged. It suggests that when higher positive organizational climate surfaces, the more likely the employee's manifest innovation work behaviour. This study addressed the gap by providing organizational climate and employee innovative work behaviour among food manufacturing industries in Malaysia. (shrink)

In his 1925/26 lecture Logic: The Question of Truth Heidegger turns to an interpretation of the Critique of Pure Reason in order to elucidate his own understanding of time. The largely overlooked lecture series, I argue, is at the root of Heidegger’s exposition of the concept of time and its relationship with human existence (Dasein). Although Heidegger claims that Kant’s concept of time is confined to that of ‘world-time,’ Heidegger develops the first exposition of his understanding of time as ur-temporality (...) via critical analysis of the Critique of Pure Reason. The investigation reveals the conceptual context behind the relationship between time and Dasein, which develops out of Heidegger’s first in-depth interpretation of the Critique of Pure Reason. (shrink)

In recent years numerous questions were raised about the morality of killing and eating animals. Do animals have right to live and not made to suffer? Should people stop eating animal meat? Should laws be enacted to protect animal rights? This essay suggests the following two theses. 1) Animal rights arguments are not logically conclusive; 2) Someone may develop reasons in the future, but for now, there is no morally compelling reason to stop eating animal meat. I shall address various (...) major arguments for animal rights and their weaknesses. (shrink)

In the present study, I will consider the crisis of the movement image, and the emergence of a new type of image, namely, the time image. First, I will analyze certain basic concepts used by Deleuze (1925-1995) and by Bergson (1859- 1941) to understand the new type of image that emerges from an interruption of our natural perception, granting us -by separating ourselves from all our previous experiences- pure optical and sound perceptions. Secondly, I will trace the changes that, both (...) inside and outside cinema, made possible this emergence. Finally, according to the signs of the time-image developed by Deleuze, I will analyze the film Paterson (2016), by Jim Jarmusch. The film, inspired not only by the work of the poet William Carlos Williams (1883-1963), but also by other poets of the New York School, seeks to portray, through visual descriptions, the details of our daily lives. Key-words: natural perception - pure perception - movement image - time image - cinema. (shrink)

Deep Brain Stimulation is currently being investigated as an experimental treatment for patients suffering from treatment-refractory AN, with an increasing number of case reports and small-scale trials published. Although still at an exploratory and experimental stage, initial results have been promising. Despite the risks associated with an invasive neurosurgical procedure and the long-term implantation of a foreign body, DBS has a number of advantageous features for patients with SE-AN. Stimulation can be fine-tuned to the specific needs of the particular patient, (...) is relatively reversible, and the technique also allows for the crucial issue of investigating and comparing the effects of different neural targets. However, at a time when DBS is emerging as a promising investigational treatment modality for AN, lesioning procedures in psychiatry are having a renaissance. Of concern it has been argued that the two kinds of interventions should instead be understood as rivaling, yet “mutually enriching paradigms” despite the fact that lesioning the brain is irreversible and there is no evidence base for an effective target in AN. We argue that lesioning procedures in AN are unethical at this stage of knowledge and seriously problematic for this patient group, for whom self-control is particularly central to wellbeing. They pose a greater risk of major harms that cannot justify ethical equipoise, despite the apparent superiority in reduced short term surgical harms and lower cost. (shrink)

Williams puts forward and develops his theory of integrity on the basis of criticizing utilitarianism and Kantian ethics as too demanding to make enough room for personal projects. Instead, his integrity theory advocates that we should act out of commitments with which we deeply identify ourselves. In doing so, we express who we really are and make our life meaningful. If not so, our integrity would be violated and we may lose ourselves. Such a description of the self in moral (...) life is criticized as solipsism for that it makes the relationship between one’s projects and himself only be regulated by himself. This paper aims to point out that such criticism is inappropriate. To show the inaccuracy of the criticism, the author will analyze the relationship between the self and others in two aspects. The first aspect is about the structure of formation of desires and others, and the second one is about the action responsibility and others. After analysis, in the first aspect of desires, the self needs others to form and stabilize desires, beliefs and motivations to cooperate with others. Others help the self to sustain the sense of reality to prevent the self from forming wishful thinking. As to action, others’ need for response is an important element in ascribing the self’s action responsibility. The self acquires self-conception, self-cognition and self-identity through the interaction with others. Thus, others play an essential role in Williams’ theory of integrity. Although there are some flaws in Williams’ integrity theory, to reexamine his theory is conducive to our understanding of moral life. (shrink)

Dinî tecrübe Friedrich Schleiermacher (ö.1768) ile önem kazanan ve William James’in (ö.1842) eserleriyle din felsefesinde teistik delillerin içine dahil olan bir delildir. Dini tecrübelerin birçok şekilde meydana geldiği iddia edilmektedir. Bunlardan biri de sezgidir. Bu bildirinin amacı sezgisel bilginin Tanrı’nın varlığına delil olup olmadığını ortaya koymaktır. Sezgisel yetenek, insanın fiziksel gelişimine (yani beyin) paralel olarak gelişen bir yetidir ve zihnin gelişmesiyle birlikte kapasitesi artmaktadır. Önce çocukta duygusal bir sezgi hakim iken (4-7 yaş), daha sonra çocuğun somut işlemlere geçmesiyle sezgisel yetenek (...) somutla ilişkili hale gelir. (7-11 yaş) Ve somut nesne ve durumlar (deney ve pratikler) çocuğun sezgisel yeteneğinin gelişmesine yol açar. En son aşamada yani soyut işlemler döneminde (11-17 yaş) çocuğun beyninde prefrontal lobun gelişmesine bağlı olarak akli muhakeme gelişir ve bunun etkisiyle sezgisel yetenek, akli verileri kullanarak soyut sezgiye yönelir. Sezgisel yetenek böylece üç dönemin özelliklerini gösterebilir; çocukluktan aldığı duygusal sezgi ve somut/nesnenin çağrıştırdığı somut sezgi ve aklın dış dünyadan aldığı bilgileri zihinsel süreçlerden geçirerek işlemesi sonucu gelişen akılcı sezgi. O nedenle insanlarda tek bir sezgiden bahsetmek yanlıştır. Sezginin üç türü birbiriyle eş güdümlü olarak bilgiyi elde etmek için çalışır. Bu üç sezgi türünden akılcı sezgiye önem veren İbn Sina, sezgi bilgisini rasyonel, epistemolojik alana dahil eder. Yaptığı ilim sınıflamasında sezgi bilgisini deneye dayalı bilgi türü olarak görür ve akla/deneye dayalı bir sezgi anlayışı geliştirir. Bu sezgi anlayışı, peygamberliği rasyonel bir temele oturtmak ve irrasyonel olmadığın açıklamak için de kullanır. Kudsi akla sahip peygamberler üstün zekalarının etkisiyle güçlü sezgiye sahip olurlar ve vahiy alırlar. Vahiy alan sezgisel yetenek diğer insanlarda ortaya çıkıp dini tecrübeleri şekillendirebilir mi? Peygamberlerin vahiy tecrübesini taklit ederek kendilerinde yüksek sezgisel yeti olduğunu savunan bazı kişiler (veli) ilham yoluyla bilgi elde ettiklerini iddia etmişlerdir. Dini tecrübe delilinde bu tür tecrübeler dini delil olarak sayılmaktadır. Fakat bu sezgisel bilginin kaynağı duygu mudur, somut bir gösterge (deney) midir yoksa akıl mıdır? İlham ürünü olan eserlerde her zaman duygu vardır ve bu tür ifadeler insanı duygunun hakim olduğu zihinsel bir duruma götürür. Fakat vahiy tecrübesinde duygunun yanında, somut dünyanın varlığı ve akla dayalı bir sezginin olduğu da vurgulanmaktadır. O nedenle sezgisel bilgi ürünü vahiy üç tür sezgi bilgisine dayalı iken, ilham ürünü olan sezgisel bilgi sadece duyguya dayalıdır. O nedenle ‘dini’ bir delil olarak değil ‘mistik’ bir delil olarak değerlendirmeyi hak eder. (shrink)

We call attention to certain cases of epistemic akrasia, arguing that they support belief-credence dualism. Belief-credence dualism is the view that belief and credence are irreducible, equally fundamental attitudes. Consider the case of an agent who believes p, has low credence in p, and thus believes that they shouldn’t believe p. We argue that dualists, as opposed to belief-firsters (who say credence reduces to belief) and credence-firsters (who say belief reduces to credence) can best explain features of akratic cases, including (...) the observation that akratic beliefs seem to be held despite possessing a defeater for those beliefs, and that, in akratic cases, one can simultaneously believe and have low confidence in the very same proposition. (shrink)

This article analyses how the French Academy of Sciences assessed Jaime Ferrán’s cholera vaccine submitted for the Prix Bréant in the 1880s. Ferrán, a Spanish independent physician, discovered the treatment in 1884 and tried it on thousands of patients during the cholera outbreak in Valencia the following year. His evaluation sparked a controversy in Spain and abroad on the vaccine’s efficacy. The Bréant jury did not see any evidence for it in Ferrán’s submission, a decision usually interpreted in terms of (...) French scientific nationalism (or simple chauvinism): an outsider from the scientific periphery could not be awarded the Bréant. Drawing on the archival records of the award, we suggest that Ferrán failed instead to provide data that the Academy could consider unbiased, according to the contemporary standards for data presentation. We will illustrate these standards at work in the assessment of another submission from Spain, by Philipp Hauser, who received the Bréant for the thoroughness of his statistical endeavour. (shrink)

This paper analyses the arguments for and against what we have called automatic organ procurement model in relation to the organs of the deceased. For this purpose, this work provides empirical evidence to assess the potential impact of this model on donation rates and on public opinion. Specifically, we examine first the reasons supporting this model, with special reference to utilitarian and justice arguments. On the other hand, we analyse both the approaches based on the violation of pre mortem and (...) post mortem interests opposing this theoretical model and the rejection the model would generate in the population. Finally, we point out the aspects that, in our opinion, should be exhaustively regulated if this model were implemented. In particular, we refer to the legal status of the human body, the treatments for end-of-life patients, the incentives for health professionals and the recognition of the right to conscientious objection. (shrink)

From the local level to international politics, deliberation helps to increase mutual understanding and trust, in order to arrive at political decisions of high epistemic value and legitimacy. This book gives deliberation a dynamic dimension, analysing how levels of deliberation rise and fall in group discussions, and introducing the concept of 'deliberative transformative moments' and how they can be applied to deeply divided societies, where deliberation is most needed but also most difficult to work. Discussions between ex-guerrillas and ex-paramilitaries in (...) Colombia, Serbs and Bosnjaks in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and police officers and locals in Brazilian favelas are used as case studies, with participants addressing how peace can be attained in their countries. Allowing access to the records and transcripts of the discussions opens an opportunity for practitioners of conflict resolution to apply this research to their work in trouble spots of the world, creating a link between the theory and practice of deliberation. (shrink)