We perform an experimental investigation using a dictator game in which individuals must make a moral decision —to give or not to give an amount of money to poor people in the Third World. A questionnaire in which the subjects are asked about the reasons for their decision shows that, at least in this case, moral motivations carry a heavy weight in the decision: the majority of dictators give the money for reasons of a consequentialist nature. Based on the results (...) presented here and of other analogous experiments, we conclude that dicator behavior can be understood in terms of moral distance rather than social distance and that it systematically deviates from the egoism assumption in economic models and game theory. (shrink)

This paper explores Victoria Welby's fundamental assumption of meaning process (“semiosis” sensu Peirce) as translation, and some implications for the development of a general model of intersemiotic translation.

En este artículo presentamos las principales corrientes de la Filosofía Experimental y atendemos a una de las críticas más severas a la que se ha sometido este reciente programa de renovación metodológica. Según Antti Kauppinen la Filosofía Experimental está condenada al fracaso porque no puede obtener mediante sus métodos el tipo de intuiciones que interesan a los filósofos –las intuiciones robustas del hablante competente. Aun aceptando parte de las críticas de Kauppinen, en este artículo sostenemos, en primer lugar, que la (...) supuesta incapacidad de la Filosofía Experimental para acceder a las intuiciones robustas de los hablantes tiene que ver en gran medida con los métodos experimentales empleados hasta ahora por los filósofos experimentales. En segundo lugar, defendemos que el proyecto de reforma llevado a cabo desde la Filosofía Experimental resultará viable solo si se adoptan una serie de consejos metodológicos procedentes de la economía experimental. Únicamente entonces podrán los experimentalistas responder con éxito a la objeción de Kauppinen. (shrink)

Due to its discussion of the question of non-being and its intention of grounding the philosophical discourse, Plato ́s dialogue The Sophist occupies a central position in the history of philosophy. The purpose of this article is to relate the definition method used by Plato in the dialogue (the diaeresis) with his conception of philosophical discourse. The different definitions for the sophist proposed in the dialogue are not only part of Plato's polemic against sophistry, but underpin the very Platonic conception (...) of the philosopher and philosophical discourse. While dialectics would be the method employed by the philosopher to arrive at knowledge and wisdom, sophistry would be only an imitation of true knowledge and true wisdom. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to analyze the semantic change of the German ideal of Bildung in the time of Nietzsche and the reinterpretation that the philosopher proposes of the concept. Bildung is one of the fundamental concepts of modernity in Germany, and in its classical formulation designated a moral imperative of self-improvement of the individual and humanity as a normative ideal. Nietzsche criticized the degradation of this ideal in mere general culture and the cultural philistinism of his time. (...) In its place, Nietzsche proposes a typology of cultures. He reinterprets the concept of culture as a unit of style and the idea of cultivating individuality as a new imperative of the individual who has disengaged himself from traditional morality. (shrink)

This papers aims at clarifying some misunderstandings that seem to block an adequate account of de re thoughts within the Fregean framework. It is usually assumed that Fregean senses cannot be de re, or dependent upon objects. Contrary to this assumption, Gareth Evans and John McDowell have claimed that Fregean de re senses are not just possible, but in fact the most promising alternative for accounting for de re thoughts. The reasons blocking this alternative can be traced back to Russellian (...) considerations that contaminated the interpretation of Frege. This contaminated understanding is first detected in Tyler Burge’s distinction between de dicto and de re, then connected to the motivations behind David Kaplan’s notion of character, and finally found in John Searle’s descriptivist account. The difficulty in understanding de re thoughts is, roughly speaking, a side effect of the misunderstanding of the boundaries separating internal and external elements of thoughts, as well as the distinction between mental content and means of representation. (shrink)

This article travels through the rivers and lands of a territorial body into a lived and imagined Amazon, a place of origin and affection that, telling the stories of the Ykamyabas –a tribe of women without husbands who lived in the lower Amazon river region –, gather the traces left for their mythical imagery in the archetypal relationship of the wild woman in narratives that come mainly through orality, from ways of life that subvert the split of the world operated (...) by the dualisms culture/nature, male/female, body/mind. To articulate scenes and, through photography, reconstruct realities, in a knowledge revealed by the mythical fact of the dream, of becoming an artist, of the subjectivity invested with the body, planting clues to other possible worlds. (shrink)

In this article we approach a case of intersemiotic translation as a paradigmatic example of Boden’s ‘transformational creativity’ category. To develop our argument, we consider Boden’s fundamental notion of ‘conceptual space’ as a regular pattern of semiotic action, or ‘habit’ (sensu Peirce). We exemplify with Gertrude Stein’s intersemiotic translation of Cézanne and Picasso’s proto-cubist and cubist paintings. The results of Stein’s IT transform the conceptual space of modern literature, constraining it towards new patterns of semiosis. Our association of Boden’s framework (...) to describe a cognitive creative phenomenon with a philosophically robust theory of meaning results in a cognitive semiotic account of IT. (shrink)

The German Tradition of Self-Cultivation (Bil dung) and its Historical Meaning. This article aims at analysing the historical meaning of the German ideal of self-cultivation (Bildung), considering its different uses and interpretations over time. Based on the historical semantics of Reinhart Koselleck and the bibliography on the subject, it reconstructs the core transformations in its semantic structure from the beginnings in the late Middle Ages to its institutionalization in the German school system in the nineteenth century. The development of the (...) ideal of Bildung in Germany is characterised by the tension between its function as means of integration through education and its function as instrument of social distinction. The reflexion on this educational ideal is presented as a counterpoint to some of the contemporary educational practices, based on the imperatives of the market and the neoliberal management of human capital. (shrink)

Analyzing the position of two philosophers whose views are recognizably divergent, W. O. Quine and M. Dummett, we intend to support a striking point of agreement between them: the idea that our logical principles constitute our principles about what there is, and therefore, that logic is metaphysics.

Jesse Prinz (2006, 2007) claimed that emotions are necessary and sufficient for moral judgments. First of all, I clarify what this claim amounts to. The view that he labels emotionism will then be critically assessed. Prinz marshals empirical findings to defend a series of increasingly strong theses about how emotions are essential for moral judgments. I argue that the empirical support upon which his arguments are based is not only insufficient, but it even suggests otherwise, if properly interpreted. My criticism (...) is then extended to his sentimentalist theory, that accounts for how emotions are integrated into moral judgments. The central problem is that Prinz’s view fails to capture the rational aspect of moral evaluation. I make this failure explicit and defend that some version or other of neosentimentalism is a more promising route. (shrink)

Disagreement over what exists is so fundamental that it tends to hinder or even to block dialogue among disputants. The various controversies between believers and atheists, or realists and nominalists, are only two kinds of examples. Interested in contributing to the intelligibility of the debate on ontology, in 1939 Willard van Orman Quine began a series of works which introduces the notion of ontological commitment and proposes an allegedly objective criterion to identify the exact conditions under which a theoretical discourse (...) signals an assumption of existence. I intend to present the concept of ontological commitment and the Quinean criterion, to expose and evaluate some of the many criticisms to which the criterion has subject and to situate it in the context of Quine’s philosophy. As a product of such analyses, I hope to contribute to the discussion on the application and relevance of the notion of ontological commitment. (shrink)

What is, after all, the famous method of Descartes? The brief and vague passages devoted to this subject in Descartes’ corpus have always puzzled his readers. In this paper, I investigate not only the two essays in which it is directly addressed (the Regulae ad Directionem Ingenii, and the Discours de la Méthode), but also his scientific works and correspondence. I finally advocate an interpretation that makes the best sense of his overt comments as well as of his actual scientific (...) practice. Contrary to widely accepted views, I argue that there are no substantial discontinuities in his understanding of his own method, or between his theory and practice. I claim, by contrast, that Descartes advocated a minimal method: a method that says little, but that, nonetheless, marks a revolutionary rupture with the existing forms of explanation. (shrink)

The view that perceptual experience has representational content, or the content view, has recently been criticized by the defenders of the so-called object view. Part of the dispute, I claim here, is based on a lack of grasp of the notion of content. There is, however, a core of substantial disagreement. Once the substantial core is revealed, I aim to: (1) reject the arguments raised against the content view by Campbell (2002), Travis (2004), and Brewer (2006); (2) criticize Brewer’s (2006, (...) 2007, 2008, 2011) attempts to defend the object view; (3) refine Pautz’ (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) arguments against the object view, which mainly resort to the fact that it cannot account for the grounding role of hallucinatory experiences; (4) and finally adjudicate in favor of the content view and against the overestimation of the naïve intuition. (shrink)

Our investigation on Hilary Putnam’s internal realist perspective(internalism) traces parallels and identifies differences between Putnam’s ideasand their antipodes: metaphysical realist (externalism) and radical relativist. Ourresearch has focused upon the contemporary debate in which it is inserted, par-ticularly, upon the challenge that radical relativism to impose on contemporaryepistemology. Such challenge will not be surmounted through classical project tofind absolute certainties. The history of science to point out that theories are notnets that to catch the reality as it is in itself. But (...) this do not to imply that our viewof knowledge are only determined for contingent aspects. In this scenery are hard enterprise but it is worthy-while to take into account efforts of philosophersas Putnam to propose a via media. (shrink)

Michael Tye proposed a way of understanding the content of hallucinatory experiences. Somewhat independently, Mark Johnston provided us with elements to think about the content of hallucination. In this paper, their views are compared and evaluated. Both their theories present intricate combinations of conjunctivist and disjunctivist strategies to account for perceptual content. An alternative view, which develops a radically disjunctivist account, is considered and rejected. Finally, the paper raises some metaphysical difficulties that seem to threaten any conjunctivist theory and to (...) lead the debate to a dilemma: strong disjunctivists cannot explain the subjective indistinguishability between veridical and hallucinatory experiences, whereas conjunctivists cannot explain what veridical and hallucinatory experiences have in common. This dilemma is left here as an open challenge. (shrink)

O presente artigo busca pensar os limites entre Filosofia e Ciências Sociais, e que, apesar de serem conhecimentos distintos, estão muito mais imbricadas do que separadas, devido ao seu caráter reflexivo e lógico sobre os temas que intrigam a humanidade. Um problema conjunto é o próprio caráter do que fundamentaria a sociedade. Tal motivação provém de um exemplo particular, que é pensar a existência de um ente superior e anterior aos indivíduos, capaz de dar sentido à existência, mas também de (...) moldá-los, pelo seu poder coercitivo. O exercício é pensar como Plotino, no século III, chamou a existência dessa força superior de Inteligência (Noûs). E Durkheim, no final do século XIX, que marcou o início da sociologia científica, chamou-a de Sociedade. Este exercício quer demonstrar como as Ciências Sociais, tendo como referência Durkheim, utiliza da Filosofia para explicar o significado da vida em sociedade. (shrink)

The most prominent theories of perceptual content are incapable of accounting for the phenomenal particularity of perceptual experience. This difficulty, or so I argue, springs from the absence of a series of distinctions that end up turning the problem apparently unsolvable. After briefly examining the main shortcomings of representationalism and naïve realism, I advance a proposal of my own that aims to make the trivial fact of perceptually experiencing a particular object as such philosophically unproblematic. Though I am well aware (...) of the sketchy and schematic way in which my proposal is advanced and the other alternatives are criticized, I hope this paper is still worth its ink at least insofar as it is capable of pointing to a novel and promising way out of old and resilient difficulties that have been haunting philosophers of perception. If not a fully developed theory, at least I deliver here a sketch that, or so I sell, is worth the bet. (shrink)

Trata-se da tradução de um ensaio clássico publicado por Rudolf Carnap na revista Erkenntnis. A tradução é precedida por um texto de apresentação, que situa o ensaio e sua importância no contexto da filosofia contemporânea e na obra de Carnap. No ensaio, Carnap indica as principais características que distinguem o que ele chama de nova lógica (a lógica simbólica matemática derivada das obras de Frege, Peano e Hilbert, entre outros) da lógica filosófica tradicional e explica a sua importância como novo (...) método do filosofar. (shrink)

What is, after all, the famous method of Descartes? The brief and vague passages devoted to this subject in Descartes’ corpus have always puzzled his readers. In this paper, I investigate not only the two essays in which it is directly addressed (the Regulae ad Directionem Ingenii, and the Discours de la Méthode), but also his scientific works and correspondence. I finally advocate an interpretation that makes the best sense of his overt comments as well as of his actual scientific (...) practice. Contrary to widely accepted views, I argue that there are no substantial discontinuities in his understanding of his own method, or between his theory and practice. I claim, by contrast, that Descartes advocated a minimal method: a method that says little, but that, nonetheless, marks a revolutionary rupture with the existing forms of explanation. (shrink)

The thesis evaluates a contemporary debate concerning the very possibility of thinking about the world. In the first chapter, McDowell's critique of Davidson is presented, focusing on the coherentism defended by the latter. The critique of the myth of the given (as it appears in Sellars and Wittgenstein), as well as the necessity of a minimal empiricism (which McDowell finds in Quine and Kant), lead to an oscillation in contemporary thinking between two equally unsatisfactory ways of understanding the empirical content (...) of thought. In the second chapter, I defend Davidson's approach, focusing on his theory of interpretation and semantic externalism, as well as on the relation between causes and reasons. In the third chapter, the debate is analyzed in more detail. I criticize the anomalous monism, the way in which the boundaries between the conceptual and the non-conceptual are understood by Davidson, as well as the naturalized Platonism defended by McDowell. This thesis is mainly negative, and it concludes by revealing problems in both positions under evaluation. (shrink)

The aim of this text, derived from an investigation, is to propose a reflection on the future of the university, from the problematization of the neoliberal rationality impact on the forms of knowledge production and organization of academic life. To develop this analysis, the main transformations of the modern university since its advent with the founding of the Berlin University by Wilhelm von Humboldt, in 1810, who created the model of the research university, until the emergence of the neoliberal university (...) model. The purpose of the article is to highlight the rationalities that govern the transformation of the university over time. This historical analysis attempts to demonstrate that no model can be considered natural, absolute, inevitable, non-negotiable, and that and that the university as an institution is inhabited by a mixture of contradictory rationalities. To conclude, the Derrida's essay (2001), is used to show that the uncontested adoption of the neoliberal model can destroy the autonomy of research and teaching that until today characterized the modern university, and compromise its mission in the future. (shrink)

In this work, we propose a definition of logical consequence based on the relation between the quantity of information present in a particular set of formulae and a particular formula. As a starting point, we use Shannon‟s quantitative notion of information, founded on the concepts of logarithmic function and probability value. We first consider some of the basic elements of an axiomatic probability theory, and then construct a probabilistic semantics for languages of classical propositional logic. We define the quantity of (...) information for the formulae of these languages and introduce the concept of informational logical consequence, identifying some important results, among them: certain arguments that have traditionally been considered valid, such as modus ponens, are not valid from the informational perspective; the logic underlying informational logical consequence is not classical, and is at the least paraconsistent sensu lato; informational logical consequence is not a Tarskian logical consequence. (shrink)

This paper aims to discuss how the themes of individuality, freedom and education are articulated in Stirner's thought. It begins with a brief history of Stirner's reception. Next, the paper analyzes the subversion of Hegelian dialectics and the critique of Feuerbach's and Marx's atheistic humanism, which remain linked to Christian theology by deifying an abstract human essence. Then, the focus shifts to Stirnerian nominalism and its criticism of God, State, humanity and society as ideological constructs that dominate the concrete individual. (...) Finally, the paper analyzes the proposal of a new ethics and a new education, based on the singularity of the mortal and corporeal self. (shrink)

O ficcionalismo, geralmente classificado como um tipo de nominalismo, apresenta como perspectiva precípua a tese de que os entes matemáticos são ficções. Para o ficcionalista, o discurso matemático é desprovido de conteúdo. Hartry Field, que é o principal defensor dessa concepção ontológica da matemática, contesta, em Science Without Numbers, a utilização de entes matemáticos na redação de teorias da física, alegando que a defesa mais plausível do realismo ontológico matemático é o argumento da indispensabilidade de Quine-Putnam. O ficcionalismo defendido por (...) Field nos permite, de acordo com Shapiro, classificá-lo no grupo filosofia-primeiro, ou seja, entre os filósofos que defendem que a filosofia deve ser responsável por legislar a respeito da prática matemática. Dessa forma, podemos considerar Field um revisionista epistemológico. Como se sabe, a dependência da ciência moderna em relação ao discurso matemático coloca a tese ficcionalista em xeque. Ainda assim, se partirmos dos pressupostos filosóficos da vertente formalista da filosofia da matemática, que concebe a matemática como constituída de um conjunto de regras sem significado que podem ser manipuladas de maneira puramente sintática, poderemos traçar importantes analogias entre matemática e ficção, tal como também entre metamatemática e metaficção. Para um formalista simpático à tese ficcionalista, o estatuto ontológico da matemática é semelhante ao das regras de um jogo de xadrez. (shrink)

The goal of this essay is to evaluate the claim that it is possible to acquire inferential knowledge from false belief. In order to do so, we explain the main problem and some preliminaries notions in the first chapter. In the second chapter, we evaluate the reasons against the possibility of knowledge from falsehood. In the final chapter, we examine the reasons for the possibility of knowledge from falsehood.

This paper proposes a critical analysis of the essential criteria to define the concept of the political as presented by German jurist and philosopher, Carl Schmitt. Based on the essence of the political -i.e. the friend-enemy duality-, the objective is to explore the practical implications resulting from the actual possibilities of confrontation, the key scope being the analysis of a totalitarian potential from a Schmittian´s perspective. In Schmitt´s thought, this distinction is the fundamental reason for the definition of the political. (...) Not every opponent is necessarily the enemy --the other one, the unknown- and likely to be physically destroyed and exterminated but only a public enemy (hostis). Given its indeterminate nature, the enemy may be prescribed according to the sovereign design or, in the context of Nazi Germany where Carl Schmitt lived, in accordance with the President of the Reich´s designs. A hypothetical-deductive methodology is used in this work based on bibliographical research, in particular regarding Carl Schmitt´s theoretical constructions. (shrink)

We are in the information age. Nowadays, the information is a high power commodity. Your domain and handling have high economic, political, social value. However, we still know little about it. What is the information? How do we store it, retrieve it and manipulate it? Everyone have or should have equal access to information? What is the relationship between information and knowledge? How can both influence and be influenced by the action? Can they are modeled? The models can contribute to (...) your understanding? Information and knowledge can consolidate or destroy friendships? What are the most efficient means to produce, store, organize and retrieve knowledge and information? Such questions permeate the content of this book, bringing together Brazilian and foreign authors, seeking to contribute to the improvement of the understanding of each of the concepts involved and the relationships between them. This work is the result of EIICA IX, International Meeting information, knowledge and action, held between December, 2nd and 4th 2015, at the Faculty of Philosophy and Science of UNESP/ Marília. (shrink)

O objetivo deste artigo é responder a duas objeções que podem ser feitas à explicação do anulabilismo falibilista referente à possibilidade de conhecimento inferencial originado em falsidade (KFF). A primeira objeção é que a ausência de restauradores indica a incompletude da explicação anulabilista falibilista de KFF, enquanto a segunda é que o experimento mental de KFF viola o Princípio Resistência à Verdade* (RV*) – a principal tese do anulabilismo falibilista. Na primeira seção, explicarei no que consiste o debate acerca da (...) possibilidade de conhecimento inferencial a partir de falsidade; na segunda seção, explicarei o anulabilismo falibilista, desenvolvida por de Almeida (2017); na última seção, desenvolverei os argumentos que podem ser feitos contra o anulabilismo falibilista e explicarei por que não funcionam. (shrink)

Intersemiotic translation (IT) was defined by Roman Jakobson (The Translation Studies Reader, Routledge, London, p. 114, 2000) as “transmutation of signs”—“an interpretation of verbal signs by means of signs of nonverbal sign systems.” Despite its theoretical relevance, and in spite of the frequency in which it is practiced, the phenomenon remains virtually unexplored in terms of conceptual modeling, especially from a semiotic perspective. Our approach is based on two premises: (i) IT is fundamentally a semiotic operation process (semiosis) and (ii) (...) IT is a deeply iconic-dependent process. We exemplify our approach by means of literature to dance IT and we explore some implications for the development of a general model of IT. (shrink)

O presente trabalho tem por finalidade analisar, a partir do livro V da obra Ethica Nicomachea, se a justiça poderia ser tomada como um meio que irá auxiliar os cidadãos a desenvolver plenamente as suas virtudes. Buscar-se-á fundamentar que é através da justiça que os bons cidadãos seriam formados, bem como o bom caráter seria cultivado. Analisar-se-á, também, ainda que minimamente, o que Aristóteles entende de fato por justiça, de que o justo seria dar a cada um o que lhe (...) é devido, o que merece, haja vista que essa afirmação traz consigo um peso muito grande, pois nos faz indagar sobre o que seria o devido de cada indivíduo, bem como quais seriam as bases relevantes do mérito. Isto é, se o justo é dar a cada um o que lhe é devido, cabe a nós nos perguntarmos de que forma e critério seria usado na distribuição. De certa forma, ao raciocinarmos sobre justiça e direitos, consequentemente temos de raciocinar sobre a finalidade, o objetivo, o telos das atividades que circundam a vida social na Pólis. Buscar-se-á discutir sobre os temas apresentados, porém não se tem por finalidade propor medidas para pôr um fim na discussão. (shrink)

Raymond Carver's stories have received many labels: minimalism, K-mart fiction, low-rent tragedy, neo-realism. Paring language, plot, and characterization to the bone, Carver concentrates his stories on instances of judgment and choice. These climactic moments affect not only the characters, but also the reader, who is called to fill the gaps in the text. The gaps generally show the unrelatedness of the characters' responses to the situations in which they find themselves. Relying on formulae, concepts, and rules taken for granted as (...) common knowledge, Carver's characters make choices and judgments which reveal the displacement of their consciousness of themselves and of the world. In trying to fill the gaps, the reader finds himself/herself in the same stance of making judgments and choices, and of looking at his/her own displacement. This predicament is more poignantly conveyed in the early stories, collected in Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?, Furious Seasons, and What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, since Carver writes about people "on the other side of the tracks," that is, on the edges of the sites of power and decisions. Bartenders, wage workers, and salespeople, Carver's characters in these early stories see their lives always threatened by joblessness, bankruptcy, and homelessness. In the later stories, collected in Cathedral and Where I'm Calling From, Carver explores possibilities in conversation, storytelling, and rituals that celebrate the here and now of each occasion and allow the merging of voices and feelings that places the individual's consciousness in the world. (shrink)

Este artigo propõe a adoção do método da análise de conceitos conforme apresentada por John Wilson, como metodologia pedagógica e principal conteúdo para a disciplina de filosofia no ensino médio.

The main objective of this PhD Thesis is to present a method of obtaining strong normalization via natural ordinal, which is applicable to natural deduction systems and typed lambda calculus. The method includes (a) the definition of a numerical assignment that associates each derivation (or lambda term) to a natural number and (b) the proof that this assignment decreases with reductions of maximal formulas (or redex). Besides, because the numerical assignment used coincide with the length of a specific sequence of (...) reduction - the worst reduction sequence - it is the lowest upper bound on the length of reduction sequences. The main commitment of the introduced method is that it is constructive and elementary, produced only through analyzing structural and combinatorial properties of derivations and lambda terms, without appeal to any sophisticated mathematical tool. Together with the exposition of the method, it is presented a comparative study of some articles in the literature that also get strong normalization by means we can identify with the natural ordinal methods. Among them we highlight Howard[1968], which performs an ordinal analysis of Godel’s Dialectica interpretation for intuitionistic first order arithmetic. We reveal a fact about this article not noted by the author himself: a syntactic proof of strong normalization theorem for the system of typified lambda calculus λ⊃ is a consequence of its results. This would be the first strong normalization proof in the literature. (written in Portuguese). (shrink)