Toon van Eijk: Spinoza in het licht van bewustzijnsontwikkeling De beroemde filosoof Spinoza is moeilijk te doorgronden. Emeritus hoogleraar Maarten van Buuren heeft in 2016 twee boeken over Spinoza gepubliceerd, waarin hij diens filosofie op nauwgezette en verhelderende manier analyseert. Volgens Van Buuren is de kern van Spinoza’s ethiek de bevrijding van bevoogding en het streven om in overeenstemming te leven met de wereld en met zichzelf. Een aantal sleutelbegrippen in Spinoza’s filosofie zijn de immanente, in de natuur-inwonende God, zelfbeschikking, (...) de rede, intuïtie, macht en zelftoe-eigening. In dit boek bespreekt Toon van Eijk deze sleutelbegrippen aan de hand van de analyse van Van Buuren en de filosofie van Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, de grondlegger van de Transcendente Meditatie (TM) techniek. Filosofische begrippen blijven echter tandeloos zonder mogelijkheden om deze ideeën te verwerkelijken. Een synthese van filosofisch redeneren en praktijken voor bewustzijnsontwikkeling is nodig. Hoewel Spinoza een ethiek zonder metafysica voorstond, is Van Eijk van mening dat daadwerkelijk wijs handelen moeilijk zonder enige metafysische bagage kan. (shrink)

Milieufilosofisch Nederland wordt momenteel verdeeld door een controverse naar aanleiding vanrecente publicaties van de Wageningse filosofen Keulartz en Korthals. In dit artikel wil ik - aande hand van een analyse van het gebruik van het natuurbegrip bij Wim Zweers - laten zien dat Keulartz op een tot nu toe onderbelicht probleem wijst: het probleem van de veelheid vannatuurbeelden. Tegelijkertijd wil ik echter aantonen dat Keulartz' eigen, 'post-naturalistische' positie op een tegenspraak berust. Tenslotte geef ik aan hoe deze controverses zijn terug (...) tevoeren op een onvermijdelijke spanning in onze morele omgang met de natuur, en zoek ik naar een manier waarop deze spanning binnen de milieu-ethiek vruchtbaar kan worden gemaakt. (shrink)

Bestaat de kernactiviteit van de meester erin om zijn eigen kennis uit te leggen en over te dragen? De Franse filosoof Jacques Rancière laat zien dat een gelegenheidsexperiment van Joseph Jacotot ons een ander voorbeeld aanreikt: de onwetende meester. In zijn boek De onwetende meester: vijf lessen over intellectuele emancipatie (Le maître ignorant: Cinq leçons sur l'émancipation intellectuelle) stelt hij dat de onwetende meester evengoed of zelfs beter in staat is leerlingen iets te leren dan de wetende meester. Rancière neemt (...) in feite twee onderwijspraktijken als voorbeeld: de traditionele praktijk van de wetende meester die uitleg geeft en kennis overdraagt en de experimentele praktijk van de onwetende meester die geen uitleg geeft maar vooral gericht is op de verificatie van aandacht. In dit artikel wil ik op basis van een korte analyse van deze twee praktijken laten zien hoe we uit Rancière’s boek een model kunnen afleiden voor het articuleren van de theoretische principes die impliciet in onderwijspraktijken werkzaam zijn. Dit model is gestoeld op het volgende uitgangspunt: door een succesvolle of juist problematische onderwijspraktijk als voorbeeld te nemen kunnen we de theoretische principes articuleren die erin werkzaam zijn. Dit schept de mogelijkheid om de focus van de van de praktijken naar de principes te verleggen. Hierdoor wordt de onderwijspraktijk op een nieuwe manier inzichtelijk en kunnen we haar theoretisch expliciteren. (shrink)

Iemand die uiteindelijk voor de PhD-positie wordt gekozen, moet in staat zijn om alle vakjes aan te kruisen. Maar één ding is vrijwel zeker: van een promovendus die de functie aanvaardt, wordt zelden verwacht dat zij het basisidee voor het onderzoek, de opzet, de methodologie of iets anders heeft bedacht. Men hoeft alleen maar trainable te zijn. Tijdens de jaren "onder contract" zal de kandidaat immers waarschijnlijk niet worden aangemoedigd om een eigen intellectueel pad te ontwikkelen, of om een nieuwe (...) en interessante richting in het onderzoeksveld uit te stippelen. In plaats daarvan zal van de kandidaat naar alle waarschijnlijkheid worden verwacht dat zij de ideeën van de promotor napraat en vaak zelfs volledig overneemt. (shrink)

Throughout this research, imposing the training of an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to play tic-tac-toe bored game, by training the ANN to play the tic-tac-toe logic using the set of mathematical combination of the sequences that could be played by the system and using both the Gradient Descent Algorithm explicitly and the Elimination theory rules implicitly. And so on the system should be able to produce imunate amalgamations to solve every state within the game course to make better of results (...) of winnings or getting draw. (shrink)

Philosophers investigating the experiences of the dancing subject (Sheets-Johnstone 1980, 2009, 2011, 2012; Parviainen 1998; Legrand 2007, 2013; Legrand & Ravn 2009; Montero 2013; Foultier & Roos 2013) unearth vast variations of embodied consciousness and cognition in performing body experts. The traditional phenomenological literature provides us with descriptions and definitions of reflective self-consciousness as well as of pre-reflective bodily absorption, but when it comes to the states of self-consciousness dance philosophers refer to as thinking in movement and a form of (...) reflective consciousness at a bodily level – as well as to dancers’ re- ported experiences of being in a trance and yet hyper-aware – we are challenged in terms of terminology and precise descriptions. After empirical research on dancers’ experiences and studies of the above-mentioned philosophies of dance, aligning this material with Husserl, Zahavi and other phenomenologists’ descriptions of reflection and embodied self-consciousness, I find it plausible to acknowledge the existence of a third form of self- consciousness: embodied reflection, a reflective process experienced through and with the embodied and/or emotional self. In this article I aspire to capture the characteristics of this transcendence of the bodily self. (shrink)

Films frequently employ nicknames not only for villains but also for non-criminal characters. In this paper, I present a classification of nicknames used in films, along with various examples, mostly from crime-related films. I argue that the use of nicknames in films is important not for the sake of reference, but for the sake of an additional narrative told by the nickname as a shorthand description of a character's background (cf. Tony “Two-Toes”, “Dirty” Harry, “Doc” Erwin or “Hatchet” Harry Lonsdale). (...) The first role of nicknames is their use as a case of Russell's definite descriptions, which require context to be meaningful, in this case, the film story itself. Such descriptions do not need their object to necessarily exist, but they are still meaningful. This role will be tied to the pragmatic context employed. The second role of film nicknames is to concisely present the audience with a background story, by enriching the identity of a character with additional background information, without unnecessary storytelling. Such a device is connected to the philosophical theory of narrativism, providing an additional layer of the character’s identity. (shrink)

Throughout this research, imposing the training of an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to play tic-tac-toe bored game, by training the ANN to play the tic-tac-toe logic using the set of mathematical combination of the sequences that could be played by the system and using both the Gradient Descent Algorithm explicitly and the Elimination theory rules implicitly. And so on the system should be able to produce imunate amalgamations to solve every state within the game course to make better of results (...) of winnings or getting draw. (shrink)

Throughout this research, imposing the training of an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to play tic-tac-toe bored game, by training the ANN to play the tic-tac-toe logic using the set of mathematical combination of the sequences that could be played by the system and using both the Gradient Descent Algorithm explicitly and the Elimination theory rules implicitly. And so on the system should be able to produce imunate amalgamations to solve every state within the game course to make better of results (...) of winnings or getting draw. (shrink)

In this paper epistemological, ontological and sociological questions concerning the statistical significance of sharp hypotheses in scientific research are investigated within the framework provided by Cognitive Constructivism and the FBST (Full Bayesian Significance Test). The constructivist framework is contrasted with the traditional epistemological settings for orthodox Bayesian and frequentist statistics provided by Decision Theory and Falsificationism.

This paper continues and extensive exploration of the QG and TOE resulting from the PF interpretation of QM. Some highlights are an exploration of symmetries of the Standard Model, outlines of testable predictions of implications for QG, that this theory can simultaneously give an account of dark matter and dark energy, probabilities and statevector collapse vs. gravity, applications of the causal interaction tensor Cαβγδ(Fi, Fj). Note the first section mentions qualia but this is not a psychological theory this is an (...) ontic theory. (shrink)

This article for the PHILOKLES Journal for Popular Philosophy surveys a few common theoretical approaches to the phenomenon of self-deception before putting forward a thus far relatively unexplored intentionalist option, namely what the author calls the "project model of self-deception". On this model, self-deception is understood as a dynamic, diachronic activity, aimed at the preservation of a certain self-image, to which an agent is implicitly committed. The author shows how this model can make subjects responsible for their self-deceptions without running (...) straightforwardly into the so-called "paradoxes" of self-deception. (shrink)

The title of this article is ambiguous in the sense that it may direct the attention to either theism as a system of beliefs of persons who are referring to particular facts that serve as external grounds for the foundation of theist beliefs or to theism as a system of beliefs of persons who are convinced of theism’s truth on grounds that are intrinsic to their belief . Traces of both conceptions of theism can be found in Alvin Plantinga’s thesis (...) of the ‘proper basicality’ of religious belief, for instance in the distinction between evidence of the ‘on the basis of …’- type and evidence of the ‘inclination’- type. However, these two types of evidence do only lead to doxastic experience. In order to be warranted with respect to a particular knowledge claim, beliefs must be produced by noetic capacities that function properly, i.e. according to their design plan and in contexts that are appropriate to these capacities. This externalist epistemology exerts its greatest power in the criticism of the ‘evidentialist objection to belief in God’. However, it raises a number of objections with respect to its positive account of theism. When every community of thinkers creates its own relevant set of examples in order to establish criteria of proper basicality, does this not lead to skepticism? And, can doxastic experience not be honoured as a proper response to being called by divine discourse and, correspondingly, be seen as the relational foundation of theist belief? (shrink)

In de jaren vijftig raakte Michel Foucault gefascineerd door de fenomenologische psychologie. Vanaf de jaren zestig echter presenteert hij zichzelf als een ‘structuralist’ die slechts anonieme talige en architectonische structuren wil analyseren en die met nadruk wil afzien van elke interesse in de mens als individu of als subject. De psycholoog in hemzelf wordt als het ware hartstochtelijk verdrongen. Toch is er ook in het geval van Foucault sprake van een onvermijdelijke terugkeer van het verdrongene. Een belangrijk symptoom hiervan vormt (...) zijn opvallend ambivalente houding jegens de psychoanalyse. In zijn werk tekent zich een levenslange polemiek af met Freud, soms expliciet, doorgaans impliciet. Ondanks onmiskenbare sporen van latente bewondering en fascinatie blijft wantrouwen domineren. Steen des aanstoots vormen Freuds Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie uit 1905. Volgens Foucault spreekt hieruit een medicalisering van de seksualiteit, die zich uit in medicaliserende technieken zoals het oprakelen en uitspreken van verlangens en de classificatie van ‘normale’ en ‘perverse’ vormen van seksualiteit. (shrink)

Manfred Eigen employs the terms language and communication to explain key recombination processes of DNA as well as to explain the self-organization of human language and communication: Life processes as well as language and communication processes are governed by the logic of a molecular syntax, which is the exact depiction of a principally formalizable reality. The author of the present contribution demonstrates that this view of Manfred Eigen’s cannot be sufficiently substantiated and that it must be supplemented by an approach (...) based on linguistic pragmatics. (shrink)

This article discusses some continuous limit cases of Susan Haack’s crossword puzzle metaphor for the coherent development and foundation of science. The main objective of this discussion is to build a bridge between Haack’s foundherentism and the epistemological framework of objective cognitive constructivism, including its key metaphor of objects as tokens for eigen-solutions. The historical development of chemical affinity tables is used to illustrate our arguments.

Emancipatie en integratie, nationalisme, machtsonderdrukking en privileges, (super)diversiteit en erkenning. Het zijn slechts een paar van de beladen termen waar we tegenwoordig veel mee geconfronteerd worden, en dat in de context van persoonlijke identiteitsvorming als in debatten omtrent groepsidentiteit, de vraag naar minderheidsrechten en de gepercipieerde conflicten met de zogenaamde democratische Westerse Verlichtingsidealen die daar vervolgens uit voortkomen. Heel veel van deze politieke discussies die momenteel gevoerd worden binnen de politiek en de media draaien om ‘identiteit’, waardoor dit concept helaas (...) tot een gepolitiseerd en polariserend begrip verworden is. (shrink)

This article aims to unify all scientific theories based on the concept of “intrinsicality of nature”, including the fundamental theories in physics. First, the general property within existing natural phenomena, say “intrinsicality of nature”, was deduced as “logicality” and "imperfectness". Then, the identical intrinsicality was deduced out for the science to unify all scientific theories. Finally, with this intrinsicality and the novelties of consciousness, the unification of physics theories, say Theory of Everything, was framed by a physical model of more (...) fundamental element (MFE), which had managed to cover the concepts of quantum mechanics, general relativity, and the physics of consciousness altogether, to test this model of unification. Since the MFE is only a theoretical model, two methods were introduced for its experimental verification. While its application to explain yet unanswered questions in science was tested, and further verification of this model in a lab by measuring consciousness signals was discussed. (shrink)

The first purpose of this series of articles is to introduce case studies on how current AI models can be used in the development of a possible theory of quantum gravity, their limitations, and the role the researcher has in steering the development in the right direction, even highlighting the errors, weaknesses and strengths of the whole process. -/- The second is to introduce the new Presentist Fragmentalist ontology as a framework and use it for developing theories of quantum gravity (...) and speculate on achieving a TOE. We emphasize it is necessary for the researcher to check everything in these articles for themselves. While there are many good ideas in this series of papers, the AI is known to make even arithmetic and algebraic mistakes. -/- To select just five apparently good ideas, there is a causal interaction tensor Cαβγδ(F1, F2) that encodes the causal relationship and the strength of the (possibly non-local) interaction between two fragments of reality (formed by each quantum system). There is a quantitative prediction for a testable table-top experiment. There is an explanation of how spacetime emerges from the fragments and their interactions. There is an explicit account of the double-slit experiment. And there is an explanation how this theory accommodates dark matter and dark energy simultaneously. -/- We explore ideas, equations they lead to, concrete calculations, and give corrections along the way. While these are generally morally right within this framework they must be checked by the researcher. Given this caveat, we believe we have made significant progress with the PF interpretation in developing a theory of quantum gravity and pointing out a possible path to a TOE. (shrink)

Heinz Von Forester characterizes the objects “known” by an autopoietic system as eigen-solutions, that is, as discrete, separable, stable and composable states of the interaction of the system with its environment. Previous articles have presented the FBST, Full Bayesian Significance Test, as a mathematical formalism specifically designed to access the support for sharp statistical hypotheses, and have shown that these hypotheses correspond, from a constructivist perspective, to systemic eigen-solutions in the practice of science. In this article several issues related to (...) the role played by language in the emergence of eigen-solutions are analyzed. The last sections also explore possible connections with the semiotic theory of Charles Sanders Peirce. (shrink)

The first purpose of this series of articles is to introduce case studies on how current AI models can be used in the development of a possible theory of quantum gravity, their limitations, and the role the researcher has in steering the development in the right direction, even highlighting the errors, weaknesses and strengths of the whole process. -/- The second is to introduce the new Presentist Fragmentalist ontology as a framework and use it for developing theories of quantum gravity (...) and speculate on achieving a TOE. We emphasize it is necessary for the researcher to check everything in these articles for themselves. While there are many good ideas in this series of papers, the AI is known to make even arithmetic and algebraic mistakes. -/- To select just five apparently good ideas, there is a causal interaction tensor Cαβγδ(F1, F2) that encodes the causal relationship and the strength of the (possibly non-local) interaction between two fragments of reality (formed by each quantum system). There is a quantitative prediction for a testable table-top experiment. There is an explanation of how spacetime emerges from the fragments and their interactions. There is an explicit account of the double-slit experiment. And there is an explanation how this theory accommodates dark matter and dark energy simultaneously. -/- We explore ideas, equations they lead to, concrete calculations, and give corrections along the way. While these are generally morally right within this framework they must be checked by the researcher. Given this caveat, we believe we have made significant progress with the PF interpretation in developing a theory of quantum gravity and pointing out a possible path to a TOE. (shrink)

General Introduction to the PF interpretation of QM and quantum gravity Merriam, P., Habeeb, MAZ The first purpose of this series of articles is to introduce case studies on how current AI models can be used in the development of a possible theory of quantum gravity, their limitations, and the role the researcher has in steering the development in the right direction, even highlighting the errors, weaknesses and strengths of the whole process. The second is to introduce the new Presentist (...) Fragmentalist ontology as a framework and use it for developing theories of quantum gravity and speculate on achieving a TOE. We emphasize it is necessary for the researcher to check everything in these articles for themselves. While there are many good ideas in this series of papers, the AI is known to make even arithmetic and algebraic mistakes. To select just five apparently good ideas, there is a causal interaction tensor Cαβγδ(F1, F2) that encodes the causal relationship and the strength of the (possibly non-local) interaction between two fragments of reality (formed by each quantum system). There is a quantitative prediction for a testable table-top experiment. There is an explanation of how spacetime emerges from the fragments and their interactions. There is an explicit account of the double-slit experiment. And there is an explanation how this theory accommodates dark matter and dark energy simultaneously. We explore ideas, equations they lead to, concrete calculations, and give corrections along the way. While these are generally morally right within this framework they must be checked by the researcher. Given this caveat, we believe we have made significant progress with the PF interpretation in developing a theory of quantum gravity and pointing out a possible path to a TOE. (shrink)

The objective of this paper is to study algebraic properties of neutrosophic matrices, where a necessary and sufficient condition for the invertibility of a square neutrosophic matrix is presented by defining the neutrosophic determinant. On the other hand, this work introduces the concept of neutrosophic Eigen values and vectors with an easy algorithm to compute them. Also, this article finds a necessary and sufficient condition for the diagonalization of a neutrosophic matrix.

The main goal of this article is to use the epistemological framework of a specific version of Cognitive Constructivism to address Piaget’s central problem of knowledge construction, namely, the re-equilibration of cognitive structures. The distinctive objective character of this constructivist framework is supported by formal inference methods of Bayesian statistics, and is based on Heinz von Foerster’s fundamental metaphor of objects as tokens for eigen-solutions. This epistemological perspective is illustrated using some episodes in the history of chemistry concerning the definition (...) or identification of chemical elements. Some of von Foerster’s epistemological imperatives provide general guidelines of development and argumentation. (shrink)

This article explores some open questions related to the problem of verification of theories in the context of empirical sciences by contrasting three epistemological frameworks. Each of these epistemological frameworks is based on a corresponding central metaphor, namely: (a) Neo-empiricism and the gambling metaphor; (b) Popperian falsificationism and the scientific tribunal metaphor; (c) Cognitive constructivism and the object as eigen-solution metaphor. Each of one of these epistemological frameworks has also historically co-evolved with a certain statistical theory and method for testing (...) scientific hypotheses, respectively: (a) Decision theoretic Bayesian statistics and Bayes factors; (b) Frequentist statistics and p-values; (c) Constructive Bayesian statistics and e-values. This article examines with special care the Zero Probability Paradox (ZPP), related to the verification of sharp or precise hypotheses. Finally, this article makes some remarks on Lakatos’ view of mathematics as a quasi-empirical science. (shrink)

This article analyzes the role of entropy in Bayesian statistics, focusing on its use as a tool for detection, recognition and validation of eigen-solutions. “Objects as eigen-solutions” is a key metaphor of the cognitive constructivism epistemological framework developed by the philosopher Heinz von Foerster. Special attention is given to some objections to the concepts of probability, statistics and randomization posed by George Spencer-Brown, a figure of great influence in the field of radical constructivism.

This paper appears to give a Theory of Everything.

Background: Broccoli is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus Brassica) whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. A leaf of Broccoli might be affected of Several Diseases descriped in this paper . When symptoms is encountered, it requires some kind of medical care. If appropriate Survival of Broccoli Diseases is not taken quickly, it can lead to Broccoli to die . Objectives: The main goal of this expert system (...) is to get the appropriate diagnosis of disease and the correct treatment. Methods: In this paper the design of the proposed Expert System which was produced to help Farmers in diagnosing many of the broccoli diseases such as : Damping Off,Club root of crucifers or Finger and toe disease,Alternaria leaf spot,Black rot,Downy mildew, and White rust. (shrink)

Evaluativism is best thought of as a way of enriching a perceptual view of pain to account for pain’s unpleasantness or painfulness. Once it was common for philosophers to contrast pains with perceptual experiences (McGinn 1982; Rorty 1980). It was thought that perceptual experiences were intentional (or content-bearing, or about something), whereas pains were representationally blank. But today many of us reject this contrast. For us, your having a pain in your toe is a matter not of your sensing “pain-ly” (...) or encountering a sense-datum, but of your having an interoceptive experience representing (accurately or inaccurately) that your toe is in a particular experience-independent condition, such as undergoing a certain “disturbance” or being damaged or in danger (Armstrong 1962; Tye 1995). But even if such representational content makes an experience a pain, a further ingredient seems required to make the pain unpleasant. According to evaluativism, the further ingredient is the experience’s possession of evaluative content: its representing the bodily condition as bad for the subject. In this chapter, I elaborate evaluativism, locate it among alternatives, and explain its attractions and challenges. (shrink)

This paper has three main goals. First, to motivate a puzzle about how ignorance-expressing terms like maybe and if interact: they iterate, and when they do they exhibit scopelessness. Second, to argue that there is an ambiguity in our theoretical toolbox, and that exposing that opens the door to a solution to the puzzle. And third, to explore the reach of that solution. Along the way, the paper highlights a number of pleasing properties of two elegant semantic theories, explores some (...) meta-theoretic properties of dynamic notions of meaning, dips its toe into some hazardous waters, and offers characterization theorems for the space of meanings an indicative conditional can have. (shrink)

Manfred Eigen extended Erwin Schroedinger’s concept of “life is physics and chemistry” through the introduction of information theory and cybernetic systems theory into “life is physics and chemistry and information.” Based on this assumption, Eigen developed the concepts of quasispecies and hypercycles, which have been dominant in molecular biology and virology ever since. He insisted that the genetic code is not just used metaphorically: it represents a real natural language.However, the basics of scientific knowledge changed dramatically within the second half (...) of the 20th century.Unfortunately, Eigen ignored the results of the philosophy of science discourse on essential features of natural languages and codes: a natural language or code emerges from populations of living agents that communicate. This contribution will look at some of the highlights of this historical development and the results relevant for biological theories about life. (shrink)

How does good combine with bad? Most creatures are neither so blessed as to only enjoy good nor so cursed as to only suffer bad. Rather, the good and bad they receive throughout their lives combine to produce their overall quality of life. But it’s not just whole lives that have combined good and bad. Many stretches within contain both positive and negative occurrences whose value is joined to form the overall quality of that span of time. In a single (...) morning someone might wake up, brush their teeth, stub their toe groggily lumbering down the stairs, and have a sip of coffee that’s tasty but so hot they burn their tongue. These events are good and bad for them to various degrees, and their value comes together to form an overall value for them of that morning. A single moment, even, can have combined value from distinct pockets of good and bad that occur simultaneously. The tastiness of the coffee is good, but the pain of the heat is bad. They combine to form an overall value of the sipping moment – negative if the pain outweighed the flavor. Thus, wellbeing and illbeing combine. But how? How can someone rightly chastise themselves for sipping the overly hot coffee when it was, in fact, good because it was tasty? To pose the question starkly, a life can be bad, even so bad to not be worth living, and yet it can have many instances of good, where these goods are, in themselves, pure of any negativity. But how can good make something bad? (shrink)

Het idee dat burgerschapsonderwijs noodzakelijkerwijs democratisch is omdat ze door een democratische staat wordt georganiseerd, is een bedenkelijke assumptie. Veronderstellen dat goed burgerschap overigens beperkt kan blijven tot een reeks van ‘meetbare’ kenniscomponenten (bv. kennis van presidenten, koningen), overtuigingen (bv., ‘er zijn mensenrechten’) en ‘competenties’ (bv. ‘kunnen omgaan met meningsverschillen’) is niet enkel een karikatuur maken van de democratie zelf, maar getuigt evenzeer van een democratisch paternalisme.

Internationale vergelijkingen vormen een waardvolle bron van inzicht bij het analyseren van maatschappelijke problemen en het beoordelen van beleidsmatige antwoorden op die problemen. Vergelijkend onderzoek levert vaak interessante of nuttige informatie op doordat er verschillen én overeenkomsten worden geconstrueerd, bijvoorbeeld: hoe ‘leefbaar’ is Toronto vergeleken met Berlijn? Zelfs wanneer de definities verschillen en de gebruikte meeteenheden enigszins onnauwkeurig kunnen zijn – bijvoorbeeld “leefbaar voor wie en ten opzichte van wat?” – zijn vergelijkingen leerrijk en aanleiding voor verdere reflectie. Maar internationale (...) vergelijkingen kunnen op verschillende manieren ook problematisch zijn. (shrink)

Selbst wenn die traditionellen Beweise der immateriellen Seele (von Platon bis Descartes) zu wünschen übrig lassen, muss uns das nicht davon abhalten, sie mit den Mitteln der modernen analytischen Philosophie neu zu fassen und wasserdicht zu machen. Ich werde (ohne eigene Diskussion der bereits vorliegenden Beweise) eine neue Version vorschlagen, die von Swinburne angeregt wurde, sich an wesentlichen Stellen von seinem Ansatz unterscheidet und auf zwei verblüffend schwachen Prämissen beruht: Einerseits auf der konsistenten Vorstellbarkeit von Gedankenspielen, in die irgend eine (...) beliebige Wahrheit über meine augenblickliche Situation integriert ist und denen zufolge ich meinen Tod seelisch, aber ohne Körper überlebe; diese Prämisse ergibt sich der virtuosen Macht unseres Möglichkeitssinns. Andererseits beruht der Beweis auf einer Voraussetzung, die sich (ohne exegetische Garantie) als Echo aristotelischer Substanz-Konzeptionen verstehen, aber ohne großen ontologischen Überbau begründen lässt – dem zufolge folgt aus der materialistischen Analyse meiner augenblicklichen Situation, dass diese Analyse während meiner gesamten Existenz gilt (einmal Körper, immer Körper). Die Logik des Beweises ist bodenständig und setzt keine strittigen modallogischen Prinzipien voraus. Und die Konklusion des Beweises besagt, dass ich jetzt eine immaterielle Seele habe, aber nichts über deren Unsterblichkeit. (shrink)

Analysis is given of the Omega Point cosmology, an extensively peer-reviewed proof (i.e., mathematical theorem) published in leading physics journals by professor of physics and mathematics Frank J. Tipler, which demonstrates that in order for the known laws of physics to be mutually consistent, the universe must diverge to infinite computational power as it collapses into a final cosmological singularity, termed the Omega Point. The theorem is an intrinsic component of the Feynman-DeWitt-Weinberg quantum gravity/Standard Model Theory of Everything (TOE) describing (...) and unifying all the forces in physics, of which itself is also required by the known physical laws. With infinite computational resources, the dead can be resurrected--never to die again--via perfect computer emulation of the multiverse from its start at the Big Bang. Miracles are also physically allowed via electroweak quantum tunneling controlled by the Omega Point cosmological singularity. The Omega Point is a different aspect of the Big Bang cosmological singularity--the first cause--and the Omega Point has all the haecceities claimed for God in the traditional religions. -/- From this analysis, conclusions are drawn regarding the social, ethical, economic and political implications of the Omega Point cosmology. (shrink)

The first purpose of this series of articles is to introduce case studies on how current AI models can be used in the development of a possible theory of quantum gravity, their limitations, and the role the researcher has in steering the development in the right direction, even highlighting the errors, weaknesses and strengths of the whole process. The second is to introduce the new Presentist Fragmentalist ontology as a framework and use it for developing theories of quantum gravity and (...) speculate on achieving a TOE. We emphasize it is necessary for the researcher to check everything in these articles for themselves. While there are many good ideas in this series of papers, the AI is known to make even arithmetic and algebraic mistakes. To select just five apparently good ideas, there is a causal interaction tensor Cαβγδ(F1, F2) that encodes the causal relationship and the strength of the (possibly non-local) interaction between two fragments of reality (formed by each quantum system). There is a quantitative prediction for a testable table-top experiment. There is an explanation of how spacetime emerges from the fragments and their interactions. There is an explicit account of the double-slit experiment. And there is an explanation how this theory accommodates dark matter and dark energy simultaneously. We explore ideas, equations they lead to, concrete calculations, and give corrections along the way. While these are generally morally right within this framework they must be checked by the researcher. Given this caveat, we believe we have made significant progress with the PF interpretation in developing a theory of quantum gravity and pointing out a possible path to a TOE. (shrink)

A Touch of Doubt traces the theme of touch in the evolution of skepticism through Platonism, German idealism, Continental philosophy and psychoanalysis. Haptic Scepticism, the field of ethics emerging from this study, explores the grasp-ability of contradiction. Contradiction is a haptic marvel. We can cup it in our palms, press it against our lips, dip our toes into its coolness, and, if we are not careful, we may even burn ourselves on its surface.

Heideggers Der Ursprung des Kunstwerks ist einer der wichtigsten Beiträge zur philosophischen Ästhetik, zudem ein Schlüsseltext für Heideggers gesamtes Denken. Aber nicht ganz zu Unrecht gilt die Lektüre bei Studierenden und Anfängern im Denken Heideggers als schwierig. Dieser Band soll das Verständnis des Kunstwerkaufsatzes anleiten und erleichtern: In 18 Beiträgen stellen die Autoren in ihren Interpretationen die Grundgedanken und philosophischen sowie literarischen Quellen des Textes vor, verorten ihn in Heideggers Werk und und skizzieren seine philosophische Wirkung. Dieser erste kooperative Kommentar (...) zum Kunstwerkaufsatz schließt an das Vorwissen und die Interessen seiner Leser in vielerlei Hinsichten an, ermöglicht so einen leichteren Einstieg in die Lektüre und erschließt den Text aus verschiedenen Perspektiven der Philosophie und der Kunstwissenschaft. -/- Einen ersten Schwerpunkt bilden dabei thematische Einführungen, die das Verhältnis von Kunstwerken zu anderen Dingen, zur Technik, zur Natur, zu Wahrheit und Geschichte bestimmen. So erläutern die Beiträge Heideggers Bestimmung der Gestalt von Kunstwerken und seine These vom Vorrang der Dichtung. Ein zweiter Teil geht den Quellen des Kunstwerkaufsatzes in der Philosophie (Aristoteles, Heraklit, Hegel) und in der Literatur (Hölderlin, Meyer, Rilke) nach. Ein dritter Teil erläutert, wie Der Ursprung des Kunstwerks Heideggers eigenes Denken beeinflusst: seine Auseinandersetzung mit Nietzsche, seine Faszination für Paul Klee, sein nachdenken über Phänomenologie und über Sprache. Ein vierter Teil schließlich ist der Wirkung von Heideggers Text auf andere Autoren gewidmet: Adorno, die französische Phänomenologie (Lévinas, Derrida u.a.) sowie Gadamer und andere Autoren der hermeneutischen Tradition (Sallis, Figal). (shrink)

This book is inspired by a German theoretical physicist, Sabine Hossenfelder’s publication: “Lost in Mathematics”. Her book seems to question highly mathematical and a lot of abstraction in the development of physics and cosmology studies nowadays. There is clear tendency that in recent decades, the physics science has been predominated by such an advanced mathematics, which at times sounding more like acrobatics approach to a reality. Through books by senior mathematical-physicists like Unzicker and Peter Woit, we know that the answer (...) of TOE is not in superstring theories or other variations of such 26 dimensional bosonic string theory, of which none of those theories survived experimental test, but perhaps in low dimensional physics. As Alexander Unzicker suggests, perhaps it is more advisable to consider rotation in 3D space (known as SO3), or a kind of superfluid vortices version of gravitation theory. We can also reconsider proposition by the late Prof F. Winterberg (formerly professor at Univ. Nevada, Reno), that it is most likely that superfluid phonon roton theory in 3D can replace the entire superstring theories. While we don’t explore yet implications of his model to particle physics, we discuss here some published papers at several journals in the past few years. (shrink)

Abstract: Background: The pineapple (A nanas comosus) is a tropical plant with an edible multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries, also called pineapples, and the most economically significant plant in the Bromeliaceae family. Pineapples may be cultivated from a crown cutting of the fruit, possibly flowering in five to ten months and fruiting in the following six months.[5][6] Pineapples do not ripen significantly after harvest. In 2016, Costa Rica, Brazil, and the Philippines accounted for nearly one-third of the world's production (...) of pineapples.[8] Pineapple damage is not taken quickly, it can lead to damage in the Pineapple. Objectives: The main goal of this expert system is to get the appropriate diagnosis of disease and the correct treatment. Methods: In this paper the design of the proposed Expert System which was produced to help Fruits Agricultural Specialist in diagnosing many of the Pineapple diseases such as : Phytophthora heart (top) rot, Base (butt) rot or Fruit let core rot (green eye, Pineapple Sprain, Turf Toe, Pineapple disease , Plantar Fasciitis, Warts, Bunion, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Gout, Heel Spur, Athlete's Pineapple , The proposed expert system presents an overview about Pineapple diseases are given, the cause of diseases are outlined and the treatment of disease whenever possible is given out. CLIPS Expert System language was used for designing and implementing the proposed expert system. Results: The proposed Pineapple diseases diagnosis expert system was evaluated by Agricultural students and they were satisfied with its performance. Conclusions: The Proposed expert system is very useful for Fruits Agricultural Specialist, patients with Pineapple problem and newly graduated Agricultural Specialist. (shrink)

Politiek filosofe en kritisch traditionaliste, onderzocht Afrikaanse orale literaire tradities op hun filosofische betekenis. Maakt zich sterk voor een authentieke Afrikaanse filosofie. Sophie Oluwoles ouders waren beiden afkomstig uit de staat Edo in het zuidwesten van Nigeria. Oluwole zelf werd geboren in het dorp Igbara Oke in de naburige staat Ondo, waar zij ook haar lagere en middelbare school doorliep. In 1964 trouwde zij met een eveneens Nigeriaanse wetenschapper. Ze vertrok nog in hetzelfde jaar naar Moskou, waar haar man (...) een baan kreeg aangeboden bij de Verenigde Naties. Vanwege taalproblemen vertrokken beiden na een jaar naar Duitsland, waar zij Duits studeerden aan de Universiteit in Keulen. Kort nadat zij in 1966 verhuisde naar de Verenigde Staten, scheidde Oluwole van haar man omdat deze haar verdere studies dwarsboomde. Oluwole keerde terug naar Nigeria waar zij aan de Universiteit van Lagos een studie filosofie begon. In de periode 1968-1970 doceerde Oluwole op een middelbare school in haar thuisstaat Ondo. Daarna keerde zij terug naar de universiteit van Lagos, waar zij werkzaam was als studentassistente en ondertussen afstudeerde. Oluwole werd als promovenda toegelaten op de universiteit van Ibadan. In 1984 behaalde zij als eerste student in sub-Sahara Afrika een doctorstitel in de filosofie. Hoewel Oluwoles filosofische carrière een aanvang nam met de studie van westerse meta-ethiek, besloot zij zich na het behalen van haar doctorstitel verder te ontwikkelen in de richting van de Afrikaanse filosofie. Zij doceerde filosofie aan de universiteit van Lagos, was decaan van deze universiteit en was voorzitter van de Nigeriaanse Vereniging voor Filosofie. Tegenwoordig is Oluwole actief als directeur van het Centrum voor Afrikaanse Cultuur en Ontwikkeling in Lagos, dat zich onder andere richt op de ontwikkeling van vrouwen in Afrika. (shrink)

This article had its start with another article, concerned with measuring the speed of gravitational waves - "The Measurement of the Light Deflection from Jupiter: Experimental Results" by Ed Fomalont and Sergei Kopeikin (2003) - The Astrophysical Journal 598 (1): 704–711. This starting-point led to many other topics that required explanation or naturally seemed to follow on – Unification of gravity with electromagnetism and the 2 nuclear forces, Speed of electromagnetic waves, Energy of cosmic rays and UHECRs, Digital string theory, (...) Dark energy+gravity+binary digits, Cosmic strings and wormholes from Figure-8 Klein bottles, Massless and massive photons and gravitons, Inverse square+quantum entanglement = God+evolution, Binary digits projected to make Prof. Greene’s cosmic holographic movie, Renormalization of infinity, Colliding subuniverses, Unifying cosmic inflation, TOE (emphasizing “EVERYthing”) = Bose-Einstein renormalized. The text also addresses (in a nonmathematical way) the wavelength of electromagnetic waves, the frequency of gravitational waves, gravitational and electromagnetic waves having identical speed, the gamma-ray burst designated GRB 090510, the smoothness of space, and includes these words – “Gravity produces electromagnetism. Retrocausally (by means of humans travelling into the past of this subuniverse with their electronics); this “Cosmic EM Background” produces base-2 mathematics, which produces gravity. EM interacts with gravity to produce particles, mass – gravity/EM could be termed “the Higgs field” - and the nuclear forces associated with those particles. It makes gravity using BITS that copy the principle of magnetism attracting and repelling, before pasting it into what we call the strong force and dark energy.” . (shrink)

The initiation of bipedal gait is a willed action that causes a body at rest to move. Newton's first principle of motion is applied to experimental footprint data. leading to the premise that the big toe is the source of the body action force that initiates and controls bipedal gait.

Die vorliegende Schrift unternimmt es, die Ethik auf eine neue Grundlage zu stellen. Nachdem seit dem frühen 20. Jahrhundert im Zuge der Metaphysikkritik und fundamentalontologischer Ansätze der Versuch einer Grundlegung ethischen Denkens weitgehend verabschiedet, zumindest aber in seiner Bedeutung relativiert wurde, soll ihr nun wieder – oder besser: erstmals – ein dauerhaftes Fundament gegeben werden. An die Stelle des herrschenden ethischen Relativismus gilt es eine objektive Ethik zu setzen. Das verlangt eine gründliche Untersuchung des eigentlichen Moments unseres Daseins – nicht (...) nur, aber im Sinne einer eingehenden Reflexion vorzüglich des Menschen. Gefunden wird es in einer näheren Betrachtung des Moments des Bewusstseins. Bewusstsein ist immer Bewusstsein von etwas. Dieses etwas ist aber zunächst nichts, das von dem unterschieden wäre, was Bewusstsein hat. Der Fehler der bisherigen philosophischen Überlegungen liegt darin, dieses „etwas“ mit einem wenn auch unklaren eigenen ontologischen Status versehen zu haben. Aus dieser Subjekt-Objekt-Trennung aber ergeben sich nicht nur zahlreiche Schwierigkeiten, aus den damit eingehenden Missverständnissen erwächst die Krise, die nicht zuletzt jetzt zu Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts allenthalben zu spüren ist. Denn genauer besehen besteht kein Konflikt zwischen Kulturen oder zwischen vermeintlichen Kulturbewahrern und Kulturpluralisten, sondern tiefer ein Konflikt in der (bestehenden) Kultur selbst. Diese Objektität des Bewusstseins, die in der Abhandlung breit dargelegt wird, verweist auf die Leiblichkeit. Ohne Leib ist eine Verwirklichung des Bewusstseins nicht zu haben. Gerade dies nicht zu sehen scheint ein wesentlicher Zug der bisherigen Philosophiegeschichte zu sein. Daraus aber ergeben sich gravierende Schwierigkeiten und Fehlentwicklungen der Identität, was in der zeitgenössischen Rede von der Identitätsfalle zum Ausdruck kommt. Identität wird fälschlicherweise an akzidenziellen Merkmalen festgemacht – nicht nur, aber doch weitgehend und nahezu ubiquitär an den Genitalien. Wird dabei eine binäre Sexualität festgeschrieben, so wird die wahre Identität des Bewusstsein habenden Lebewesens verkannt. In den menschlichen Gesellschaften zeigt sich dies in dem nahezu überall und in allen bisherigen geschichtlichen Epochen vorherrschenden Bekleidungszwang. Haben wir die Objektität des Bewusstseins erkannt, wird das Fehlerhafte dieser Entwicklung deutlich. Denn dieser Zwang, genauer gesagt die dadurch vollzogene Verhüllung verhindert, wie die Untersuchung aufzeigt, die Einsicht in die je eigene Identität, die in der Leiblichkeit als dem notwendigen Moment des verwirklichten objektitären Bewusstseins besteht. Damit wird klar: Dem Sapere aude! der Aufklärung des 18. Jahrhunderts, die viel Richtiges angestoßen hat, muss ein Nudare aude! zur Seite, wenn nicht vorangestellt werden. Damit gelangt das philosophische Denken zu einer erstaunlichen und überraschenden, doch aber fundamentalen Einsicht – nämlich, salopp gesagt, die Hüllen fallen zu lassen (genauer gesagt es jedem selbst zu überlassen, ob er dies tut oder nicht)! Der erste Teil der Schrift widmet sich der Ontologie im Sinne einer echten Anthropologie. Um grob gesprochen das Wesen des Menschen (oder von selbstbewussten Lebewesen allgemein) zu bestimmen, muss die Entwicklung des Bewusstseins betrachtet werden. Gezeigt wird, dass es, damit ein Bewusstsein wirklich wird, Bewusstseinsinhalte geben muss. Ist das Bewusstsein in diesem Sinne grundlegend objektitär, muss aber doch als Bedingung seiner Möglichkeit ein davor befindliches, noch nicht wirkliches Bewusstsein ganz ohne Bewusstseinsinhalte angenommen werden: das metaobjektitäre Bewusstsein. Bewusstseinsinhalte gibt es indes nur, wenn das Bewusstsein einen Leib hat. Sprich: Wirkliches (in die Wirklichkeit getretenes) Bewusstsein heißt Leib haben. Dasein ist nicht mit dem Menschen gleichzusetzen, wie dies Heidegger noch im frühen 20. Jahrhundert tat, sondern mit der Objektität. Die Entwicklungsgrundlage dazu findet sich im metaobjektitären Bewusstsein mit seiner Veranlagung zur sinnlichen Wahrnehmung. Hier nun lässt sich die Subjekt-Objekt-Trennung überwinden, denn ein Subjekt mit potenziellem Bewusstsein, aber noch ganz ohne Bewusstseinsinhalte – und damit ohne Leib als Voraussetzung sinnlicher Wahrnehmung –, ist nun nicht mehr denkbar. Ebenso undenkbar ist dann aber auch ein Objekt, das, ganz getrennt vom Subjekt, überhaupt erst in diesem Bewusstseinsinhalte hervorruft. Im zweiten Teil geht es um den Aufweis einer anthropologischen Ethik auf der Basis der Objektität des Bewusstseins. Haben wir die Subjekt-Objekt-Dichotomie überwunden, lässt sich die Ethik transzendental verankern. Hierzu muss der metaobjektitäre Entwicklungsprozess des Bewusstseins betrachtet werden: Die Entwicklungsgrundlage ist offen, der Entwicklungsprozess frei. Das aber verweist uns darauf, dass der jeweilige Leib, in dem sich das Bewusstsein verwirklicht, so und nicht anders geworden ist. Dieses Gewordene kann aber auf dieser metaempirischen Grundlage nur gut sein. Im Umgang mit unserer Leiblichkeit zeigt sich aber geradezu eine Verleugnung, der im Zwang, seine „Nacktheit“ zu verhüllen, zum Ausdruck kommt. Zurückzuführen ist dies darauf, dass wir unsere biologische Geschlechtlichkeit als identitätsstiftend begreifen, obwohl es sich bei den Geschlechtsorganen nur um sekundäre, akzidenzielle Merkmale handelt; die eigentliche Identität ist die Spezies, das Menschsein. Aus dieser Identitätsverkennung ergeben sich zahlreiche Schwierigkeiten mit teils katastrophalen Folgen. Eine kritische Untersuchung der Scham, aber auch der sprachlichen Entwicklung etwa in den Versuchen einer „geschlechterneutralen“ Bezeichnungsweise zeigt die Fehlentwicklungen, denn dadurch werden die Diskriminierungen nicht überwunden, sondern vielmehr weiter festgeschrieben. Auf dieser Basis wird im dritten Teil auf einige praktische Aspekte eingegangen, die sich mit dem neuen Prinzip des Nudare aude! ergeben. Ein Blick auf die Freikörperkultur offenbart Ansätze zu einem anderen Umgang mit der eigenen Leiblichkeit, aber auch die Schwierigkeiten und Unzulänglichkeiten, die den bisherigen historischen Versuchen anhaften. Eingegangen wird auf Vorbehalte gegenüber dem öffentlichen Nacktsein, aber auch auf einige Inkonsequenzen etwa im Hinblick auf kritische Stimmen zur Verschleierung von Frauen im Islam. All dies macht deutlich, wie wichtig eine philosophische Grundlegung ist, wie sie die Analyse der Objektität des Bewusstseins durchgeführt hat, denn sie zeigt, dass eine Vollendung der Aufklärung und eine Fortsetzung der trotz aller Einschränkungen verheißungsvollen Zivilisation der Menschheit nur möglich ist, wenn die fundamentale Entfremdung überwunden wird, die sich aus der unhintergehbaren Leiblichkeit des im Menschen sich verwirklichenden Bewusstseins ergibt. Dem steht nun der Würdebegriff des Menschen entgegen, hat er doch seinen Ursprung gerade in der Spaltung des menschlichen Subjekts von seinem biologischen Leib. Die „Wiedervereinigung“ ohne Preisgabe der Idee der Menschenwürde scheint also nur möglich zu sein, wenn aus der philosophischen Erkenntnis auch ein entsprechendes Handeln folgt. Die Schlussfolgerungen aus der Objektität des Bewusstseins verweisen so letztendlich auf die Praxis, wie es für eine Ethik nicht anders sein kann. (shrink)

Our preoccupation with pain can seem an eccentricity of philosophers. But just a little reflection leads one into the thickets. When I see a pencil on my desk, I’m aware of a physical thing and its objective properties; but what am I aware of when I feel a pain in my toe? A pain, perhaps? Or my toe’s hurting? But what is the nature of such things? Are they physical? Are they objective? To avoid unexperienced pains, we might say they (...) are subjective, or are themselves experiences. But do those with hurting toes therefore have experiences in their feet? The issues rapidly proliferate. Many of them are addressed in this interesting collection of original essays by philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists, edited by Murat Aydede. (shrink)

Das Buch verschafft einen Überblick über die neuere Willensfreiheitsdebatte, wobei es auch die Konsequenzen der Hirnforschung für das Freiheitsproblem erörtert. Ferner entwickelt der Autor eine eigene Position, die er 'fähigkeitsbasierten Libertarismus' nennt. Er widerspricht dem breiten philosophischen Konsens, dass jedenfalls eine Art von Freiheit mit einem naturwissenschaftlichen Weltbild unverträglich sei, nämlich die Fähigkeit, sich unter gegebenen Bedingungen so oder anders zu entscheiden. Im Buch wird argumentiert, dass der libertarischen Freiheitsauffassung, die wir im Alltag alle teilen, bei näherer Betrachtung keine Tatschen (...) entgegenstehen, sondern nur philosophische Doktrinen. Zwar können wir durch unser Handeln keine Naturgesetze abändern und sind auch keine ersten Beweger, aber für ein So-oder-Anderskönnen bedarf es dessen nicht. (shrink)

Comments presented at the 35th International Seminar on the -- New Institutional Economics -- Empirical Methods for the Law; Syracuse, 2018.

This article explores the metaphor of Science as provider of sharp images of our environment, using the epistemological framework of Objective Cognitive Constructivism. These sharp images are conveyed by precise scientific hypotheses that, in turn, are encoded by mathematical equations. Furthermore, this article describes how such knowledge is pro-duced by a cyclic and recursive development, perfection and reinforcement process, leading to the emergence of eigen-solutions characterized by the four essential properties of precision, stability, separability and composability. Finally, this article discusses (...) the role played by ontology and metaphysics in the scientific production process, and in which sense the resulting knowledge can be considered objective. (shrink)