Classical modalism about essence is the view that essence can be analysed in modal terms. Despite Kit Fine's influential critique, no general refutation of classical modalism has yet been given. In the first part of the paper, I provide such a refutation by showing that the notion of essence cannot be analysed in terms of any sentential operator definable in the language of standard quantified modal logic. As a reaction to Fine's critique, some have defended sophisticated modalism, which attempts to (...) analyse essence in an enriched modal language quantifying over both possible and impossible worlds. In the second part of the paper, I argue that sophisticated modalism falls prey to variations on Fine's counterexamples to classical modalism. I conclude that the most promising approaches to understanding the notion of essence consist in taking essence either as primitive or as analysable via a combination of modal and non-modal notions. (shrink)

Elaborating on the notions that humans possess different modalities of decision-making and that these are often influenced by moral considerations, we conducted an experimental investigation of the Trolley Problem. We presented the participants with two standard scenarios (‹lever’ and ‹stranger’) either in the usual or in reversed order. We observe that responses to the lever scenario, which result from (moral) reasoning, are affected by our manipulation; whereas responses to the stranger scenario, triggered by moral emotions, are unaffected. Furthermore, when asked (...) to express general moral opinions on the themes of the Trolley Problem, about half of the participants reveal some inconsistency with the responses they had previously given. (shrink)

The recent debate on pragmatics and the law has found ways to circumvent an important distinction, originally drawn by Dascal and Wróblewski (1991), between the historical law-maker, the current law-maker, and the ideal/rational law-maker.1 By insisting on the relationship between the rational law-maker and contextualism and textualism (see Manning 2005, 2006), I want to redress this fault in current discussions. In this paper, I start with general considerations on pragmatics, intentionality in ordinary conversation, and intentionality in the context of judiciary (...) proceedings and legal texts. I then move on to considerations on rationality as a prerequisite for understanding the law and on the rational law-maker, an ideal construct proposed by Dascal and Wróblewski (1991). I argue that contextualism (of the moderate kind) is the best way to carry out the program by Dascal and Wróblewski on interpretation and the rational law-maker (also see considerations by Fish 2005); (on contextualism see Dascal and Weizman 1987). I argue that bearing in mind the rational law-maker postulated by Dascal and Wróblewski is a guidance to interpretation of statutes whose texts create interpretative difficulties. I conclude by saying that the considerations on the rational law-maker constitute a compromise between Scalia’s (1997) textualism and contextualism (see Manning 2005, 2006 on the divide between textualism and contextualism). (shrink)

A great deal of work in analytic philosophy of art is related to defining what counts as art. So far, cognitive approaches to art have almost entirely ignored this literature. In this paper I discuss the role of intuition in analytic philosophy of art, to show how an empirical research program on art could take advantage of existing work in analytic philosophy. I suggest that the first step of this research program should be to understand how people intuitively categorize something (...) as art. Drawing on results from cognitive science and analytic philosophy, I show that the intuitive categorization of an artifact as art rests on the intentions attributed (frequently implicitly) to the creator of the artifact based both on its appearance and on background knowledge. I discuss how the issue of categorization is related to other empirical issues concerning our relationship to works of art, such as perception, appreciation, interpretation and evaluation. (shrink)

Este artigo pretende fazer algumas considerações preliminares e programáticas sobre a questão da cooperação entre filosofia política e ciências sociais empíricas; oferecer uma estratégia para chegar a uma definição de pobreza que independa de dados quantitativos específicos, embora aponte para a importância deles ; apontar para a necessidade de ouvir a voz dos pobres; mostrar as razões da exclusão política dos pobres. Obviamente não se pretende discutir tudo isso de forma exaustiva, mas somente indicar possíveis caminhos a serem explorados.The present (...) paper aims at presenting some preliminary and programmatic considerations on the question of the cooperation between political philosophy and empirical social sciences; offering a strategy to reach a definition of poverty that does not depend on specific quantitative data, while it recognizes their importance ; pointing at the necessity to hear the voice of the poor; showing the reasons for the political exclusion of the poor. Of course all this shall not be discussed in an exhaustive form, but only with the intention of indicating possible paths to be explored. (shrink)

Il saggio prende in esame due punti della teorizzazione di Harry Frankfurt in merito alla moral agency. Il primo è la corretta concettualizzazione del momento della ‘decisione’ all’interno del­­la ca­tena deliberativa. Vengono esaminati tre passaggi critici: a) la base normativa a cui la decisione ri­spon­de; b) la teoria della ‘unificazione della persona’ attraverso la decisione e c) la distinzione fra ‘scelta’ e ‘decisione’. Il secondo punto è l’ambiguità in­sita nel concetto di ‘doveri d’amore’ pro­posto da Frankfurt. A questo pro­posito vengono (...) esaminate: a) la di­stin­zione fra amore ‘attivo’ e ‘passivo’ e b) la mancata tematizzazione della ‘legittimità del­l’a­more’, ovvero del rap­porto fra l’a­more in quanto relazione sociale e i quadri interpretativi del­la cul­tura entro cui si sviluppa.In this paper two aspects of Harry Frankfurt’s theory of moral agency will be examined. First, his conceptualization of the moment of ‘decision’ wi­thin the deliberative chain will be addressed. Three critical junctures will be dis­cussed: a) the normative basis of the actor’s ‘decision’; b) Frankfurt’s view of the ‘unification’ of the person via decision and c) his distinction of ‘choice’ and ‘decision’. The second point addressed is the ambiguity in­herent in Frankfurt’s notion of ‘duties of love’. With regard to this notion, the following points will be discussed: a) the distinction between ‘active’ and ‘passive’ love and b) Frankfurt’s neglect of the dimension of the ‘le­gi­timacy of love’, i.e. of the nexus of love qua social relation and the inter­pre­tive cadres of the culture within which it unfolds. (shrink)

This introduction first justifies the approach of this focus on the political thought of Foucault. Therefore it highlights the conditions that determine the appearance and the operation of the political discourse, then it clarifies because, according to Foucault, political discourse should not be analyzed in a format which opposes science to ideology, but as an act of discourse located in a strategic field and fighting with other discursive formations. It concludes with a look at the difference and interweaving that for (...) Foucault stand and connect political discourse and philosophy. (shrink)

The paper aims at analyzing some Wagnerian figures in order to show that the influence of Schopenhauer’s philosophy on Wagner is not as strong as commonly held – at least not in his operas. The figures that shall be considered are: Wotan and Brünnhilde, Tristan and Isolde, and finally Parsifal, who appears to be the only Schopenhauerian character of all.

Ernst Tugendhat is one of the most important living German philosophers. He was born in Brno in 1930 to a Jewish family. In 1938 the Tugendhatshad to leave the country because of the threat represented by Nazi Germany. They emigrated first toSwitzerland, then to Caracas, Venezuela. After classical studies at Stanford University ,Ernst Tugendhat moved to Germany in order to study philosophy in Freiburg and Münster . He became an assistant professor in Tübingen before getting a professorship in Heidelberg. He (...) worked at the Max-Plack-Institut zurErforschung der Lebensbedingungen der wissenschaftlich-technischen Welt , spend some years in Chile and was a professor at the FreieUniversität Berlin till his retirement. He was and still is visiting professor in universities in Europe aswell as in North and South America. Among his many books: Vorlesungen zur Einführung in diesprachanalytische Philosophie, Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 1976; Selbstbewusstsein undSelbstbestimmung, Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 1979; Probleme der Ethik, Stuttgart: Reclam, 1984;Vorlesungen über Ethik, Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 1993, and Egozentrizität und Mystik. Eineanthropologische Studie, München: Beck, 2003. (shrink)

This article aims at exploring one specific facet of pluralism: How can we conceive of a variety of democratic cultures that are not just local adaptations of one basic western-centric understanding of the democratic ethos? Drawing on Islamic, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and Confucian sources, a convergence among diverse democratic cultures is cursorily highlighted on such elements as the priority of the common good, the acceptance of pluralism, the desirability of collegial deliberation, the equality of citizens, and the value of individuality. (...) Then two important points of dissonance are analysed in greater detail – the idea of the priority of rights over duties and the role of political conflict within a democratic polity – and shown not to be correlative with a divide between western and non-western contexts. Finally a typology of 4 kinds of democratic cultures is outlined. (shrink)

The circumscription of taxa and classification of organisms are fundamental tasks in the systematization of biological diversity. Their success depends on a unified idea concerning the species concept, evolution, and taxonomy; paradoxically, however, it requires a complete distinction between taxa and evolutionary units. To justify this view, I discuss these three topics of systematics. Species concepts are examined, and I propose a redefinition for the Taxonomic Species Concept based on nomenclatural properties, in which species are classes conventionally represented by a (...) binomial. Speciation is subsequently discussed, to demonstrate that concepts on the evolutionary process are damaged when species are considered as evolutionary units. Speciation should be considered a transition among patterns of a population and, consequently, always a sympatric process. This view contrasts with the majority of speciation models, which analyze cladogeneses and classify speciation geographically, usually considering allopatry the essential condition for the differentiation process. Finally, taxonomy is considered, to show that the equivalence between evolutionary and taxonomic units may also damage the practice of biological systematization. Principles and rules of nomenclature and classification should offer freedom to accommodate divergent opinions about systematics and to incorporate the evolution of knowledge; therefore, they should remain independent of biological theories. (shrink)

The essay deals with the debate between neo-republicans and liberals. It discusses particularly the positions of Quentin Skinner, Philip Pettit and Maurizio Viroli. While not operating an exhaustive critical examination of the positions of these three thinkers, it focusses an aspect they have in common: the idea that the republican tradition stays in an irreducible conflict with the liberal tradition and with a certain conception of democracy. The essay analizes briefly the three main concepts of republicanism also in order to (...) point out to some historical and theoretical problems. It further compares the position of republican thinkers with the position of the liberal-democratic tradition which is their main target of their critics. In this context the essay introduces a further position which the neo-republicans quite curiously leave aside: constitutionalism. (shrink)

The article examines some of the consequences of the migration of musical works in cyberspace, particularly with regard to their ways of being and the ways in which we listen to them. Streaming is interpreted as the last stage in the expansion of a phenomenon that arose with the advent of phonography, namely, the ubiquity and availability of the works. A new development consists in the production of musical units in modular terms: works can consist of independent parts, which can (...) be replaced or constituted, in an order that depends on the user, taking inspiration from the model of the playlist. The diffusion of works on the web has also facilitated the development of the remix practice, changing listening standards and generating new conceptual conflicts concerning the identity of the works. The web weakens the distinction between the medium of communication and the medium of recording. It also favors the formation of new cognitive dispositions and generates more flexible and interactive ways of listening, generally different from those implicated in the era of the disc. (shrink)

How much is a moral judgment on a single act influenced by circumstances which have little to do with the nature of the act itself? How much have certain moral judgments to do with the common history and shared experience of a certain group of individuals? Using two cases taken from life (a German musician and a German CEO behaving both in a morally wrong way but with very different consequences from the point of view of moral judgement and with (...) very different reactions from the German public), the article tries to give an answer to these questions, touching issues like: guilt, moral responsibility, collective responsibility, and collective identity. (shrink)

The crisis of paradigms, regardless of them being scientific, social and religious, had during the 20th century an interesting reception. Totalitarian systems emerged, relativism in philosophy and science, and exhaustion of representative democracy. The conception of revolt in Camus covers all these concerns and tries to recuperate a kind of humanism that seeks to answer to these entire crises. This article intends to investigate the Camusian conception of revolt as a critique to State violence and a struggle to establish an (...) ethics of otherness. (shrink)

O artigo trata de um déficit teórico presente no pensamento neo-republicano dos últimos anos, a saber a falta de qualquer discurso relativo à concentração de poder econômico e político nas mãos de uma minoria. Depois de uma breve exposição de algumas variantes do republicanismo contemporâneo , se analisam algumas críticas formuladas por Robert Dahl e Kenneth Baynes . Finalmente, são consideradas as posições de Robert Putnam e Benjamin Barber, a fim de desenvolver algumas considerações sobre a questão de se a (...) responsabilidade pela crise atual da democracia deva ser procurada nas atitudes e nos hábitos individuais, ou, antes, em fatores impessoais como os arranjos institucionais e o contexto social, econômico e político no qual os indivíduos se encontram .This paper is about a theoretical deficit in the neo-republican thought of the last years, namely: the lackof any consideration for the concentration of economic and political power in the hand of a minority.After a short exposition of some versions of contemporary republicanism , the paper will analyzesome critiques advanced by Robert Dahl and Kenneth Baynes . Finally it will consider the positionsof Robert Putnam and Benjamin Barber in order to develop some remarks on the question whether theresponsibility for the present crisis of democracy is to be sought in individual attitudes and habits orrather in impersonal factors such as institutional arrangements and the social, economic, and politicalcontext individuals live in. (shrink)

A teoria habermasiana do direito reivindica uma terceira via entre a normatividade das teorias “abstratas” da justiça e o funcionalismo de teorias como a de Luhmann. Na verdade, a posição de Habermas é normativa num sentido forte e, apesar do funcionalismo de sua reivindicação, enfoca apenas o direito positivo moderno, na medida em que não distingue claramente entre direito e moralidade. Outrossim, termina por incorrer nesta aporia, culminando numa espécie de legalização da moralidade.

Armut hat viele Aspekte, unter denen materielle Entbehrung wohl den offensichtlichsten und allgemein anerkanntesten darstellt. Mit ihr verbunden sind aber andere Sorten von Mangel: an Würde, Selbstvertrauen, Selbstrespekt und auch an Autonomie, wie mehrere Autor*innen schon betont haben. Die Beziehung zwischen individueller Autonomie und Armut wird nichtsdestotrotz von den meisten Sozialprogrammen zur Armutsbekämpfung kaum thematisiert. Ein Grund dafür ist womöglich im Umstand zu finden, dass Autonomie kein leicht zu definierender Begriff ist.

Armut wird allgemein als ein Zustand aufgefasst, in dem die Menschen nicht imstande sind, ihre Grundbedürfnisse zureichend zu befriedigen. Obwohl diese allgemein verbreitete Vorstellung der komplexen, vielseitigen Natur von Armut nicht gerecht wird, kommt ihr eine gewisse Berechtigung insofern zu, dass in Armut lebende Menschen meistens nicht imstande sind, sich adäquat zu ernähren und zu kleiden, oder dass sie prekär wohnen – wenigstens im Vergleich mit anderen Mitgliedern ihrer Gesellschaft. Nichtsdestotrotz steht der Begriff von Bedürfnis kaum im Zentrum der wichtigsten (...) Theorien sozialer Gerechtigkeit der letzten fünfzig Jahre. (shrink)

O controle político sobre o fenômeno da globalização, que é um fenômeno predominantemente econômico, é possível, mas requer que os Estados particulares acelerem o processo de integração internacional e criem uma ordem jurídica global. Neste texto, serão apresentadas e refutadas algumas objeções a tal ordem.

Este artículo se centra en el concepto de marginación. Al hacerlo, cuestiona el paradigma dualista dominante en la filosofía política contemporánea, centrado sobre dicotomías como nacional/extranjero, ciudadano/migrante, a este lado de la frontera/del otro lado de la frontera, y adopta un paradigma global centrado en la dialéctica centro/periferia, retomando ideas centrales de las teorías de la dependencia y del sistema-mundo. Defiende que no son sólo las fronteras nacionales las que dividen a la población mundial según criterios arbitrarios y que las (...) fronteras de clase desempeñan el mismo papel dentro de las sociedades nacionales. En ambos casos, los individuos no son excluidos del ámbito económico, político y social, sino que son empujados a sus márgenes. La descripción de la vida a los márgenes nos debería ayudar a repensar la organización global de la economía capitalista y de las relaciones entre centro y periferia. (shrink)

O artigo discute o papel da solidariedade na sociedade pós-convencional, mostrandocomo ela se entrelaça com a noção de uma autonomia individual amparada em direitosfundamentais. Para este fim, serão considerados dois experimentos mentais pensados porJoel Feinberg e Eamonn Callan, em seguida, se passará à definição que Jürgen Habermas eAxel Honneth deram do conceito de solidariedade e, finalmente, serão apresentadas algumasconsiderações sobre o conceito de autonomia individual.

That each individual acts according to his own interests, that he is the best judge of these interests, whether economic or political, and that democratic government, given representative mechanisms that allow citizens to choose among different political offerings, is automatically the most efficient one possible for satisfying people's interests — this is a series of assumptions that lies behind a lot of common-sense opinions that lead people to prefer democracy over other forms of government. A general theory of government rests (...) on these same assumptions, elaborated by a vast, specialized literature. Already it seems to dominate totally the academic scene in Anglo-Saxon countries, is spreading also to Scandinavia, Germany, and Switzerland, and is even being discussed in Italy. (shrink)

The practice of the Western medicine often identifies the symptom with the disease itself, but a current of thought and medical practice considers it as the important message of an organic imbalance. In fact, in standard therapies symptoms are usually suppressed, thus interrupting a normal physiological process and risking severe reactions due to the organic imbalance. Dr. Hahnemann, the father of homeopathy, founded his diagnostic and therapeutic model on the interpretation of the symptoms and maintained that symptoms are an expression (...) of altered physiology. The same concept is to be found in Dr. Reckeweg's “reactivity” and homotoxicology; he believed that diseases are the expression of the struggle of the body against toxins. Reckeweg's contribution was particularly important in considering the inflammation process as a biologic process through which the body restores its health. Also PNEI proposes a model where the symptom is interpreted as information and as the res... (shrink)

The interaction between the recovery of the artist’s intentions and the perception of an artwork is a classic topic for philosophy and history of art. It also frequently, albeit sometimes implicitly, comes up in everyday thought and conversation about art and artworks. Since recent work in cognitive science can help us understand how we perceive and understand the intentions of others, this discipline could fruitfully participate in a multidisciplinary investigation of the role of intention recovery in art perception. The method (...) I propose is to look for cases where recovery of the artist’s intentions interacts with perception of a work of art, and this cannot be explain by a simple top-down influence of conscious propositional knowledge on perception. I will focus on drawing and show that recovery of the draftsman’s intentional actions is handled by a psychological process shaped by the motor system of the observer. (shrink)

The article Social epistemological conception of delusion, written by Kengo Miyazon and Alessandro Salice, was originally published electronically on the publisher’s internet portal on 17 September 2020 without open access.

El presente ensayo quiere ilustrar, en primer lugar, el significado y el ámbito de aplicación de la bioinformática, entendida como "el campo de la ciencia en el que la biología y la informática se funden en una disciplina única para favorecer nuevos descubrimientos biológicos". En segundo lugar, se detiene sobre las consecuencias biológicas de las biotecnologías, en forma particular sobre el cambiamiento radical de la relación del hombre consigo mismo y con la naturaleza, y sobre la función del bioderecho, que (...) tiene que reglamentar una ciencia, muy a menudo "incierta", y establecer los criterios para la atribución de la subjetividad jurídica a los individuos "genéticamente manipulados".This essay wants to illustrate, in first place, the biocomputing meaning and its field of application, taken it as "the field of science in which biology and computer science melt together in a unique discipline to help new biologic discoveries". In second place, draw up over the biological consequences of biotechnologies, in particular, on the radical changing of the relationship of man with himself and with nature, and about the function of biolaw, which has to regulate these science, "uncertain" very often and to establish the criteria to conferring juridical subjectivity to "genetically manipulated" persons. (shrink)