The killer argument in the German Policy debate is the fiscal one: we cannot afford a universal basic income (UBI). Fiscal effects are calculated by applying standard microsimulation and general computable equilibrium models. While these empirical models are useful for ex-ante evaluations of marginal reforms, the introduction of a basic income scheme is a fundamental reform associated with behavioural responses that are only partially captured by standard empirical models. Therefore, the proposed randomised controlled trials using nudges will provide more insights (...) into the German institutional setting. (shrink)

“Opt-out” organ procurement policies based on presumed consent are typically advertised as being superior to “opt-in” policies based on explicit consent at securing organs for transplantation. However, Michael Gill has argued that presumed consent policies are also better than opt-in policies at respecting patient autonomy. According to Gill’s Fewer Mistakes Argument, we ought to implement the procurement policy that results in the fewest frustrated wishes regarding organ donation. Given that the majority of Americans wish to donate their organs, it is (...) plausible that a presumed consent policy would result in fewer frustrated wishes compared to the current opt-in policy. It follows that we ought to implement a policy of presumed consent. In this paper, I first consider and find wanting an objection to the Fewer Mistakes Argument developed recently by Douglas MacKay. I also consider an objection put forth by James Taylor but argue that there is a methodological reason to prefer my own argument to Taylor’s. Finally, I argue for two theses: first, that Gill’s major argument in favor of the crucial premise of the Fewer Mistakes Argument is flawed, and second, that the major premise of the Fewer Mistakes Argument is false. (shrink)

Book Review: P.P. Tolochko. Ukraine between Russia and the West: Historical and Nonfiction Essays. Saint Petersburg: Saint Petersburg University of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2018. - 592 pp. ISBN 978-5-7621-0973-4This author discusses the problem of scientific objectivity and reviews a book written by the medievalist-historian P.P. Tolochko, full member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, honorable director of the NASU Institute of Archaeology. The book was published by the Saint Petersburg University of Humanities and Social Sciences in the (...) autumn of 2018. The book presents a collection of articles and reports devoted to processes in Ukraine and, first of all, in Ukrainian historical science, which, at the moment, is experiencing an era of serious reformation of its interpretative models. The author of the book shows that these models are being reformed to suit the requirements of the new ideology, with an obvious disregard for the conduct of objective scientific research. In this regard, the problem of objectivity of scientific research becomes the subject of this review because the requirement of objectivity can be viewed not only as a methodological requirement but also as a moral and political position, opposing the rigor of scientific research to the impact of ideological, political and moral systems and judgments. It is concluded that in this sense the position of P.P. Tolochko can be considered as the act of profound ethical choice. (shrink)

Many philosophers of science and methodologists have argued that the ability to repeat studies and obtain similar results is an essential component of science. A finding is elevated from single observation to scientific evidence when the procedures that were used to obtain it can be reproduced and the finding itself can be replicated. Recent replication attempts show that some high profile results – most notably in psychology, but in many other disciplines as well – cannot be replicated consistently. These replication (...) attempts have generated a considerable amount of controversy, and the issue of whether direct replications have value has, in particular, proven to be contentious. However, much of this discussion has occurred in published commentaries and social media outlets, resulting in a fragmented discourse. To address the need for an integrative summary, we review various types of replication studies and then discuss the most commonly voiced concerns about direct replication. We provide detailed responses to these concerns and consider different statistical ways to evaluate replications. We conclude there are no theoretical or statistical obstacles to making direct replication a routine aspect of psychological science. (shrink)

There is an underlying assumption in the social sciences that consciousness and social life are ultimately classical physical/material phenomena. In this ground-breaking book, Alexander Wendt challenges this assumption by proposing that consciousness is, in fact, a macroscopic quantum mechanical phenomenon. In the first half of the book, Wendt justifies the insertion of quantum theory into social scientific debates, introduces social scientists to quantum theory and the philosophical controversy about its interpretation, and then defends the quantum consciousness hypothesis against the (...) orthodox, classical approach to the mind-body problem. In the second half, he develops the implications of this metaphysical perspective for the nature of language and the agent-structure problem in social ontology. Wendt's argument is a revolutionary development which raises fundamental questions about the nature of social life and the work of those who study it. (shrink)

R. W. Sharples provides a new edition, with introduction and commentary in English, of the Greek text. The Mantissa is a collection of short discussions, transmitted as a supplement to the treatise On the Soul by the Aristotelian commentator Alexander of Aphrodisias (c.200 AD).The collection includes discussion of a range of topics, among them the nature of soul and intellect, theories of how seeing takes place, issues in ethics, and the nature of fate. The text is based upon a (...) new collation of the principal manuscript, the ninth century Venetus Marcianus graecus 258, and the apparatus corrects Bruns' misreportings of the principal manuscript and of the others that he used. Account has also been taken of the medieval Arabic and Latin versions of some of the sections which circulated independently, notably On Intellect which had a substantial influence on medieval philosophy. The introduction is chiefly concerned with the manuscripts and the relation between them. The commentary is based on the notes to the editor's English translation of the work (London: Duckworth and Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2004); however, the commentary also takes into account more recent work on the collection by various scholars. (shrink)

' But, although such a being (a purely intellectual being) might perhaps be conceived to exist, and although, in studying our internal frame, ...

I ponder what the rapid progress of AI means for education in the 21st century. Is it feasible to expect embodied autonomous tools that, through participatory sense-making, can construct knowledge ready to be taught to students?

Translation of Alexander of Aphrodisias Commentary on Metaphysics Book I by William Dooley.

Contemporary architecture is increasingly grounded in science and mathematics. Architectural discourse has shifted radically from the sometimes disorienting Derridean deconstruction, to engaging scientific terms such as fractals, chaos, complexity, nonlinearity, and evolving systems. That's where the architectural action is -- at least for cutting-edge architects and thinkers -- and every practicing architect and student needs to become conversant with these terms and know what they mean. Unfortunately, the vast majority of architecture faculty are unprepared to explain them to students, not (...) having had a scientific education themselves. Here is an architecture book by an architect/scientist, just in time to help architects in the new millennium. Alexander discusses many of the scientific terms arising in cutting-edge architecture, and explains them to those who don't have scientific training or advanced mathematical knowledge. We find discussions of the evolution of forms; the importance of process in design; iteration; genetic algorithms; sequences of transformations; different levels of scale (i.e. fractals); etc. They are explained here by an architect who is also a scientist, because he wants to change the way architects think and build. Alexander is not merely popularizing other scientists' results and making them accessible to architects: he is in fact presenting new and original scientific work that ties many of these concepts together in a way that will be useful to architects. (shrink)

James Mill - A Biography is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1882. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare (...) and historical knowledge for the future. (shrink)

Excerpt from Logic, Vol. 1: Deduction The present work aims at embracing a full course of Logic, both Formal and Inductive. In an introductory chapter, are set forth such doctrines of psychology as have a bearing on Logic, the nature of knowledge in general, and the classification of the sciences the intention being to avoid doctrinal digressions in the course of the work. Although preparatory to the under standing of what follows, this chapter may be passed over lightly on a (...) first perusal of the work. The part on Deduction contains the usual doctrines of the Syllogism, with the additions of Hamilton, and a full abstract of the novel and elaborate schemes of De Morgan and Boole. The Inductive portion comprises the methods of induc tive research, and all those collateral topics brought for ward by Mr. Mill, as part of the problem of Induction; various modifications being made in the manner of state ment, the order of topics, and the proportion of the hand ling. The greatest innovation is the rendering of Cause by the new doctrine called the Conservation, Persistence, or Correlation of Force. Mr. Mill's view of the relation of Deduction and Induc tion is fully adopted, as being the solution of the otherwise inextricable puzzle of the syllogism, and the means of giving unity and comprehensiveness to Logic. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. (shrink)

Fractal versus fragment -- From proto-modernity to pseudo-modernity. Kant and his descendants -- The politics of re-presentation. a collection of fractals -- Epilogue or after the end -- From sophisticated meaninglessness to sophisticated primitivism -- The state of mindlessness. the rise of the pseudo-modern world -- Ideologies of the non-world. the post-colonial and the subaltern.

У статті визначені засади управління Європейським співтовариством споживчих кооперативів. Обґрунтовані основні напрями й цілі його продовольчої політики, діяльності підприємств роздрібної торгівлі, політики стійкого розвитку, політики кооперативної ідентичності й політики щодо споживачів. Надана оцінка відповідності програми розвитку Укоопспілки принципам діяльності Європейського співтовариства споживчих кооперативів, окреслені кроки на шляху подальшої інтеграції.

Vorliegende Studie behandelt die philosophiehistorische Bedeutung und den systematischen Gehalt, den zur Zeit seiner Konstruktion, d. h. in der Epoche des Hellenismus, jener Fall zweier Schiffbrüchiger besitzt, denen zur Rettung nur eine Planke, die nur einen von beiden tragen kann, zur Verfügung steht, welcher als "Brett des Karneades" in die abendländische Geschichte des Rechts wie der Rechtsphilosophie eingegangen ist und als Paradigma der europäischen Notrechtslehre ausgezeichnet werden kann. Im ersten Teil der Untersuchung wird anhand einer philosophiegeschichtlichen Auswertung der Quellen des (...) Falles, Ciceros De officiis und Laktanz' Institutiones Divinae, und ihrer historischen Kontexte die Plausibilität der Zuschreibung der Autorschaft an dem Fall an den akademischen Skeptiker Karneades erwiesen. Im zweiten Teil werden die verschiedenen Varianten des Falles und ihre Lösungen, die sich in den Quellen finden, ausführlich auf ihre philosophischen Prämissen hin analysiert, woraus ihre letztliche Fundierung in dem auf einer empiristischen Erkenntnistheorie gegründeten Begriff des Naturrechts der Alten und Mittleren Stoa hervorgeht. Der abschließende dritte Teil erörtert das kritische Potential des Beispieles, indem er seine zersetzende Wirkung auf alle zu seiner Lösung in Anschlag gebrachten Lehrstücke des stoischen Philosophie aufzeigt und so vor Augen führt, daß mit dem Brett des Karneades wenigstens eine empirische Begründung einer möglichen Naturrechtslehre schon aus epistemologischen Gründen zum Scheitern verurteilt ist. The "Plank of Carneades" is the name that has gone down in the Occidental history of law and legal philosophy to characterize the case of two shipwrecked persons who have one plank that can rescue only one of them. The case can be characterized as the paradigm of the European theory of necessity. This study considers the philosophically historical meaning and systemic content this case had at the time of its construction, namely during the Hellenistic epoch. The first part of the study is based on a philosophically historical evaluation of the sources of this case, Cicero's De officiis and Laktanz' Institutiones Divinae, and their historical context. It shows the plausibility of imputing authorship of this case to the academic skeptic Carneades. The second part exhaustively analyzes the various case constellations and the solutions these sources proffer to them. It considers the philosophical premises underlying these solutions and indicates that their ultimate foundation lies in the concept of natural law as based on the empirical epistemology of the ancient and middle-aged Stoics. The third and final part considers the case's critical potential by demonstrating its undermining effect on all of the teachings of Stoic philosophy proffered to solve it. The study thus shows that for the Plank of Carneades any empirical foundation of a possible theory of natural law is condemned to failure for epistemological reasons. (shrink)

The current interest in bioregionalism, stimulated in part by Kirkpatrick Sale’s Dwellers in the Land, shows that people are looking for a form of political praxis which addresses the importance of region. In this paper, I argue that much of the bioregional literature written to date mystifies the concept of region, discounting the role of subjectivity and culture in shaping regional boundaries and veers toward asimplistic view of “nature knows best.” Bioregionalism can be rehabilitated, provided we treat it not as (...) a “revealed wisdom” for the reconstruction of human society, but as a sensibility and environmental ethic that can infuse our work even as we make use of the functional regionalisms that increasingly shape people’s consciousness. I conclude by citing Lewis Mumford’s concept of a region as capturing the dialectical interplay of natural and cultural elements. (shrink)