Patients suffering from depersonalization complain of feeling detached from their body, their mental states, and actions or even from themselves. In this chapter, I argue that depersonalization consists in the lack of a phenomenal feature that marks my experiences as mine, which is usually called “mineness,” and that the study of depersonalization constitutes a neglected yet incomparable probe to assess empirically the scope, role, and even the nature of mineness. Here is how I will proceed. After describing depersonalization (§2) and (...) arguing that it involves a lack of mineness (§3) I will confront a series of objections (§4). I will then spell out what depersonalization can teach us about the scope of mineness (§5), about its role and psychological function (§6) and even about its nature (§7). (shrink)

In a previous article on cosmological arguments, I have put forward a few examples of complete infinite and circular explanations, and argued that complete non-wellfounded explanations such as these might explain the present state of the world better than their well-founded theistic counterparts (Billon, 2021). Although my aim was broader, the examples I gave there implied merely causal explanations. In this article, I would like to do three things: • Specify some general informative conditions for complete and incomplete non-wellfounded causal (...) explanations that can be used to assess candidate explanations and to generate new examples of complete non-wellfounded explanations. • Show that these conditions, which concern chains of causal explanations, easily generalize to chains of metaphysical, grounding explanations and even to chains involving other “determination relations” such as supervenience. • Apply these general conditions to the recent debates against the existence of nonwellfounded chains of grounds and show, with a couple of precise examples, that the latter can be complete, and that just like in the case of causal explanations, non-wellfoundedness can in fact be an aset rather than a liability. (shrink)

Natural modalities are often analysed from an abstract point of view where they are associated with putative laws of nature. However, the way possibilities are represented in physics is more complex. Lagrangian mechanics, for instance, involves two different layers of modalities: kinematical and dynamical possibilities. This paper examines the status of these two layers, both in the classical and quantum case. The quantum case is particularly problematic: we identify four possible interpretive options. The upshot is that a close inspection of (...) the way possibilities are represented in physics could lead to new ways of thinking about natural modalities. (shrink)

During communication, the interpretation of utterances is sensitive to a listener's probabilistic prior beliefs. In this paper, we focus on the influence of prior beliefs on so‐called exhaustivity interpretations, whereby a sentence such as Mary came is understood to mean that only Mary came. Two theoretical origins for exhaustivity effects have been proposed in the previous literature. On the one hand are perspectives that view these inferences as the result of a purely pragmatic process (as in the classical Gricean view, (...) and more recent Bayesian approaches); on the other hand are proposals that treat them as the result of an encapsulated semantic mechanism (Chierchia, Fox & Spector 2012). We gain traction on adjudicating between these two approaches with new theoretical and experimental evidence, focusing on the behavior of different models for exhaustivity effects, all of which fit under the Rational Speech Act modeling framework (RSA, Frank & Goodman, 2012). Some (but not all!) of these models include an encapsulated semantic mechanism. Theoretically, we demonstrate that many RSA models predict not only exhaustivity, but also anti‐exhaustivity, whereby “Mary came” would convey that Mary and someone else came. We evaluate these models against data obtained in a new study which tested the effects of prior beliefs on both production and comprehension, improving on previous empirical work. We find that the models which have the best fit to human behavior include an encapsulated exhaustivity mechanism. We conclude that, on the one hand, in the division of labor between semantics and pragmatics, semantics plays a larger role than is often thought, but, on the other hand, the tradeoff between informativity and cost which characterizes all RSA models does play a central role for genuine pragmatic effects. (shrink)

These two volumes provide a completely new translation of the philosophical works of Descartes, based on the best available Latin and French texts. They are intended to replace the only reasonably comprehensive selection of his works in English, by Haldane and Ross, first published in 1911. All the works included in that edition are translated here, together with a number of additional texts crucial for an understanding of Cartesian philosophy, including important material from Descartes? scientific writings. The result should meet (...) the widespread demand for an accurate and authoritative edition of Descartes? philosophical writings in clear and readable modern English. (shrink)

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

According to a common philosophical intuition, the deep nature of things is hidden from us, and the world as we know it through perception and science is somehow shallow and lacking in reality. For all we knwo, the intuition goes, we could be living in a cave facing shadows, in a dream or even in a computer simulation, This “intuition of unreality” clashes with a strong, but perhaps more naive, intuition to the effect that the world as we know it (...) seems perfectly real. Shadows, dreams, or informational structures appear too unreal to be identical to the world as we know it! This clash between the two intuitions forms the basis of the "problem of reality." At the turn of the nineteenth century psychiatrists encountered patients they referred to as “metaphysician doubters” who constantly questioned the reality of the world. This essay draws on the study of these patients to reject, and indeed diagnose, the intuition of unreality and recent metaphysical doctrines drawing on it, such as structuralism, digitalism, and virtual realism. (shrink)

According to David Chalmers, the virtual entities found in Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) environments instantiate virtual properties of a specific kind. It has recently been objected that such a view (i) can’t extend to all types of properties; (ii) leads to a proliferation of property-types; (iii) implausibly ascribes massive errors to VR and AR users; and (iv) faces an analogue of Jackson’s “many-property problem”. My first objective here is to show that advocates of virtual properties can deal (...) with each of these objections. The other goal of this paper is to examine the consequences of Chalmers’ theory in the particular case of AR. If we countenance virtual properties, AR highlights that non-virtual objects can possess both non-virtual and virtual properties. With AR, it also appears that a same non-virtual object can have different and even incompatible properties across augmented environments. Lastly, considering properties in light of AR highlights the risk of an “augmented solipsism”, and calls forth interesting questions about the persistence conditions of non-virtual objects in AR environments. (shrink)

O presente artigo pretende refletir, a partir de contribuições de Theodor W. Adorno, sobre aspectos da formação objetiva do sujeito. Isso é feito por meio da apropriação de conceitos como autoconservação, autocrítica e crítica imanente. Tomamos como exemplo parte do projeto de à la recherche du temps perdu de Marcel Proust, nomeadamente, Un amour de Swann . A análise do processo de formação de Swann permite observar nexos e tensões que o sujeito elabora com o mundo objetivo. A ação do (...) Swann incorpora na sua relação co m o mundo objetivo os processos próprios da Obra de Arte autêntica para empreender a crítica necessária ao contexto social em que está inserido. Crítica esta, também, voltada a si próprio. (shrink)

Spelke convincingly argues that we should posit six innate modular systems beyond the periphery (i.e., beyond low-level perception and motor control). I focus on the case of spatial navigation (Ch. 3) to claim that there remain powerful considerations in favor of positing additional innate, nonperipheral modules. This opens the door to stronger forms of nativism and nonperipheral modularism than Spelke's.

Mereological Nominalism, as traditionally understood, states that properties are mereological wholes and that instantiation is mereological. Thus defined, this view faces a number of well-known issues, which make it virtually untenable. Recently, Effingham :160–185, 2020) has offered an alternative account of Mereological Nominalism, which intends to avoid these problems by accepting while rejecting. In this paper, we argue that this theory is not viable for two main reasons. First, it faces a threat of circularity. Second, the various non-mereological accounts of (...) instantiation envisioned by Effingham in order to replace seem inconsistent with. (shrink)

Dans Droit et démocratie (1997), Jürgen Habermas procède à une reconstruction du système des droits et de la citoyenneté modernes. Il tente de démontrer la co-originarité de l'autonomie privée et de l'autonomie publique et de résorber la tension entre droits de l'homme et souveraineté populaire, libéralisme et républicanisme. Le présent ouvrage, issu d'un travail de doctorat, se propose de restituer les différents moments de ce paradigme procédural tout en montrant qu'il ne peut fonctionner sans le secours d'une éthique de la (...) responsabilité. Cet ouvrage se présente comme une synthèse critique de la théorie habermassienne de la citoyenneté et tente de mettre en perspective cette théorie dans l'économie générale de l'œuvre de Habermas. Les positions les plus récentes du philosophe (par exemple en matière de clonage ou de religion) sont également discutées. (shrink)

Alguns autores têm afirmado que o externalismo semântico de Putnam implica em um tipo de essencialismo que não descreve adequadamente a prática científica, já que as referências dos termos que designam espécies naturais seriam determinadas por características essenciais dos exemplares que compõem cada uma daquelas espécies. Essas essências seriam as verdadeiras responsáveis pela identidade das espécies naturais. Uma vez conhecidas tais essências, estaríamos aptos a identificar tais espécies em qualquer mundo possível, visto que suas essências permaneceriam estáveis mesmo diante de (...) mudanças nas descrições de outros de seus atributos. Logo, o externalismo semântico parece inadequado para explicar o desenvolvimento da ciência. Ademais, os critérios de identificação de espécies químicas e biológicas não são fixados da maneira proposta por Putnam. Este artigo apresenta essas objeções ao externalismo semântico de Putnam e formula uma resposta, afirmando que Putnam não postulou uma tese própria sobre critérios de identidade para espécies naturais. Sustenta-se que as menções de Putnam a postulados científicos são melhor compreendidas se interpretadas como elementos adicionais para a determinação das referências de termos que designam espécies naturais.Abstract:Some authors have argued that Putnam’s semantic externalism entails a kind of essentialism which does not describe scientific practice adequately, since the references of the terms that designate natural kinds would be determined by essential traits of the specimens which make up those natural kinds. Those essences would account for the identity of natural kinds. Once such essences are known, we would be able to identify natural kinds in anypossible world, since such essences would remain stable even in the face of abrupt changes in the descriptions of other kinds’ attributes. Therefore, semantic externalism seems inadequate for accounting the development of science. Furthermore, the identification criteria for chemical and biological species are not determined in the mannerproposed by Putnam. This paper presents those criticisms to Putnam’s semantic externalism and formulates a reply, stating that Putnam did not posit a thesis on identity criteria for natural kinds. His Putnam’ references to scientific postulates are better understood when interpreted as additional elements for the determination of thereferences of natural kind terms.Keywords: Essentialism; Reference; Necessity; Natural kinds; Meaning; Hilary Putnam. (shrink)

This paper offers an overview of the prospects and ethics of using AI to achieve human enhancement, and more broadly what we call intellectual augmentation (IA). After explaining the central notions of human enhancement, IA, and AI, we discuss the state of the art in terms of the main technologies for IA, with or without brain-computer interfaces. Given this picture, we discuss potential ethical problems, namely inadequate performance, safety, coercion and manipulation, privacy, cognitive liberty, authenticity, and fairness in more detail. (...) We conclude that while there are very significant technical hurdles to real human enhancement through AI, and significant ethical problems, there are also significant benefits that may realistically be achieved in ways that are consonant with a rights-based ethics as well. We also highlight the specific concerns that apply particularly to applications of AI for "sheer" IA (more realistic in the near term), and to enhancement applications, respectively. (shrink)

Este texto quer examinar como Kant a partir da sua concepção de _cogito_ procura refutar o idealismo problemático de Descartes. Em primeiro lugar, quer verificar se Kant, ao entender a consciência de si como dependente da consciência de objeto, não estaria assumindo pressupostos metafísicos e epistemológicos diferentes dos assumidos por Descartes em sua concepção de _cogito_. Em segundo lugar, tenta formular o problema do alcance das noções de representação e reflexividade em cada um dos referidos filósofos. Para enfrentar essa problemática, (...) elege como metodologia de investigação a análise da Refutação do Idealismo da Analítica dos Princípios da _Crítica da Razão Pura_, bem como de alguns textos de Descartes que explicitam a sua concepção de _cogito_. (shrink)

This book is about what Mark Rothko and Romy Castro think about painting. The bottom line placed here is: what is matter for a painter? What they want to communicate with their art? And how they do it? This book seeks to uncover some of the secrets that are in minds painters. In the backgrond, waht unites, apparently, two such different artists is the way they establish intimacy with matter, even that a concept of matter or intimacy may assume and (...) be used in different interpretations. (shrink)

Das Buch behandelt die Theologie des brasilianischen Jesuiten und Fundamentaltheologen João Batista Libanio. Der Autor präsentiert dessen Bibliografie und Biografie, nimmt eine Einordnung der Theologie Libanios vor und arbeitet als Leitfaden dieser das Zweite Vatikanische Konzil heraus.

This commentary further explores some of the ethical issues raised by Prof. Peter Singer in his Lanson Lecture “Pandemic Ethics: Five Lessons”. In the first part, I distinguish a prioritarian approach to the allocation of scarce medical resources, from the utilitarian one advocated by Singer. I suggest that the prioritarian view better matches common intuitions about fair distribution, even though it likely needs to be balanced with other principles if it is to have plausibility in contexts like vaccine allocation. In (...) the second part of the commentary, I take a global perspective (as Singer himself does regarding the ethics of lockdowns), and highlight the controversial implications of adopting a fully cosmopolitan ethical outlook when deciding how to distribute Covid-19 vaccines. I also raise justice-related concerns about Singer’s proposal to use well-being as a single metric for evaluating public health policies. (shrink)

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

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

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

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

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

Normal 0 21 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 O presente artigo analisa a passagem da hermenêutica metodológica à experiência hermenêutica como crítica e fundamento do saber filosófico. Inicialmente, apresenta a crítica da hermenêutica à absolutizaçáo da lógica matemática como estrutura da pesquisa e produçáo de sentido na filosofia. A lógica matemática sedimenta a dinâmica da vida do homem por náo estar aberta às contingências da existência, porém a vida do homem náo se compreende sob a forma da lógica matemática. Posteriormente, demonstra (...) que compreender a dinâmica da vida do sujeito pressupõe uma hermenêutica filosófica, que interprete o verdadeiro sentido do humano. Essa compreensáo hermenêutico-filosófica se estabelece mediante uma inter-relaçáo entre o sujeito e o algo a ser interpretado. Por fim, defende que a condiçáo de possibilidade dessa inter-relaçáo é a experiência hermenêutica, o que implica uma abertura ao que esse algo tem a dizer ao sujeito, tornando-se, assim, o ponto de partida da compreensáo e fundamentaçáo do saber crítico-reflexivo. (shrink)

BREVE RELATO DE UMA OUTRA EXPERIÊNCIA EDUCACIONAL: O ENSINO JURÍDICO NOS ESTADOS UNIDOS.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in (...) the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant. (shrink)

In this article, I contest Brian Epstein’s argument (2014) against the applicability of global supervenience to relate micro and macroeconomic properties. Epstein rejects supervenience via a causal-chain relation inside the macroeconomic set in his criticism. Accordingly, the rise of the macro set is fixed by a weather event without any mediation from the realm of microeconomics. As it stands, this idea would demonstrate the autonomy of macroeconomics from microeconomics. However, as I intend to argue, in Epstein’s weather-cases scenarios, the corresponding (...) macroeconomic sets are fixed by their micro bases that codify weather events and thereby fix the macro. This is so because the microeconomic base must include institutional facts; they are as much necessary as the facts about people’s conditions. In so doing, we re-establish bottom–top determination from the micro to the macro, rescuing the applicability of global supervenience. (shrink)

Recension du livre de François Kammerer, Conscience et Matière, Éditions matériologiques, 2019.

Este trabalho apresenta e situa o pensamento do filósofo alemão Jürgen Habermas no discurso pós-metafísico em uma sociedade secularizada. Esta reflexão articula-se em dois momentos. Em um primeiro momento, trata-se de apresentar o discurso da Modernidade, evidenciando os principais aspectos da crítica à razão instrumental de Horkheimer e Adorno, a importância do conceito hegeliano de Modernidade, e Nietzsche como o ponto de inflexão para o discurso pós-metafísico. Em um segundo momento, apresenta-se, mais exatamente, o discurso pós-metafísico em uma sociedade secularizada. (...) À luz desse esboço, seguindo o procedimento metodológico de investigação baseado no método de abordagem analítico, pretende-se, a partir do pensamento de Habermas, apresentar, por um lado, um discurso filosófico ciente das dificuldades, e, também, de sua falibilidade, mas, por outro lado, da sua relevância na busca da construção do discurso filosófico com sentido a partir do consenso válido intersubjetivamente. Palavras-chave: Habermas. Modernidade. Sociedade. Pós-metafísico. Secularização. (shrink)

Este trabalho tem por objetivo apresentar a diagnose da pedagogia-tecnologia do corpo-arquivo e das banalidades, enquanto produtora de subjetividade. Este emerge da imersão em um grupo na rede social Facebook, guiado pela analítica do Diagnóstico do presente sob inspirações Foucaultianas, Nietzscheanas e Arenditianas. Organiza-se a analise em três eixos: a) A memória: o olhar para si e a produção de referências; b) Os esquecimentos: (hiper)estímulos e hiper(in)sensibilidades; e c) Banalidades das verdades, banalidades das mentiras.

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2001 in the subject Philosophy - General Essays, Eras, grade: 10,0, University of Sao Paulo; Department of philosophy, course: History, language: Portugues, abstract: O objetivo deste livro e fazer uma analise ao mesmo tempo estrutural e cronologica da obra de Foucault, buscando sua logica interna, mostrando o itinerario de seu pensamento, suas etapas de elaboracao, as dificuldades com que se deparou ao longo dessa trajetoria, os conceitos que foram introduzidos, transformados ou abandonados, os (...) seus temas e problemas centrais. O pensamento de Foucault e certamente dinamico, proteiforme, mas possui coerencia interna e ate uma certa sistematicidade. Essa sistematicidade se revela na concatenacao de tres instancias, que realizam, cada uma delas, um deslocamento fundamental na tradicao filosofica: uma nova concepcao da critica, uma nova concepcao do metodo e uma nova concepcao das praticas. Com esses deslocamentos, Foucault reformula a tarefa do pensamento, dando a critica uma nova finalidade e novos recursos. A critica tal como formulada por Kant tinha a funcao de conduzir o homem ao estado de maioridade, libertando-o das ilusoes transcendentais que o aprisionam. Podemos dizer que Foucault submete o projeto critico a uma metamorfose, que o desembaraca dos residuos transcendentais e idealistas que ele ainda carregava em Kant. Uma primeira metamorfose da critica foi realizada pelos ataques de Nietzsche, Freud e Marx, um independentemente do outro. Com o trio de pensadores, a critica deixa de buscar as condicoes formais de possibilidade da experiencia para buscar as suas condicoes reais, o seu a priori concreto e contingente, seja nas formas e relacoes de producao, nas representacoes do inconsciente e do desejo ou na historia da moral. Segundo Foucault, eles teriam criado uma nova hermeneutica, atraves da qual temos que nos interpretar a nos mesmos, como os textos de Nietzsche, Freud e Marx fossem eles proprios hieroglifos a". (shrink)