This Element presents a concise and accessible view of the central arguments of Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Starting from the difficulties found in historical and current debates, drawing on the background of Russell's philosophy, and grounded in the ladder structure expressed in the numbering system of the book, this Element presents the central arguments of the Tractatus in three lines of thought. The first concerns the role of the so-called 'ontology' and its relationship to the method of the Tractatus and its (...) logical symbolism, which displays the formal essence of language and world. The second deals with the symbolic unity of language and its role in the 'ladder structure' and explains how and why the book is not self-defeating. The third elucidates Wittgenstein's claim to have solved in essentials all philosophical problems, whose very formulation, he says, rests on misunderstandings. (shrink)

This paper is devoted to clarification of the notion of entanglement through decoupling it from the tensor product structure and treating as a constraint posed by probabilistic dependence of quantum observable _A_ and _B_. In our framework, it is meaningless to speak about entanglement without pointing to the fixed observables _A_ and _B_, so this is _AB_-entanglement. Dependence of quantum observables is formalized as non-coincidence of conditional probabilities. Starting with this probabilistic definition, we achieve the Hilbert space characterization of the (...) _AB_-entangled states as amplitude non-factorisable states. In the tensor product case, _AB_-entanglement implies standard entanglement, but not vise verse. _AB_-entanglement for dichotomous observables is equivalent to their correlation, i.e., \(\langle AB\rangle _{\psi} \not = \langle A\rangle _{\psi} \langle B\rangle _{\psi}.\) We describe the class of quantum states that are \(A_{u} B_{u}\) -entangled for a family of unitary operators (_u_). Finally, observables entanglement is compared with dependence of random variables in classical probability theory. (shrink)

Richard Scheer has recently argued against what he calls the 'mental state' theory of intentions. He argues that versions of this theory fail to account for various characteristics of intention. In this essay we reply to Scheer's criticisms and argue that intentions are mental states.

We report results from two original surveys of 500 firms conducted in 2000 and 2007 in eight regions in Russia that explore the business environment for manufacturing and service sector firms. We find that the formal and informal rules of the game for everyday firms in Russia have changed dramatically in the Putin years. Most importantly, while the informal and formal rules of the game in 2000 were quite similar for firms that were investing and those that were not, in (...) 2007 regional governments had come to favor the former through a variety of informal and formal means. This shift in the rules of the game in favor of firms that invest suggests that a core group of firms in the regions under study have managed to cooperate with the regional government to temper the weak institutional environment in Russia, but also that the playing field for businesses in Russia is not level. (shrink)

O presente artigo discute o conceito de cidadania e sua relação com as questões educacionais, sobretudo, as relacionadas ao campo da Educação de Jovens e Adultos. Constitui-se como resultado de pesquisa intitulada “Cidadania e EJA: concepções e desafios que marcam a escola pública brasileira” no âmbito do Núcleo de Estudos sobre Trabalho e Educação da Faculdade de Educação da Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora. O texto destaca como o conceito de cidadania se desenvolveu historicamente, buscando seus fundamentos ideológicos e (...) políticos no liberalismo, correlacionando-o com a perspectiva de Estado e de educação defendida por essa corrente. Demonstra que a concepção burguesa de cidadania se desdobra sobre o campo educacional, expondo sua relação com a acumulação flexível de cunho capitalista. A concepção marxista de educação rompe com essa unilateralidade, apresentando a universalização do trabalho e da educação como expressão do humano, da pluralidade cultural e das concepções de mundo que marcam as experiências coletivas e individuais. Nesse modelo, as exigências educacionais para jovens e adultos são direcionadas a tornar esses sujeitos capazes de enfrentar, mesmo que minimamente, o mercado globalizado e assumir projetos de vida pautados no mérito das ações econômicas – por meio de uma educação ao longo da vida, com o objetivo de se manterem na condição de empregáveis. Portanto, o texto que se segue visa contribuir com as reflexões de educadores que almejam a construção de uma educação socialista e democrática. Esse processo, que se estabelece nos âmbitos coletivo e social – possível apenas com o rompimento e a superação do modelo social de capital e com a instauração de uma sociedade com novas formas de sentir, pensar e agir no mundo. Palavras-chave: Cidadania. Liberalismo. Educação. Jovens. Adultos. (shrink)

This book brings a new perspective—mainly out of German intellectual discussions rooted in Hegel—to bear on the problems of equality as discussed in Anglo-American conceptions of liberalism. Menke argues that the idea of equality is at the heart of political modernity. At the same time, political modernity is characterized by an attitude of critical reflection on the notion of equality in view of its consequences for the lives of individuals. This book explores the sources and legitimacy as well as the (...) limitations and problems of this attitude toward equality in the work of such thinkers as Adorno, Habermas, Derrida, Hegel, Luhmann, Nietzsche, Rawls, and Schmitt. Looking at key texts in modern political philosophy, the author develops the claim that there is a basic and irreconcilable conflict in justice: between general demands of equality and attention to the individual. In a debate with contemporary Anglo-American liberal philosophy’s concepts of rights, the political process is thereby understood as an interminable strife and negotation between equality and individuality. (shrink)

We examine Sophie Gibb’s emergent property-dualist theory of mental causation as double-prevention. Her account builds on a commitment to a version of causal realism based on a powers metaphysic. We consider three objections to her account. We show, by drawing out the implications of the ontological commitments of Gibb’s theory of mental causation, that the first two objections fail. But, we argue, owing to worries about cases where there is no double-preventive role to be played by mental properties, her account, (...) which solely affords mental properties a double-preventive role, is incomplete and vulnerable to a causal exclusion objection. We propose a friendly modification to her theory of mental causation that is consistent with her theory’s ontological commitments. Specifically, we sketch an account on which mental properties have a more pronounced causal-structuring role that is not exhausted by the role Gibb assigns them as double-preventers. The result is a novel emergentist theory of mental causation. (shrink)

Modern fundamental science tends to avoid the principle of physical causality and realism, replacing it with heuristically postulated and separated mathematical constructions that impose their own rules before being adjusted to measurement results. While it is officially accepted as the single possible kind of rigorous knowledge, we argue that another, explicitly extended kind of science can provide the causally complete picture of reality avoiding the glaring gaps, growing problems and persisting stagnation of the artificially reduced knowledge paradigm. The logic of (...) science development and especially its current state call for the urgently needed transition to the extended, causally complete kind of knowledge and related sustainable progress at superior creativity levels of self-aware, reason-based society. (shrink)

The brewer and the yeast: why brewing beer sheds light on the philosophical debate about the boundaries of human agency.

Prefață -- Partea I. Moșteniri -- Partea a II-a. Afilieri -- Partea a III-a. Concepte -- Partea a IV-a. Aplicații -- Despre autor.

According to a widespread view about the content of conscious experience (Peacocke, 1992; Siegel, 2007), an experience has content when it is accurate relative to a possible scenario. Suppose you saw a ripe tomato. Your visual experience would have content if what you saw looked exactly like a ripe tomato, be it a genuine tomato or an expertly designed wax copy of a tomato. I argue that this view cannot account for the content of a hallucination whose content is impossible. (...) A 95-year old patient seems to see small pumpkins and flowers coming out of her body (Rocha et al., 2012). Intuitively, the patient's hallucination has content. But the accuracy-conditions view has to classify the experience as devoid of content, because what the patient hallucinated is impossible – accurate to no possible scenario. On the concept of flower we possess, it is incoherent for flowers to erupt from under one's skin. This visual hallucination is a counterexample to the view that an experience is endowed with content only relative to its accuracy conditions. (shrink)

O tema deste artigo é sobre o modus operandi de Jesus, a maneira como ele proclama a chegada o Reino de Deus, que consiste na restauração da saúde das pessoas em suas diversas enfermidades. Qual a sua fonte de energia para a missão? Onde ele foi buscar o poder para curar e até salvar pessoas da morte, restaurando-lhes a saúde? Em suma, onde ele encontrou forças para essa missão salvífica? O objetivo desta breve pesquisa consiste em demonstrar a íntima relação (...) entre espiritualidade e saúde na prática messiânica de Jesus. A metodologia utilizada é a da exegese bíblica, a partir de Mc 1,32-39, na perspectiva de uma hermenêutica teológica atualizada, que leve a conclusões sobre a ação missionária salvífica de Jesus, pertinentes para a ação evangelizadora no tempo presente. Os resultados apontam para o fato de que a atividade messiânica de Jesus contém uma soteriologia que leva em conta a restauração da saúde física e mental. Não se trata de uma espiritualidade desencarnada das reais necessidades humanas, em suas fragilidades físicas e mentais. É, sem dúvida, uma prática comprometida com a instauração do Reino de Deus, que deve ser continuada pelos atuais discípulos e discípulas de Jesus. (shrink)

The cry of the poor, the theme of this work, challenges the humanitarian consciousness of the people and is a strong questioning of the religious conscience and the Christian faith. Nevertheless, the preferential option for the poor, consecrated in the Final Document of the Episcopal Conference held in Puebla of Los Angeles, is still the cause of much controversy inside and outside the Church. Bearing in mind this context, this article aims to present the resonance of the cry of the (...) poor in the context of the Puebla Conference; demonstrate that this cry is not recent: it has been present since antiquity, and was contemplated in the earliest sacred texts, including the religious culture of Israel and the Christian religion; to reflect on this cry of impoverished crowds in contemporary times. The research is bibliographic, based on the Official Document of the conclusions of the Puebla Conference; from critical analysis by Latin American theologians, as well as from articles and books by authors from the epistemological field of the Sciences of Religion. The results achieved point to the timeliness of the issue, as there is a growing wave of impoverishment everywhere and, at the same time, a growing lack of commitment and intolerance towards the outcry of the great excluded masses. (shrink)

A pesquisa tem como objetivo principal localizar, destacar e apresentar as contribuições do Papa Francisco, em pleno ano da misericórdia, para um tema tão doloroso que é o tráfico humano. Francisco nunca se calou diante de fatos que diminuem a vida e exploram a pessoa. Para isso, a pesquisa se propôs estudar com a ajuda de comentadores vários pronunciamentos do Papa a respeito do Tráfico Humano, uma realidade mundial. Nos últimos anos, o tema do tráfico humano também tem sido assunto (...) de muitas reflexões dentro e fora da Igreja. Por parte da Igreja, o grande protagonista da reflexão é o Papa Francisco que denuncia a comercialização de pessoas como se fossem coisas para serem vendidas, compradas e trocadas. A partir de vários encontros que Francisco teve com grupos que defendem a vida e particularmente por ocasião de sua visita à Ilha de Lampedusa na Itália é possível traçar um perfil de seu pensamento a respeito dessa tragédia que assola a vida humana. Buscou-se respaldo em bibliografias eclesiais desde Documentos do Vaticano II, Catecismo da Igreja Católica, bem como bibliografias atuais que motivam a reflexão. (shrink)

v. 1. Recuperări ; Receptarea pragmatismului ; Pragmatismul până la Peirce.

The paper intends to study the possibility of evading the relativist dilemma: when you compare cultural forms belonging to different traditions, you either impose the result from outside, or you give up comparisons altogether as dependent on the arbiter’s parochial choices. In this paper one argues that, apart from this kind of comparison, which is called extrinsic, there is another type, called intrinsic, which is not dependent on arbiter’s choices. The essence of the intrinsic comparison is the role played by (...) the “second option” of the representatives of different traditions: it is decisive what these representatives prefer in the second place, when their first options have to be abandoned. Two old stories provide the historical paradigm of the intrinsic comparison: how Volga Khazarians are said to have converted to Judaism in the 8th century, and how the Athenian general Themistocles was voted the best general by the confederate Greek representatives. An example of contemporary intrinsic comparison between three contemporary trends – relativism, fundamentalism, rationalism – is also presented. Contrary to what Ernest Gellner believes, these trends are not incommensurable; rationalism takes precedence while being the second option of the other two trends, as soon as they want to enter a public debate. (shrink)

In Philosophy of Law, Andrei Marmor provides a comprehensive analysis of contemporary debates about the fundamental nature of law—an issue that has been at the heart of legal philosophy for centuries. What the law is seems to be a matter of fact, but this fact has normative significance: it tells people what they ought to do. Marmor argues that the myriad questions raised by the factual and normative features of law actually depend on the possibility of reduction—whether the legal (...) domain can be explained in terms of something else, more foundational in nature. In addition to exploring the major issues in contemporary legal thought, Philosophy of Law provides a critical analysis of the people and ideas that have dominated the field in past centuries. It will be essential reading for anyone curious about the nature of law. (shrink)

Extended Abstract This book introduces and develops a new, universal method of the scientific comprehension of reality providing the objective, ...

The paper gives an overview of the Russian higher education history, outlines its current state, the challenges and opportunities for its modernization in the nearest future. A special emphasis is made on the role of international cooperation in the higher education development and prospects for Russia’s integration into the global educational space. Andrei Kortunov is President of the Moscow based New Eurasia Foundation. He has managed a number of education-focused programs in Russia, working closely with governmental agencies, higher education (...) institutions, international consultancies and foreign foundations. (shrink)