Enjoying great popularity in decision theory, epistemology, and philosophy of science, Bayesianism as understood here is fundamentally concerned with epistemically ideal rationality. It assumes a tight connection between evidential probability and ideally rational credence, and usually interprets evidential probability in terms of such credence. Timothy Williamson challenges Bayesianism by arguing that evidential probabilities cannot be adequately interpreted as the credences of an ideal agent. From this and his assumption that evidential probabilities cannot be interpreted as the actual credences of human (...) agents either, he concludes that no interpretation of evidential probabilities in terms of credence is adequate. I argue to the contrary. My overarching aim is to show on behalf of Bayesians how one can still interpret evidential probabilities in terms of ideally rational credence and how one can maintain a tight connection between evidential probabilities and ideally rational credence even if the former cannot be interpreted in terms of the latter. By achieving this aim I illuminate the limits and prospects of Bayesianism. (shrink)

This entry provides an opinionated overview of key epistemological debates regarding experts. To comprehend, justify, and enhance our practices of trusting, utilising, and depending on experts' judgments, it is crucial to clarify the characteristics of experts and the means of identifying those who exemplify them. Consequently, this entry examines and evaluates accounts of the main characteristics of experts. Furthermore, it discusses indicators of experts that help recognise experts and considers to what extent they are accessible to other experts and laypersons.

In March 1986, a public symposium took place in Heidelberg about the “unresolved potential dangers of genetic engineering”. The event was organized by institutions affiliated with the environmental movement. Choosing this symposium as an example, the article shows how the public appearance of scientists can be understood as a form of political activism. The article shows how specialists from fields as diverse as biology, chemistry, physics, law and political sciences tried to place political messages by putting themselves in the limelight (...) as independent scientists. I argue that the symposium was both: a place of science communication intertwined with political agitation that, as should be noted, happened in a time when the West German government was working on the legislation of genetic engineering, legitimated by relying on independent expertise. It can be concluded that the discourse of scientific independence became a strategic tool in the controversial debate about the uses and dangers of genetic engineering. Thus, it draws attention to a dimension of political-scientific activity which cannot be fully grasped by the concept of ‘the expert’ that is established in the history of science. (shrink)

In the literature, one finds two accounts of the normative status of rational belief: the ought account and the permissibility account. Both accounts have their advantages and shortcomings, making it difficult to favour one over the other. Imagine that there were two principles of rational belief or rational degrees of belief commonly considered plausible, but which, however, yielded a paradox together with one account, but not with the other. One of the accounts therefore requires us to give up one of (...) the plausible principles; whereas the other allows us to save them both. The fact that it allows us to save both of the plausible principles might well be considered a strong reason in favour of the relevant account. The permissibility-account-based resolution of the lottery paradox suggests that the permissibility account is a candidate for being supported in this way, since the account seems to save two plausible principles of rational belief and rational degrees of belief. I argue that even if the permissibility account were supported in this way the support would be defeated, since one cannot provide an analogous resolution of the preface paradox. The principles remain unsaved by the permissibility account. (shrink)

Adults who stutter (AWS) have demonstrated atypical coordination of motor and sensory regions during speech production. Yet little is known of the speech-motor network in AWS in the brief time window preceding audible speech onset. The purpose of the current study was to characterize neural oscillations in the speech-motor network during preparation for and execution of overt speech production in AWS using magnetoencephalography (MEG). Twelve AWS and twelve age-matched controls were presented with 220 words, each word embedded in a carrier (...) phrase. Controls were presented with the same word list as their matched AWS participant. Neural oscillatory activity was localized using minimum-variance beamforming during two time periods of interest: speech preparation (prior to speech onset) and speech execution (following speech onset). Compared to controls, AWS showed stronger beta (15-25Hz) suppression in the speech preparation stage, followed by stronger beta synchronization in the bilateral mouth motor cortex. AWS also recruited the right mouth motor cortex significantly earlier in the speech preparation stage compared to controls. Exaggerated motor preparation is discussed in the context of reduced coordination in the speech-motor network of AWS. It is further proposed that exaggerated beta synchronization may reflect a more strongly inhibited motor system that requires a stronger beta suppression to disengage prior to speech initiation. These novel findings highlight critical differences in the speech-motor network of AWS that occur prior to speech onset and emphasize the need to investigate further the speech-motor assembly in the stuttering population. (shrink)

Nel 2011 il National Theatre di Londra celebrava il trentesimo anniversario della produzione dell’ Oresteia (Agamennon, Choefori e Eumenides) con una grande mostra che raccontava il lungo processo di creazione di uno degli allestimenti più famosi del teatro inglese degli ultimi quarant’anni; si tratta dell’adattamento e della traduzione della Trilogia di Eschilo a opera del poeta e scrittore inglese Tony Harrison, con la regia di Peter Hall (direttore del Teatro Nazionale dal 1973 al 1988) e le scene e le maschere (...) di Jocelyn Herbert. Questa mostra curata da Cathy Courtney, arrivava sette anni dopo la grande esposizione dedicata alla scenografa inglese intitolata Jocelyn Herbert at the National (2004).Il presente saggio racconta il lungo percorso creativo che ha portato alla definizione, oltre che di un’originale traduzione, anche di un particolare allestimento scenico che prevedeva l’uso di maschere per i soli attori uomini, create dalla Herbert, una delle più famose stage designer britanniche. I materiali preparatori sono stati messi a disposizione online negli ultimi anni, grazie a un progetto di digitalizzazione del National Theatre in collaborazione con Google Culture Institute. Proprio alle maschere della Herbert e alle diverse proposte e trattamenti della maschera greca in chiave contemporanea è dedicato un contributo critico finale che le affianca comparativamente sia a quelle del mascheraio e studioso di teatro greco classico Ferdinando Falossi, sia alle maschere video digitali e fotografiche create rispettivamente da Teatrino Giullare e da Marzio Emilio Villa. (shrink)

El presente artículo aborda el espinoso debate idealismo-realismo que surgió al interior de la escuela fenomenológica entre Edmund Husserl y sus alumnos. Luego de una primera contextualización del problema, se examina la posición de Edith Stein respecto de la mencionada cuestión y del discutido idealismo husserliano, y se muestra cómo la fenomenóloga vuelve a dimensionar el rol del yo en la actividad cognoscitiva: no ya como sujeto absoluto e incondicionado del conocimiento, sino como creatura finita y limitada que se relaciona (...) con un mundo trascendente, independiente de la actividad de la conciencia. (shrink)

A number of tasks have been developed to measure the affective theory of mind (ToM), nevertheless, recent studies found that different affective ToM tasks do not correlate with each other, suggesting that further studies on affective ToM and its measurement are needed. More in-depth knowledge of the tools that are available to assess affective ToM is needed to decide which should be used in research and in clinical practice, and how to interpret results. The current study focuses on the Reading (...) the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) primarily to investigate in a sample of 112 children the currently unexplored relationships in middle childhood between performance on the RMET and fluid intelligence. Relationships with receptive vocabulary, age, and sex were also investigated. Moreover, because studying the family's influence on children mentalization could have important implications in developing prevention and treatment interventions, this study offers a novel contribution to the field by exploring the family's influence on children's RMET performance. Although significant positive correlations were found among RMET-C performance, fluid intelligence, and receptive language, regression analysis revealed that fluid intelligence was the only predictor. No family influence was found on children's RMET performance. On the whole, results from the current study offer some support to the hypothesis that RMET-C is not a “pure” ToM task, specifically the effect of fluid intelligence on RMET performance should be taken into account when RMET is used both in research and in the clinical setting. (shrink)

Nell’articolata analisi della tesi di dottorato (2021), l’autrice era pervenuta a rintracciare nel καυχάομαι l’inscrizione del profilo fondativo dell’identità credente, che Paolo dispone in una sorta di percorso testuale lungo Rm 1‒5. L’articolo presenta la sintesi della ricerca precedente, riaprendo il confronto con i contributi successivi alla sua stesura ed in particolare con quelli della prospettiva di Paul within Judaism. Il dialogo con il recente studio di John M.G. BARCLAY, Paul and the Power of Grace, in sede conclusiva conferma il (...) guadagno dell’indagine in ordine agli sviluppi della soteriologia paolina. (shrink)

Semantyka teoriomonogościowa dla wielowartościowych rachunków pozycyjnych Celem artykułu jest zdefiniowanie adekwatnych semantyk teoriomonogościowych dla rachunków pozycyjnych.

The subject of this contribution concerns the evolution of Eco’s thought on the problem of the false, from the first writings (in which the sign is just what can be used to lie) to the reflections of the late 1980s on the strength of the false, in a more culturological perspective. The essay will therefore trace an evolution that establishes in Eco’s theory a continuity between reflection on falsehood, reflection on falsification and the theory of fiction, while in a second (...) time it will retrace all of Eco’s narrative going to highlight how all novels have to do with the false, or at least with the non-verifiability of the true. From this point of view, it will be argued that novels are the best place for Eco to affirm the strength of the false, for the nomothetic power of fictions. (shrink)

Nostalgia is a fond longing for the past that has been shown to increase feelings of meaning, social connectedness, and self-continuity. Although nostalgia for personal memories provides intra- and interpersonal benefits, there may be negative consequences of group-based nostalgia on the perception and acceptance of others. The presented research examined national nostalgia, and its effects on group identification and political attitudes in the United States. In a sample of US voters, tendencies to feel personal and national nostalgia are associated with (...) markedly different emotional and attitudinal profiles. Higher levels of national nostalgia predicted both positive attitudes toward President Trump and racial prejudice, though there was no evidence of such relationships with personal nostalgia. National nostalgia most strongly predicted positive attitudes toward president Trump among those high in racial prejudice. Furthermore, nostalgia's positive relationship with racial prejudice was partially mediated by perceived outgroup threat. Results from this study will help us better understand how the experience of national nostalgia can influence attitudes and motivate political behavior. (shrink)

On an evidentialist position, it is epistemically rational for us to believe propositions that are (stably) supported by our total evidence. We are epistemically permitted to believe such propositions, and perhaps even ought to do so. Epistemic rationality is normative. One popular way to explain the normativity appeals to epistemic teleology. The primary aim of this paper is to argue that appeals to epistemic teleology do not support that we ought to believe what is rational to believe, only that we (...) are permitted to do so. In arguing for that, I defend an epistemic teleological position that is radical in nature. It involves no commitment to aiming at the truth. I conclude by dispelling some worries that have been raised about my position. (shrink)

In everyday life and in science we acquire evidence of evidence and based on this new evidence we often change our epistemic states. An assumption underlying such practice is that the following EEE Slogan is correct: 'evidence of evidence is evidence' (Feldman 2007, p. 208). We suggest that evidence of evidence is best understood as higher-order evidence about the epistemic state of agents. In order to model evidence of evidence we introduce a new powerful framework for modelling epistemic states, Dyadic (...) Bayesianism. Based on this framework, we then discuss characterizations of evidence of evidence and argue for one of them. Finally, we show that whether the EEE Slogan holds, depends on the specific kind of evidence of evidence. (shrink)

This article presents a general overview of the contacts between Polish Socinians and Dutch Remonstrants during the seventeenth century. Many contemporaries regarded Socinianism and Remonstrantism as similar or related confessions and some worked to forge ties between them. At the same time however the Remonstrant leadership opposed such moves for fear that they would confirm a link that was already being exploited by the Remonstrants’ opponents to smear their reputation. In the circumstances the Remonstrants as a group saw no alternative (...) than to copy the widely prevailing intolerant attitude towards Socinianism. By the mid-seventeenth century fears of an influx of Socinian immigrants and ideas led to calls for measures against Socinian immigration and actual ban on Socinian printing in the Dutch Republic. Nevertheless some immigration took place and Amsterdam and Rotterdam became important centres of Socinian printing for some time. (shrink)

This book explores the question of whether the ideal right to science and culture exists. It proposes that the human right to science and culture is of a utopian character and argues for the necessity of the existence of such a right by developing a philosophical project situated in postmodernity, based on the assumption of ‘thinking in terms of excendence’. The book offers a new way of thinking about access to knowledge in the postanalogue, postmodern society, and is inspired by (...) twentieth-century critical theorists such as Levinas, Gadamer, Bauman and Habermas. (shrink)

The Stoic theory of knowledge was founded by Zeno on a perceptual and crudely materialistic base, but subsequently developed into an elaborate theory involving λεκτ which has proved difficult to reconstruct. The evolution of the school, influenced not only by internal differences but also by interaction with the Platonic Academy, certainly contributed to this development. Hence any adequate reconstruction of the Stoic theory of knowledge must take account of the differences among the positions of the different representatives of the school (...) with respect to the criticism put foward by the Academics. I propose here to clarify Zeno's position, showing how Arcesilaus' criticism helped to expose certain lacunae and thus to bring about changes in doctrine on the part both of Zeno himself and of his immediate successors. (shrink)

The paper is about the connotations of the philosophical novel. It explores the question of whether and how the philosophical novel can become functional model for philosophical praxis. I argue that the philosophical novel is a tool for activating a relational process whereby the concept of “situated relationship” becomes clear and is enhanced in conjunction with the activation of philosophical praxis. A “situated relationship” is identified as a relational practice which is contextualized and exerted in and between thinking, language and (...) action, within the framework of an educational process which becomes a dialogue-oriented research through relational networks. This form of thinking is not only Logos, but also Pathos and Ethos, inasmuch as the interconnection of thinking, language, meaning and behavior is made manifest, recognized and practiced in thinking and with thinking. By fostering awareness of the cognitive and affective dimensions, this form of thinking can extend such awareness to the relational dimension, interpersonal and intrapersonal, within a constant circular form of complementarity. (shrink)

In many applications we have a set of objects together with their properties. Since the available information is usually incomplete and/or imprecise, the true knowledge about subsets of objects can be determined approximately only. In this paper, we discuss a fuzzy generalisation of two pairs of relation-based operators suitable for fuzzy set approximations, which have been recently investigated by Düntsch and Gediga. Double residuated lattices, introduced by Orlowska and Radzikowska, are taken as basic algebraic structures. Main properties of these operators (...) are presented. (shrink)

The post-truth regime is a regime in which certain central categories of modernity seem to be inadequate: that of truth as correspondence, that of truth as verification, and that of truth as sincerity. This reflection aims at proposing a shift from the category of truth to the category of legitimacy, in order to rethink those of correctness, objectivity, adequacy. The advantage potentially offered by the concept of legitimacy, with regards to that of truth, has to do with the reference to (...) a given context, with an element of social recognition and a processual dimension, which makes the management of discourses more flexible, without abdicating to their deregulation. (shrink)

Material artefacts consist of many smaller – and ultimately natural – objects such as molecules and atoms that have been intentionally rearranged in such a way as to take the shape of a particular artefact and fulfil its functions. Whenever the arrangement of several parts results in properties that go beyond the properties of the individual parts or their sum, it can be said that this arrangement has resulted in a new object. Once created, material artefacts may take part in (...) natural processes such as reproduction and evolution and cannot be fundamentally distinguished from fully natural objects. This article provides a number of – mainly biological – examples that show the traditional Aristotelian dichotomy between nature and artefacts to be highly problematic and suggest a continuum instead. Most importantly, it is argued that living beings and artefacts are equally capable – or sometimes incapable – of self-reproduction and that there are numerous objects which are both living beings and artefacts. (shrink)