Idiopathic Parkinson’s disease impairs working memory, but the exact nature of this deficit in terms of the underlying cognitive mechanisms is not well understood. In this study patients with mild clinical symptoms of PD were compared with matched healthy control subjects on a computerized battery of tests designed to assess spatial working memory and verbal working memory. In the spatial working memory task, subjects were required to recall a sequence of four locations. The verbal working memory task was methodologically identical (...) except for the modality of the stimuli used, requiring subjects to orally recall a sequence of six digits. In either case, half of the sequences were structured in a way that allowed ‘chunking’, while others were unstructured. This manipulation was designed to dissociate the strategic component of task performance from the memory-load component. Mild medicated patients with PD were impaired only on the structured versions of the verbal working memory tasks. The analogous deficit in the spatial working memory was less pronounced. These findings are in agreement with the hypothesis that working memory deficits in PD reflect mainly the executive component of the tasks and that the deficits may be at least partly modality-independent. (shrink)

FN:s allmänna förklaring om de mänskliga rättigheterna innehåller en katalog över ett antal mänskliga fri- och rättigheter. I den här uppsatsen argumenterar jag för att det krävs en kvantifierad deontisk logik för att förstå den logiska formen hos flera av de normer som uttrycks i denna förklaring. Jag kommer att gå igenom ett antal argument som intuitivt är giltiga, men som inte kan bevisas i klassisk logik. Därefter kommer jag att visa hur dessa argument kan formaliseras och bevisas med hjälp (...) av kvantifierad deontisk logik. Diskussionen ger stöd åt uppfattningen att vi behöver en kvantifierad deontisk logik för att analysera många typer av normativa uttryck och kastar också förhoppningsvis nytt ljus över hur vissa centrala utsagor i FN:s allmänna förklaring bör tolkas och vilken logisk form de har. (shrink)

Logiska Övningar är en övningsbok i logik och en introduktionsbok i teoretisk filosofi. Den är indelad i sju kapitel. Varje kapitel, förutom det första, behandlar en eller flera klassiska grenar av den teoretiska filosofin. Det första kapitlet är en allmän inledning till boken och till filosofi som ämne. Övriga kapitel behandlar följande områden. Logik & Argumentationsteori (kapitel 2). Hur bör vi tänka och argumentera? Kunskapsteori (kapitel 3). Vad är kunskap och hur får vi kunskap om verkligheten? Metafysik (kapitel 4). Hur (...) är verkligheten ytterst beskaffad? Vad existerar? Vetenskapsfilosofi (kapitel 5). Vad är vetenskap? Hur får vi vetenskaplig kunskap? Språkfilosofi (kapitel 6). Vad är ett språk? Hur förhåller sig språket till vårt tänkande och till verkligheten? Medvetandefilosofi (kapitel 7). Vad är en människa? Hur förhåller sig kropp och själ till varandra? Logiska Övningar innehåller mer än 5000 tankekedjor eller argument. Genom att studera dessa kan läsaren öva upp sin förmåga att analysera och värdera olika filosofiska härledningar, samt att tänka och resonera logiskt. Boken kan användas i undervisning i filosofi och logik på en grundläggande nivå eller för självstudier. Läsningen kompletteras lämpligen med en eller flera introduktionsböcker till logik, som behandlar olika fundamentala logiska fakta och metoder. -/- Produkt information Publicerad: September 14, 2019 Språk: Svenska Format: Paperback Antal sidor: 708 sidor. (shrink)

Den här boken är en inledning till den s.k. predikatlogiken. Predikatlogiken studerar argument vars giltighet beror på ord såsom ”allting”, ”någonting” och ”ingenting”. Boken innehåller fem kapitel. Det första kapitlet är en kort inledning till predikatlogik. Kapitel 2 handlar om syntax. Det tar upp flera predikatlogiska språk, det beskriver hur dessa är uppbyggda och hur de förhåller sig till olika naturliga språk. Kapitel 3 handlar om semantik. Vad betyder olika symboliska tecken? Vad har olika satser för sanningsvillkor? Kapitel 4 handlar (...) om bevisteori. Det går bl.a. igenom hur man kan avgöra om ett argument är predikatlogiskt giltigt eller inte. Det nämner tre olika bevismetoder/härledningsmetoder: axiomatiska system, naturlig deduktion och semantiska tablåer. Kapitlet innehåller många exempel. Om man vill lära sig mer om logik, kan det vara bra att försöka bemästra alla dessa olika metoder. Kapitel 5 innehåller viss allmän information om predikatlogiken och fler övningar. Predikatlogiken är en utvidgning av den s.k. satslogiken, som bl.a. beskrivs i boken Satslogik: En Introduktion. För att förstå materialet i den här boken bör läsaren först ha studerat Satslogik: En Introduktion eller någon liknande bok. Predikatlogik: En Introduktion innehåller en stor mängd övningar som kan hjälpa läsaren att öva upp sina logiska förmågor. (shrink)

Den här boken är en inledning till den s.k. modallogiken. Modallogiken studerar argument vars giltighet beror på modala ord såsom ”måste”, ”kan” och ”omöjlig”. Boken innehåller fem kapitel. Det första kapitlet är en kort inledning till modallogik. Kapitel 2 handlar om syntax. Det tar upp flera modallogiska språk; det beskriver hur dessa är uppbyggda och hur de förhåller sig till olika naturliga språk. Kapitel 3 handlar om semantik. Vad betyder olika symboliska tecken? Vad har olika satser för sanningsvillkor? Kapitel 4 (...) handlar om bevisteori. Det går bl.a. igenom hur man kan avgöra om ett argument är modallogiskt giltigt eller inte i olika modala system. Det nämner tre olika bevismetoder/härledningsmetoder: axiomatiska system, naturlig deduktion och semantiska tablåer. Kapitlet innehåller många exempel. Om man vill lära sig mer om logik, kan det vara bra att veta någonting om alla dessa olika metoder. Kapitel 5 innehåller viss allmän information om modallogiken och fler övningar. Boken tar upp information både om propositionell modallogik, som är en utvidgning av den s.k. satslogiken, och kvantifierad modallogik, som bygger vidare på den s.k. predikatlogiken. Grunderna till satslogiken beskrivs bl.a. i boken Satslogik: En Introduktion. Grunderna till predikatlogiken beskrivs bl.a. i boken Predikatlogik: En Introduktion. För att förstå materialet i den här boken bör läsaren först ha studerat dessa eller liknande böcker. Modallogik: En Introduktion innehåller en stor mängd övningar som kan hjälpa läsaren att öva upp sina logiska förmågor. (shrink)

Den här uppsatsen handlar om fritt val (FV) tillåtelser (FVT). Jag går igenom den s.k. fritt val tillåtelser paradoxen och nämner några möjliga lösningar på denna. Därefter presenterar jag mitt eget förslag på hur man bör förstå tillåtelser av detta slag och hur man kan lösa (FVT) paradoxen. Jag tar upp några potentiella invändningar mot denna analys och visar hur dessa kan bemötas. Ibland har (FVT) paradoxen använts som ett argument emot s.k. standard deontisk logik (SDL). Jag argumenterar för att (...) man kan acceptera förekomsten av (FV) tillåtelser utan att behöva förkasta (SDL). Däremot pekar diskussionen på behovet av en kvantifierad deontisk logik. (shrink)

The text shortly introduces Rousseau’s De l’imitation théatrale (1764). Rousseau’s writing is basically a translation of the first pages of Book X of Plato’s Republic. On the one hand, Rousseau shares with Plato the ethical rigor that, in view of a certain political project, leads to the moral condemnation of theatrical practices. On the other hand, the metaphysical assumptions on which Plato’s critique relies are much heavier than those of Rousseau, whose sensualistic nominalism is incompatible with the metaphysical realism about (...) universals that underlies the arguments of Book X of the Republic. In this respect, it is surprising that Rousseau refers to Book X rather than Book III, in which the same critique of theatrical spectacles is developed from a psychological and moral point of view. (shrink)

The article deals with the role of questions in the process of acquiring knowledge. Starting from the classical definition of knowledge as true and justified opinion, the author shows how the justification of our opinions is based on an epistemic practice in which questions play a fundamental role. Before knowledge we have the stages of ignorance and uncertainty. The latter shows a disjunctive structure that is similar to that of questions. In order for questions to be asked a dimension of (...) libido sciendi or at least a wish to know is necessary. The author concludes, relying on Johannes Daubert, with considerations on questioned states of affairs (Fragverhalte) that can generate knowledge in the form of known states of affairs (Erkenntnisverhalte). (shrink)

The article reconstructs the diffusion of the ideas of the Scottish philosophical school (Reid, Smith, Stewart) in France in the early nineteenth century and the role played by the Geneva philosopher Pierre Prevost. Prevost emphasizes the originality of the Scottish school compared with the French and German school in his writing “Reflections after my translation of the posthumous works of Adam Smith” of 1797. From at least 1792 already Prevost had begun a correspondence with Dugald Stewart, which lasted until the (...) death of the latter in 1828. About twenty letters of Stewart to Prevost are preserved in Geneva. Through the mediation of Prevost the Scottish Enlighteners influenced the development of French philosophy from Ideology towards Eclecticism (Degérando, Pictet, Royer-Collard, Cousin). (shrink)

The article proposes a comparison between the “retrograde” conception that Bergson has of truth and his atypical interpretation of the concept of possibility. These conceptions are developed in two articles collected in La pensée et le mouvant. The “retrograde” conception of truth starts from the observation of the temporal gap between an event and the formulation of the judgment that relates it and finds its condition of truth in it. The retrograde movement consists in putting aside the temporality proper to (...) the judgment and to “eternalize” it, so that the truth precedes the event. With respects to the possible Bergson has a similar conception: the events that are realized in the present are conceived by language as realization of previous possibilities. According to Bergson, language has thus the “magic power” of influencing the past retroactively. (shrink)

The article deals with the aesthetic dimension of humour. The author starts with Hannah Arendt’s distinction between labour as a set of tasks necessary for the reproduction of biological life and praxis as an expression of freedom. In the same way the humour would be detached from the “working communication” of everyday life. Humour represents a “break” with ordinary modes of communication. This is done through “transpositions”, which can take the form of objectual transpositions (which play on the equivocal references (...) of a term), verbal transpositions (which contrast the uttered hypertext with a more usual hypotext; self-deprecation is a special case of verbal transposition) or metacognitive transpositions (like the “lapalissade”). The aesthetic value of humour is increased by the simplicity of the means used to obtain the contrast. (shrink)

This book argues that the Fourth Gospel offers a potentially transformative response to the question of suffering and the human compulsion to blame. By engaging with the symbols of light, vision, and the Good Shepherd, readers can experience a theodical spirituality that transforms resentment and rage through divine forgiveness.

This book tries to look at human thought and action from a scientific perspective, and in the process, acquaints the reader with essential concepts about science and its history. It takes a broad look at our present troubles without overlooking some crucial historical, religious, and political causes but places science at the center stage. The author applies what he has learned throughout his career to go beyond science. After an introduction setting the scene and a review of the "scientific temper" (...) and the inexcusable ignorance of science by some leaders and many followers, the author turns his sharp vision to look at other issues. The most significant challenges are critical and global: climate change caused by our activities, stockpiles of nuclear weapons that are a constant threat, population growth, and increasing inequality at all levels. These problems do have a profound ethical character and threaten to end forever with our misery, producing a "catastrophic convergence". Written with rigor for all readers, with many references and infused with relevant quotations, the author's message is clear: we need to change our ways drastically and urgently, now or never. But he offers not much in terms of a solution, something done by many authors to sweeten the pill, because as he argues, beyond lofty declarations, there is no real solution as the clock runs down, leading to his dystopian view of the future. (shrink)

The passage “it must not have a body” of Melissus’ B9 is in contradiction, real or apparent, with the contents of B3 ̶ “it must be always unlimited in magnitude” ̶ and B7 ̶ “it is full.” After all, how can something without a body have magnitude and fullness? In this manuscript, I propose what I call the “immateriality thesis,” a view according to which what-is, as it has no body, no thickness, and no parts, is also immaterial. To defend (...) it, I first examine the relationship between the B9’s terms σῶμα (body) and πάχος (thickness) and the concepts of corporeality (“spatial limits”) and materiality (“physical constitution”) in the philosophical and medical literature of the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. Subsequently, I argue that, in B9, the denial of σῶμα and πάχος is equivalent to the denial of materiality to Melissus’ what-is. Furthermore, to support the “immateriality thesis,” I move away from the traditional strategies applied to resolve the incompatibility between B3, B7, and B9 and propose a new approach aiming to undo this Gordian knot of Melissus’ thought. I call it “modal analysis.” When applied to Melissan fragments, the “modal analysis” revealed the essential property of what-is, which is the indisputable assertion that it is τὸ ἓν (the one). Next, what-is’ accidental properties − μέγεθος (magnitude), πλέων (fullness), σῶμα (“lack of body”), and πάχος (“lack of thickness”) − were compared to the essential property. The upshot was that the “immateriality thesis,” although not without some difficulties, ended up being the best explanation we have left to interpret Melissus’ philosophy. (shrink)

This book is about an emotion constantly present in human culture and history: fear. It is also a book about literature and medicine, two areas of human endeavour that engage with fear most acutely. The essays in this volume explore fear in various literary and medical manifestations, in the Western World, from medieval to modern times. It is divided into two parts. The first part, Treating Fear, examines fear in medical history, and draws from theology, medicine, philosophy, and psychology, to (...) offer an account of how fear shifts in Western understanding from the Middle Ages to Modern times. The second part, Writing Fear, explores fear as a rhetorical and literary force, offering an account of how it is used and evoked in distinct literary periods and texts. This coherent and fascinating collection will appeal to medical historians, literary critics, cultural theorists, medical humanities' scholars and historians of the emotions. (shrink)

Daniel, Michael E Review of: Wehrmacht priests: Catholicism and the Nazi war of Annihilation, by Lauren Faulkner Rossi, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015, pp. 255, hardback, $79.00.

Complex webs of loyalties—to people, to institutions, and to principles—ensnare even the most mundane lives. When played out on a stage as grand as the Star Wars universe, these various webs of loyalties—and the consequent betrayals of many of those loyalties—simply become easier to make out. For a narrative universe that is often criticized for its childlike simplicity, Star Wars depicts a wide variety of degrees and kinds of loyalty and betrayal. This chapter will examine some of them in an (...) attempt to clarify exactly what it is to be loyal and why it matters. To understand the central roles loyalty and betrayal play in the Star Wars universe, consider the path of its central character: Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. The two key moments of his life are both betrayals. First he betrays the Jedi and his mentor by joining the Sith, and then he betrays the Sith and his master by saving his son. The difference is that in betraying the Emperor, Vader fulfilled the letter of his oath as a Sith, and thus remained loyal to the Sith. It is only the motivation for his action that amounts to a betrayal of the Sith; the spirit of his action, rather than the action itself, betrayed the Sith. Had the betrayal been instead one motivated by seizing power, had Vader betrayed the Emperor in order to take his place, as he had earlier proposed to Luke, he would have remained a loyal Sith. Complications like this arise in almost every betrayal. Grand Moff Trachta and Grand Admiral Zaarin both betrayed the Emperor, but did so to preserve the Empire itself. Darth Bane betrayed the entire Sith Order, but did so in order to remain loyal to the basic tenets of the Sith. We betray one person to remain loyal to another. Given this, we have to ask, is there any inherent value in loyalty itself? If loyalties conflict, as they often do, how should we decide between them? This chapter will attempt to explore and answer these questions by considering various betrayals depicted in the Star Wars universe. (shrink)

I argue that the recent debate about the role disgust deserves in ethical thought has been impoverished by an inadequate understanding of the emotion itself. After considering Kass and Nussbaum’s respective positions in that debate, and the implausible views of the nature of disgust on which their arguments rest, I describe my own view, which makes sense of the wealth of recent, often puzzling, empirical work done on the emotion. This view sees disgust as being primarily responsible for protecting against (...) toxins and infectious diseases, but as also having been recruited to play auxiliary roles in the cognition of social norms and group boundaries. I argue that this view provides new and more plausible foundations for skepticism about the idea that disgust deserves some kind of special epistemic credit or moral authority, that the emotion is a trustworthy guide to justifiable moral judgments, or that there is any deep wisdom in repugnance. (shrink)

This article examines Sappho’s “Brothers’ Poem” in relation to fragments 5, 9 and 17 and to fragments 129 and 130b.17-20 of Alcaeus to determine the possible contexts of performance. It is established by critics that these fragments would have been hymns performed in the sanctuary of the Lesbian triad. The hymnodic character of these compositions leads to identify resonances in the corpus of Homeric Hymns on the basis of invocations, epithets and spheres of influence that converge with those of the (...) Aeolian lyric. (shrink)

Podoba francouzské filosofie druhé poloviny 20. století je silně ovlivněna způsoby koncep- tualizace úlohy těla během vnímání. Tělesnost, která pro vědomí zprostředkovává prožitky, utváří veškeré vztahy člověka k druhým. V díle Simone de Beauvoir je třeba chápat svobodu jako podmíněnou specifickým způsobem prožívání těla člověkem. Cílem tohoto příspěvku je ozřejmit povahu této specifičnosti. Naším výchozím zdrojem k dosažení stanoveného cíle je první novela Beauvoir, Pozvaná (ĽInvitée), kde je v dialozích jednotlivých postav možné nahlédnout nejen povahu specifického způsobu prožívání těla, ale (...) i povahu svobody, která je tímto způsobem podmíněna. (shrink)

This paper argues for the existence of two levels of stakeholder dialogue: a micro and a macro level. The first is the one companies have with their own stakeholder groups, the second is a broader social debate among different agents about the role of business in society. The paper argues why the macro level matters for CSR and why it can be called a dialogue. It also underlines the importance of mutual perceptions in the macro-dialogue. For this purpose we present (...) a research done in Spain about how different stakeholder groups perceive each other in relation to CSR and how they perceive the dialogue process. (shrink)

David Miller argues that the proper principle to govern distribution in the economy is a principle of desert and that markets (at their best) distribute to the participating agents rewards that are proportional to their respective contributions. This is explained by appeal to the notion of marginal productivity, and by the theory that perfect competition results in a distribution according to marginal contribution. Marginal product in this sense is taken to be a measure of the producer's contribution to the consumer's (...) well-being, and so a proportionate reward is something he can be said to deserve. I discuss the relation between desert and justice and question the premise that desert is appropriate in the economic sphere. With respect to Miller's argument I claim, first, that there are several substantial and prevalent factors that cast serious doubt on the contention that the market distributes and rewards according to marginal contribution to any significant extent. Second, that marginal contribution is not a measure of contribution to well being and, therefore, it is not a morally relevant desert-basis. (shrink)

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