Dopo aver dato alle stampe due eccellenti volumi di studi e ricerche [cfr. BZ 88 (1995), n 502, 92 (1999), n 2466] il progetto del Belfast Byzantine Enterprises dedicato al celebre monastero costantinopolitano di Everghetis pubblica ora a cura di Robert H. Jordan il Synaxarion o Typikon liturgico dello stesso monastero. L'opera, monumentale, è pianificata in quattro volumi: il primo – qui recensito – contiene i testi relativi al primo semestre dell'anno (settembre–febbraio), nel secondo volume verranno pubblicati i testi (...) del secondo semestre (marzo–agosto) e del ciclo mobile (pre-quaresima, quaresima, tempo pasquale); all'edizione vera e propria si aggiungerà un terzo volume di indici ed un quarto di commento. (shrink)

(2012). UK Conference Report: Confidentiality and Collaboration—The Ethics of Information Sharing in Health and Social Care. Ethics and Social Welfare: Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 74-78. doi: 10.1080/17496535.2012.651888.

It has been a long-standing puzzle that Negative Polarity Items appear to split into two subvarieties when their effect on the interpretation of questions is taken into account: while questions with any and ever can be used as unbiased requests of information, questions with so-called `minimizers', i.e. idioms like lift a finger and the faintest idea, are always biased towards a negative answer (cf. Ladusaw 1979). Focusing on yes/no questions, this paper presents a solution to this puzzle. Specifically it is (...) shown that in virtue of containing even (cf. Heim 1984), minimizers, unlike any, trigger a presupposition, which reduces the set of the possible answers to a question to the singleton containing the negative answer. (shrink)

A common approach for measuring the effectiveness of an education system or a school is the estimation of the impact that school interventions have on students’ academic performance. However, the latest trends aim to extend the focus beyond students’ acquisition of knowledge and skills, and to consider aspects such as well-being in the academic context. For this reason, the 2015 edition of the international assessment system PISA incorporated a new tool aimed at evaluating the socio-affective variables related to the well-being (...) of students. It is based on a definition focused on the five dimensions proposed in PISA theoretical framework: cognitive, psychological, social, physical and material. The main purpose of this study is to identify the well-being components that significantly affect student academic performance and to estimate the magnitude of school effects on the well-being of students in OECD countries, the school effect being understood as the ability of schools to increase subjective student well-being. To achieve this goal, we analyzed the responses of 234,000 students from thirty-five OECD countries to PISA 2015 questionnaires. Specifically, we considered non-cognitive variables in the questionnaires and student performance in science. The results indicated that the cognitive well-being dimension, composed of enjoyment of science, self-efficacy and instrumental motivation, as well as the test anxiety all had a consistent relationship with student performance across countries. In addition, the school effect, estimated through a two-level hierarchical linear model, in terms of student well-being was systematically low. While the school effect accounted for approximately 25% of the variance in the results for the cognitive dimension, only 5-9% of variance in well-being indicators was attributable to it. This suggests that the influence of school on student welfare is weak, and the effect is similar across countries. The present study contributes to the general discussion currently underway about the definition of well-being and the connection between well-being and achievement. The results highlighted two complementary concerns: there is a clear need to promote socio-emotional education in schools, and it is important to develop a rigorous framework for well-being assessment. The implications of the results and proposals for future studies are discussed. (shrink)

Fictions feature prominently in several of Hume’s important arguments about the external world. For example, Hume is clear that there would be no belief in the continued existence of objects, were it not for the fictions that are causally responsible for effecting this belief. Interpreters of Hume on the topic of fiction generally argue that the formation of fiction requires the possession of general ideas and the use of language. Drawing upon recent attempts in the literature to advance this claim, (...) I offer reasons for why this general approach is undesirable. By examining Hume’s comments on the capabilities of children, this paper advances a novel approach to the topic of fictions in Hume’s philosophy that separates the matter of fiction formation from the use of language, arguing instead that it is not the use of language that establishes fictions; fictions exert their influence upon the mind before the use of language becomes available to us. (shrink)

This essay discusses the ethical challenges and dilemmas in allocating scarce medical resources during the COVID-19 pandemic, using the German legislative process as a starting point. It is guided by the right to non-discrimination of people with disability and generally contrasts utilitarian and rights-based principles of allocation. Three approaches that were suggested in the German discussion, are presented, the lottery principle, the first come first served principle and the probability to survive principle. Arguments in favour and against each principle are (...) discussed. The focus is on the utilitarian probability to survive principle, which was adopted in German legislation in 2022, and its discriminatory potential against people with disability. The essay suggests ways to mitigate the concerns of discrimination related to the probability to survive principle. It concludes that resolving the triage dilemma requires a balanced approach between utilitarian and rights-based concerns, which promotes both maximising the number of patients surviving and the right not to be discriminated against and be treated equally. It calls for a further debate on how many ethical values such as equity, fairness and non-discrimination we are willing to sacrifice for a higher number of survivors and when we are willing to sacrifice survivors to secure ethical values. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to describe the basic parameters of a value-oriented approach to assessing the education results as a possible basis for the methodology for assessment of the educational work in the general system of education. The key methods we used were content analysis of text sources, cross-reference analysis, comparative analysis, and humanitarian examination of juristic documents. The interpretation of education as a unity of teaching and upbringing for the state as a key subject of education, which (...) forms the requirements for the results and organization of the educational process, sets the task of assessing personal, subject and metasubject educational results. The philosophy of education faces a challenge regarding the determination of the expediency of assessing educational results, the conceptual basis of assessment, fixing the orientation of assessment on the conditions of educational organzations' activities, and on the results achieved by students. A practical managerial task is to develop an attitude towards using formalized procedures and methods for assessing educational results. The article proposes a value-oriented approach to assessing the educational work in the general education system of the Russian Federation based on an analysis of key regulatory documents of the Russian education system, the interpretation of upbringing as a process of forming value-semantic attitudes. The approach is based on identifying three main groups of value orientations to build a possible system of indicators that fix educational results: "Value orientations related to life, health and safety"; "Value orientations of social interaction"; "Value orientations of personal development". Values are an essential element in regulating human behavior, which guides the process of defining goals and choosing the means to achieve them. Values acquire a functional character in value orientations and can serve as indicators of education results at the level of students as a collective subject. It seems impossible to single out the contribution of individual actors to the output of education and to avoid contradictions between the value-semantic attitudes that exist in the space of modern culture. For the education system, the subject of assessing the quality of upbringing as a purposeful process can be both the quality of the organization of upbringing work and the outcomes of upbringing efforts. The results of education as a manifestation of value orientations in the activities of students can be considered based on quantitative and qualitative indicators, which is significant for making managerial decisions at different levels. (shrink)

Self‐management programmes provide strategies to optimise health while educating and providing resources for living with enduring illnesses. The current paper describes the development of a community‐based programme that combines a transdiagnostic approach to self‐management with mindfulness to enhance psychological coping for older people with long‐term multimorbidity. The six steps of intervention mapping (IM) were used to develop the programme. From a needs assessment, the objectives of the programme were formulated; the theoretical underpinnings then aligned to the objectives, which informed programme (...) design, decisions on implementation, programme adoption and evaluation steps. Bandura's social cognitive theory informed the methods and practical strategies of delivery. Among the features addressed with participants are transdiagnostic dimensions such as fatigue, pain, breathlessness, sleep disturbances. The programme utilises mindfulness to aid coping and ameliorate the psychological distresses associated with chronicity. Findings from an initial feasibility study and subsequent pilot assisted in conceptualising our programme. In conclusion, applying IM gave the planners confidence the programme is robust and evidence‐based with clearly articulated links between the behavioural goals and design elements to obtain the desired outcomes. (shrink)

Der Mensch als Naturwesen, von P. Jordan.--Die Zukunft des Menschen bei Teilhard de Chardin, von E. Benz.--Christlicher Schöpfungsglaube und naturwissenschaftliche Entwicklungstheorie; zur Aussage Teilhard de Chardins, von H. Dolch.--Weltverwandlung und Sinnesverwirklichung; zwei Zentralbegriffe der Keyserlingschen Philosophie, von G. Böhme.--Zu einer Zukunftssynthese von Geist und Natur, von H. Mislin.--Das Phänomen Mensch in der Deutung Teilhards, von J. Piveteau.--Biographische Notizen.

This interdisciplinary, empirical and theoretical approach to forgiveness and revenge considers the roles of truth, restitution and ritual in the promotion of forgiveness and deterrence of revenge in multiple contexts.

English summary: Medicine is not only a technique or skill for obtaining or restoring health in the face of illness and death; it strives to be a component of life that has learned to deal with the inevitability of suffering and death. As meditatio vitae et mortis, it can become a field of reflection on being human par excellence. The increasing possibility of anti-aging, plastic surgery and enhancement procedures, however, again bring about questions of the limits of human medicine, even (...) moreso if, as in transhumanist utopia and cryonic practice, the possibility of postponement or even of overcoming human finitude becomes possible. Medicine, society and the presence of death and dying must respond to these challenges. Herein ies the focus of this volume: the authors reflect on finiteness and immortality in medicine from historical, philosophical, social science, and ethical perspectives. German text. German description: Die Medizin ist nicht nur Technik oder Kunst, das Leben und die Gesundheit angesichts von Krankheit und Tod zu erhalten bzw. wiederherzustellen, sondern strebt eine Praxis der Lebensfuehrung an, die mit der Unvermeidbarkeit von Leiden und Sterben umzugehen lernt. Als meditatio vitae et mortis kann sie zu einem Feld der Reflexion ueber das Menschsein par excellence werden. Die zunehmenden Moglichkeiten von Anti-Aging, Plastischer Chirurgie und Enhancement stellen dabei die Fragen nach Grenzen einer humanen Heilkunde wieder neu, noch dazu, wenn - wie in transhumanistischen Utopien und kryonischer Praxis - die Moglichkeit der Verschiebung oder gar Uberwindung menschlicher Endlichkeit in Aussicht gestellt wird. Medizin, Gesellschaft und Sterbekultur der Gegenwart muessen auf die Herausforderungen reagieren. In diesem Themenfeld liegt der Schwerpunkt des Bandes: Die Autoren reflektieren Endlichkeit und Unsterblichkeit in der Medizin aus historischer, philosophischer, sozialwissenschaftlicher wie auch ethischer Perspektive. (shrink)

Three experiments investigated the role of target-target perceptual similarity within the attentional blink. Various geometric shapes were presented in a rapid serial visual presentation task. Targets could have 2, 1, or 0 shared features. Features included shape and size. The second target was presented after five or six different lags after the first target. The task was to detect both targets on each trial. Second-target report accuracy was increased by target-target similarity. This modulation was observed more for mixed-trial design as (...) compared with blocked design. Results are discussed in terms of increased stability of working memory representations and reduced interference for second-target processing. (shrink)

This article explores the question of literary criticism in the context of interactions between literature and philosophy. The best example of such interaction is the legacy of the early twentieth century Russian literary critic, Yuly Aykhenvald. This article gives a brief overview of his works of literary criticism and their thematic repertoire. Aykhenvald’s philosophical background, professional education, and personal connections with renowned Russian thinkers, including Vladimir Solovyov, Fyodor Stepun, and Semyon Frank, are included in an evaluation of Aykhenvald’s position on (...) one of the most discussed relationships in Russian culture—that of Russia and the West. The issue of relations between the West and Russia acquired a particular urgency after the October Revolution of 1917, when Russian culture split into two realms—Soviet and émigré. This article analyzes Aykhenvald’s position on this issue, which is present in both his philosophical responses to the Eurasianists and in his essays written on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of Pushkin’s birth. Throughout the mid-1920s Aykhenvald wrote that Pushkin was the ideal of spiritual and aesthetic balance. In Pushkin’s work Aykhenvald found the embodiment of his own historiosophical aspirations—the harmonious fusion of Russia and the West. (shrink)

The purpose of the study is to reveal the essence of digital technologies in the municipal government system, to identify the main problems of their transformation in the territory of the subjects, and to develop directions for the mechanism of adaptation of the relationship between different management structures in the conditions of digitalization of processes. The article considers the author's vision of the development of digital technologies in the territorial aspect. In particular, the problems of technical equipment of remote territories (...) are considered, in particular, the problems of training personnel and territorial access to Internet resources are touched upon. When evaluating the legislative and regulatory acts of the Russian Federation, it is clear that digital technologies require a separate approach to solving problems of both legal and economic nature, while we focus on their relationship. It is obvious that when developing the strategic direction of digital technologies, the adapted elements require some adjustments and additions, which is currently being carried out. Such changes and additions are promoted not only through legislative and regulatory activities, but also on the basis of scientific research, which in turn develop new directions that contribute to solving problems in the development of digital technologies, not only in the management system, but also in the areas of business, professional education, training and retraining of personnel, etc. As a result, the identified problems in the resource provision of digital technologies allowed us to develop measures that specify the strategic direction. (shrink)

The article discusses the challenges, benefits, and risks that, from a bioethical perspective, arise because of the the development of eHealth projects. The conceptual framework of the research is based on H. Jonas’ principles of the ethics of responsibility and B.G. Yudin’s anthropological ideas on human beings as agents who constantly change their own boundaries in the “zone of phase transitions.” The article focuses on the events taking place in the zone of phase transitions between humans and machines in eHealth. (...) It is shown that for innovative practices related to digitalization and datafication in medicine, it is needed to rethink central bioethical concepts of personal autonomy and informed consent. In particular, the concept of broad or open informed consent is discussed, which allows the idea of moral responsibility in the field of biomedical technologies to be extended to events of uncertain future. The authors draw attention to the problems associated with the emergence of new autonomous subjects/agents in relationship between doctors and patients. The humanization of machines occurring in eHealth is accompanied by a counter trend – the formation of conceptions and practices of the quantified self. There emerges the practices of self-care and bio-power caused by the datafication and digitization of personality. The authors conclude that bioethics should proactively develop norms for the evolving interaction between doctor and patients. (shrink)

This article describes two features of technoscience, which are significant for the consideration of the prospects of human improvement projects. The first feature of technoscience is that the object of its research is artificial in origin which means created by person. As an example of new objects, situations and problems are given projects to create «designer children», development of transplantation, creating implantable neural interface. The second feature of technoscience is that the well-established methods can't be applied to determine the results (...) of the implementation of human improvement projects. As an example, the article discussed neo-eugenics projects. The article concludes that today in the social sciences there is no clear position on the grounds of human improvement projects. However, this is not an obstacle for the development of technoscience. (shrink)

The article analyzes the interdisciplinary methodology of city research within the philosophical and cultural approach. The authors argue that at present, besides sociological and economic approaches to the interpretation of the city, the cultural and philosophical examination of city is of special interest. It combines both theoretical issues and the practical aspects. The authors present the philosophical and cultural analysis of the city as well as the general concept of chronotopia. The concept of chronotope, proposed by M. M. Bakhtin and (...) his followers, is most often used as a tool for the analysis of fiction. According to the authors, the spatio-temporal diagnostics of the city also has significant theoretical and practical potential. The authors discuss various literary and philosophical texts analyzing the feautures and evolution of the “soul of the city” (written by Russians N.P. Antsiferov, I.M. Grevs, Y.M. Lotman, M.S. Kagan, I.I. Mitin as well as by foreign scholars Y. Slezkine, K. Schlogel, exploring the chronotope of Soviet cities). The article presents other modern Russian and foreign researchers who directly collaborated with the authors of this research in joint urban projects: M. Golovanivskaya (“syntax” of urban squares), “Ural matrix” (A. Ivanov, I. Lisovets, E. Trubina), chronotope of a small Israeli city (E. Rimon), Stanford chronotopes (J. Bender, D.E. Wellbery). Since the city, like any cultural phenomenon, manifests itself within a set of spatio-temporal coordinates, the chronotope can be considered as the basic tool for its philosophical and cultural interpretation. The article substantiates the practical aspects of applying chronotopia to the analysis of the city: chronotopes of the past and everyday life in cities of certain types, strategic opportunities and boundaries of the chronotopes of a given city. The authors concludes that the chro-notopia of city is a transdisciplinary field in the cultural and philosophical studies of the city. (shrink)

The article presents the definition of polylingual education, aсcepted in the scientific and expert community abroad. The positive practices of multilingual education in Europe are summarized on the basis of the analysis of the project of European centre for modern languages of the Council of Europe, allowing to assess adequately the significance of the transformation of the language policy of the Russian Federation, using the experience of European countries in the development of polylingual personality. Arguments are given regarding the prospects (...) for the development of multilingual education in Russia, and one of the possible models for its implementation in higher education is proposed. (shrink)

The first hurdle to overcome in approaching the complex topic of the relation between language and consciousness is terminology. So let me begin, in good philosophical style, by explaining the senses in which I use the three lexical terms in the title. Luckily I need not explain those of the three grammatical words the, of, and on: there is probably a minor library of semantic literature devoted to that. I need not, since I both know their meanings pre-theoretically, and know (...) that my readers, as users of English, know them. The significance of this simple fact concerning the meaning of all everyday words, in everyday constructs, is something that I will return to, since it plays a central role in the argument in Section 2. However, with abstract, theoretically loaded nominalizations such as dependence, language, and most of all consciousness, we need to beware since we cannot assume common knowledge -- myriads of misunderstandings arise since we mean somewhat different 'things' by them. I start with the easiest, by which I mean specifically ' dependence of language on consciousness', explaining only afterward what I mean by the latter terms. I ask the reader to bear this circularity with me. (shrink)

Brain stimulation techniques allow for the search of crucial areas for a given function. Not always convergent with neuroimaging, TMS studies have targeted parietal areas critical for quantity representation, spatio-numerical links, numerical and non-numerical quantity, finger gnosis and calculation. TMS data indicate the intraparietal sulcus and surrounding areas in the left and right hemisphere as crucial for quantity processing, although left hemisphere might be dominant. Bilateral parietal loci are essential for calculation and bilateral parietal areas are behind the spatio-numerical link, (...) which extends to frontal and posterior parietal sites. DCE studies to date have focused on the dominant hemisphere, have used calculation tasks and have found both dissociation and overlap between operations. An integrative view of positive findings and a focus on convergence and possible improvement is proposed. Although regularities are found between these techniques, more research is needed before arriving at conclusions that will have basic and clinical importance. (shrink)

This volume is the first to focus specifically on experimental studies of the semantics of gradability, scale structure and vagueness. It presents support for and challenges to current formal analyses of these phenomena in view of experimentally collected data, highlighting the ways semantic and pragmatic theory can benefit from experimental methodologies. The papers in the volume contribute to an explicit and detailed account of the use, representation, and online processing of gradable and vague expressions using various kinds of controlled speaker (...) judgment tasks, eye tracking, and ERP. The aim is to strengthen the foundations of experimental semantics and promote interaction between linguists, psycholinguists, psychologists, and philosophers who are interested in the semantics of natural language. Using data representing different languages and a variety of nominal and adjectival constructions, including degree modification and comparatives, the contributions address scale-based classifications of gradable predicates, such as the absolute vs. relative distinction; the nature of the standards for applicability of gradable expressions and the ways in which standards are determined; the nature of dimensions and multidimensionality in the meaning of scalar expressions; and the role of embodiment, subjectivity, and sociolinguistic considerations in the use and understanding of gradable expressions. (shrink)

Introduction. The article raises the problem of categorical expression of forming and preserving in active reproduction of the ecological worldview of the modern era man, oriented on building optimal human relations with the constantly technologicalizing and digitalizing world. The elaboration of the content of the main terms of the problem under consideration is reflected not only in the analysis of modern scientific and public discourse on the subject, but also in the materials of the All-Russian scientific-practical conference “Modern materials and (...) methods of solving environmental problems of post-industrial agglomeration”, in particular, the section “Humanitarian bases of nature-saving activity”. The purpose of the study is to clarify the semantic content of the concepts “ecological worldview”, “ecological consciousness”, “ecological thinking”, “environmentalism” in the modern scientific and public discourse not only in its published representation, but also in the praxis of the main ideas and key theses of the reports of the participants of the humanitarian section of the environmental conference, reflecting in a discussion format the scientific demand, the degree of clarity, dynamics and problematization of the interdisciplinary development of the categories of ecothematics. Methods. The methodological foundations of the research are related to clarifying the above concepts, their semantic emphases in scientific discourse, as well as eco-rhetoric in the Internet space. In addition, in order to reflect the key theses and main ideas of the papers, the methods of gen- eral scientific order (analysis, synthesis, abstraction, etc.) are used. Scientific novelty of the research. The content of the terms “ecological worldview”, “ecological consciousness”, “ecological thinking”, “environmentalism” in theoretical scientific and modern public discourse in their correlation with scientific interdisciplinary practices of the conference discussion platforms has been clarified. Results. A discursive field has been formed in the public Internet space, which can be thematically designated as “ecologization of digitalization”, according to which the latest digital technologies are capable of preventing and solving some environmental problems. In addition, it can be argued that the terms “ecological consciousness” and “ecology of consciousness” mean not only a careful attitude to natural resources, but also responsibility for one’s actions and a positive attitude to the world in the form of proactive thinking (instead of reactive) based on the worldview of ecohumanism and holism. Conclusions. Since the middle of the last century, domestic and foreign philosophical and scientific literature has noted the need for active formation of an ecological worldview, expressed in the preserving and reproducing the values of human concern for nature, society, culture and self. Today, in the conditions of aggravation of environmental risks, their scientific and public discussions, and the search for ways to mitigate them, the issue of changing the paradigm of thinking and activity of modern man in favor of a caring, careful and responsible attitude to himself and the surrounding world is actualized. In this regard, in the discourses discussed above, there is a demand for mental attitudes and everyday practices in which pro-ecological activity would be manifested as an attribute of an environmentally friendly person (homo ecologicus). The semantic field of the Internet space on ecothematics correlates with the scientific interdisciplinary discourses of conference discussion platforms, thus also reflecting the semantic demand for new categories in various discourses and scientific practices. (shrink)

The present work is a comment of a recent paper by Fortin and coauthors in which the authors propose the introduction of Bohmian mechanics in the philosophy of chemistry and the use of standard quantum mechanics as a mere instrument of prediction. This way would allow overcoming the obstacles found in linking molecular chemistry and quantum mechanics. Starting from some remarks on the orbital concept, we highlight and discuss some general issues that need to be taken into account when two (...) scientific theories coexist within the same investigation field, i.e. SQM and BM. (shrink)

The article examines the nature of the dogmatics found in the poetry written by Gregory of Nazianzus through a particular case-study, the poem On the Son. It demonstrates that his lyric composition contains the same doctrine conveyed by the orations authored by him and exposes the manner in which he employs similar terminology in works belonging to both genres. In order to attain its objective my article compares the above-mentioned piece with Orations 29 and 30 that bear the same title.

The subject of the analysis of this paper is the Andean civilization view by the Peruvian author of the XVI century Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, a Quechua Indian by origin, who became a Catholic monk, as well as a translator and mediator between two civilizations: European, personalized by Spanish administration and Catholic Church present in the conquered lands, and Andean civilization, represented by local population speaking native Quechua and other Native American languages. The collision of two worlds is clearly (...) visible in the Chronicle «El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno», which belongs to this author. This literary monument is an invaluable document because it describes in Medieval Spanish a disappearing world left behind, due to the lack of writing, having only artifacts of material culture and proto-hieroglyphic recording tools. The main methods of this research – analysis, synthesis, generalization. Analyzing the statements of the author of the Chronicle, who is trying to reconcile the two worlds, it is possible to recreate the panorama of the life of Andean society of that era and the sociolinguistic situation developed in it. The novelty of the study can be considered the combination of cultural and sociolinguistic approaches in the analysis of the material. The conclusion reached by the authors of the article is that the death of the Andean civilization was inevitable under the onslaught of the European one. But the Andean world, native languages and culture have not disappeared, and today are being revived, since the Peruvian society has formed a request to restore the social functions of native languages in full. (shrink)

A text for normal schools and teachers' colleges.

Catharine Macaulay (1731 — 1791) is often construed as a historian, and moral and political philosopher chiefly concerned with the high privilege of reason. Accordingly, her Letters on Education (1790) are thought to advance her vision for how education must cultivate the rational capacities required to comprehend moral duty. In this paper, against scholarly consensus, I show that sympathy, not reason, makes possible the discovery of moral truths and inclines us to act in accordance with them. By attending to Macaulayan (...) sympathy, this paper not only advances a novel approach to her moral philosophy, it also identifies a hitherto underappreciated aspect of her engagement with Hume. For Macaulay, Humean sympathy accounts for how fellow feeling produces social bias and leads us to draw distinctions among people according to their social rank (Hist. 6:xii). For Macaulay, this is not a necessary feature of sympathy: it is symptomatic of a failure to see that sympathy must be cultivated to establish the “consistent system of feeling” needed to penetrate distinctions of social rank and species using an “equal eye of compassion” (Hist. 6: xii). Macaulay’s account of how sympathy must be cultivated so that this potential is realized is advanced in the Letters. (shrink)

Common sense philosophy often resolves the threat of skepticism by appeal to epistemic realism. Reidian common sense, for instance, establishes that perception allows us to form a veridical conception of external objects from information delivered by the senses. Based on an eighteenth-century English translation of his work, some scholars have assumed that Buffier similarly relies upon common sense to defend epistemic realism. Through a comparative analysis of Reid and Buffier, this chapter shows that, for the latter, common sense does not (...) resolve external world skepticism by appealing to the metaphysical underpinnings of external objects. Instead, anticipating elements of Hume’s philosophy, Buffier argues that universal agreement concerning the existence of external objects based on the deliverances of the senses cannot be used to justify claims about their metaphysical status. His understanding of common sense is therefore distinct from Reid’s because it responds to skepticism by appealing to the recognition of the limits of sensation. This analysis thereby reveals that Buffier’s position is clearly anti-realist. (shrink)

Introductory remarks.-- pt. 1. Formal unification; or theory of language.-- pt. 2. Concrete unification; or physical science.-- pt. 3. Spiritual unification; or humanics.