In Contagious Architecture, Luciana Parisi offers a philosophicalinquiry into the status of the algorithm in architectural and interaction design.

This dissertation develops an inferentialist theory of meaning. It takes as a starting point that the sense of a sentence is determined by the rules governing its use. In particular, there are two features of the use of a sentence that jointly determine its sense, the conditions under which it is coherent to assert that sentence and the conditions under which it is coherent to deny that sentence. From this starting point the dissertation develops a theory of quantification as marking (...) coherent ways a language can be expanded and modality as the means by which we can reflect on the norms governing the assertion and denial conditions of our language. If the view of quantification that is argued for is correct, then there is no tension between second-order quantification and nominalism. In particular, the ontological commitments one can incur through the use of a quantifier depend wholly on the ontological commitments one can incur through the use of atomic sentences. The dissertation concludes by applying the developed theory of meaning to the metaphysical issue of necessitism and contingentism. Two objections to a logic of contingentism are raised and addressed. The resulting logic is shown to meet all the requirement that the dissertation lays out for a theory of meaning for quantifiers and modal operators. (shrink)

La cognition algorithmique joue un rôle central dans le capitalisme contemporain. Depuis la rationalisation du travail industriel et des relations sociales jusqu’à la finance, les algorithmes fondent un nouveau mode de pensée et de contrôle. Dans cette phase du tout-machinique dans l’évolution du capitalisme numérique, il ne suffit plus de se mettre du côté de la théorie critique pour accuser la computation de réduire la pensée humaine à des opérations mécaniques. Comme le théoricien de l’information Gregory Chaitin l’a démontré ; (...) l’incomputabilité et l’aléatoire doivent être conçus comme les conditions de bases de la computation. Si le technocapitalisme est contaminé par l’aléatoire computationnel et le chaos, la critique traditionnelle de la rationalité instrumentale doit elle aussi être remise en question : l’incomputable ne pleut plus être réduit au statut de contraire de la raison. (shrink)

In this thesis, I attempt to reconcile two alternative approaches to justice: distributive and relational egalitarianism. When examining the two accounts, I claim that relational egalitarianism has distributive egalitarian implications. This implies an extensional overlap between the two accounts, namely a correspondence between the normative outcomes of relational and distributive egalitarianism. This work is addressed primarily to relational egalitarian scholars, as well as others who are convinced by the value of relational equality as a worthy moral and political ideal. My (...) aim is to prove that their goal implies embracing equality of distribution beyond relational equality. When making the case that relational egalitarians should take equality seriously, I claim that they should refrain from embracing distributive principles other than – or incompatible with – principles of distributive equality. This statement entails both a negative and a positive thesis. On the negative side, we should be critical toward the prominent tendency within the relational egalitarian debate, as influenced by the work of Elizabeth Anderson, to reject claims of distributive egalitarian justice in favour of sufficientarian claims of distribution. On the positive side, distributive equality is required by the logic of relational egalitarianism, although its normative significance exists independently of it. While presenting my statements, I provide support for the externalist understanding of relational equality as most recently advanced by Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen, through which the egalitarian character of someone’s relation depends on features external to their relation, such as on the distribution of the relevant currency among them. Whether or not individuals relate to one another as equals – I maintain – depends not merely on the internal feature of their relation, that is, on how they perceive or regard one another, but also, significantly, on how goods such as resources, welfare or opportunities are distributed among them. On my account, individuals are only equals when they recognize each other as equal in status and grant one another an equal share of the justice-relevant good. In defending my thesis, I critically engage with the literature on both distributive egalitarianism and relational egalitarianism. In particular, in the first part, I reconstruct the egalitarian debate and its approach to equality as either a relational or a distributive ideal. In the second part, I question such either/or relation by arguing that relational equality implies distributive equality, because arbitrary distributive inequality violates the deliberative constraint of relating as equals. I strengthen this claim by looking at the particular instantiation of distributive inequality in the field of education, and unveil its theoretical implications while supporting the project of reconciling distributive egalitarian and relational egalitarian approaches to justice. In my view, relational and distributive egalitarianism are compatible theories within one and the same egalitarian framework. Their normative outcomes are – at least in part – equivalent. (shrink)

This paper analyzes the objections of Adolf Reinach to Kant’s transcendental apriorism, shedding light on (1) the speculative distance separating their conceptions of philosophy (namely Reinach’s phenomenology and Kant’s transcendental critique), and (2) the consequential misunderstanding which is at the core of Reinach’s confrontation with Kant. In particular, attention is paid to the issue of the transcendental constitution of objectness, i.e. the question of the givenness of an object with respect to certain functions proper to the subject. In order to (...) illustrate how such a concept is completely absent in Reinach, I will compare his position with those of Husserl, in their relations with Kant’s interpretation of Hume’s philosophy. (shrink)

This essay discusses the possibility, relevance, and pertinence of a reactivation of philosophy as a way of life today on the basis of Pierre Hadot’s account and recent scholarly approaches to the topic. In the wake of John Sellars, it regards philosophy as a way of life as a metaphilosophical option that can still be applied today. The essay starts by addressing John Cooper’s criticism of philosophy as a way of life in the contemporary philosophical landscape and shows that, against (...) the background of the model defined by Hadot, Cooper’s objections do not apply. It then illustrates the clear expression of the model in contemporary philosophy through the particular case of Nietzsche. It concludes by outlining some of the considerations that, in the wake of Hadot, Sellars, Michael Chase, and others, might persuade researchers, teachers, and academics to embrace philosophy as a way of life in their work and lives. (shrink)

What is algorithmic thought? It is not possible to address this question without first reflecting on how the Universal Turing Machine transformed symbolic logic and brought to a halt the universality of mathematical formalism and the biocentric speciation of thought. The article draws on Sylvia Wynter’s discussion of the sociogenic principle to argue that both neurocognitive and formal models of automated cognition constitute the epistemological explanations of the origin of the human and of human sapience. Wynter’s argument will be related (...) to Gilbert Simondon’s reflections on ‘technical mentality’ to consider how socio-techno-genic assemblages can challenge the biocentricism and the formalism of modern epistemology. This article turns to ludic logic as one possible example of techno-semiotic languages as a speculative overturning of sociogenic programming. Algorithmic rules become technique-signs coinciding not with classic formalism but with interactive localities without re-originating the universality of colonial and patriarchal cosmogony. (shrink)

Astract Sex investigates the impact of advances in contemporary science and information technology on conceptions of sex. Evolutionary theory and the technologies of viral information transfer, cloning and genetic engineering are changing the way we think about human sex, reproduction and the communication of genetic information. Abstract Sex presents a philosophical exploration of this new world of sexual, informatic and capitalist multiplicity, of the accelerated mutation of nature and culture.

Tra le diverse proposte ermeneutiche capaci di dare valore alla critica che Christian August Crusius rivolge al razionalismo leibniziano-wolffiano ce n’è una che pone al centro dell’attenzione la relazione che intercorre tra antropologia e teodicea. Il discorso crusiano intorno all’uomo svolge al suo interno il ruolo di fondamento esplicativo della risposta alla questione del male in un mondo voluto da Dio. La teodicea viene così considerata per quello che è in primo luogo: l’espressione di una visione incentrata sull’essere razionale finito, (...) sulla creatura umana. (shrink)

This book provides the first extensive assessment of Hadot’s and Foucault’s interpretations of ancient philosophy. It brings together specialists in ancient thought, as well as Hadot and Foucault scholars, both to explore famous criticisms and clarify Hadot’s and Foucault’s accounts.

Law and economics scholarship has traditionally analyzed efficient breach cases monolithically. By grouping efficient breach cases together, this literature treats the subjective motives and the distributive effects of the breach as immaterial. The Restatement (Third) of Restitution and Unjust Enrichment introduced a distinction based on the intent and the effects of the breach, allowing courts to use disgorgement remedies in cases of ‘opportunistic’ breach of contract (i.e., ‘deliberate and profitable’ breaches). In this article, we evaluate this approach, focusing on the (...) effects of disgorgement remedies on allocative and productive efficiency, information-forcing and competitive effects, and restraint of breach-searching incentives. We show that, even from a purely consequentialist perspective, disgorgement remedies may be normatively warranted, especially when involving sellers’ breach. Recent experimental evidence revealed that the preferences and reactions of ordinary people are in line with our evaluation of the effects of opportunistic breach. (shrink)

Reinhold’s Elementary Philosophy is the first system of transcendental philosophy after Kant. Recent scholarship has understood it as a model of Grundsatzphilosophie, as a defense of the concept of freedom, or as a shift from philosophy to history of philosophy. The present book, translated from Italian language, emphasizes another golden thread in Reinhold’s works from 1784–94 and regards his philosophy as a system of transcendental psychology.

The paper shows how the transcendental assumptions of Kant’s Critique of Reason collects together two of the key moments that, in their various relationships, recur throughout the post-Kantian discussion: anti-psycologism respectively psychologism on the one hand, and anthropology on the other hand. Whereas the position of K.L. Reinhold’s Elementary Philosophy is characterized by a proposal for a superior factualism – that of consciousness as condition of possibility of human experience –, the arguments put forward by J.G. Fichte’s Doctrine of science (...) intend to overcome such a transcendental psychology in order to gain back the true meaning of Kant’s critical turning point, without accepting some too formalistic restrictions. (shrink)

Ce volume est consacré à la notion d'homme entier, telle qu'elle a été définie et diffusée par quelques-uns des principaux philosophes de l'âge moderne et de l'époque contemporaine. Le but poursuivi par cette publication est double. Sur le plan historiographique, elle enregistre les étapes les plus importantes d'un débat, trace les lignes de fond d'une discussion vive, quoique fragmentée dans le temps, au cours de laquelle les auteurs tantôt se rencontrèrent tacitement, tantôt s'apostrophèrent l'un l'autre explicitement. D'un autre côté, elle (...) propose à l'attention du lecteur différents modèles anthropologiques passés qui, en fournissant une image holistique de l'homme, contribuent à dépasser certaines formes de réduction théorique implicite avancées par des recherches de type naturaliste, scientiste, ou par des modèles d'enquête analytico-linguistiques. (shrink)

El populismo debe ser rescatado del espacio de despección en que se lo puso desde sus inicios; por ej. en la interpretación que G. Germani hacía del peronismo como "imposibilidad de sectores rurales emigrados a la ciudad para adaptarse a los patterns de modernización social". Los actuales "populismo..

O diálogo inter-religioso apresenta-se como um dos grandes desafios para o terceiro milênio. Num tempo marcado pelo recrudescimento da violência e da intolerância, o diálogo significa uma possibilidade alternativa. Não há outro caminho possível para a paz no mundo senão mediante o entendimento mútuo e a abertura para a alteridade. O presente artigo busca traduzir o significado do diálogo no contexto da globalização e suas condições de exercício. Palavras-chave: Diálogo; Religião; Globalização; Pluralismo; Alteridade; Comunicação. ABSTRACT Inter-religions dialogue is one of (...) the great challenges of the third millennium. In a time when violence and intolerance have taken momentum, dialogue means an alternativepossibility. There is no other way towards peace in the world but mutual understanding and the openness to alterity. This paper aims at translating the meaning of dialogue within the context of globalization and its conditions of exercise. Key words: Dialogue; Religion; Globalization; Pluralism; Alterity; Communication. (shrink)

Tendo como base os dados colhidos no último Censo do IBGE (2000), percebe-se um novo declínio de adeptos da Igreja Católica, que agora somam 73,8%. Começa a ocorrer uma perda da hegemonia católica sobretudo em razão do crescimento pentecostal. Mas na verdade, o Brasil continua a ser um país com grande pertença cristã (em torno de 90%). Mas já se começa a vislumbrar uma situação nova, marcada pela destradicionalização e pela pluralização do campo religioso. A teologia cristã se vê convocada (...) a pensar esta nova realidade, sendo desafiada a elaborar respostas novas e criativas para esta situação emergente. Palavras-chave: Catolicismo; Pluralismo religioso; Teologia; Religiões. ABSTRACT Based on data collected in the last IBGE Census (2000), one notices a decline in the number of Catholics, now reaching 73.8%. A loss of the Catholic hegemony can be felt, resulting mainly from the growth of the Pentecostal Church. In fact, Brazil goes on being a country of wide Christian adhesion (around 90%). However, a new situation, marked by the fall of tradition and a religious pluralism, begins to take shape. Christian theology is challenged to consider that new reality and to elaborate new and creative responses to the emerging situation. Key words: Catholicism; Religious pluralism; Theology; Religions. (shrink)

This paper aims to show how Th eodor Conrad’s theory of meaning goes beyond that of Husserl. By drawing on an unedited typescript dating from the 1950s in which the Munich phenomenologist outlines the controversy between Husserl and the so-called Munich-Göttingen group, I interpret the Bezeichnung–Kennzeichung opposition that Conrad introduces in an article from 1910 as a realist position opposing Husserl’s act-phenomenological concept of meaning. This position stands in contrast not only to the phansisch or phänologisch theory of meaning in (...) the Logical Investigations, but also to the new definition of meaning as phänomenologische Bedeutung that Husserl proposes in his 1908 lectures. Conrad advocates a Gegenstandsphänomenologie, for which the main point of a phenomenological theory of meaning is not, like for Husserl, the intentional acts of the subject but rather the qualities of the object to which the meaning refers. (shrink)