This article motivates a shift in certain strands of the debate over legitimate roles for nonepistemic values in scientific practice from investigating what is involved in taking cognitive attitudes like acceptance toward an empirical hypothesis to looking at a social understanding of assertion, the act of communicating that hypothesis. I argue that speech act theory’s account of assertion as a type of doing makes salient legitimate roles nonepistemic values can play in scientific practice. The article also shows how speech act (...) theory might provide a framework for fruitfully extending aspects of the social and pragmatic turns in the philosophy of science. (shrink)

Although most aspects of world and self-consciousness are inherently subjective, neuroscience studies in humans and non-human animals provide correlational and causative indices of specific links between brain activity and representation of the self and the world. In this article we review neuroanatomic, neurophysiological and neuropsychological data supporting the hypothesis that different levels of self and world representation in vertebrates rely upon i) a 'basal' subcortical system that includes brainstem, hypothalamus and central thalamic nuclei and that may underpin the primary (or (...) anoetic) consciousness likely present in all vertebrates; and ii) a forebrain system that include the medial and lateral structures of the cerebral hemispheres and may sustain the most sophisticated forms of consciousness (e.g. noetic (knowledge based) and autonoetic, reflective knowledge). We posit a mutual, bidirectional functional influence between these two major brain circuits. We conclude that basic aspects of consciousness like primary self and core self (based on anoetic and noetic consciousness) are present in many species of vertebrates and that, even self-consciousness (autonoetic consciousness) does not seem to be a prerogative of humans and of some non-human primates but may, to a certain extent, be present in some other mammals and birds. (shrink)

Emoji faces, which are ubiquitous in our everyday communication, are thought to resemble human faces and aid emotional communication. Yet, few studies examine whether emojis are perceived as a particular emotion and whether that perception changes based on rendering differences across electronic platforms. The current paper draws upon emotion theory to evaluate whether emoji faces depict anatomical differences that are proposed to differentiate human depictions of emotion. We modified the existing Facial Action Coding System to apply to emoji faces. An (...) equivalent “emoji FACS” rubric allowed us to evaluate two important questions: First, Anatomically, does the same emoji face “look” the same across platforms and versions? Second, Do emoji faces perceived as a particular emotion category resemble the proposed human facial expression for that emotion? To answer these questions, we compared the anatomically based codes for 31 emoji faces across three platforms and two version updates. We then compared those codes to the proposed human facial expression prototype for the emotion perceived within the emoji face. Overall, emoji faces across platforms and versions were not anatomically equivalent. Moreover, the majority of emoji faces did not conform to human facial expressions for an emotion, although the basic anatomical codes were shared among human and emoji faces. Some emotion categories were better predicted by the assortment of anatomical codes than others, with some individual differences among platforms. We discuss theories of emotion that help explain how emoji faces are perceived as an emotion, even when anatomical differences are not always consistent or specific to an emotion. (shrink)

The formation of the moral point of view in Bernard Williams’ work might be understood as taking place between two central concepts: the individual and the community. It is through the tension between these two poles that some form of knowledge is acquired. In Williams’ work, the individual virtue takes the name of authenticity, and the communitarian knowledge is, importantly, ethical confidence. A philosophical peer of Williams, Alasdair MacIntyre, has dealt with the same question, although in very different ways. They (...) are usually taken to be philosophical rivals in many respects, especially regarding their political views, their views on religion and their thoughts on Aristotle. But if we look deeper into their claims, we should discover that not only do they have similar ethical concerns, as their responses to those concerns are not, in essence, as different as they seem. My purpose with this paper, however, is not to deny the important differences between the two philosophers, but rather to make conspicuous Williams’ demanding ideas on the formation of the moral point of view by (1) connecting significant portions of his work and (2) contrasting his ideas with that of a philosophical “rival,” namely by interpreting MacIntyre’s own declarations on Williams’ work. It will stand out that both philosophers’ motivation to do ethics is to grant an equilibrium between the individual conscience and the moral knowledge that is acquired within a community. (shrink)

The process of completing, correcting and prioritising specifications is an essential but very complex task for the maintenance and improvement of software systems. The preservation of functionalities and the ability to accommodate changes are main objectives of the software development cycle to guarantee system reliability. Logical theories able to fully model such processes are still insufficient. In this paper we propose a full formalisation of such operations on software systems inspired by the Alchourrón–Gärdenfors–Makinson paradigm for belief revision of human epistemic (...) states. We represent specifications as finite sets of formulas equipped with a priority relation that models functional entrenchment of properties. We propose to handle specification incompleteness through ordered expansion, inconsistency through ordered safe contraction and prioritisation through revision with reordering, and model all three in an algorithmic fashion. We show how the system satisfies basic properties of the AGM paradigm, including Levi’s and Harper’s identities. We offer a concrete example and complexity results for the inference and model checking problems on revision. We conclude by describing resilience and evolvability of software systems based on such revision operators. (shrink)

In this article, the nursing health history is revisited with a hermeneutic lens to uncover means by which this tool can better serve nursing practice. It is argued that further distanciation from the developmental and medical model is necessary to accurately uncover health and history in the nurse–client encounter. Based on the works of prominent hermeneutic philosophers, such as Heidegger, Gadamer, Merleau‐Ponty, Ricoeur, and Taylor, four orientations to health history and nursing are explored: orientation to caring, orientation to narrative, orientation (...) to time, and orientation to the body. The nursing health history is used as a vehicle for illuminating the usefulness of a hermeneutic perspective in everyday nursing practice. This article reveals views of health, history, and health history that are already known to nurses and the nursing milieu but are concealed by more dominant outlooks. The hermeneutical perspective presented in this article can help to reveal the important dimensions of everyday nursing practice and foster a richer attunement with the complex health experiences of individuals. (shrink)

Las Lecciones sobre teoría del significado (1908) constituyen un valioso documento a la hora de estudiar el pensamiento de Edmund Husserl a propósito del lenguaje. Sin embargo, este texto ha sido escasamente considerado por la crítica. En este trabajo, intentaré mostrar que el estudio de los planteos desarrollados en dichas lecciones resulta de gran interés para el análisis de las continuidades y cambios en el pensamiento de Husserl, así como también para la discusión filosófica sobre el lenguaje. Me concentraré en (...) dos temáticas que considero fundamentales y que servirán, a mi entender, para dar cuenta de su espíritu y relevancia: 1) la distinción entre dos conceptos de significado y sus repercusiones en la distinción entre significado y objeto; 2) la relación entre nuestras dinámicas de trato con las cosas y las formas gramaticales en que dicho trato se expresa lingüísticamente. (shrink)

If we can and do have some self‐knowledge, how do we acquire it? By examining the ways in which we acquire self‐knowledge—by introspection—we can try shedding some light onto the nature and the breadth of self‐knowledge, as others have tried to do with other forms of knowledge. My aim is to show that introspection involves multiple (that is, at least two) distinct processes, a view I call “pluralism about introspection”. One of the virtues of pluralism is that it explains how (...) we can have such a wide variety of self‐knowledge despite our cognitive limitations. (shrink)

This research examined choice behaviour and probability judgement in a counterintuitive reasoning problem called the Monty Hall problem (MHP). In Experiments 1 and 2 we examined whether learning from a simulated card game similar to the MHP affected how people solved the MHP. Results indicated that the experience with the card game affected participants' choice behaviour, in that participants selected to switch in the MHP. However, it did not affect their understanding of the objective probabilities. This suggests that there is (...) dissociation between implicit knowledge gained from the task and the explicit understanding as to why switching was the best strategy. In Experiment 3, the number of prizes and doors were manipulated to examine how participants construed the problem space of the MHP. Results revealed that participants partition the probability judgement to reflect the number of prizes over the number of unopened doors. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to highlight the under-recognized merits of clinical ethics committees (CECs), to help ensure that the development of roles for clinical ethics consultants do not unwittingly compromise the valuable contributions that CECs can continue to provide. I argue that CECs can offer distinctive contributions to the clinical ethics consultation process that can complement and enrich the input provided by a clinical ethics consultant. These distinctions and complementarities should be further examined and developed. This will help (...) to optimize the synergistic contributions that CECs and clinical ethics consultants can make to promote the ethical treatment of patients and their families. (shrink)

Revision de tesis ¿La escritura de Dios o el autor disuelto? Hacia una crítica de la antropología posmoderna para pensar el pasado reciente por P. D. Franco Häntzsch.

Should education serve external goals, or should it be non-instrumental? In this paper, I recognize a tension between these two views with respect to the question of the end and the means in education, and I suggest conceptual and practical ways to handle this tension. The paper comprises two parts: the first part discusses the problem, and the second part offers solutions. To expose the problem, I present a brief overview of the opposing views of purposiveness versus anti-instrumentalism in education, (...) based on old inspirations and new manifestations of each, and I present two examples of current theories that carry this tension as an inner contradiction. Additionally, I argue these theoretical tensions lead to professional confusions and practical dilemmas among teachers. In search of solutions, I lean on current theoretical arguments to reconcile the contradictions and offer ways to integrate the two views into one pedagogical approach. Finally, I draw a conceptual model that turns the tensions and confusions into a more reasonable complexity that educators can handle in their theoretical thinking and accommodate in their practical choices in school. My conclusions lead to a re-justified commitment to education for democracy, and to teachers’ autonomy. (shrink)

In this paper, I fill out the received view of logical positivism within professional philosophy against which Thomas Kuhn’s Structure appeared. To do this, I look at the methodological dimensions of ordinary language criticisms of logical positivist analysis from P.F. Strawson and J.L. Austin. While no one would confuse Strawson and Austin for philosophers of science, I look to their criticisms given the general porousness of sub-disciplinary boundaries in mid-20th century philosophy, the prominence of ordinary language philosophy in the 1950s, (...) and also because Kuhn was likely aware of their criticisms via Stanley Cavell. Their main charge is that the positivists base their ideal language analysis on an impoverished, yet overreaching account of meaning because they ignore ordinary linguistic practices. I then show how these methodological criticisms run parallel to points Kuhn makes against logical positivist approaches to the study of scientific knowledge. The parallels I draw emphasize methodological, rather than doctrinal dissatisfaction in mid-20th century philosophy with logical positivism’s perceived neglect of linguistic and scientific practices. An insight shared by these parallel criticisms is that logical positivists cannot declare linguistic and scientific practices irrelevant to their philosophical aims without an antecedent investigation of the practices under question. (shrink)

El presente trabajo corona la tercera parte de una trilogía en torno al Mundo islámico, tratando la “bioética jurídica islámica” como fenómeno jurídico regional frente a la occidental, autodenominada universal. (Anteriores partes fueron “Derechos humanos”, y “constitucionalismo” islámicos.) Aporta un glosario terminológico islámico sui generis con connotaciones específicas, similitudes y diferencias frente a la occidental al uso en España, en evitación de posibles confusiones o lapsos debidos al uso de términos de idéntico significante y homólogo significado. Analiza tensiones de todo (...) tipo producidas al asociar “bioética y derechos humanos en el mundo islámico”. Condensa en diez tesis finales la polémica y problemática resultante, que reproduce –según su autor– análoga situación de otrora entre “Derechos humanos universales versus Derechos humanos islámicos regionales”. La bibliografía selectiva abarca temas específicos de Derechos humanos, bioética islámica y constitucionalismo, reseñando in fine aportaciones del autor. (shrink)

This book aims to provide original solutions to a range of highly debated problems among scholars of Plato's Phaedo, along with an overall interpretation of the dialogue. For each of the topics (or Platonic passages) analysed, the book provides a detailed assessment and discussion of the latest scholarship. On the basis of this approach, From Death to Life: Key Themes in Plato's Phaedo offers partially or widely innovative interpretations (particularly with regard to the knowability of the Forms, "recollection", the doctrine (...) of the soul as a harmony, the problem of causes, and the so-called "second voyage"). This book will undoubtedly spark debate among scholars both in terms of the critical assessment of the theses it proposes and of the objections it raises against alternative interpretations. (shrink)

A study of what Descartes calls émotions in his Passions of the Soul suggests that, rather than just a theory of passions—as Descartes himself explicitly claims to be proposing—he was in practice putting forward a more comprehensive theory of passions-émotions, a unified theory which would be closer to what today should properly be called Descartes’ theory of emotions. I try here to make explicit the grounds of this unity by showing that émotions both fit within the functional account Descartes attributes (...) to what he calls passions; and complement the intentionality of passions by expanding it to new objects. In order to show this I offer also a tentative distinction, functionally and intentionally, between passions and émotions in general, on one hand, and, on the other, between the two apparent types of émotions Descartes refers to in the treatise—interior or internal [intérieure] and intellectual [intellectuelle] émotions. (shrink)

Background Serious ethical problems have been anecdotally identified in the care of children with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), which may negatively impact their moral experiences, defined as their sense of fulfillment towards personal values and beliefs. Research aims To explore children’s actual and desired participation in discussions, decisions, and actions in an OI hospital setting and their community using art-making to facilitate their self-expression. Research design A focused ethnography was conducted using the moral experiences framework with data from key informant interviews; (...) participant observations, semi-structured interviews, and practice-based research (art-making) with 10 children with OI; and local documents. Participants and research context The study was conducted at a pediatric, orthopedic hospital. Ethical considerations This study was approved by McGill University Institutional Review Board. Findings/results Children expressed desires to participate in their care, but sometimes lacked the necessary resources and encouragement from healthcare providers. Art-making facilitated children’s voice and participation in health-related discussions. Conclusions Healthcare providers are recommended to consider the benefits of art-making and educational resources to reduce discrepancies between children’s actual and desired participation in care and promote positive moral experiences. (shrink)

Erratum to: Philosophia 42:1063–1084DOI10.1007/s11406-014-9553-7The original version of this article unfortunately includes some imperfections. The correct details are given below.In the second paragraph of the text, references to Leslie 2002 are actually to Leslie 1996.At note 23, the sentence “even if in so doing I would not make A’s condition overall worse” should be replaced by “even if in so doing I would not make B’s condition overall worse”; in the following period, an “if” should be inserted between “even” and “it”.In (...) the last page of the third paragraph, the sentence “would result in a strong violation of some kind of duty toward already existing people than” is intended substituted by the following one: “would result in a violation of some kind of duty toward already existing people, then,”. (shrink)

We show that if the structural rules are admissible over a set \ of atomic rules, then they are admissible in the sequent calculus obtained by adding the rules in \ to the multisuccedent minimal and intuitionistic \ calculi as well as to the classical one. Two applications to pure logic and to the sequent calculus with equality are presented.

Answering to Richard Barbrook’s statements concerning the « the numeric nobility » and « Californian » ideology; Bifo who has lived directly events bound by free radios adventure restores facts and institutionalizing meaning of Felix Guattari’s activist activity. Through the figure of the « technos-nomads », he shows how rhizomatic thought is alone in capacity to realize current changes in the networks universes. He puts bombast it, «aesthetics paradigm » only to realize and to fight against the depth of the (...) contemporary infringements on the sensibility. (shrink)

Review of a representative body of research data concerning the effects of the “mentally retarded” label on parents, teachers, college students, nonretarded children, communities, and persons labeled fails to support the extravagant claim of some investigators that the labeling process has psychologically damaging effects upon the individuals labeled as well as society. Negative reactions to labels could be minimized by extensive public education and counseling. Labels should be retained as formal instruments essential to establishing the eligibility of the retarded for (...) special assistance, and for maintenance of communication within and between disciplines, without which contemporary society could not operate. An argument for the judicious use of labels is fashioned, recommending replacement of the MR label by “AD”, in keeping with the modern view of mental retardation as a psychosocial challenge deemphasizing IQ and requiring adjustment of the whole personality to demands of a complex environment. Parents, teachers, friends, employers, and public officials could support the AD's struggle to effectively participate in community life by promoting the perennial values of respect for human dignity, fairness, equality, autonomy, and compassion. As a result of monitoring the success of such programs in all settings, public policy administrators could formulate rational approaches to improvement of service programs in the national interest. (shrink)