Conditionals whose antecedent and consequent are not somehow internally connected tend to strike us as odd. The received doctrine is that this felt oddness is to be explained pragmatically. Exactly how the pragmatic explanation is supposed to go has remained elusive, however. This paper discusses recent philosophical and psychological work that attempts to account semantically for the apparent oddness of conditionals lacking an internal connection between their parts.

Mindwandering is associated with both positive and negative outcomes. Among the latter, negative mood and negative cognitions have been reported. However, the underlying mechanisms linking mindwandering to negative mood and cognition are still unclear. We hypothesized that MW could either directly enhance negative thinking or indirectly heighten the accessibility of negative thoughts. In an undergraduate sample we measured emotional thoughts during the Sustained Attention on Response Task which induces MW, and accessibility of negative cognitions by means of the Scrambled Sentences (...) Task after the task. We also measured depressive symptoms and rumination. Results show that in individuals with elevated levels of depressive symptoms MW during SART predicts higher accessibility of negative thoughts after the task, rather than negative thinking during the task. These findings contribute to our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of MW and provide insight into the relationship between task-involvement and affect. (shrink)

The sequent system LDJ is formulated using the same connectives as Gentzen's intuitionistic sequent system LJ, but is dual in the following sense: (i) whereas LJ is singular in the consequent, LDJ is singular in the antecedent; (ii) whereas LJ has the same sentential counter-theorems as classical LK but not the same theorems, LDJ has the same sentential theorems as LK but not the same counter-theorems. In particular, LDJ does not reject all contradictions and is accordingly paraconsistent. To obtain a (...) more precise mapping, both LJ and LDJ are extended by adding a "pseudo-difference" operator which is the dual of intuitionistic implication. Cut-elimination and decidability are proved for the extended systems and , and a simply consistent but -inconsistent Set Theory with Unrestricted Comprehension Schema based on LDJ is sketched. (shrink)

The possibility of formal representation of Aristotle’s discussion about singular predication in Categories 10, 13b27-35 is investigated through three symbolic idioms: the first-order language with identity, with and without definitive description, and through the languages of free logics. I show that such representations are not fully adequate. According to the first option, we are committing Aristotle with some (meta)logical implications he is not willing to accept. According to the second option, we are burdening Aristotle with Russell’s theory of names. Finally, (...) the third option leaves us with the assumption that ‘exist(s)’ could be represented with a predicate. This assumption, however, Aristotle emphatically rejects. (shrink)

Conditionals are sentences of the form 'If A, then B', and they play a central role in scientific, logical, and everyday reasoning. They have been in the philosophical limelight for centuries, and more recently, they have been receiving attention from psychologists, linguists, and computer scientists. In spite of this, many key questions concerning conditionals remain unanswered. While most of the work on conditionals has addressed semantical questions - questions about the truth conditions of conditionals - this book focuses on the (...) main epistemological questions that conditionals give rise to, such as: what are the probabilities of conditionals? When is a conditional acceptable or assertable? What do we learn when we receive new conditional information? In answering these questions, this book combines the formal tools of logic and probability theory with the experimental approach of cognitive psychology. It will be of interest to students and researchers in logic, epistemology, and psychology of reasoning. (shrink)

Analysis of the quotations from Leo Tolstoy’s «What I Believe», that Nietzsche copied out and worked on in late 1887-early 1888, shows that after reading this book Nietzsche significantly changed his attitude toward Christianity. Before that he did not see any difference between the teachings of Jesus Christ and historic Christianity, but from that moment on, following Tolstoy, he draws a sharp opposition between them. Still persisting in a very negative assessment of historical Christianity, he acknowledges the teaching of Christ (...) as positive insofar as it contributes to the unfolding of the internal capabilities of the human being. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Neue Zeitschrift für Systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie Jahrgang: 58 Heft: 3 Seiten: 337-348.

Povijest je u Hölderlina prije svega mišljena kao povijest iskona. Iskon bitka u Hölderlina jest o sebi vječno, sebe u sebi samom razlučujuće jedno, koje se nužno u vremenu razvija u slijedu svojih stanja ili doba. Povijest je ono doba iskona koje slijedi nakon pretpovijesnog, a prethodi budućem dobu koje ima doći s dovršenjem povijesti. No povijest je ujedno i povijest svijeta ukoliko je povijest prisutnosti i odsutnosti iskona u svijetu. U svom pretpovijesnom dobu iskon se pojavljuje kao prirodno jedinstvo (...) ili jedinstvo prirode koja u sebi obuhvaća nerazvijeno umijeće. To se iskonsko jedinstvo zatim gubi u povijesnom razdvajanju umijeća i prirode, da bi se na koncu povijesti uspostavilo ponovno jedinstvo koje, međutim, nije istovjetno prvotnom jedinstvu onih suprotnih, već je jedinstvo njihova jedinstva i razdvajanja. U tom se savršenom sjedinjenju pomiruju vječnost i vrijeme, tj. ono o sebi vječno jedno ozbiljuje se kao iskonski svijet.Povijesno udvajanje iskonskog jedinstva na prirodu i umijeće Hölderlin također promatra pod vidom suprotstavljenosti dvaju temeljnih suprotnih »životnih težnji« i njima pripadajućih suprotnih ugođaja – strastvenosti i trezvenosti. Hölderlin objašnjava kako se te suprotstavljene težnje života ili temeljni ugođaji povijesno očituju i na temelju toga međusobno uspoređuje grčku i hesperijsku umjetnost. Povijest obrazuje slijed razdoblja, koji je određen smjenom sklada i suprotstavljenosti temeljnih ugođaja.Tijekom povijesti, iskonsko je sjedinjenje prirode i umijeća moguće samo na način tragedije. U onom tragičkom iskon više ne djeluje samo posredno u razvoju svojih odvojenih dijelova nego se objavljuje neposredno. Ali tragičko je sjedinjenje nesavršeno i privremeno. Povijest je tako određena nizom tragičkih sjedinjenja, iz kojih nužno proizlazi novi oblik razdvajanja. Kao što je tragedija u sredini između starog i novog perioda svijeta, tako je i povijest u cjelini tragička sredina između dvaju doba iskona u kojima je on sjedinjen.Die Geschichte ist bei Hölderlin vor allem als die Geschichte des Ursprungs gedacht. DerUrsprung des Seins bei Hölderlin ist das an sich ewige, sich in sich selbst unterscheidendeEine, das sich notwendig in der Zeit im Verlauf seiner Zustände oder Perioden entwickelt. DieGeschichte ist diejenige Periode des Ursprungs, die nach der vorgeschichtlichen Periode folgtund einer künftigen Periode vorausgeht, die mit der Vollendung der Geschichte zu kommenhat. Die Geschichte ist aber zugleich die Geschichte der Welt, insofern sie die Geschichte derAnwesenheit und Abwesenheit des Ursprungs in der Welt ist. In seiner vorgeschichtlichen Pe­riode erscheint der Ursprung als die natürliche Einheit oder die Einheit der Natur, welche dieunentwickelte Kunst in sich umfasst. Diese ursprüngliche Einheit geht dann in der geschicht­lichen Trennung der Kunst und der Natur verloren, damit am Ende der Geschichte die Einheitwiederhergestellt wird, welche aber nicht mit der anfänglichen Einheit des Gegensätzlichengleichzusetzen ist, sondern die Einheit ihrer Einheit und Trennung ist. In dieser vollkommenenVereinigung werden die Ewigkeit und die Zeit versöhnt, d.h. das an sich ewige Eine wird als dieursprüngliche Welt verwirklicht.Die geschichtliche Entzweiung der ursprünglichen Einheit in Natur und Kunst wird von Hölder­lin auch unter dem Gesichtspunkt der Entgegensetzung von zwei „Grundtendenzen des Lebens”und ihnen zugehörenden Stimmungen – Leidenschaft und Nüchternheit, betrachtet. Hölderlin erklärt wie diese Grundstimmungen sich geschichtlich manifestieren und im Zusammenhangdamit vergleicht miteinander die griechische und hesperische Kunst. Die Geschichte bildet dieFolge der Perioden, die durch den Wechsel der Harmonie und der Entgegensetzung der Grund­stimmungen bestimmt ist.Im Laufe der Geschichte ist die ursprüngliche Vereinigung der Natur und Kunst nur als Tragö­die möglich. Im Tragischen wirkt der Ursprung nicht nur mittelbar, in der Entwicklung seinerentgegengesetzten Teile, sondern offenbart sich unmittelbar. Aber die tragische Vereinigung istunvollkommen und temporär. Die Geschichte ist so durch eine Reihe von tragischen Vereinigungenbestimmt,aus denen eine neue Gestalt der Trennung notwendig hervorgeht. So wie dieTragödie in der Mitte zwischen der alten und neuen Weltperiode steht, ebenso ist auch die Ge­schichte im Ganzen die tragische Mitte zwischen zwei Perioden des vereinigten Ursprungs. (shrink)

We focus here on the intercalary heterochromatin (IH) of Drosophila melanogaster and, in particular, its molecular properties. In the polytene chromosomes of Drosophila, IH is represented by a reproducible set of dense bands scattered along the euchromatic arms. IH contains mainly unique DNA sequences, and shares certain features with other heterochromatin types such as pericentric, telomeric, and PEV‐induced heterochromatin, the inactive mammalian X‐chromosome and the heterochromatized male chromosome set in coccids. These features are transcriptional silencing, chromatin compactness, late DNA replication, (...) underrreplication or elimination in somatic cells, and formation of the heterochromatin state in early embryogenesis. Post‐translational modification of histones and the specific nonhistone protein complexes are shown to participate in the establishment and maintenance of silencing for all heterochromatin types. Many IH regions contain binding sites for HP1 and/or Pc‐G proteins and all the regions are sites of heterochromatin‐associated SuUR protein. Some IH regions are known to contain homeotic genes. Summarizing these data, we suggest that IH regions comprise stable inactivated genes, whose silencing is developmentally programmed. BioEssays 25:1040–1051, 2003. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

A paper on how to adapt your probabilisitc beliefs when learning a conditional.

У статті розглядається специфіка віровчення та основних методів культової та позакультової діяльності прихильників однієї з найвідоміших нетрадиційних синкретичних релігій - саєнтології. Культова практика саєнтологів носить допоміжний характер, а головним для них є надання різноманітних платних послуг. Саєнтологи підтримують соціальні програми: антинаркотичні, антиалкогольні, захист прав людини та ін. Соціальні програми адептів Церкви саєнтології є переважно прикриттям для виконання їхніх місіонерських завдань.

In this article I show that Dostoevskij criticized traditional Christianity, and that for him the authentic teaching of Christianity concerned the unity of man and God, the existence in man of a divine “dimension,” the opening of which allows man to become an absolute being. In the context of this understanding of man and God the concept of “joy” is an important one. This concept includes, on the one hand, the fullness of earthly human life and, on the other hand, (...) the transformation of man and of all earthly being into an absolute and divine state. Dostoevskij’s philosophical outlook appears to be a development of a well known philosophical tradition, mystical pantheism. (shrink)

The aim of the paper is to reconstruct the concept of natural necessity upon which the empirical causal type of a scientific law rests and to enlarge the notion of the conditions of a scientific law. According to regularity theory, what counts in the investigation of causation is the universality of causal proposition. So in this theory priority is given to the explication of the concept “scientific law”. Such an explication was provided by Popper in the first edition of his (...) Logik der Forschung. He defines here the concept “scientific law” by distinguishing between strictly universal propositions and numerical propositions. Later Popper, drawing upon W. Kneale´s criticism, proposed another definition of natural necessity. He expounds his revised view in Chapter X* of the new appendices of the Logic of Scientific Discovery by means of the famous moa-example. He views statement “All moas die before the age of fifty years” as not physically necessary because its truth depends on the presence of conditions different from singular initial conditions. Ba distinguishing between singular initial conditions and modification conditions I, contrary to Popper, claim that that statement can be viewed as naturally necessary. (shrink)

A defense of the rationality of adductive inference from the criticisms of Bayesian theorists.

The business case for Corporate Social Responsibility is a powerful driver for mainstreaming socially responsible behavior in corporate practice. This is because managers’ proclivity to assume responsibility is positively correlated with their expectations that CSR pays off. However, there is the danger that managers might be tempted to focus primarily on those CSR activities that allow to link the associated costs and benefits ex ante reliably which, in turn, is a precondition for a perceived business case. Unfortunately, the perceived business (...) case for CSR activities that prevent irresponsible behavior is rather weak. In contrast, CSR in terms of the voluntary engagement for society is quite promising for the perceived business case. In consequence, a business case–driven approach to CSR might foster “cherry picking” behavior, in the sense that managers might tend to reduce CSR to “doing good” and put less efforts on CSR in terms of “avoiding bad” which, in turn, increases the risk of irresponsible business practices. (shrink)

Kantova je teleološka teorija, izložena u drugom dijelu Kritike moći suđenja, nezasluženo dobila slabu recepciju. Jedna je od mogućih plodnih valorizacija te teorije pokušaj njene bioetičke interpretacije. Kantov »produljeni argument«, koji ga od unutarnje svrhovitosti organizama vodi do prirode kao sustava svrha te naposljetku do posljednje i njoj odgovarajuće krajnje svrhe tog sustava, postavlja plodan teren za uspostavljanje važnih bioetičkih poruka vezanih uz ekologiju, i to barem kroz dva momenta. Ljudi moralne svrhe mogu postizati isključivo unutar prirode te samo s (...) obzirom na moralne svrhe tu istu prirodu jedino i koristiti kao sredstvo. Priroda je toliko isprepleten i povezan sustav da čovjek ne smije umišljati mogućnost zahvaćanja svih posljedica koje njegov čin može prouzročiti, a kamoli sposobnost kontroliranja tih posljedica, nego mora biti što umjereniji u svim intervencijama u okoliš. Ove nam poruke pružaju značajan doprinos u gradnji orijentacijskog okvira za pristupanje okolišu.Kant’s teleological theory, presented in the second part of Critique of Judgment, undeservedly received little reception. A possible fruitful valorization of this theory is an attempt of its bioethical interpretation. Kant’s “extended argument” lead him from internal purposivness of organisms to the nature as a system of ends, and finally to the ultimate and final end. This argument sets fruitful ground for the establishment of important bioethical messages related to ecology, through at least two moments. People can achieve moral ends exclusively within nature, and use this same nature as a mean only with respect to the moral ends. Nature is so interwoven and interconnected system that one can not conceit the possibility of comprehending all consequences of his act, let alone the ability to control these consequences, but one must be moderate in all interventions in the environment. These messages give us a significant contribution to the formation of orientational framework for accessing the environment. (shrink)

This article examines the classification of political doctrines proposed by Boris N. Chicherin in his major work on the history of political thought. Chicherin uses two forms of systematization for...

In the paper I offer a brief overview of main problems in the contemporary metaphysics of time: debates on tensed and detensed theories of time and presentism-eternalism debate. I systematically expose the solutions from the point of view that the truth is grounded in reality and consider the main arguments for each position.

The aim of the paper is to investigate, from the point of view of philosophy of science and philosophy of social science, the turn in the ape language project as accomplished in the works of Sue Savage- Rumbaugh and her collaborators. In this project took place a highly interesting turn from the orientation of research on natural sciences to that on humanities. We shall analyze all the relevant works of Savage-Rumbaugh from the point of view of the two central levels (...) of ALP: its scientific level and the methodological level. (shrink)