Grotius' Latin poetry is typical for its manifold reminiscences of examples from Roman antiquity. His favourite Latin poets were Lucan, Manilius, Statius and Claudian. Especially the influence of the first-mentioned poet is prominent. It is shown here by some examples from the Genealogia Nassaviorum , the Silva in Annales Borrhii and other poems in what way Grotius made use of Lucan.

The standard Brouwer–Zadeh poset Σ(H) is the poset of all effect operators on a Hilbert space H, naturally equipped with two types of orthocomplementation. In developing the theory, the question occured if (when) Σ(H) fulfils the de Morgan property with respect to both orthocomplementation operations. In Ref.3 the authors proved that it is the case provided dimH<∞, and they conjectured that if dimH=∞, then the answer is in the negative. In this note, we first give a somewhat simpler proof of (...) the known result for dimH<∞, and then we give a proof to the conjecture: We show that if dimH=∞, then the de Morgan property is not valid. (shrink)

We present a new English translation of L.E.J. Brouwer's paper ‘De onbetrouwbaarheid der logische principes’ of 1908, together with a philosophical and historical introduction. In this paper Brouwer for the first time objected to the idea that the Principle of the Excluded Middle is valid. We discuss the circumstances under which the manuscript was submitted and accepted, Brouwer's ideas on the principle of the excluded middle, its consistency and partial validity, and his argument against the possibility of absolutely undecidable propositions. (...) We note that principled objections to the general excluded middle similar to Brouwer's had been advanced in print by Jules Molk two years before. Finally, we discuss the influence on George Griss' negationless mathematics. (shrink)

Par des suites de choix, nous comprenons des suites qui ne sont pas déterminées complètement par une loi arithmétique. Elles sont des objets caractéristiques de l’intuitionnisme de Brouwer. Nous prétendons qu’à partir de 1927, l’utilisation par Brouwer de suites de choix particulières n’est pas reconnu comme tel. Nous prétendons que l’utilisation de ces suites dans la méthode du sujet créatif, après la seconde guerre mondiale, n’a pas à être mis en relation avec l’utilisation de celles-ci dans les années vingt et (...) qu’elles sont mal interprétées. Nous montrons où se trouvent ces suites de choix dans l’œuvre de Brouwer et comment elles doivent être traitées. (shrink)

For the past three decades there has been a substantial amount of scientific evidence supporting the view that attention is necessary and sufficient for perceptual representations to become conscious (i.e., for there to be something that it is like to experience a representational perceptual state). This view, however, has been recently questioned on the basis of some alleged counterevidence. In this paper we survey some of the most important recent findings. In doing so, we have two primary goals. The first (...) is descriptive: we provide a literature review for those seeking an understanding of the present debate. The second is editorial: we suggest that the evidence alleging dissociations between consciousness and attention is not decisive. Thus, this is an opinionated overview of the debate. By presenting our assessment, we hope to bring out both sides in the debate and to underscore that the issues here remain matters of intense controversy and ongoing investigation. (shrink)

On the ethics of extending human life: healthy people have a right to carry on livingHumanity has long demonstrated a paradoxical ambivalence concerning the extension of a healthy human lifespan. Modest health extension has been universally sought, whereas extreme health extension has been regarded as a snare and delusion—a dream beyond all others at first blush, but actually something we are better off without. The prevailing pace of biotechnological progress is bringing ever closer the day when humanity will be able (...) to act on the latter view by rejecting a clear and present opportunity for much longer healthy lives. Indeed, some biogerontologists contend that that day has already arrived, to the extent that our hesitation in embarking on a vigorous “war on ageing” is already delaying the point at which a cure for ageing will be developed. Here I consider whether our present caution concerning the wisdom of truly curing ageing is likely to survive the increased scrutiny that it will receive in coming years as a result of these technical advances. I conclude that it will not, because of its irreconcilability with values that are more deeply held by the large majority of humanity than any values that argue against the quest for a cure. I further conclude that all the major current reasons given for not curing ageing are mere crutches to help us cope with the immutability of ageing that we have been brought up to accept. Our failure to set aside such irrationality is already shortening potential longevity—quite probably of those already alive today—to a staggering degree. Once we realise this, our determination to consign human ageing to history will be second …. (shrink)

This volume collects Late Ancient, Byzantine and Medieval appropriations of Aristotle's Posterior Analytics, addressing the logic of inquiry, concept formation, the question whether metaphysics is a science, and the theory of demonstration.

After having defined the KARO logic for specifying intelligent agents in earlier work we now turn to the question how to realise agents specified in the KARO framework. To this end we look at agent programming languages that we have defined, and investigate how programs in these languages can be linked to the KARO logic.

C’est, beaucoup plus que l’essai annoncé, une remarquable synthèse sur la philosophie des mathématiques que nous procure Jean-Michel Salanskis (J-M. S), synthèse qu’il faut placer dans la continuité de ses autres ouvrages, L’herméneutique formelle, Paris, Éditions du CNRS, 1991, Le constructivisme non standard, Lille, Presses universitaires du Septentrion, 1999, Sens et philosophie du sens, Paris, Desclée de Brouwer, 2001, Herméneutique et cognition, Lille, Presses universitaires du Septentri..

In this paper, we introduce the Societal Readiness Thinking Tool to aid researchers and innovators in developing research projects with greater responsiveness to societal values, needs, and expectations. The need for societally-focused approaches to research and innovation—complementary to Technology Readiness frameworks—is presented. Insights from responsible research and innovation concepts and practice, organized across critical stages of project-life cycles are discussed with reference to the development of the SR Thinking Tool. The tool is designed to complement not only shortfalls in TR (...) approaches, but also improve upon other efforts to integrate RRI, sustainability, and design thinking in research and innovation cycles. Operationalization and early-stage user tests of the Tool are reported, along with discussion of potential future iterations and applications. (shrink)

The author sets forth that, especially in later Platonism, some aspects should be noted different from those which are usually considered as being characteristic of Plato's philosophy : in later Platonism the stress is laid on the fact that the visible world is an image of the invisible as perfect as it could possibly be ; soul is superior to body, but not separated from it ; and in the visible world an element of identity is fundamentally admitted. In Parm. (...) and Soph, motion is introduced into the intelligible world. The main theses of Platonism as a whole are : the existence of a transcendent intelligible world, the existence of an analogy between this intelligible world and ours. It neither can be said that modern philosophy as a whole rejects these theses, nor that Antiquity as a whole accepted them. Aristotle and the schools after him rejected the (first thesis, sceptics denied the second ; Neoplatonism restored them both. During the Middle Ages they were generally accepted ; only Occam denied the principle of analogy. So did Kant, and neopositivism seems to have accepted this heritage, when it holds that metaphysics have no sense. On the other hand, the « existentialism » of the school of Sartre denies that an eternal essence of things would precede their concrete existence ; and by this doctrine the first point of Platonism is denied as well. Against these modern philosophers others do accept the first principles of Platonism, and Plato's own attitude towards the materialistic philosophy of nature of his time authorizes the opinion that, on the point in question, Plato would not change his position if he lived in our days. (shrink)