Namen članka je, da poda konsistentno interpretacijo Descartesove teorije materialno lažnih idej, tj. idej čutnih kvalitet. Določiti mora, kaj je problem materialno lažnih idej, na katere ideje se nanaša ter te nato umestiti v Descartesovo ontologijo idej. Problem je mogoče razumeti na dva načina: bodisi materialno lažne ideje razumemo kot dejansko zavajajoče reprezentacije, ki telesa predstavljajo kot nosilce čutnih kvalitet, bodisi jih razumemo kot reprezentacije, ki telesa predstavljajo na temen način. Materialno lažne ideje so občutki in ne ideje občutkov. Descartes (...) konsistentno zagovarja teorijo, po kateri je pripis čutnih kvalitet telesom posledica sodbe, občutki pa telesa predstavljajo le zelo temno. Občutki kot vse ostale ideje predstavljajo s predmetno realnostjo, njihova temnost pa je posledica združenja duha s telesom. (shrink)

Building on William G. Lycan’s insight that proper names are paronymous, I pursue two goals in this paper: I argue that Lycan’s insight is not restricted to proper names, but can be extended to include certain general terms, and I aim to demonstrate how this contributes to a better understanding of sentences in the context of scientific discovery. To this end, I first address the question of how to best grasp the largely unknown concept of paronymy by tracing it back (...) to Aristotle, and by exploring recent developments in the philosophy of language and in linguistics. I then focus in greater detail on Lycan’s argument that proper names are paronymous and extend this reasoning to general terms, using analogous examples to show that general terms, like proper names, exhibit paronymy. Shifting the focus to scientific discovery, I show how recognizing the paronymy of general terms enhances our understanding of how scientific terms evolve over time and relate to other terms. My analysis also reveals that the “is” in scientific sentences does not necessarily function as the “is” of identity but can, among others, also be interpreted as the “is” of explication. This allows not only for the resolution of various puzzles, but also for different readings of sentences to coexist peacefully. (shrink)

This habilitation thesis explores the foundations of scientific discovery by examining the roles of language, conceptual structures, and artificial intelligence in knowledge production. It contributes to the emerging field of the philosophy of scientific discovery by addressing fundamental questions: What constitutes a scientific discovery? What structural features characterize discovery processes? How do language and naming practices shape scientific progress? And to what extent can machines participate in or even independently generate discoveries? Drawing from case studies in biology, epistemology, and AI (...) research, this work argues that scientific discovery is a structured process encompassing three core elements: finding, acceptance, and knowledge. Special attention is given to declarative speech acts in the validation of discoveries, the role of ambiguity and naming in the evolution of scientific terminology, and the potential for artificial agents to engage in meaning-making and scientific inference. By integrating perspectives from the philosophy of science, language, and mind, this work lays the groundwork for a systematic and interdisciplinary approach to understanding scientific discovery. (shrink)

In this article, I explore the connections between imagination, names, and discoveries by engaging with the works of Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell. While these two thinkers had divergent philosophical perspectives, I argue that their ideas can be fruitfully integrated into the broader framework of the philosophy of scientific discovery. First, I examine Whitehead’s notion of imagination, distinguishing between two types: counterfactual reasoning within a given theoretical framework and imaginative narrative construction that reshapes the framework itself. This distinction, I (...) suggest, helps clarify how imagination contributes to scientific discoveries. Second, I revisit Russell’s theory of names, proposing a reinterpretation in light of contemporary debates. I advocate for a predicativist reading of Russell’s theory, which, I argue, provides a better account of how names function in the process of scientific discovery—particularly in the naming of newly identified species or concepts. By integrating Whitehead’s insights on imagination and Russell’s refined theory of names, I offer a systematic contribution to the philosophy of scientific discovery, highlighting the structural role of both conceptual tools in shaping scientific progress. (shrink)

This chapter examines the identity theory and eliminativism, two materialist positions in the philosophy of mind that address the mind-body problem. While both perspectives share the assumption that mental phenomena are ultimately physical, they diverge significantly in their implications. The identity theory, originally developed by Herbert Feigl, U.T. Place, and J.J.C. Smart, asserts that mental states are identical to neurophysiological processes. However, objections such as the argument from multiple realizability have challenged this view, leading to functionalist alternatives. In contrast, eliminativism—developed (...) by thinkers such as Paul Feyerabend, Richard Rorty, and the Churchlands—denies the existence of mental states as traditionally conceived, arguing that folk psychology is a flawed theoretical framework that will eventually be replaced by neuroscience. This chapter explores the historical development of both positions, their core arguments, and the ongoing debates about their viability. While the identity theory has evolved into more nuanced forms, including physicalist and panpsychist interpretations, eliminativism remains a controversial yet influential challenge to traditional conceptions of the mind. (shrink)

The SVD ethnologist/ethnographer mostly known as Paul Schebesta (1887-1967) was often introduced in Czechoslovakia as “our Czech” Pavel Šebesta. Querying origins, selves and homelands, his own and in his writings (ethnography/travelogues/fiction on “dwarfs” in the “primeval forest”), this essay traces the multiplicity/borderlands/nomadism of Schebesta/Šebesta, also in his relation to the “Other,” a concept/distinction/border that is thus destabilized or blurred. Interweaving apparently separate questions about his life and scholarship, the essay finds continuities and mirroring across distance and otherness. Following-mirroring Šebesta/schebesta, we (...) recognize the familiar in the strange, Silesia/moravia in Malaya, the contemporary in the primeval, the “native” in the ethnologist, the head-hunter in the biological anthropologist. The essay’s motley style mirrors what has been described as his “jumbled” writing, “highly coloured … scarcely in consonance with the scientific material”; it reflects his nomadism, emphasis on “experiencing together,” and the conflict that he sensed between “theories” and “life, rhythm, poetry.”. (shrink)

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Étude de tessons hellénistiques trouvés dans un monastère bouddhiste de l'ancienne capitale de Ceylan : fragments de plats de « Rouletted ware » où l'influence hellénistique se marque par la couleur et le décor de pointillés et de filets ; col d'amphore ; vase proche des bols mégariens ; vases à vernis peut-être de type pergaménien. Remarques sur les relations commerciales entre Ceylan, et l'Empire Séleucide puis romain.

A common basis for the project on which this volume is based is that one cannot understand religion and ethics without paying attention to the different contexts in, and by means of which, these cultural elements are expressed. This approach makes both religion and ethics liquid, and allows us to see them as based on specific contingencies rather than as expressions of some essential features. The changing societal and cultural conditions in late modern Western societies pose new challenges for established (...) religion, theology and ethics: Not only does religion itself appear to be in some kind of crisis, but also many of the established ways of understanding and doing religion, theology and ethics appear obsolete, inadequate or dated. Against such a backdrop, the articles in the present volume represent attempts to rethink theology and religion with regard to these late modern conditions. The volume is the result of a joint undertaking of two research groups, one based inAbo, Finland, and the other in Oslo, Norway, which have since 2006 focused on exploring the contextual character of theology in understanding both Christian belief and Christian ethics. The challenge of the idea that Christianity appears in new ways - and in "new" contexts, and of investigating what that means, is pursued in various ways. (shrink)

I will examine three claims made by Ackerman and Kripke. First, they claim that not any arithmetical terms is eligible for universal instantiation and existential generalisation in doxastic or epistemic contexts. Second, Ackerman claims that Peano numerals are eligible for universal instantiation and existential generalisation in doxastic or epistemic contexts. Kripke's position is a bit more subtle. Third, they claim that the successor relation and the smaller-than relation must be effectively calculable. These three claims will be examined from the framework (...) of modal-epistemic arithmetic, i.e. arithmetic extended with certain modal, epistemic and modal-epistemic principles. I will present theorems that give support to the claims made by Ackerman and Kripke. (shrink)

Vooral door het boek Dialektik der Aufklärung van Horkheimer en Adorno heeft het bewustzijn zich doorgezet dat een ten opzichte van zichzelf onkritische verlichting haar eigen tegenkrachten oproept. In deze bijdrage wordt op dit fenomeen nader ingegaan, in het bijzonder met het oog op een dogmatisch antireligieuze toespitsing van de verlichting, die daarmee zelf fundamentalistische trekken aanneemt.

The ontological question challanges the nature of the existence of works of art. The text presents basic questions that meaningfuly put questions about the ontological nature of art. It also examines the hypothesis of the physical object and R. Wollheim's arguments against this hypothesis. The essence of the article is the reconstruction of P. Lamarque's approach, which in his book, Art & Object, distinguishes these two elements as key to explain how works of art exist. The object is considered to (...) be a medium, but from the point of view of pure objects, artwork does not exist. Lamarque argues that art occurs where there is also cultural and institutional understanding of objects as works of art. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: The Breakthrough of the Refrigerant System CO2 Makes a Brief Appearance The New Wonder Refrigerants The Area of the HFC Gases A New Technology Is Born – in Norway The SHECCO Transcritical CO2 Circuit The CO2 Paradox.