One of the enduring concerns of moral philosophy is deciding who or what is deserving of ethical consideration. This special issue of Philosophy and Technology investigates whether and to what extent machines, of various designs and configurations, can or should be considered moral subjects, defined here as either a moral agent, a moral patient, or both. The articles that comprise the issue were competitively selected from papers initially prepared for and presented at a symposium on this subject matter convened during (...) the AISB/IACAP 2012 World Congress, held in at the University of Birmingham in Birmingham, UK. (shrink)

The concept of biodiversity has played a central role within conservation biology over the last thirty years. Precisely how it should be understood, however, is a matter of ongoing debate. In this paper we defend what we call a classic multidimensional conception of biodiversity. We begin by introducing two arguments for eliminating the concept of biodiversity from conservation biology, both of which have been put forward in a recent paper by Santana. The first argument is against the concept’s scientific usefulness. (...) The other is against its value as a target of conservation. We show that neither of these objections is successful against the classic multidimensional conception of biodiversity. Biodiversity thus understood is important from a scientific perspective, because it plays important explanatory roles within contemporary ecology. Moreover, although it does not encompass all valuable features of the natural world, this does not show that we should abandon it as a target of conservation. Instead, biodiversity should be conceived as one of many grounds of value associated with ecosystems. This is consistent with concluding that a central aim of conservationists should be to protect biodiversity. (shrink)

This rich and diverse collection offers a range of perspectives and practices of Philosophy for Children (P4C). P4C has become a significant educational and philosophical movement with growing impact on schools and educational policy. Its community of inquiry pedagogy has been taken up in community, adult, higher, further and informal educational settings around the world. The internationally sourced chapters offer research findings as well as insights into debates provoked by bringing children’s voices into moral and political arenas and to philosophy (...) and the broader educational issues this raises, for example: historical perspectives on the field; democratic participation and epistemic, pedagogical and political relationships; philosophy as a subject and philosophy as a practice; philosophical teaching across the curriculum; embodied enquiry, emotions and space; knowledge, truth and philosophical progress; resources and texts for philosophical inquiry; ethos and values of P4C practice and research. The Routledge International Handbook of Philosophy for Children will spark new discussions and identify emerging questions and themes in this diverse and controversial field. It is an accessible, engaging and provocative read for all students, researchers, academics and educators who have an interest in Philosophy for Children, its educational philosophy and its pedagogy. (shrink)

We study the non-Fregean propositional logic with propositional quantifiers, denoted by $\mathsf{SCI}_{\mathsf{Q}}$. We prove that $\mathsf{SCI}_{\mathsf{Q}}$ does not have the finite model property and that it is undecidable. We also present examples of how to interpret in $\mathsf{SCI}_{\mathsf{Q}}$ various mathematical theories, such as the theory of groups, rings, and fields, and we characterize the spectra of $\mathsf{SCI}_{\mathsf{Q}}$-sentences. Finally, we present a translation of $\mathsf{SCI}_{\mathsf{Q}}$ into a classical two-sorted first-order logic, and we use the translation to prove some model-theoretic properties of (...) $\mathsf{SCI}_{\mathsf{Q}}$. (shrink)

This paper introduces Basic Intuitionistic Set Theory BIST, and investigates it as a first-order set theory extending the internal logic of elementary toposes. Given an elementary topos, together with the extra structure of a directed structural system of inclusions on the topos, a forcing-style interpretation of the language of first-order set theory in the topos is given, which conservatively extends the internal logic of the topos. This forcing interpretation applies to an arbitrary elementary topos, since any such is equivalent to (...) one carrying a dssi. We prove that the set theory BIST+Coll is sound and complete relative to forcing interpretations in toposes with natural numbers object. Furthermore, in the case that the structural system of inclusions is superdirected, the full Separation schema is modelled. We show that all cocomplete and realizability toposes can be endowed with such superdirected systems of inclusions.A large part of the paper is devoted to an alternative notion of category-theoretic model for BIST, which, following the general approach of Joyal and Moerdijkʼs Algebraic Set Theory, axiomatizes the structure possessed by categories of classes compatible with BIST. We prove soundness and completeness results for BIST relative to the class-category semantics. Furthermore, BIST+Coll is complete relative to the restricted collection of categories of classes given by categories of ideals over elementary toposes with nno and dssi. It is via this result that the completeness of the original forcing interpretation is obtained, since the internal logic of categories of ideals coincides with the forcing interpretation. (shrink)

In 2011, Andrzej Grzegorczyk formulated Logic of Descriptions, a new logical system in which the classical equivalence has been replaced with the descriptive equivalence. Two sentences are descriptively equivalent whenever they describe the same state of affairs. Grzegorczyk’s logic LD is built from the ground up by revising the axioms of classical propositional logic and rejecting those that do not correspond to the intended interpretation of the descriptive equivalence as the connective expressing equimeaning relations between sentences. Grzegorczyk’s last paper, which (...) introduced in detail philosophical motivations of LD and its axiomatization, has become an inspiration for investigating the properties of LD and its various modifications. In this paper we present the basics of Grzegorczyk’s logic LD and then we survey the recent results on LD that have shed light on mysterious properties of the Grzegorczyk’s descriptive equivalence connective. (shrink)

It is known that various complexity-theoretical problems can be translated into some special spectra problems. Thus, questions about complexity classes are translated into questions about the expressive power of some languages. In this paper we investigate the spectra of some logics with Henkin quantifiers in the empty vocabulary.

The current study explores the effects of a brief training program on complex problem solving (CPS) and dynamic decision making (DDM) performance in two computer-simulated tasks with different task characteristics, ChocoFine (N = 76) and WinFire (N = 99). Half of the participants in each simulation group received a brief training on 16 frequent CPS and DDM errors. We hypothesized that participants who received the training in errors would show better performance, report fewer errors, and show fewer behavioral errors compared (...) to those who did not receive the error training prior to the start of the simulated tasks. The results showed that participants in both training groups had better performance scores. Participants in the training condition reported fewer self-reported errors compared to the no-training group only in the ChocoFine simulation. Regarding behavioral errors, status-quo bias was related to weaker performance in both simulations. These findings have implications for leaders who are prone for the status-quo bias and for organizations which could implement trainings programs for DDM and CPS. (shrink)

A non-Fregean framework aims to provide a formal tool for reasoning about semantic denotations of sentences and their interactions. Extending a logic to its non-Fregean version involves introducing a new connective$$\equiv $$≡that allows to separate denotations of sentences from their logical values. Intuitively,$$\equiv $$≡combines two sentences$$\varphi $$φand$$\psi $$ψinto a true one whenever$$\varphi $$φand$$\psi $$ψhave the same semantic correlates, describe the same situations, or have the same content or meaning. The paper aims to compare non-Fregean paraconsistent Grzegorczyk’s logics (Logic of Descriptions$$\textsf{LD}$$LD, (...) Logic of Descriptions with Suszko’s Axioms$$\textsf{LDS}$$LDS, Logic of Equimeaning$$\textsf{LDE}$$LDE) with non-Fregean versions of certain well-known paraconsistent logics (Jaśkowski’s Discussive Logic$$\textsf{D}_2$$D2, Logic of Paradox$$\textsf{LP}$$LP, Logics of Formal Inconsistency$$\textsf{LFI}{1}$$LFI1and$$\textsf{LFI}{2}$$LFI2). We prove that Grzegorczyk’s logics are either weaker than or incomparable to non-Fregean extensions of$$\textsf{LP}$$LP,$$\textsf{LFI}{1}$$LFI1,$$\textsf{LFI}{2}$$LFI2. Furthermore, we show that non-Fregean extensions of$$\textsf{LP}$$LP,$$\textsf{LFI}{1}$$LFI1,$$\textsf{LFI}{2}$$LFI2, and$$\textsf{D}_2$$D2are more expressive than their original counterparts. Our results highlight that the non-Fregean connective$$\equiv $$≡can serve as a tool for expressing various properties of the ontology underlying the logics under consideration. (shrink)

We introduce an Automatic Theorem Prover (ATP) of a dual tableau system for a relational logic for order of magnitude qualitative reasoning, which allows us to deal with relations such as negligibility, non-closeness and distance. Dual tableau systems are validity checkers that can serve as a tool for verification of a variety of tasks in order of magnitude reasoning, such as the use of qualitative sum of some classes of numbers. In the design of our ATP, we have introduced some (...) heuristics, such as the so called phantom variables, which improve the efficiency of the selection of variables used un the proof. (shrink)

A new deduction system for deciding validity for the minimal decidable normal modal logic K is presented in this article. Modal logics could be very helpful in modelling dynamic and reactive systems such as bio-inspired systems and process algebras. In fact, recently the Connectionist Modal Logics has been presented, which combines the strengths of modal logics and neural networks. Thus, modal logic K is the basis for these approaches. Soundness, completeness and the fact that the system itself is a decision (...) procedure are proved in this article. The main advantages of this approach are: first, the system is deterministic, i.e. it generates one proof tree for a given formula; second, the system is a validity-checker, hence it generates a proof of a formula ; and third, the language of deduction and the language of a logic coincide. Some of these advantages are compared with other classical approaches. (shrink)

We present a dual tableau system, RLK, which is itself a deterministic decision procedure verifying validity of K-formulas. The system is constructed in the framework of the original methodology of relational proof systems, determined only by axioms and inference rules, without any external techniques. Furthermore, we describe an implementation of the system RLK in Prolog, and we show some of its advantages.

We present a dual tableau system, RLK, which is itself a deterministic decision procedure verifying validity of K-formulas. The system is constructed in the framework of the original methodology of relational proof systems, determined only by axioms and inference rules, without any external techniques. Furthermore, we describe an implementation of the system in Prolog, and we show some of its advantages.

Logics of binary relations corresponding, among others, to the class RRA of representable relation algebras and the class FRA of full relation algebras are presented together with the proof systems in the style of dual tableaux. Next, the logics are extended with relational constants interpreted as point relations. Applications of these logics to reasoning in non-classical logics are recalled. An example is given of a dual tableau proof of an equation which is RRA-valid, while not RA-valid.

We present relational proof systems for the four groups of theories of spatial reasoning: contact relation algebras, Boolean algebras with a contact relation, lattice-based spatial theories, spatial theories based on a proximity relation.

During an initial palliative care assessment, a dying man discloses that he had killed several people whilst a young man. The junior doctor, to whom he revealed his story, consulted with senior palliative care colleagues. It was agreed that legal advice would be sought on the issue of breaching the man’s confidentiality. Two legal opinions conflicted with each other. A decision was made by the clinical team not to inform the police.In this article the junior doctor, the palliative medicine specialist, (...) a medical ethicist, and a lawyer consider the case from their various perspectives. (shrink)

The article presents partial results of nationwide research devoted to teaching ethics. It discusses the place of ethics in the Polish education system and the development trends visible since its introduction (1991). When it comes to legislature, acts and ordinances of the Minister of National Education were analyzed. Next to legal acts also judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal, regulating the principles of teaching and assessing the subject of ethics, were discussed. An important aspect of these regulations, due to their practical (...) consequences, is the positioning of ethics as an alternative to the religious education. Statistical data were also analyzed, allowing for a nationwide assessment of the development of interest in the ethics as a subject of school teaching – an increase in the number of schools in which the subject of ethics is taught (depending on the stage of education and the type of school), as well as an increase in the number of full-time equivalent for ethics teachers. The last-mentioned increase, although significant since 2014, is nevertheless small in absolute numbers; ethics still remains a niche subject. Over the years, one can observe an improvement in its status and an increase in social demand. However, the current definition of ethics as an optional subject means that the level of participation still remains low. (shrink)

We explore and critically reflect on the process of science and engineering research assistant skill development both within laboratory-based research teams and, when no team is present, within the faculty supervisor-research assistant interactions. Using a performance-based measure of research skill development, we identify research assistants who, over the course of an academic year of service as a researcher, markedly developed, modestly developed, or failed to develop their research skills. Interviews with these research assistants and their faculty supervisors, seen through the (...) lens of cognitive apprenticeship, provide insight into this variation. We found that within the contours of supervisory relationships and research teams, research skill development is indelibly shaped, for better or worse, by supervisor influence and abundant trial-and-error. (shrink)

The study analyses the readability and clarity of economic specialised texts on supplementary individual pensions. The research includes agreements on individual pension products available on the Polish market at the beginning of 2017. The level of comprehensibility of language has been assessed using the “Jasnopis” application, based, among others, on the FOG index, while the structure of the content of the agreements has been assessed by an expert linguist (the expert linguist is one of the authors of this and a (...) number of other publications on clear and understandable texts). In addition, one of the texts was subject to a survey, the so-called cloze text, which provided more accurate information about readability for a specific reader group. The results obtained allow the conclusion that the language of agreements on individual pension products is very difficult and their understanding requires higher education or expertise in the field of finance. (shrink)

Background In February, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the ban on medical assistance in dying. In June, 2016, the federal government passed Bill C-14, permitting MAiD. Current medical students will be the first physician cohort to enter a system permissive of MAiD, and may help to ensure equitable access to care. This study assessed medical student views on MAiD, factors influencing these views, and opportunities for medical education. Methods An exploratory cross-sectional survey was developed and distributed to (...) medical students across all years of a three-year Canadian undergraduate medical program. The investigators administered the survey to participants during academic sessions from November to December, 2015. Analysis of the results included summary descriptive statistics, Pearson’s chi-square test of independence to identify differences between participants by year of study, logistic regression to identify factors that influence students’ stances on MAiD, and Wilcoxon signed rank test to measure changes in student support for MAiD and comfort discussing MAiD. Results There were 405 participants for a response rate of 87%. The majority of students supported the Supreme Court’s decision, 61% would provide the means for a patient to end their life, and 38% would personally administer a lethal medication. Students who were more willing to provide the means for MAiD found medical education/clinical experience and patient autonomy to be important contributors to their stances on MAiD. Those students who were less willing to provide the means for MAiD found religious/spiritual beliefs and teachings, as well as concern about potential negative consequences, to be important contributors to their stances on MAiD. Educational training desired by participants included medicolegal, communication skills, technical skills, and religious. Conclusions Medical students generally supported and would provide the means for MAiD to patients. They also indicated a desire for directed medical education on MAiD. (shrink)

The use of the category of race in science remains controversial. During the last few years there has been a lively debate on this topic in the field of a relatively young neuroscience discipline called cultural neuroscience. The main focus of cultural neuroscience is on biocultural conditions of the development of different dimensions of human perceptive activity, both cognitive or emotional. These dimensions are analysed through the comparison of representatives of different social and ethnic groups. In my article, I present (...) arguments supporting these two hypotheses: the other-race effect understood as an individual, distinct effect does not exist. It is rather an exemplification of a much broader phenomenon which I call theunfamiliarity homogeneity effect. It includes not only problems with differentiation and recognition of faces of representatives of other ethnic groups, but also covers similar recognitional difficulties ; The race-based terminology and categories are used in cultural neuroscience research in a vague and inconsistent manner. Such an approach distorts the science both in empirically and conceptually significant respects. The unfamiliarity homogeneity effect is an example of such a situation: narrowing it to the other-race effect makes it difficult to analyse in a wider context crucial for its understanding. (shrink)

Reigning regulatory frameworks for biomedical research impose on researchers and research ethics committees an obligation to protect research participants from risks that are unnecessary, disproportionate to potential research benefits, and non-minimized. Where the research has no potential to produce results of direct benefit to the subjects and the subjects are unable to give consent, these requirements are strengthened by an additional condition, that risks should not exceed a certain minimal threshold. In this article, I address the question of whether there (...) should be limits of permissible risks in non-therapeutic research involving competent and healthy subjects. Some commentators argue that competent and informed individuals should have a right to participate even in extremely risky research and that research ethics committees should never reject studies because they are too dangerous. To use David Shaw's expression, competent volunteers should have ‘a right to participate in high-risk research’. I argue that this idea is ill-founded, as it does not take into account the social mission and complex collaborative nature of research practice as well as the inequity of power between researchers and subjects. Imposition of limits on permissible risks for healthy volunteers is justified by the need to protect research enterprise and the need to protect the weaker party, namely the subjects. Also, I suggest that the best way to set boundaries on research risks is to leave the judgment of risk acceptability to research ethics committees. (shrink)

The book deals with post-analytical philosophy of law, which departs from the traditional view which considers philosophical cognition as a sense-making and optimizing activity. It seeks to deconstruct the analytical, both philosophical and legal, narrative to expose it as a collection of schemes which oversimplify the legal and political reality.

This book addresses how people and organisations sometimes respond to uncertainty in making decisions. Those decisions are rooted in beliefs and behaviours that are not always rational, especially in response to perceived randomness, chaos and unexpected circumstances. The author uses a transdisciplinary approach to the study of superstition in the context of business and management, taking care to acknowledge that what is regarded as superstition to one person may well be constructed as a spiritual belief by another. Respect and sensitivity (...) in explicating individual and social constructions of spirituality is a core value in structuring the narrative of the text. The work also explores the interwoven relationships amongst superstition, religion, spirituality and empiricism and how cultural, political, economic and environmental factors are likely to influence organisations and those who are employed by them. Further, it examines the influence of beliefs related to topics such as feng shui, astrology, phrenology and the I Ching in recruitment. This comprehensive treatment of the role of superstition in business will advance the scholarly conversation on uncertainty in decision making. It points to the power of belief that defies empirical validation and how it can be used in a variety of contexts, such as the marketing of products and images to manipulate unwary consumers or inhibit the implementation of health advice in times of COVID-19. (shrink)

Carey argues that the aspects of categorization that are diagnostic of deep conceptual structure and, by extension, narrow conceptual content, must be distinguished from those aspects that are incidental to categorization tasks. For natural kind concepts, discriminating between these two types of processes is complicated by the role of explanatory stance and the causal history of features in determining category structure.

The immortality of the soul is one of the oldest tropes in the history of philosophy and one that gained significant momentum in 16th-century Europe. But what came before Pietro Pomponazzi and his contemporaries? Through examination of four neglected but central figures, Joanna Papiernik uncovers the rich and varied nature of the afterlife debate in 15th-century Italy. By engaging with old prints, manuscripts and other archival material, this book reveals just how much interest there was in the question of (...) immortality before the 16th-century boom in Aristotelian translations. In particular, Papiernik sheds light on the treatises of Agostino Dati, Leonardo Nogarola, Antonio degli Agli and Giovanni Canali, all of which have until now been overlooked in modern scholarship. From Dati's critiques of ancient and existing positions to Agli's study of immortality and its relation to the metaphysics of light, this volume investigates not only how wide-ranging the debate was but also the important impact it had on later philosophical thinking. Deftly combining close reading with a broad intellectual survey, and including two editions of unpublished primary texts, Philosophies of the Afterlife in the Early Italian Renaissance provides a crucial insight into the development of early Renaissance Platonism and philosophy of religion. (shrink)

How leaders and managers respond to not knowing is highly relevant given the complex, ambiguous, and chaotic business environment of the twenty-first century. Drawing on the literature from a variety of disciplines, the paper explores the dominant, unfavorable conceptualization of not knowing. The authors present some potential ethical implications of a negative view of not knowing and suggest how organizations would benefit from identifying any unhelpful aspects of the culture that may encourage unethical, undesirable, and/or hasty actions in situations of (...) not knowing. The paper specifically illustrates how patience, courage, honesty, integrity, and humility are integral to negative capability in the contexts of not knowing. Finally, the paper calls for deeper inquiry into the role of virtue ethics in preparing managers and leaders for not knowing and urges organizations to embrace negative capability in not knowing rather than engaging in damaging delusion. (shrink)