In a context of global change, inland navigation transport has gained interest with economic and environmental benefits. The development of this means of conveyance requires the improvement of its management rules to deal with the increase of navigation and the potential impact of global change. To achieve this aim, it is first necessary to have a better knowledge about the dynamics of inland navigation networks and their interaction with the environment. Second, the potential effects of global change have to be (...) anticipated. This article focuses on the modeling of inland navigation reaches. An inland navigation network is a large-scale distributed system composed of several interconnected reaches. These reaches are characterized by non-linearities, time delays, and generally no significant slope. To deal with these particularities, a gray-box model is proposed. It consists in determining the delays according to the physical characteristics of the system. The parameters of the model are identified with measured data. The gray-box model is used to reproduce the dynamics of the Cuinchy–Fontinettes reach located in the north of France. (shrink)

What grounds facts of ground? Some metaphysicians invoke fundamental grounding laws to answer this question. These are general principles that link grounded facts to their grounds. The main business of this paper is to advance the debate about the metaphysics of grounding laws by exploring the prospects of a plausible yet underexplored minimalist account, one which is structurally analogous to a familiar Humean conception of natural laws. In the positive part of this paper, I articulate such a novel view and (...) argue for its merits. The minimalist account shuns essences and takes laws to be unmysterious elite regularities. Therefore, it is a promising alternative for theorists of ground who spurn the acceptance of essentialism about the grounding laws but think that these are needed in our theorizing. In the negative part, I argue that widely accepted principles of ground, coupled with the tenets of minimalism, jeopardize the fundamentality of the grounding laws. I discuss two immediately available and prima facie appealing strategies to evade this threat. However, I show that both have undesirable theoretical costs. I conclude by casting doubts on whether the benefits of a minimalist account of fundamental grounding laws outweigh such costs. (shrink)

Dispositionality and qualitativity are key notions to describe the world that we inhabit. Dispositionality is a matter of what a thing is disposed to do in certain circumstances. Qualitativity is a matter of how a thing is like. According to the Identity Theory of powers, every fundamental property is at once dispositional and qualitative, or a powerful quality. Canonically, the Identity Theory holds a contentious identity claim between a property’s dispositionality and its qualitativity. In the literature, this view faces a (...) contradiction objection that undermines its merits. We should therefore consider an alternative version that does not embrace the identity claim. My aim is to show that we can enjoy the benefits of the Identity Theory without embracing the identity between the dispositional and the qualitative. I shall argue that a distinction between two senses of dispositionality and qualitativity serves the purpose. I will then discuss three readings of the identity claim that can be formulated in light of such a distinction. I will conclude that even if the identity were to fail in any of the suggested readings, it would be possible to hold an account of fundamental powerful qualities. (shrink)

In contemporary metaphysics, the doctrine that the fundamental facts are those which are wholly ungrounded is the received view or something near enough. Against this radical brutalism, several metaphysicians argued in favour of the existence of fundamental facts that are moderately brute or merely partially grounded. However, the arguments for moderately brute facts rely on controversial metaphysical scenarios. This paper aims to counteract the tendency in favour of radical brutalism on scientific grounds. It does so by showing that naturalistic metaphysicians (...) can appeal to plausible considerations from physical theory to establish the existence of moderately brute facts. But should the naturalistic metaphysician embrace moderate brutalism, namely the view that the fundamental facts are those which are merely partially ungrounded? Here I argue for a negative answer, recommending a more inclusive pluralism about the kinds of brute facts we can expect to find in nature. (shrink)

Grounding is claimed to offer a promising characterization of the fundamental as thatwhich is ungrounded. Detractors of this view argue that there can be fundamental and yet mutuallygrounded entities. Such a possibility undermines the denition of the fundamental as theungrounded. I aim to show, however, that the possibility of fundamental mutually grounded entitiesdoes not force us to renounce the prospects of characterizing fundamentality in terms of ground-ing. To accomplish this aim, I defend a grounding-based view that accommodates fundamentalmutually grounded entities (...) straightforwardly. My denition of fundamentality is similar to, butimportantly different from, one that Karen Bennett discusses. I conclude by resisting two objec-tions raised by Jessica Wilson against the Bennettian framework that also target theproposed view. (shrink)

Strong emergentists about mental properties of conscious experience typically hold that these are ontologically “over and above” and distinct in kind as compared to physical properties. Powers-based account of strong emergence offer a promising framework for elucidating the ontological “over and above”-ness of strongly emergent properties. However, they do not automatically ensure the desired non-physicality. In this paper, I argue that a conception of properties as powerful qualities has in-built resources for capturing both the ontological “over and above”-ness and the (...) kind distinctness in a unified way. I begin by illustrating powers-based accounts of strong emergence. Then I defend the superiority of a powerful qualities-based account of strong emergence over two standard approaches recovering the distinctness in kind of strongly emergent mental properties: the via negativa strategy, and the anti-materialist strategy. I conclude that a conception of powerful qualities is a surprising yet natural ally for the proponent of strongly emergent mental properties. (shrink)

In a recent paper, Jc Beall and A. J. Cotnoir proposed a bi-modal solution to the fundamental problem of Christology - the problem of reconciling the apparent contradiction implied by Christ’s divine and human natures. According to their solution, the contradiction could be resolved if one takes Christ’s dual nature as implying two different theological modal notions: one ranging over divine possibilities and the other over human possibilities. As a riposte, I argue that as novel and ingenious as Beall and (...) Cotnoir’s solution may be, it still fails to account for the very crux of the fundamental problem, viz., the true proposition about Christ being God-incarnate. (shrink)

RESUMENEl tratamiento que el arte más vanguardista ha dado a la relación con lo cotidiano, rompiendo las fronteras entre arte y vida, ha tenido una influencia palpable en nuestros comportamientos actuales a la luz de los medios, especialmente televisión e internet. Hoy, nuestra relación con lo cotidiano en gran medida se teje en el mundo internet, que constituye un espacio de socialización y configuración de la identidad. Los valores presentes en la forma de relacionarnos con lo cotidiano han ido experimentando (...) cambios que hoy se dirían ambivalentes: gesto vital-artístico y parte del dispositivo neoliberal de la transparencia. El recorrido por esta relación, poniendo en un mismo escenario voces de procedencias diversas, nos conduce hasta el planteamiento no exento de controversias de nuestra identidad y nuestra vida como una creación artística.PALABRAS CLAVESOCIALIZACIÓN, MEDIOS, ARTISTAS DE LA VIDA, AUTODETERMINACIÓN, BÚSQUEDA-CONTROLABSTRACTThe way in which the most vanguardist art has approached the relation with everyday life, breaking the barriers between art and life, has had a tangible influence on our current behaviour in lights of Mass Media, especially television and Internet. Nowadays, our relationship with day-to-day life develops, to a great extent, in the Internet world, which constitutes a space for socialization and profiling our identity. The values that accompany the way in which we establish the link with everyday life have been undergoing changes that nowadays could be considered as ambivalent: vital artistic gesture and a part of neoliberal mechanism of transparency. The overview of this relation, including voices from various sources, leads us to a conclusion, not at all devoid of controversies, regarding our identity and our life as an artistic creationKEYWORDSSOCIALIZATION, MEDIA, ARTISTS OF LIFE, SELF-DETERNINATION, A SEARCH-CONTROL. (shrink)

This article connects the insights of post-realist scholarship about radical indeterminacy and its consequences for the legitimacy of adjudication to the current legitimacy crisis of the international investment regime. In the past few years, numerous studies have exposed serious shortcomings in investment law and arbitration including procedural problems and the substantive asymmetry of the rights protected. These criticisms have prompted a broad consensus in favor of amending the international investment regime and multiple reform proposals have appeared that appeal to the (...) rule of law ideal as an instrument for increasing the acceptability of the international investment system. This article argues that the reliance of such proposals on jurisprudential approaches that fail to adequately accommodate the post-realist indeterminacy critique and take seriously the role of ideology in adjudication renders reform efforts unable to solve the legitimacy problems of the investment regime. The conclusions suggest the need to abandon implausible claims to depoliticization and face the methodological challenges posed by the promise of ideologically balanced assessments advanced by some rule of law theorists. The article finally points at the urgency to reform traditional approaches to doctrinal work in order to increase awareness of critical challenges and open up doctrinal methods to alternative methodological avenues. (shrink)

O presente trabalho tem o objetivo de analisar a influência do pensamento de Jean Piaget na proposta das Concepções Abertas no ensino da Educação Física. A epistemologia do autor constituiu uma das referências para a proposta em questão, o que torna necessário o estudo dos pressupostos gnosiológicos e ontológicos da teoria piagetiana para a melhor compreensão das implicações político-pedagógicas do ensino aberto. É possível identificar problemas e limitações das Concepções Abertas, que, por herdar as visões de homem e sociedade defendidas (...) por Piaget, encontra-se presa aos parâmetros do ensino centrado no aluno.This paper aims to analyze the influence of the Piaget’s thought in the proposal of Open Conceptions in the teaching of Physical Education. The epistemology of the author was one of the references to the proposal in question, which calls for the study of epistemological and ontological assumptions of piagetian theory for better understanding of the political and pedagogical implications of open education. It’s possible to identify problems and limitations of Open Conceptions, which, by inheriting the visions of man and society advocated by Piaget, is attached to the parameters of education focused on students. (shrink)

L’on montre dans quelles circonstances et pourquoi le problème des valeurs s’est posé dans la philosophie moderne. Jusqu’à la Renaissance et à Descartes, être et valeur sont identiques parce que l’être est défini par sa fonction et cette fonction par son rapport au tout. Dès que l’on admet, au contraire, l’univocité de l’être, il en résulte cette indifférence de l’être aux valeurs, qui se marque dans le principe d’inertie ou dans la relativité. Dans une pareille conception de l’être, les valeurs (...) ne peuvent être qu’autonomes par rapport à l’être, et c’est la recherche de cette autonomie qui caractérise la théorie moderne des valeurs. (shrink)

A respectable assessment of priority-based ontic structuralism demands an elucidation of its metaphysical backbone. Here we focus on two theses that stand in need of clarification: the Fundamentality Thesis states that structures are fundamental, and the Priority Thesis states that these structures are prior to putative fundamental objects, if these exist. Candidate notions to illuminate and such as supervenience and ontological dependence failed at this task. Our purpose is to show that grounding is the best competitor to articulate and, and (...) regiment such theses in a desirable unified way. Our strategy is two-fold. First, we make the case that grounding does better than ontological dependence and supervenience. Second, we show that the distinction between partial and full grounds permits us to respond to an objection raised by Kerry McKenzie against the proposal of interpreting priority-based Ontic Structuralism in the idiom of metaphysical determination. Our conclusion is that priority ontic structuralists have compelling reasons for adopting a grounding-based approach. (shrink)

Theorists of grounding believe that this notion has an intimate connection with metaphysical explanation. However, they struggle to harmonize the objective mind-independent features of grounding and the context-sensitive aspects of metaphysical explanation. As a reconciliatory approach, I offer a framework of metaphysical explanation that draws from perspectival realist views in the philosophy of science. According to the proposed view, our understanding of grounding claims is inescapably situated in agent-dependent perspectives that aim to aptly latch onto a grounding structure out there. (...) To defend its merits, I discuss how this grounding perspectivalism offers an insightful analysis of disagreements concerning the priority and asymmetry of what grounds what. Exploring some of the deeper implications of the proposed framework, I conclude by stirring controversy: contrary to a popular view, grounding perspectivalism implies that metaphysical explanation should not be regarded as a guide to grounding. -/- . (shrink)

The notion of fundamentality is supposed to play an important role in philosophical inquiry and scientific theorising. Yet there is no consensus on how to formulate it in precise terms. According to a promising view, fundamentality is a form of ontological independence. This view has the merit of capturing a natural connection between fundamentality and ontological dependence. However, it has been recently argued that it is possible that there are fundamental and yet ontologically dependent entities; therefore, we should not characterise (...) the fundamental in terms of ontological independence. My aim is to show that such a possibility does not threaten a conception of fundamentality as a form of ontological independence. I illustrate this claim by providing a definition of equifundamentality and showing that fundamental and yet ontologically dependent entities can be treated as equifundamental. (shrink)

Dispositional essentialism is the view that all or many fundamental properties are essentially dispositional, orpowers. The literature on the dispositional essence of powers is abundant. In contrast, the question of how to understand the fundamentality of fundamental powers has received scarce interest. Therefore, the fundamentality of powers stands in need of clarification. There are four main conceptions of the fundamental, namely as that which is (i)metaphysically independent; or (ii)belonging to a minimally complete basis; or (iii)perfectly natural; or (iv)metaphysically primitive. Here, (...) I present and discuss each of these approaches from the viewpoint of dispositional essentialism. I show that (i) is incompatible with the metaphysics of powers and (ii)–(iv) have more drawbacks than merits. Therefore, my conclusion is that the dispositional essentialist should seek an alternative. Although I offer no positive account, I pave the way to more fruitful views by identifying the shortcoming of these unpromising options. (shrink)

[...] Eu não sou "educador". Basta-me ser um dentre os demais seres do universo. Ou a ventura de ter procurado ser na vida um pedagogo. Nos últimos tempos tenho pensado muito nisto. Acho mesmo que a partir do final da década de 60 nós permitimos a despedagogização do ensino neste país de nome Brasil. Que é verde. amarelo, azul e branco! É mesmo. E pronto. Nestas duas décadas mataram ou permitimos que matassem a disciplina e a seriedade e o prazer (...) na Escola. E, aí, vale a questão: "escola para quê?" [...] Palavras-chave: Educador; Pedagogo; Escola; Brasil; Competência pedagógica. (shrink)

How are the contemporary conceptions of the living body and health related to numerical systems? Addressing the contemporary practice of quantification of bodies and health, such a question is bound to arise. As a discipline historically positioned amidst natural sciences, technology, and art, medicine has always been sensitive to theories and apparatuses able to quantify and reshape the living body, as well as to the practical possibility of operating on it. This is why, in the era where telecommunication, algorithmic information (...) technology, and data-driven decision making are reaching their apex, new forms of medical practice, and new alliances between medicine and technology are emerging as a direct consequence of the evolution of technology. This is what was particularly aimed at by the International Congress "The Quantification of Bodies. Organism, Health, and Representation", which took place at the University of Coimbra on 28-29 November 2019, organized by the IEF - Institute for Philosophical Studies. The present book collects some of the papers presented there, selected according to their interdisciplinary approach and/or to their more informative nature, suitable even for non-specialist readers. A collection that reflects, in a fragment, many of the potentialities opened by this new field of studies. (shrink)

Os problemas clássicos da possibilidade, origem e natureza do conhecimento não deixaram rasto na obra de Vilém Flusser; e mesmo os relativos à ciência e à técnica foram abordados, não numa perspectiva teórica, mas prática.O autor de A Dúvida, depois de uma intervalar sedução pelas virtualidades integradoras da cultura lusíada, na versão brasileira, recaiu na atitude analítica, crítica e separativa em que nascera para a vida do espírito. A crescente preocupação operativa de que deu mostras a partir daí constitui uma (...) pedra de escândalo na modernidade, conforme se apura até da recepção que tem tido. (shrink)

Metaphysical orthodoxy holds that a privileged minority of properties carve reality at its joints. These are the so-called fundamental properties. This thesis concerns the contemporary philosophical debate about the nature of fundamental properties. In particular, it aims to answer two questions: What is the most adequate conception of fundamental properties? What is the “big picture” world-view that emerges by adopting such a conception? I argue that a satisfactory answer to both questions requires us to embrace a novel conception of powerful (...) qualities, according to which properties are at once dispositional and qualitative. By adopting the proposed conception of powerful qualities, an original theory of fundamental properties comes to light. I call it Dual-Aspect Account. In this thesis, I defend the Dual-Aspect Account and its superiority with respect to rival views of fundamental properties. I illustrate this claim by examining Dispositionalism, the view defended among others by Alexander Bird and Stephen Mumford, Categoricalism, which has been advocated notably by David Lewis and David Armstrong, and the Identity Theory of powerful qualities, primarily championed by C. B. Martin and John Heil. The latter is the standard conception of powerful qualities. However, in the literature, the Identity Theory faces the charge of contradiction. A preliminary task is therefore to show that a conception of powerful qualities is coherent. To accomplish this aim, I introduce the notion of an aspect of a property. On this interpretation, powerful qualities can be thought of as having dispositional and qualitative aspects. I show that such a conception allows us to disambiguate the claim that a property’s dispositionality is identical with its qualitativity, and evade the charge of contradiction. Aspects bring us other theoretical benefits. I illustrate this claim by showing how the Dual-Aspect Account offers us a promising theory of resemblance. I then compare its merits with David Armstrong’s theory of partial identity. The conclusion of this thesis is that the Dual-Aspect Account is better suited to capturing the world as we find it in everyday life and scientific investigation as compared to the theoretical positions examined. (shrink)

This book provides new theoretical approaches to the subject of virtuality. All chapters reflect the importance of extending the analysis of the concept of “the virtual” to areas of knowledge that, until today, have not been fully included in its philosophical foundations. The respective chapters share new insights on art, media, psychic systems and technology, while also presenting new ways of articulating the concept of the virtual with regard to the main premises of Western thought. Given its thematic scope, this (...) book is intended not only for a philosophical audience, but also for all scientists who have turned to the humanities in search of answers to their questions. (shrink)

Joaquim Braga deals with the role of sound in multimodal environments and multimodal surfaces. He argues that imagination not only bridges sensory dimensions that are absent from perception but also is central to “the relationship of presence,” that is, the connection between presently perceived sensory input. This involves assessing both the individuating dimension and the relational disposition of sound, which allows sound—through the activation of imagination—to develop sensory relations. Central to his discussion of the function and contribution of sound (...) in different media is the process of “sonic individuation”—a process of individuation of different modalities—that is presented as a precondition for the creation of relations between these modalities. (shrink)

This paper offers a contribution to debates around integrative aspects of systems biology and engages with issues related to the circumstances under which physicists look at biological problems. We use oral history as one of the methodological tools to gather the empirical material, conducting interviews with physicists working in systems biology. The interviews were conducted at several institutions in Brazil, Germany, Israel and the U.S. Biological research has been increasingly dependent on computational methods, high-throughput technologies, and multidisciplinary skills. Quantitative scientists (...) are joining biological departments and collaborations between physicists and biologists are particularly vigorous. This state of affairs raises a number of questions, such as: What are the circumstances under which physicists approach biological problems in systems biology? What kind of interdisciplinary challenges must be tackled? The paper suggests that, concerning physicists’ move to work on biological systems, there are common reasons to move, the transition must be understood in terms of degrees, physicists have a rationale for simplifying systems, and distinct conceptions of model and modeling strategies are recurrent. We identified problems regarding linguistic clarity and integration of epistemological aims. We conclude that cultural unconformities within the systems biology community have important consequences to the flow of scientific knowledge. (shrink)

There is no consensus on the most adequate conception of the fundamental properties of our world. The pure powers view and the identity theory of powerful qualities claim to be promising alternatives to categoricalism, the view that all fundamental properties essentially contribute to the qualitative make-up of things that have them. The pure powers view holds that fundamental properties essentially empower things that have them with a distinctive causal profile. On the identity theory, fundamental properties are dispositional as well as (...) qualitative, or powerful qualities. Despite the manifest difference, Taylor (2018) argues that pure powers and powerful qualities collapse into the same ontology. If this collapse objection were sound, the debate between the pure powers view and the identity theory of powerful qualities would be illusory: these views could claim the same advantages and would suffer the same problems. Here I defend an ontologically robust distinction between pure powers and powerful qualities. To accomplish this aim, I show that the collapse between pure powers and powerful qualities can be resisted. I conclude by drawing some positive implications of this result. (shrink)

Centrada na reflexão sobre as diversas formas culturais que geram o liame simbólico entre homem e mundo, a filosofia cassireriana está, simultaneamente, comprometida com uma “antropologia da individuação”, através da qual é possível vislumbrar as possibilidades de formação da consciência humana face ao universo mediado pelo símbolo. Tal como Cassirer inúmeras vezes reitera, é no interior desse universo que devem ser procurados os principais nexos individuantes subjacentes à energia criadora do espírito. Daí que, no próprio conceito de cultura cassireriano, as (...) formas simbólicas – mito, religião, ciência, arte, linguagem, técnica – assumam, ab initio, o estatuto de realizações progressivas da auto-libertação do ser humano. Ao contrário da tese da Tragödie der Kultur, de Georg Simmel, as formas simbólicas e os seus artefactos materiais não encerram o sujeito num cosmo auto-suficiente, absoluto e definitivo, cuja natureza objectiva tende a pôr em causa a formação da sua vida subjectiva. Para Cassirer, inversamente, os processos de simbolização são inscrições do sentido em devir, isto é, tanto estruturam a apreensão da realidade como pressupõem a sua contínua transformação. (shrink)

Com este artigo são trazidas à reflexão duas temáticas que, desde longa data, animam o pensamento filosófico ocidental, a saber: a representação imagética do corpo e as suas potencialidades simbólicas discursivas. Tendo em vista a articulação conceptual de ambas, no quadro geral de uma teoria estética da sensibilidade afecta aos novos meios tecnológicos, será aqui introduzido e desenvolvido o conceito de ‘convergência figurativa’, do qual se partirá para repensar as dinâmicas emergentes da representação do corpo e as diferenças que o (...) médium digital impõe à própria ideia de representação. Mais do que ver na relação entre médium e corpo um liame puramente contingente e ancorado, única e exclusivamente, na representação do segundo pelo primeiro, trata-se, inversamente, de mostrar como é que ambos despoletam dinâmicas estruturais de complementaridade, quer estas sejam relativas aos domínios da figuração ou aos domínios da constituição material dos processos de mediação. Porém, para que, teórica e conceptualmente, possam ser escrutinadas, tais dinâmicas exigem uma reformulação do modo como se tem habitualmente compreendido a figuração do corpo pelos media, como, por exemplo, no caso das obras pictóricas artísticas. Por outro lado, tal como acontece no universo estético da arte, a ideia de ‘convergência figurativa’ deve, também, tornar evidente as formas da sua supressão, nomeadamente aquelas que atribuem ao corpo um estatuto pós-figurativo. (shrink)