This paper questions the shifting meaning of the ethical categories of proximity and alterity in the light of the technological and social changes that virtual social worlds went through. It takes Roger Silverstone’s key theme of “proper distance” as a point of departure, and discusses the significance of this concept by linking it up with the more media-theoretical approaches on virtual communication as developed in McLuhan’s and Baudrillard’s body of thought. It is argued that today’s virtual realities ask for both (...) a philosophical and media-sociological reconsideration of the traditional ethical category of alterity. As such, it links up with Feenberg’s idea that “online groups are indeed a qualitatively new medium” (A. Feenberg and M. Bakardjieva, “Virtual Community: No ‘Killer Implication,’” New Media & Society 6(1) (2004): 37–43, 41), but at the same time challenges Feenberg’s reservations about a theory of media centrism. (shrink)

In this paper, I present two ampliative adaptive logics: LA and LAk. LA is an adaptive logic for abduction that enables one to generate explanatory hypotheses from a set of observational statements and a set of background assumptions. LAk is based on LA and has the peculiar property that it selects those explanatory hypotheses that are empirically most successful. The aim of LAk is to capture the notion of empirical progress as studied by Theo Kuipers.

Objectives To describe the form and content of ethics policies on euthanasia in Flemish nursing homes and to determine the possible influence of religious affiliation on policy content. Methods Content analysis of euthanasia policy documents. Results Of the 737 nursing homes we contacted, 612 (83%) completed and returned the questionnaire. Of 92 (15%) nursing homes that reported to have a euthanasia policy, 85 (92%) provided a copy of their policy. Nursing homes applied the euthanasia law with additional palliative procedures and (...) interdisciplinary deliberations. More Catholic nursing homes compared to non-Catholic nursing homes did not permit euthanasia. Policies described several phases of the euthanasia care process as well as involvement of caregivers, patients, and relatives; ethical issues; support for caregivers; reporting; and procedures for handling advance directives. Conclusion Our study revealed that euthanasia requests from patients are seriously considered in euthanasia policies of nursing homes, with great attention for palliative care and interdisciplinary cooperation. (shrink)

In the early eighties, philosophers of science came to the conviction that discovery and creativity form an integral part of scientific rationality. Ever since, the?positivists? have been criticised for their neglect of these topics. It is the aim of this paper to show that the positivists' approach to scientific discovery is not only much richer than is commonly recognized, but that they even defended an important thesis which some of the `friends of discovery' seem to have forgotten. Contrary to what (...) is generally accepted, I shall also show that there is no reason at all why the positivists should have ignored discovery. (shrink)

_A timely and provocative essay about the parallel lives of Rosa Luxemburg and Hannah Arendt and their mission for a more humane society__ “[A] short but moving book... Even better, the volume’s advice is not only pragmatically political—necessary during a time of threats to democracy and mounting failures to deal with the climate crisis—but modestly uplifting.”—Bill Marx, _Arts Fuse___ “An intimate and timely meditation on dark times, Hermsen’s illuminating essay offers readers a way to think with Hannah Arendt and Rosa (...) Luxemburg about how to build a more humane world in common.”—Samantha Rose Hill, author of ___Hannah Arendt__ Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) and Hannah Arendt (1906–1975) were critical Jewish mavericks who both suffered under violent political regimes and sought to reform systems of power. Although temporally separated by the Second World War and the rise of totalitarianism, they held in common strikingly similar convictions about freedom, human dignity, capitalism, democracy, and political commitment. In this powerful book, Joke J. Hermsen explores the lives and works of these two remarkable thinkers and the essential hope that emboldened them in the political struggle. Luxemburg and Arendt were spurred on by a restless love for the world and an unwavering belief in the possibility of new beginnings; for them, hope was an absolute prerequisite of resistance and a counterpoint to melancholy—a defense against despair that kept them attuned to what could be. Exploring the intertwined nature of philosophy and the active pursuit of justice, this is an urgent, courageous reminder to remain alert to the glimmers of hope in dark times. (shrink)

Background: Funding organisations and research ethics committees should play a part in strengthening attention to gender equality in clinical research. In the research policy of European Union , funding measures have been taken to realise this, but such measures are lacking in the EU policy regarding RECs.Objective: To explore how RECs in Austria, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands and Sweden deal with gender equality issues by asking two questions: Do existing procedures promote representation of women and gender expertise in the committee? (...) How are sex and gender issues dealt with in protocol evaluation?Methods: Two RECs were selected from each country. Data were obtained through interviews with key informants and content analysis of relevant documents .Results: All countries have rules to ensure the presence of women on RECs; gender expertise is not required. Drug study protocols are carefully evaluated, sometimes on a formal basis, as regards the inclusion of women of childbearing age. The reason for excluding either one of the sexes or including specific groups of women or making a gender-specific risk–benefit analysis are investigated by some RECs. Such measures are, however, neither defined in the regulations nor integrated in review tools.Conclusions: The RECs investigated in five European member states are found to pay limited attention to gender equality in their working methods and, in particular in protocol evaluation. Policy and regulations of EU are needed to strengthen attention to gender equality in the work of RECs. (shrink)

In this paper, I present the modal adaptive logic $AJ^{r}$ (based on S5) as well as the discussive logic $D_{2}^{r}$ that is defined from it. $D_{2}^{r}$ is a (nonmonotonic) alternative for Jaśkowski's paraconsistent system D₂. Like D₂, $D_{2}^{r}$ validates all single-premise rules of Classical Logic. However, for formulas that behave consistently, $D_{2}^{r}$ moreover validates all multiple-premise rules of Classical Logic. Importantly, and unlike in the case of D₂, this does not require the introduction of discussive connectives. It is argued that (...) this has clear advantages with respect to one of the main application contexts of discussive logics, namely the interpretation of discussions. (shrink)

This critical edition of Matthew of Orléans' Sophistaria contains valuable information about the author's views on matters of ontology, modality, natural philosophy, and theology, and gives us a clear outline of the way in which thirteenth-century authors approached these subjects in works of logic.

This contribution discusses the views of the medieval theologian Henry of Ghent on the role of the teacher in the acquisition of knowledge. According to Henry, teaching is basically aimed at assisting a pupil in his acquisition of truth. In teaching, the role of language as the vehicle of truth is crucial: in order to acquire knowledge one needs to think correctly, and the only way to learn how to think correctly is through a correct use of language. After presenting (...) an analysis of Henry’s ideas on the essence of learning and teaching, the paper will deal with their implications for the practice of teaching. Next a review of contemporary views on education will be presented. The contribution will conclude with a few remarks on how Henry of Ghent’s views could still be relevant for assessing contemporary ideas on education. (shrink)

As euthanasia has become a widely debated issue in many Western countries, hospitals and nursing homes especially are increasingly being confronted with this ethically sensitive societal issue. The focus of this paper is how healthcare institutions can deal with euthanasia requests on an organizational level by means of a written institutional ethics policy. The general aim is to make a critical analysis whether these policies can be considered as organizational-ethical instruments that support healthcare institutions to take their institutional responsibility for (...) dealing with euthanasia requests. By means of an interpretative analysis, we conducted a process of reinterpretation of results of former Belgian empirical studies on written institutional ethics policies on euthanasia in dialogue with the existing international literature. The study findings revealed that legal regulations, ethical and care-oriented aspects strongly affected the development, the content, and the impact of written institutional ethics policies on euthanasia. Hence, these three cornerstones—law, care and ethics—constituted the basis for the empirical-based organizational-ethical framework for written institutional ethics policies on euthanasia that is presented in this paper. However, having a euthanasia policy does not automatically lead to more legal transparency, or to a more professional and ethical care practice. The study findings suggest that the development and implementation of an ethics policy on euthanasia as an organizational-ethical instrument should be considered as a dynamic process. Administrators and ethics committees must take responsibility to actively create an ethical climate supporting care providers who have to deal with ethical dilemmas in their practice. (shrink)

This paper deals with John Wyclif 's account of the fallacia accidentis. To a certain extent Wyclif 's explanations fit in with Aristotle's understanding of language. Aristotle recognises that we can talk about substances in many different ways; we can introduce them by using 'substantial' names, but also by using names derived from the substances' accidental features. The substances are the ultimate foundation of all these expressions. This idea in itself is not opposed to a conceptualist account of language. John (...) Buridan uses Aristotle's principle of categorisation to show how language works, but for him the activity of categorising things is to be explained in terms of our mental activities only. Wyclif, on the other hand, reads much into the requirement that all our linguistic distinctions should have their basis in extramental reality: our conceptualisations not only pertain to individual substances, but also parallel their distinct ontic layers. (shrink)

A logic of diagnosis proceeds in terms of a set of data and one or more (prioritized) sets of expectancies. In this paper we generalize the logics of diagnosis from [27] and present some alternatives. The former operate on the premises and expectancies themselves, the latter on their consequences.

In a small tract by Master Gerardus Odonis, found in the MSS Madrid, Bibl. Nac. 4229, ff. 204ra-207vb and Madrid, Bibl. Univ. 65, ff. 113ra-117va, which has the provisional title De natura universalis, attention is paid to the definition, the origin and the ontological status of the universal. Odonis is totally against the moderns' view that universals have a mental existence only. Instead he holds a view similar to that of Henry of Ghent : universals have the being of an (...) essence and are the basis of all intellectual operations. (shrink)

The thirteenth-century treatises on syncategorematic words still form a gold mine for studying the development of logic after Aristotle and Boethius. Generally speaking, the class of words labelled syncategoremata included expressions that, more than their categorematic counterparts, require the context of an expression in order to be meaningful. Nouns and verbs, such as ‘man’ and ‘to run’, were considered as having a more determined meaning than expressions such as ‘every’ or ‘not’. In the early days of the syncategoremata literature, the (...) criteria for distinguishing categorematic from syncategorematic words were not entirely clear; authors used both syntactic and semantic criteria to separate the two classes from each other. The different ways of describing the two classes of words sometimes led to alternative lists of syncategoremata. Eventually the list came to include: the verb ‘is’; the negation ‘not’; the modal adverbs ‘necessarily’ and ‘contingently’; the exclusives ‘only’ and ‘alone’; the exceptives ‘except’ and ‘unless’ ; the distributive signs ‘every’ , ‘whole’ (‘ totum. (shrink)

For centuries, inconsistencies were seen as a hindrance to good reasoning, and their role in the sciences was ignored. In recent years, however, logicians as well as philosophers and historians have showed a growing interest in the matter. Central to this change were the advent of paraconsistent logics, the shift in attention from finished theories to construction processes, and the recognition that most scientific theories were at some point either internally inconsistent or incompatible with other accepted findings. The new interest (...) gave rise to important questions. How is `logical anarchy' avoided? Is it ever rational to accept an inconsistent theory? In what sense, if any, can inconsistent theories be considered as true? The present collection of papers is the first to deal with this kind of questions. It contains case studies as well as philosophical analyses, and presents an excellent overview of the different approaches in the domain. (shrink)

Detection of genetic aberrations in prenatal samples, obtained through amniocentesis or chorion villus biopsy, is increasingly performed using chromosomal microarray (CMA), a technique that can uncover both aneuploidies and copy number variants throughout the genome. Despite the obvious benefits of CMA, the decision on implementing the technology is complicated by ethical issues concerning variant interpretation and reporting. In Belgium, uniform guidelines were composed and a shared database for prenatal CMA findings was established. This Belgian approach sparks discussion: it is evidence-based, (...) prevents inconsistencies and avoids parental anxiety, but can be considered paternalistic. Here, we reflect on the cultural and moral bases of the Belgian reporting system of prenatally detected variants. (shrink)

This volume widens the scope of research into the relation between religion and Enlightenment. The contributions demonstrate the impact of changing worldviews in a variety of intellectual disciplines and cultural milieus.

_ Source: _Volume 56, Issue 3-4, pp 320 - 339 Thirteenth-century views on consequences have not yet received much attention. Authors of this period deserve closer scrutiny, because of their profound interest in the nature of consequence. The fundamental feature of a consequence was captured in the claim that its antecedent is the cause of its consequent. At the same time authors systematically discussed consequences in terms of truth-preservation. This paper considers the requirements of syllogistic argument and consequences in general, (...) including the role of ‘cause’ in the identification of syllogisms proper, looks at different descriptions of consequence, moves on to discussions of the syncategorema ‘_si_’ – in _syncategoremata_ treatises by Peter of Spain, Henry of Ghent, Nicholas of Paris and William of Sherwood, as well as some _sophismata_ tracts – and explores what thirteenth-century authors make of the truth-functional characterisation of consequence, showing how it clashes with the authors’ insistence on a causal connection between antecedent and consequent. (shrink)

This volume contains the first critical edition of a Spanish textbook on logic, found in the libraries of Sevilla and Zaragoza. It has tentatively been given the title Logica Morelli, taken from the title found in the Zaragoza copy. The author of this work, who perhaps went by the name Morellus, is as yet unknown. It seems likely that the work originates from the second half of the fifteenth century. It is structured in accordance with academic practice in Spain of (...) that period, and bears a close relationship to Pedro de Castrovol's Logica. The handbook is a compilation of the material used for introductory courses on logic, comprising the study on terms, propositions, argumentation, universals and categories, and obligations. The text neatly testifies to the way in which logic was taught and practiced at Spanish universities during the late Middle Ages, and shows us how material from diverse mediaeval authors and traditions managed to survive in the curricula of late mediaeval academic programmes. The volume contains a broad introduction, as well as extensive indexes of names, sources, subjects, and sophisma-sentences and examples. (shrink)

Logica modernorum. A critical note on Habermas’s portrait of medieval philosophy In his monumental history of philosophy, the eminent scholar Jürgen Habermas has managed to provide us with a thorough and very nuanced overview of thousands of years of western thought. The famous philosopher paints an impressive picture of the vicissitudes of the modernisation processes featuring in the history of western philosophy. The Leitmotiv of Habermas’s narrative is the way in which throughout history philosophy dealt with the question concerning the (...) relationship between faith and reason. When it comes to the Middle Ages, it is not surprising that Habermas should focus on the opposition between Thomas Aquinas and William of Ockham. However, by confining himself to the concepts of fides and ratio, he completely overlooks thirteenth-century developments in the domain of logic. To take note of these developments is fundamental to understand the process of modernisation in philosophy. The aim of this paper is to fill in the gap, by concentrating on thirteenth-century discussions of necessity and (logical) consequences. (shrink)

The first critical edition of the Syncategoreumata by the thirteenth-century philosopher Peter of Spain , accompanied by a facing-page English translation to make its contents accessible to modern readers. The introduction gives an account of all the manuscripts used for the edition. Extensive indexes have been added to facilitate the reader's orientation in the book.

Peter of Spain's Tractatus, which appeared in a first critical edition by L.M. de Rijk, is a handbook on logic; it is now estimated that it dates from the second quarter of the thirteenth ce...

Johannes Duns Scotus is begonnen met het onderzoek naar de werkelijkheid als ‘het volstrekt mogelijke’. In Kant zien we een radicale voortzetting van deze beweging, die echter tot een nieuw noodzakelijkheidsdenken heeft geleid. In de theorievorming over het menselijk individu, een onderwerp dat Duns Scotus zeer aan het hart ging, is dat determinisme nog niet overwonnen.

While thinking remains a solitary activity, it does not cut itself off from all others. in this book address the philosophical and moral questions raised by ...