There are several important criticisms against the unificationist model of scientific explanation: Unification is a broad and heterogeneous notion and it is hard to see how a model of explanation based exclusively on unification can make a distinction between genuine explanatory unification from cases of ordering or classification. Unification alone cannot solve the asymmetry and irrelevance problems. Unification and explanation pull in different directions and should be decoupled, because for good scientific explanation extra ad explanandum information is often required. I (...) am presenting a possible solution to those problems, by focusing on an often overlooked but important element of how theoretic unification is achieved—the conceptual frameworks of theories. The core conceptual assumptions behind theories are decisive for discriminating between explanatory and non-explanatory unification. The conceptual framework is also flexible enough to balance the tension between informativeness and maximum systematization in constructing explanatory inferences. A short case study of orthogenetic and Darwinian explanations in paleontology is presented as an illustration of how my addition to the unificationist model is applicable to a historical debate between rival explanations. (shrink)

Human language is a salient example of a neurocognitive system that is specialized to process complex dependencies between sensory events distributed in time, yet how this system evolved and specialized remains unclear. Artificial Grammar Learning (AGL) studies have generated a wealth of insights into how human adults and infants process different types of sequencing dependencies of varying complexity. The AGL paradigm has also been adopted to examine the sequence processing abilities of nonhuman animals. We critically evaluate this growing literature in (...) species ranging from mammals (primates and rats) to birds (pigeons, songbirds, and parrots) considering also cross‐species comparisons. The findings are contrasted with seminal studies in human infants that motivated the work in nonhuman animals. This synopsis identifies advances in knowledge and where uncertainty remains regarding the various strategies that nonhuman animals can adopt for processing sequencing dependencies. The paucity of evidence in the few species studied to date and the need for follow‐up experiments indicate that we do not yet understand the limits of animal sequence processing capacities and thereby the evolutionary pattern. This vibrant, yet still budding, field of research carries substantial promise for advancing knowledge on animal abilities, cognitive substrates, and language evolution. (shrink)

This volume is dedicated to the centennial anniversary of Minkowski's discovery of spacetime.

The present paper pursues two aims. First to show that the experiment proposed by Stolakis [1986] does not lead to absolute synchronization in a single frame of reference and therefore also to the measurement of one-way velocity of light. Second, by consecutively considering the problems of the conventionality of simultaneity and of existence to show that the simultaneity of distant events can be a matter of convention only in a four-dimensional world. * I am grateful to the anonymous referees for (...) their useful suggestions on an earlier version of this paper. (shrink)

Dans cet article, je présente une approche sémantique de l’analyse de la fonction de la métaphore du paysage dans la biologie de l’évolution. Le concept de paysage adaptatif a suscité une attention considérable dans la philosophie de la biologie récente. La plupart des auteurs ont considéré ce concept de l’une des deux manières suivantes: en tant qu’outil heuristique, comme partie intrinsèque de modèles mathématiques robustes, ou comme un ensemble définissable d’analogies sur lesquelles les modèles sont basés et testés. Chacune de (...) ces visions conduit à la conclusion que la valeur de la métaphore du paysage dépend seulement du succès des modèles que sous-tend la métaphore, en vue de représenter adéquatement la dynamique de l’évolution. J’essaie de montrer que cette conclusion, ainsi que les visions qui y conduisent, ne tiennent pas compte d’épisodes importants dans l’histoire de la métaphore du langage. Ces visions proviennent plutôt de thèses générales, en philosophie des sciences, quant au rôle des métaphores dans les théories scientifiques. L’analyse sémantique que je propose met en lumière le fait que la fonction première du concept de relief adaptatif, au cours de la synthèse évolutionniste, a été de servir de cadre général d’unification conceptuelle, qui a rendu possible la conciliation de phénomènes empiriques hétérogènes. De ce point de vue, la métaphore du paysage est un outil linguistique-théorique qui ne doit pas être abandonné (et qui ne l’est de fait pas) suite à la falsification des modèles construits et interprétés au moyen de la métaphore. (shrink)

We present the negative phenomena of understanding in relation to scientific explanations. We begin by formulating the distinction between genuine understanding and lack of understanding, to define the epistemic category of misunderstanding. We illustrate misunderstanding with a short meta-philosophical study on the current debates about distinctively mathematical explanations.

The scope of this short paper is to show that the examples Ilhan Inan uses to undermine Donnellan's distinction fall short on account of wrong interpretation those examples were provided with in his paper. Whilst Ilhan Inan showed how complex definite descriptions may cause doubts as to which category they should be put in, these referring terms only play a secondary role. I argue that all of his three key examples are, in fact, sheer attributive uses of definite descriptions and (...) have to be taken as such, which seriously diminishes the pedestal Inan places his argument on. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is primarily to consider some basic concepts and their meanings related to contemporary social interactions, starting from the classical sociological concepts of social relationship and social interaction, and to see what is changing and what remains the same in the age of networking and “moving” to virtual space. In other words, we want to re-examine their form and content in an age without the necessity of the spatial dimension for a relationship, in which new forms (...) and concepts occur, such as network, networking, virtuality, etc. The first chapter will show the meaning of social relations and social interaction, which imply those social relations in which contact/encounter or communication is present and which leads us to the concept of social interaction in the same space and at the same time. The topic of the second chapter is social interaction at the same time without space, when, with the application of information technology, individuals and societies enter the cyberspace of a new virtual reality. This leads us to the development of various forms of interaction on social networks, which is the topic of the third chapter. The fourth chapter discusses some of the risks and positive possibilities of virtual interactions over real ones. (shrink)

Zusammenfassung Seit der Entdeckung des Gilgamesch-Epos am Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts wird von der Forschung angenommen, dass dieses Epos den Inhalt der homerischen Epen beeinflusst habe. Der Beitrag legt dar, wann und auf welchem Wege der kulturelle Transfer zwischen Mesopotamien und Griechenland stattgefunden haben kann. Ferner werden mehrere Passagen aus den homerischen Epen diskutiert, in denen die Forschung eine Beeinflussung durch das Gilgamesch-Epos erkennen möchte. Gezeigt wird, dass diese Ansicht zum Teil subjektiv ist und zum Teil auf veralteten Ausgaben des (...) Gilgamesch-Epos beruht. In einem Exkurs wird zuletzt eine aktuelle These zur Datierung der Ilias analysiert. (shrink)

Since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the term virtual has become one of the most used in media and everyday speech. There is an increasing amount of research done on this new reality, and the results are still to be published. However, it is insufficiently known in scientific periodicals that the concept of virtual reality, enabled by information technology, has existed in the sociological literature since the 1990s when Castells introduced it to the theory of network society. Therefore, the paper's primary (...) goal is to consider basic concepts such as virtual reality, real virtuality, virtual communities, virtual sociability, and networked individualism. We will also briefly look at the forgotten classical notion of community as a fundamental form of sociability defined by the sociologist F. Tönnies, which re-enters the focus of scientific interest, without a clear and sociologically known classical definition. Starting from this framework, the paper examines the key question of whether these new virtual communities are indeed communities in the classical sense of the term or whether it is a form of networked individualism. Pojam virtualno je pojavom COVID-19 pandemije 2020., postao jedan od najkorištenijih u medijskom prostoru i u govoru svakodnevice. Sve je više i istraživanja o novoj stvarnosti, čiji rezultati se tek očekuju. Međutim, nedovoljno je poznato u domaćoj znanstvenoj periodici da koncept virtualne stvarnosti koju omogućava informacijska tehnologija, postoji u sociološkoj literaturi od devedesetih godina, kada ga u teoriju umreženog društva uvodi Castells. Stoga je glavni cilj rada prikazati i razmotriti neke osnovne pojmove kao npr. virtualna stvarnost, stvarna virtualnost, virtualne zajednice, virtualna društvenost i umreženi individualizam. Kratko ćemo se osvrnuti i na zaboravljeni klasični pojam zajednice kao temeljne forme društvenosti definirane od sociologa F. Tönniesa, koji ponovo ulazi u fokus znanstvenog interesa, bez jasne a u sociologiji poznate klasične definicije. Polazeći od tog okvira, u radu se propituje ključno pitanje, jesu li te nove virtualne zajednice uistinu zajednice u klasičnom smislu značenja pojma, ili je riječ o nekom obliku umreženog individualizma. (shrink)

Ujedinjenje velikih teorija fizike − teorije relativnosti, kvantne mehanike i fizike svemira i čestica − ostaje snom fizike i filozofije znanosti i na početku 21. stoljeća. Sve se one u pogledu konačnih zakona svemira slažu da je početak bio, te da su konačni zakoni oni koji su već vladali u početku evolucije svemira. Početak svemira podrazumijeva njegovo stvaranje i nužno upućuje na Stvoritelja−religijskog Boga, na uspostavljanje mosta između moderne kozmologije i religije. U tome se podudaraju klasične kozmologije s modernim kozmološkim (...) modelima astročestične teorijske fizike, odnosno mišljenja vodećih modernih kozmologa: Einsteina, Weinberga, Penrosea, Hawkinga i drugih. Naglašavamo da su i veliki svjetski kongresi iz povijesti znanosti u 21. stoljeću naročito reafirmirali komplementarni odnos znanosti i religije kao pravog puta za univerzalnim horizontom svijeta u 21. stoljeću. Situaciju odnosa znanosti i religije, Einstein je izvrsno opisao slikom: »Znanost bez religije je kljasta, a religija bez znanosti slijepa« . Stvaranje svijeta u Knjizi postanka , napose u Prvome izvještaju o stvaranju jest Božje stvaranje: Bog stvara riječju ili djelovanjem − trenutačno i u stvarnome vremenu − u fazama stvaranja što se mjere u danima. Knjigu postanka rese svi moderni početni kozmološki uvjeti i parametri: postanak, početak i kraj svemira, vrijeme i prostor, struktura i evolucija svemira, uloga i značenje života u svemiru. Ovakva teološka kozmologija, sa svim živim bićima u njoj i njihovom hijerarhijom s čovjekom kao kraljem, koliko god u znanstvenome pogledu bila jednostavnom i kratkom pričom, može biti uzorom modernim kozmološkim modelima jer svemir što ga je stvorio Bog jest svemir tvari i života. Mogli bismo reći da kozmološke modele i simulacije, kao i velike pokuse u fizici visokih energija, izvodimo da bismo dokučili kako je Bog stvarao. S druge strane, u suvremenoj fizici, pogotovo u modernoj kozmologiji, pojam Boga se često »efektivno« iskorištava u definiranju pojedinih problema ili u interpretacijama računa, što ne valja promatrati kao osiromašenje teološke ili vjerske uzvišenosti toga pojma kakvu nalazimo u Newtona, Petrića, Boškovića, Kanta ili P. Daviesa.U članku se pregledno osvrćemo na principe i tzv. »velike uspjehe« što su nastali na mostu povezivanja suvremene kozmologije i religije: »sudjelujući« svemir i princip antropičnosti, te izazovni teorijski proboji u kozmologiji naših dana u sektoru M–teorije koji govore i o suparničkim scenarijima stanja svemira prije−velikog praska. Upitat ćemo se da li suvremena upućenost fizike i religije proizlazi možda iz karakteristične »eksperimentalne nemoći« moderne kozmologije koja trpi teški tehnički problem: iznalaženje golemih energija za eksperimentalna opažanja čestica kakve fizika Big Banga zahtijeva? To su, primjerice, energije oko 1019 GeV koje odgovaraju trenu od 10−43 sekunde nakon Velikog praska. U članku se, na kraju, na Kantovu tragu, promišlja jesu li suvremeni teorijski proboji što se čine u kvantoj kozmologiji na Planckovoj skali relevantni i za Kantovu kozmološku skalu − onu do koje se dolazi jednostavnim proširenjem kategorija do neuvjetovanog, što sintezu odvodi do stupnja što nadilazi svako moguće iskustvo.Uniting the great theories of physics – i.e. the theory of relativity, quantum mechanics and astroparticle physics – continues to remain a dream of both physics and the philosophy of science even at the beginning of the 21st century. In respect of the ultimate laws of the universe they all agree that there was a beginning and that the ultimate laws are those that have already ruled at the beginning of the evolution of the universe. The beginning of the universe implies its creation and necessarily points to a Creator – a religious God, to building a bridge between modern cosmology and religion. In regard to the above classical cosmologies correspond to the modern cosmological models of astroparticle theoretical physics, i.e. the reflections of the leading modern cosmologists: Einstein, Weinberg, Penrose, Hawking and others. The author highlights that even great international symposia on the history of science keep on reaffirming the complementary relation between science and religion as the true and only path to a universal horizon of the world in the 21st century. Einstein describes the state of affairs of the relation between science and religion exceptionally well with the following words: »Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind« . The creation of the world described in Genesis, particularly in The Beginning, is God’s creation: God creates by the agency of words or actions – immediately and in real time – in the phases of creation measured in days. Genesis is adorned by all the modern initial cosmological conditions and parameters: creation, the beginning and end of the universe, time and space, the structure and evolution of the universe, the role and meaning of life in the universe. Irrespective of the extent to which, scientifically speaking, it is a simple and short narrative, this theological cosmology – including all the living creatures in it and their hierarchy with man as king – can indeed serve as a role model to the modern cosmological models, since the universe created by God is a universe of matter and life. We can say that we design cosmological models and conduct simulations and great experiments in the high energy physics in order to reach and understand the way in which God created. On the other hand, however, in contemporary physics in general and in modern cosmology in particular, the concept of God is frequently »effectively« used either in defining certain problems or in interpreting scientific calculations, which must not be viewed as the impoverishment of the theological or religious eminence of the concept as can be found in Newton, Petrić, Bošković, Kant or Davies.This paper also surveys the principles and the so-called »great successes« achieved on the bridge that connects contemporary cosmology and religion: ‘participatory’ universe and the anthropic principle, as well as the challenging theoretical advances in today’s cosmology in the field of M−theory which also discuss rival ideas of the pre-big bang scenarios. The author also poses the following question: does the contemporary crossroad of physics and religion perhaps issue from modern cosmology’s peculiar »experimental helplessness« taking shape in a grave technical problem, i.e. finding immense energies for experimental particle observations required by the physics of the Big Bang? These energies are, for example, approximate to 1019 GeV , which corresponds to 10−43 of a second after the Big Bang. A thinking in the paper was finally concluded, on the Kant’s trail, whether the contemporary theoretical advances achieved in quantum cosmology at Planck’s scale are also relevant for Kant’s cosmological scale – the one arrived at by a simple expansion of the categories to the unconditioned, which brings synthesis to a point that surpasses all possible experience. (shrink)

The debate between the dynamical and the statistical interpretations of natural selection is centred on the question of whether all explanations that employ the concepts of natural selection and drift are reducible to causal explanations. The proponents of the statistical interpretation answer negatively, but insist on the fact that selection/drift arguments are explanatory. However, they remain unclear on where the explanatory power comes from. The proponents of the dynamical interpretation answer positively and try to reduce selection/drift arguments to some of (...) the most prominent accounts of causal explanation. In turn, they face the criticism raised by statisticalists that current accounts of causation have to be violated in some of their core conditions or otherwise used in a very loose manner in order to account for selection/drift explanations. We propose a reconciliation of both interpretations by conveying evolutionary explanations within the unificationist model of scientific explanation. Therefore, we argue that the explanatory power in natural selection arguments is a result of successful unification of individual- and population-level facts. A short case study based on research on sympatric speciation will be presented as an example of how population- and individual-level facts are unified to explain the morphological mosaic of bill shape in island scrub jays. (shrink)

Despite "what has probably been the most vigorous campaign ever waged against the concept of relativistic mass" p. 51) it is argued that the relativistic increase of the mass is an experimental fact.

My aim here is to show that approximate truth as a paraconsistent notion can be successfully incorporated into the analysis of scientific unification, thus advancing towards a more realistic representation of theory development that takes into account the controversies that often loom alongside the progress of research programmes. I support my analysis with a case study of the recent debate in ecology centred around the existence of the paradox of enrichment and the controversy between ecological models of predation that employ (...) prey-dependent and ratio-dependent functional responses. These models were initially proposed as equally good representations of the basic aspects of predator–prey dynamics. However, both models generated inconsistent observational consequences and, therefore, introduced a contradiction within predator–prey theory. I argue that by accepting these models as approximately true representations of predator–prey dynamics we can convey how the available observational data have been successfully systematized in a consistent way under them. This first step in resolving the controversy relied on building a series of contrastive arguments based on both models’ derivations about population dynamics and the available empirical data. The heightening of this contrast between the models, in turn, was also essential in defining a limiting function which can be used to integrate both models and reach a new unified expression of predator–prey dynamics. (shrink)

Truth and Compassion offers an integral and inter-disciplinary view on truth and compassion, their mutual connectedness, the meaning of their cultivation, and the devastating consequences of their neglect and destruction. The authors analyze their various forms, their origins, and concrete ways and attempts of their repression. Essays focus on the attention to truth and compassion under communism, but this is only one of its segments. As a whole, topics range from basic theological and philosophical analysis to concrete historiographic treatments of (...) particular cases. The central message is that speaking about grievances, communication, dialogue, empathy, and solidarity are necessary for living in truth and compassion. (Series: Theology East-West / Theologie Ost-West, Vol. 20) [Subject: Philosophy, Ethics Studies]~. (shrink)

This paper discusses the polemical question of whether explanations that produce understanding must be true. It argues positively for the role of truth in reaching explanatory understanding, by presenting three lines of criticism of alternative accounts. The first is that by rejecting truth as a criterion for evaluating explanations, any non-factual account thereby effectively cuts ties with the central theories of explanations, which provide at least partial criteria for explanatory understanding. The second line of criticism is that some of the (...) most well-known non-factual accounts implicitly operate over a notion of partial-truth, and as such, they do not provide a valid alternative. The final critical argument is that, in the place of truth evaluations, these accounts often offer a multiplicity of other criteria, and by changing a unitary criterion such as truth for a collection of other requirements, these non-factive theories introduce a level of ad hoc-ness, which diminishes their normative value. (shrink)

This paper pursues two aims. First, to show that the block universe view, regarding the universe as a timelessly existing four-dimensional world, is the only one that is consistent with special relativity. Second, to argue that special relativity alone can resolve the debate on whether the world is three-dimensional or four-dimensional. The argument advanced in the paper is that if the world were three-dimensional the kinematic consequences of special relativity and more importantly the experiments confirming them would be impossible.

We present the negative phenomena of understanding in relation to scientific explanations. We begin by formulating the distinction between genuine understanding and lack of understanding, to define the epistemic category of misunderstanding. We illustrate misunderstanding with a short meta-philosophical study on the current debates about distinctively mathematical explanations.

As there have still been attempts to regard gravity, a 100 years after Einstein's general relativity, not as a manifestation of the non-Euclidean geometry of spacetime, but as a physical field, it is high time to face the ultimate judge -- the experimental evidence -- to settle this issue once and for all. Two rulings of the ultimate judge are reminded -- the experimental fact that falling particles do not resist their fall rules out the option that gravity may be (...) a force, and the experiments that confirmed the relativistic effects are impossible in a three-dimensional world, which also implies that gravity is indeed manifestation of the geometry of the real spacetime. It is also stressed that not only are attempts to impose a kind of scientific democracy in physics doomed to failure, but such attempts might, in the end, hamper the advancement of fundamental physics. (shrink)

An important epistemological lesson can be learned from the impossibility to determine the one-way velocity of light and the immediate implication that simultaneity is conventional. The vicious circle -- to determine whether two distant events are simultaneous we need to know the one-way velocity of light between them, but to determine the one-way velocity of light we need to know that the two events are simultaneous -- is an indication of the need for a profound change of our view on (...) reality. (shrink)

We present the negative phenomena of understanding in relation to scientific explanations. We begin by formulating the distinction between genuine understanding and lack of understanding, to define the epistemic category of misunderstanding. We illustrate misunderstanding with a short meta-philosophical study on the current debates about distinctively mathematical explanations.

U radu ću pokušati ukazati na moguće doprinose razmatranja metafora kao načela spoznaje raspravi o konceptualnim temeljima krize u medicini. Stoga ću u prvom dijelu rada dati sažeti prikaz temeljnih postavki kognitivne teorije metafore u djelu Georgea Lakoffa i Marka Johnsona koje će poslužiti kao smjernice u propitivanju metafora zdravlja i bolesti. U drugom dijelu u razmatranje ću uzeti primjere metafora vezanih uz pojmove zdravlja i bolesti uvriježenih kako u svakodnevnom govoru tako i u znanstvenim i stručnim medicinskim diskursima. Pokušat (...) ću ukazati na koji način one utječu na poimanje zdravlja i bolesti te usmjeruju djelovanje unutar medicinske prakse, u kojoj se kriza medicine najjasnije očituje u vidu dehumaniziranog karaktera odnosa između aktera te prakse. Također će biti riječi i o nekonvencionalnim, alternativnim metaforama i njihovim potencijalima za uspostavu drukčijih, humanijih pojmova i principa prema kojima bi se medicinska praksa mogla ravnati. U konačnici ću ponuditi jedan takav prijedlog koji proizlazi iz temeljnih postavki kognitivne teorije metafora.In this paper I will attempt to point out possible contributions of considering metaphors as principles of cognition to the discussion on conceptual grounds of crisis in medicine. Hence the first part will be a brief review of the basic features of cognitive theory of metaphor in the works of Georg Lakoff and Mark Johnson, which will serve as guidelines in examining metaphors of health and illness. The second part will deal with conventional metaphors associated with the notions of illness and health in everyday speech as well as in scientific and professional medical discourses. I will try to indicate the ways in which these metaphors influence notions of health and illness, thus directing actions in medical practice, which is the place where the crisis of medicine is most clearly manifested in the form of dehumanised character of relationship between medical practice participants. Unconventional, alternative metaphors and their potential for establishing different, more humane notions and principles which could guide medical practice will also be discussed. Finally, I will offer one such proposal which follows the basic ideas of cognitive theory of metaphor. (shrink)

This paper analyzes classical concepts of division of labour and offers some contemporary theoretical model which includes causes and effects of it. For Smith, the main cause is a tendency of human nature to exchange and the main effect is a progress of the country. For Marx, the fundamental cause is historical development of productive forces and effects are accumulation of capital on the one side but also an alienation of working class on the other. Spencer considers as the main (...) cause specialization of functions in generally, which consequence is integration of society. For Durkheim, causes are social density and volume, and its effect or function is new interconnection in society known as term organic solidarity. Weber derives division of labour from his theory of rational economic actions, and its most important effect is development of occupational structure. (shrink)

The paper is based on the experiences of a fieldwork researcher. Two studies of everyday life are compared. In spite of the differences in theoretical frameworks and methodologies, important similarities are identified, leading to identical basic results. These similarities are to be found in the dependence of the everyday survival on political survival, of everyday life on political life, of coping on political developments. The similarity is proved by pointing to the shared broader socio-historical framework in which both studies have (...) been located, and to the uniqueness of the environment/area in which both have taken place. This leads to the final conclusion on the relation between the character of everyday life and the collective character/mentality, where the key mediator is political life and the character shaped within its domain. In a culture basically structured as a warrior culture, in the circumstances of huge civilizational changes at the global world scene, the local political mentality assumes specific features, somewhat modified in comparison with the traditional ethos. These features in turn directly shape the everyday, particularly of ordinary people, beyond the centers of power and global decision-making. U tekstu se iznosi iskustvo jednog terenskog istrazivaca/intervjuera. Uporedjuju se dva istrazivanja svakodnevnog zivota. Uprkos razlikama u teorijskim polazistima i metodskim resenjima, podvlace se slicnosti koje su dovele do istovetnosti osnovnog rezultata. Njih treba traziti u zavisnosti svakodnevice opstanka od politickog opstanka, svakodnevnog zivota od politickog zivota, prezivljavanja od politickih desavanja. Da bi se dokazala ova slicnost ukazuje se na zajednickost sireg drustveno-istorijskog okvira u koji su oba istrazivanja smestena, a preko njega, i na jedinstvenost podneblja/prostora na kome se oba odvijaju. To vodi krajnjem zakljucku o vezi karaktera svakodnevnog zivota od kolektivnog karaktera/mentaliteta, pri cemu je kljucni posrednik politicki zivot i karakter oblikovan u njegovoj sferi. U jednoj, u osnovi, ratnicki strukturisanoj kulturi, a u uslovima krupnih civilizacijskih potresa na globalnoj svetskoj sceni, politicki mentalitet u lokalnim uslovima zadobija osobene crte, donekle modifikovane u odnosu na tradicionalni etos, koje potom, neposredno oblikuju i svakodnevicu, pre svega, obicnih ljudi, izvan centara moci i globalnog odlucivanja. (shrink)

This book probes the extreme variation in discourses on violence and punishment. Its comprehensive examination brings together normative political-theoretical discourses on punishment, historical changes in violence and punishment, and perspectives on punishment from political powers, world religions, literature and film, criminology, and theodicy.

Članak je usmjeren ususret paradigmi nove fizike koju treba iznijeti LHC, ali s kritičkim prosuđivanjem toga razvoja pomoću Kuhnovih teza i epistemologije povezanih s modernom fizikom. Promišljanja i prosudbe nove filozofije niču iz LHC-fizike, koja se tumači kao »science universelle« . LHC, kao najveći sudarivač čestica u svijetu do sada, nije motiviran time da uništi Boga niti bilo koju vjeru u svijetu, već za otkrivanje novih čestica s njihovim interakcijama i kozmologijom u Prirodi, baš onoliko koliko pružaju LHC-scenariji na Tera-elektron-volt (...) skali. Polazeći od ponovnog otkrića fizike Standardnog modela i otkrića Higgsovih bozona, nova fizika na LHC-u ide mogućim putovima u skladu s problemom hijerarhije u suvremenoj fizici. K tome još, SM nije konačna teorija i upućuje se prema ne-standardnoj fizici poput supersimetrije , dodanih dimenzija na TeV-skali s kozmološkim posljedicama te ostale scenarije. Ne-standardna fizika, teorija i pokus, predviđa se otvorenom pa je formuliran novi princip agnostičkog eksperimentalizma kao najprikladniji filozofski princip, jer se ne mogu sva opažanja znati/predvidjeti na LHC-u. Čak i ako eksperimentalni program LHC-a krene u krivome smjeru, mnoge će mogućnosti izroniti iz Pandorine kutije fizike. Tada će filozofska promišljanja postati vrlo važna, napose Kuhnovi pogledi kao i naš AE princip te noviji mediteranski razvoj filozofije. Uostalom, standardna paradigma kao i nova fizika na LHC-u ne opisuju svijet u kojemu danas živimo.A paper is aiming towards a new physics paradigm to be brought by the LHC with a critical assessing on that development by the Kuhnian theses and epistemology related to modern physics. Thinking and critical assessments on the new philosophy arise up from the LHC physics, which is interpreted as the ‘science universelle’ . The LHC as the world’s largest particle collider as ever been was not motivated neither to destroy God nor any religion in the World, but to investigate new particles with their interactions and cosmology of the Nature inasmuch as it has proposed by the LHC scenarios on the Tera-electron-Volt scale. Starting from the rediscovery of the Standard Model and discovery of the Higgs bosons, the new physics at the LHC goes by the possible roads according to the Hierarchy Problem in contemporary physics. However, the SM is not a final theory by inquiring a Non-Standard physics, such as Supersymmetry , Extra Dimensions on the TeV scale with cosmological implications, and other scenarios. A Non-Standard physics, both theory and experiment, is foreseen to be open and a novel view of agnostic experimentalism was formulated to be the best philosophical principle, since we can’t know/predict everything to be observed in the LHC. Even if experimental programme of the LHC wouldn’t go in the right way, then many possibilities may emerge from the Pandora’s Box of physics. Then, philosophical considerations would become very important, particularly Kuhn’s views on it including our AE principle and new Mediterranean development of philosophy, respectively. After all, either standard paradigm or the new physics of the LHC doesn’t describe the world in which we live. (shrink)

This paper brings, for the first time, an interesting modern description of the Patricius’ phenomenological theory of tides and its modern relativistic understanding. Famous historians of science are emphasizing Patricius’ treatise on tides, which had been of primary importance for Kepler in his attempts at formulating the universal character of attraction. Patricius had tried to explain the variety of phenomena of tides in various seas as part of his model of the universe . He correctly recognized the Moon and the (...) Sun as two general causes of tides , but failed to see the role of gravity. Patricius rather ascribed tides, within the framework of his general philosophy, to be caused by light and heat . Science after Patricius explained tides as an effect of gravity , and later in the 20th century as an effect of spacetime curvature . The mathematical description of tides within Newton’s theory of gravitation was shown in the paper, along with a more refined calculation of the same phenomenon in curved spacetime within the general relativity theory for the case of weak gravitational fields . The general relativistic correction found to be very small compared to the classical Newtonian expression, as one should expect when dealing with weak gravitational fields. Both theories – Newton’s and Einstein’s – despite their precision and beauty in describing tides, do not, however, describe tides in such detail as Patricius’ theory which includes the local features of the phenomenon. At various symposia all over the world dedicated to his miraculous year of 1905 , Einstein has been recognized as the greatest physicists of the 20th century, and with Newton the two greatest physicists of all times. In the paper Patricius is understood as a direct predecessor of Kepler in the theory of tides, a hundred years before Newton. (shrink)

Virgil has Evander trace the origins of the name of the river Tiber back to the death of a giant, called ‘Thybris’ (Aen. 8.330–2). This article argues that the reference to the violent (asper) giant can be understood as etymological wordplay on the Greek word hubris and as a potential allusion to the grammatical debate on the nature of aspiration. Varro's De gente populi Romani is identified as an important source for the characterization of the Tiber as a giant in (...) primeval times. The political implications of the word hubris are also briefly explored with reference to various identities to which Evander alludes. The final part of the article argues that Theocritus’ Idyll 1 and the scholiast to Theocritus may have also inspired Virgil's description of the Tiber in this passage. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to show that the Lorentz contraction of a rod is possible only if the rod’s world path is a real four-dimensional object. This result demonstrates that special relativity does require reality at the microscopic level to be a four-dimensional world represented by Minkowski spacetime.

In the paper, we try to elucidate the procedures that need to be applied if we want to establish the consequences that occur when the sediments of meaning in images are deposited on top of each other, creating a specific pictorial epistemology. We will point out some interdisciplinary mechanisms of image analysis, such as “cultural symptomatology” and “cultural triangulation”, together with drawing a typology of cultural-historical sediments of pictorial meaning that we call appropriation. We conclude that Bredekamp’s theory of image (...) acts, as well as Mitchell’s concept of pictures as “desiring objects” and Belting’s consideration of the human body as “image media”, suggest that the interaction between a human and an image is a mirror of human’s own desire to produce a parallel world in which, as Lambert Wiesing explained, he or she does not have to participate. The image allows for different forms of participation or absence from participation in the event represented in the image. Therefore, what images “know” is a specific consequence of the fact that inanimate pictorial objects can possess memory but – unlike artificial intelligence – can activate their knowledge only in a reciprocal communicative relationship with people. (shrink)

The proliferation of digital technology has changed our visual perception and the way we interpret terms such as 'representation', 'immersion', and 'virtuality'.0Kresimir Purgar examines some of the topics fundamental to an understanding of the contemporary culture of images. The principal thesis of this volume is that we are witnessing the transitional period of images as not-representation-anymore and not-yet-immersion. Instead of just asking what images mean, we should ask ourselves what images are, how they appear, and what they do to us. (...) The author proposes the comprehensive concept of "pictorial appearing" that takes into account phenomenological, semiotic, and art-historical perspectives on both old and new images. (shrink)

The idea that the mind, i.e., common sense, is not an inherent human structure but a cultural system, has become a general assumption taken for granted by many. Richard Rorty’s post-Philosophical culture serves as an illustrative example. One of the most renowned representatives of the radical critique of the mind, i.e., of common sense, is the cultural anthropologist Clifford Geertz. He believes that we are in need of an ethnography based on the “thick description”. Geertz’s insights have strongly influenced the (...) postliberal theologians. Consequently, the centre of the theology—the faith—has once again been obscured. Therefore, this article seeks to emphasize the importance of faith, based on Josef Pieper’s sagacious insights. (shrink)