Epistemic value is a kind of value possessed by knowledge, and perhaps other epistemic goods such as justification and understanding. The problem of explaining the value of knowledge is perennial in philosophy, going back at least as far as Plato’s Meno. One formulation of the problem is to explain why and in what sense knowledge is valuable. Another version of the problem is to explain why and in what sense knowledge is more valuable than mere true belief or opinion. This (...) article looks at various formulations of the value problem and various accounts of the value of knowledge in ancient and modern philosophy. The article then considers some contemporary discussions of the value problem, including the charge that reliabilist accounts cannot account for the value of knowledge over mere true belief. Various virtue-theoretic accounts of epistemic value are discussed as possible improvements over process reliabilism, and the epistemic value of understanding (as compared to knowledge) is considered. (shrink)

Galen conceives of wounds, fractures, and similar conditions as belonging to one of the highest genera in his taxonomy of disease. This classification is puzzling, as much from an ancient Greco-Roman perspective as from a contemporary one. In what sense are wounds and other injuries diseases? The classification appears more perplexing in light of Galen's method of conceptual analysis, which takes ordinary language use as a starting point. What, then, motivated Galen's departure from common Greek conceptions of disease? This (...) article examines the class of disease that Galen called “dissolutions of continuity” in the broader context of his system of nosological definition and classification. It concludes that Galen's analysis of wounds is driven by his theory of causation, and by his localization of disease and its mechanism inside the body, a conceptualization typical of Greco-Roman medical writing. This conclusion sheds further light on Galen's method of disease classification and the role of dissolutions within it. (shrink)

A stultitia na contemporaneidade e a importância da leitura e da escrita em escolas e universidades Resumo: Este artigo é um ensaio teórico que parte de investigações da antiguidade greco-romana por Foucault, principalmente de seus estudos sobre Sêneca, para recuperar o conceito de stultitia e com ele pensarmos o nosso tempo. A partir do diagnóstico de um presente da superaceleração e do superdesempenho, em que se compete consigo mesmo e a atenção está dispersa, a passividade está em justamente não (...) conseguirmos parar para olhar para nós mesmos e para os demais. Para essa agitação contemporânea, afirmamos a importância de escolas e universidades, bem como da figura do mestre, que, por meio da leitura e da escrita, poderá convidar o outro a cuidar de si mesmo e dos demais. Palavras-chave: Stultitia; Educação; Cuidado de si; Leitura; Escrita. Stultitia in contemporaneity and the importance of reading and writing in schools and universities Abstract: This paper is a theoretical essay grounded on Foucault’s investigations of Greek-Roman Antiquity, particularly his studies on Seneca, in order to recover the concept of stultitia and use it to think about our times. From the diagnosis of a present of super-acceleration and super-performance, in which one competes with oneself and attention is dispersed, passivity is precisely in not being possible to stop and look at the others and ourselves. For this contemporary unrest, we point out the importance of schools and universities, as well as the figure of the master, who, by means of reading and writing, may invite the other to look after the others and oneself. Key-words: Stultitia; Education; Care of the self; Reading; Writing. La stultitia à l´époque contemporaine et l´importance de la lecture et de l´écriture dans les écoles et les universités Résumé: Cet article est un essai théorique qui part des investigations de l'antiquité gréco-romaine de Foucault, principalement de ses études sur Sêneca, pour récupérer le concept de stultitia pour penser à notre époque. Du diagnostic d'un présent de super accélération, de super performance, dans lequel on est en compétition avec soi-même, dans lequel l'attention est dispersée, la passivité est simplement de ne pas pouvoir s'arrêter pour se regarder et se regarder les autres. Pour cette agitation contemporaine, nous affirmons l'importance des écoles et des universités et la figure du maître qui, par la lecture et l'écriture, peut inviter l'autre à souci de lui-même et des autres. Mots-clés: Stultitia; Éducation; Souci de soi; Lecture; L'écriture. Data de registro: 21/07/2021 Data de aceite: 20/10/2021. (shrink)

Comparing the relative sensitivity of direct and indirect measures of learning is proposed as the best way to provide evidence for unconscious learning when both conceptual and operative definitions of awareness are lacking. This approach was first proposed by Reingold & Merikle (1988) in the context of subliminal perception. In this paper, we apply it to a choice reaction time task in which the material is generated based on a probabilistic finite-state grammar (Cleeremans, 1993). We show (1) that participants progressively (...) learn about the statistical structure of the stimulus material over training with the choice reaction time task, and (2) that they can use some of this knowledge to predict the location of the next stimulus in a subsequent “generation” task. However, detailed partial correlational analyses of the correspondence between performance during the reaction time task and the statistical structure of the training material showed that large effects remained even when controlling for explicit knowledge as assessed by the generation task. Hence we conclude (1) that at least some of the knowledge expressed through reaction time performance can not be characterized as conscious, and (2) that even when associations are found at a global level of analysis, dissociations can still be obtained when more detailed analyses are conducted. Finally, we also show that participants are limited in the depth of the contingencies they can learn about, and that these limitations are shared by the Simple Recurrent Network model of Cleeremans & McClelland (1991). (shrink)

The representational nature of human cognition and thought in general has been a source of controversies. This is particularly so in the context of studies of unconscious cognition, in which representations tend to be ontologically and structurally segregated with regard to their conscious status. However, it appears evolutionarily and developmentally unwarranted to posit such segregations, as,otherwise, artifact structures and ontologies must be concocted to explain them from the viewpoint of the human cognitive architecture. Here, from a by-and-large Classical cognitivist viewpoint, (...) I show why this segregation is wrong, and elaborate on the need to postulate an ontological and structural continuity between unconscious and conscious representations. Specifically, I hypothesize that this continuity is to be found in the symbolic-based interplay between the syntax and the semantics of thought, and I propose a model of human information processing characterized by the integration of syntactic and semantic representations. (shrink)

El tema de mi exposición aparece en la primera fila de un curso colectivo sobre la Revolución francesa. Pero debo comenzar declarando que no entraré, ni por un momento, en el análisis de ese conjunto extraordinario de acontecimientos históricos o en el estudio de sus causas y proyecciones. No es éste, por otra parte, un asunto de mi especialidad. Dentro del plan de nuestro curso colectivo, mi tarea es más modesta y aparece bien circunscripta. Me debo ocupar del sentido histórico (...) del siglo XVIII, para poder dilucidar si la voluntad revolucionaria de los hombres de 1789 proviene de la concepción de la vida histórica forjada por los pensadores de esa época o si, por el contrario, la niega o la transforma. En otras palabras, he de enfocar aquellos problemas que nos permitirán intentar, en último término, un análisis de las relaciones entre la conciencia histórica y la conciencia revolucionaria del siglo XVIII. (shrink)

Mechanistic frameworks of investigation and explanation dominate the cognitive, neural, and psychological sciences. In this dissertation, I argue that mechanistic frameworks cannot, in principle, explain some kinds of cognition. In its place, I argue that complexity science has methods and theories more appropriate for investigating and explaining some cognitive phenomena. -/- I begin with an examination of the term 'cognition.' I defend the idea that "cognition" has been a moving target of investigation in the relevant sciences. As such it is (...) not historically true that there has been a thoroughly entrenched and agreed upon conception of "cognition." Next, I take up mechanistic frameworks. Although 'mechanism' is an umbrella term for a set of loosely related characteristics, there are common features: linearity, localization, and component dominance. I then describe complexity science, with emphasis on its utilization of dynamical systems modeling. Next, I discuss two phenomena that typically fall under the purview of complexity science: nonlinearity and interaction dominance. -/- A complexity science framework guided by the theory of self-organized criticality and utilizing the methods of dynamical systems modeling can surmount a number of challenges that face mechanistic frameworks when investigating some kinds of cognition. The first challenge is epistemic and concerns the inadequacy of mechanistic frameworks to facilitate the comprehensibility of massive amounts of data across various scales and areas of inquiry. I argue that complexity science is more appropriate for making big data comprehensible when investigating cognition, particularly across disciplines. I demonstrate this via an approach called nested dynamical modeling (NDM). NDM can facilitate comprehensibility of large amounts of data obtained from various scales of investigation by eliminating irrelevant degrees of freedom of that system as relates to the target of investigation. -/- The second shortcoming concerns ontological blind spots within mechanistic frameworks. Cognitive phenomena like extended cognition often fail to meet most, if not all, of the criteria assumed by many mechanistic approaches, especially component dominance. I argue that research guided by the notion of interaction dominance allows for extended cognition to be a real, empirically supported phenomenon within complex systems frameworks. In this chapter I discuss some of my experimental work on extended cognitive systems. -/- The search for mechanisms can be a reasonable starting position when attempting to explain natural phenomena in the life sciences. However, too strict of an adherence to theoretical and methodological commitments such as linearity, localization, and component dominance can result in intractable epistemic challenges and ontological blind spots. Complexity science has theories and methods to overcome such challenges in the investigation of cognition. (shrink)

O artigo defende a validade dos argumentos transcendentais. Hilary Putnam fez uso deste tipo de argumento para fixar uma condição metafísica para a semântica. Seu raciocínio segue o estilo de inferência desenvolvido por Kant, na refutação do ceticismo fenomenista e idealista. Segue-se da argumentação de Putnam a necessidade metafísica do princípio externalista em semântica. Com isso, desarmam-se as tentativas de fixar condicionamentos exclusivamente intersimbólicos para a constituição do significado.

recover that lost impetus, that onward movement of creativeness, which is of its very essence of Life. Full self-realization can only be opened up to it, ...

A Teoria da Ação Comunicativa resulta de uma investigação acerca dos fundamentos da racionalidade prática, desenvolvida por Habermas nos últimos 30 anos. Neste artigo, serão analisados os aspectos básicos desta teoria, com ênfase nos pontos que a referenciam como modelo explanatório das nossas práticas comunicativas. Pretendo discutir prioritariamente a tese segundo a qual nossas condutas linguísticas são conduzidas por compromissos pragmático-universais. A aceitação desta tese depende da possibilidade de explicitação dos compromissos determinantes das ações comunicativas válidas. Com base neste exame, (...) vou propor a discussão de alguns pontos que me parecem mais frágeis na teoria de Habermas. Finalmente, pretendo contrastar este programa de reconstrução racional da comunicação com modelos teóricos pragmáticos não alinhados a priori com premissas racionalistas. Concluirei, a partir daí, que o argumento central de Habermas se fragiliza quando aplicado ás condições multilaterais e difusas nas quais os usos da linguagem efetivamente ocorrem. (shrink)

Cet article entend examiner l’iconographie d’un bas-relief qui se trouve à Budapest et provient probablement de Naples. Il a été sculpté en lychnites de Paros vers la fin de l’époque hellénistique ou aux tout débuts de l’époque impériale. Il représente une scène unique : Éros se posant sur une roue en train de tourner. Cette scène n’est pas le cliché instantané d’un quelconque jeu d’équilibre, et il n’existe pas non plus de mythe auquel l’associer. Il faut donc l’interpréter de manière (...) métaphorique, pour lui-même. Cette image d’Éros peut évoquer différents types de champs sémantiques, dénués de véritables rapports les uns avec les autres, voire se contredisant. Si l’on passe en revue les multiples significations des motifs composant l’image dans la culture gréco-romaine à partir de sources iconographiques, archéologiques et textuelles, il existe cinq thématiques différentes qui peuvent être rapprochées de la scène du relief. De plus, cet Éros représenté dans une situation d’équilibre précaire est lié au Kairos, le « Moment opportun ». L’objet, œuvre unique d’un sculptor doctus anonyme, montre donc les traits essentiels du dieu. (shrink)

O conceito de tempo é uma das formas primordiais para entender como a atividade filosófica acontece em diferentes culturas. Assim, este artigo analisa como a temporalidade é interpretada pela Fenomenologia e pela Filosofia Nagô por meio de uma dialogia através dos esquemas intencionais da consciência fenomenológica e do jogo de posições circuladas por Èṣú. A partir dessa circulação em Èṣù serão apresentadas as implicações filosóficas sobre a temporalidade que caracterizam a Filosofia Nagô. Palavras-chave: Èṣú; Filosofia Nagô; Fenomenologia; Temporalidade.

The present contribution aims to clarify the ethics involved in the notionof territory, coined by Deleuze and Guattari in Mille plateaux, whose philosophical notes are taken from Spinoza’s and Nietzsche’s works. We will see that this project is sufficiently consistent and united, according to its immanent and materialistic lines. However, this ethics finds its limits, not in its internal constitution but in its tacit iden- tification with politics. Our authors conceive the existential field as crossed by political effects, therefore, all (...) ethical acts would be, by their accounts, a political act too. And these acts will be the more perfect –more ethical and more political– the less they deal with traditional state policy. This involves reducing policy to the political, which we believe is a mistake; because, what applies to the singular-collective existence cannotcount nor compete as a substitute of the collective institutional policy. (shrink)

Das Ziel dieses Beitrages ist es, zu zeigen, wie das cartesianische Cogito ,der Boden der modernen Philosophie, das im Begriff des denkenden Subjekts – einem Schlüsselbegriff des westlichen Denkens – seinen Ursprung hat, von einer ganz bestimmten Methode, deren Legitimation in der Geschichte wurzelt, abhängig ist. Anders ausgedrückt, der Begriff des Subjekts, dessen grundlegendes Merkmal die Denktätigkeit ist, und der die Geschichte, eben weil er Begriff ist, hinnehmen muss, ist durch die Geschichte bedingt – durch eine Geschichte, die sich weniger (...) im Begriff selbst als in der ihn ermöglichenden Methode ausdrückt. Eine genaue genealogische Studie dieserMethode würde eine äußerst gründliche Arbeit erfordern; was wir hier viel-mehr unternehmen wollen ist lediglich, die von Descartes benutzten methodologischen Werkzeuge zu erforschen, die für die Formulierung des Begriffs Res Cogitans (die nach Kants Kritik zum „Subjekt“ wurde) vonnöten waren. Ein Werkzeug spielt laut der hier verteidigten Annahme eine besonders grundlegende Rolle in der benannten Diskussion um Res Cogitans : der Traum Descartes. (shrink)

La existencia de representaciones del cuerpo, en especial aquellas que se requerirían para actuar, ha sido objeto de largas controversias. El objetivo de este artículo es defender la idea de que hay representaciones del cuerpo involucradas en la realización de acciones cotidianas. Nuestra tesis será que lo que realmente muestran algunas dudas sobre este tipo de representaciones es que deben tener cierto tipo de contenido no-conceptual. Primero, abordamos dichas dudas, mostrando que no refutan la existencia de las representaciones en cuestión. (...) Sin embargo, señalamos que contienen dos intuiciones clave para cualquier caracterización del contenido de dichas representaciones. Así, pasamos a proponer una caracterización tal, que acomode adecuadamente las intuiciones señaladas. Finalizamos examinando una posible objeción a la propuesta y ofreciendo una lectura tentativa de la relación entre contenidos mentales y acción. (shrink)

Thomistic ontology -- Ontological morality and human rights -- The war of the philosophers -- The modern way -- Pope Leo XIII and his legacy -- The survival of tradition.

La puesta en escena de la cultura se produce en el momento que la educación va formando mujeres y hombres en la sociedad. La multidimensionalidad del hombre requirió desde el inicio una formación que integrara la totalidad de la persona. La escuela católica ha tratado de responder a dicha terea, mediante la evangelización desde la escuela, cuyo propósito consiste fundamentalmente en formar ciudadanos del cielo y de la tierra. No obstante, el contexto social genera la secularización de las dimensiones de (...) la vida cotidiana. El posicionamiento del liberalismo como ideología política y económica requiere un Estado laico que garantice libertades de credo y culto. La experiencia mexicana de los últimos dos siglos vivirá de modo particular este proceso en que la lucha por el poder entre Iglesia y Estado hacen de la laicidad un conflicto de intereses. (shrink)

Uno de los fundamentos más reconocidos para una lectura metafísica de Hegel es el carácter totalitario de un sistema que intenta abarcar todo lo que es, determinando el lugar y papel de cada parte en el todo. Si la verdad es el todo, sólo tendremos acceso a ella al acceder a éste. Este artículo pretende mostrar que el todo en Hegel nunca es accesible por completo al pensamiento; que su característica principal es estar determinado de manera negativa, es decir, por (...) lo que no es. Para ello ofreceré un análisis de los conceptos de infinito y necesidad en la Ciencia de la lógica, proporcionando así algunas herramientas conceptuales para una lectura no-metafísica de Hegel; es decir, una lectura que enfatiza elementos hermenéuticos y críticos que comúnmente no se asocian con la filosofía de Hegel. One of the strongest pillars for a metaphysical reading of Hegel is the totalitarian aspect of a system that attempts to cover all of reality, determining the place and function of each being in the whole. If the truth is the whole, we will only gain access to it through access to the whole. This paper attempts to show that the whole in Hegel is never totally accessible to thinking; that its main characteristic is to be determined negatively, that is, by what it is not. To do so, an analysis of the concepts of the infinite and necessity will be offered as they appear in the Science of Logic, in order to provide certain conceptual tools for a non-metaphysical reading of Hegel, that is, a reading that emphasizes hermeneutic and critical elements not commonly associated with Hegel's philosophy. (shrink)

El artículo propone una reflexión filosófica inspirada en la actual situación de fragilidad institucional colombiana. Se arguye en él: (1) Que hay un elemento pragmático y uno normativo en la idea de que las instituciones políticas y sociales establecen y aseguran la vida humana y la hacen duradera...