In this paper, we focus on some misconceptions about Critical Pragmatics, what it is, what it assumes and what it proposes. Doubtless, some of these misconceptions are due to clumsy writing on our part; perhaps others are due to inattentive reading. And some may be due to an effort to shield us from the apparent implausibility of what we said—and in fact meant. It does not matter much. We focus on those misunderstandings that most matter to us, either because, by (...) repetition, they have ended up being annoying, even if they are not, perhaps, that important; or because they are substantial enough to represent a distortion of the basic picture of Critical Pragmatics and its theoretical foundations, namely, Critical Referentialism—also known as the Reflexive-referential Theory—and, more generally, Perry’s fundamental views on meaning and content(s). (shrink)

Singular terms without referents are called empty or vacuous terms. But not all of them are equally empty. In particular, not all proper names that fail to name an existing object fail in the same way: although they are all empty, they are not all equally vacuous. “Vulcan,” “Jacob Horn,” “Odysseus,” and “Sherlock Holmes,” for instance, are all empty. They have no referents. But they are not entirely vacuous or useless. Sometimes they are used in statements that are true or (...) false. We are basically referentialists about proper names. The ordinary semantic function of a proper name is to refer to an object, and to do it directly, that is, without semantically providing any identifying condition that the object should meet to be the referent. To put it differently, we agree that statements containing proper names express singular propositions, i.e., that their truth-conditions involve the referent of the proper name, if it exists, and not any identifying condition of it. Now, since empty names lack a referent, and therefore would not express such a singular proposition, how do we explain that many, if not all, statements containing them have a truth-value? Answering this question for the case of fictional names, in particular, is the aim of this paper. (shrink)

This paper presents an approach to the belief system based on a computational framework in three levels: first, the logic level with the definition of binary local rules, second, the arithmetic level with the definition of recursive functions and finally the behavioural level with the definition of a recursive construction pattern. Social communication is achieved when different beliefs are expressed, modified, propagated and shared through social nets. This approach is useful to mimic the belief system because the defined functions provide (...) different ways to process the same incoming information as well as a means to propagate it. Our model also provides a means to cross different beliefs so, any incoming information can be processed many times by the same or different functions as it occurs is social nets. (shrink)

Proponemos una interpretación novedosa de la(s) teoría(s) de Frege en Begriffsschrift (1879/2016) y “Über Sinn und Bedeutung” (1892a/2016). Prestamos especial atención al papel de las circunstancias como contenido conceptual de las oraciones en Begriffsschrift y argumentamos que ninguna razón de las que ofrece Frege en “Über Sinn und Bedeutung” para establecer los valores de verdad como referencia de las oraciones justifica su eliminación. Este artículo no es tanto de carácter histórico como de reconstrucción conceptual. Buscamos en Frege las raíces de (...) una concepción pluralista del contenido de la oración (Perry, 2001/2012; Korta & Perry, 2011). (shrink)

In §8 of hisBegriffsschrift(1879), Gottlob Frege discusses issues related to identity. Frege begins his most famous essay,“On Sense and Denotation”(1892),published 13 years later, by criticizing the view advocated in §8. He returns to theseissues in the concluding paragraph. Controversies continue over these importantpassages. We offer an interpretation and discuss some alternatives. We defend thatin theBegriffsschrift,Frege does not hold that identity is a relation between signs.§8 of theBegriffsschriftis motivated by the conflict between two differentcriteria for sameness of conceptual content of sentences. (...) To resolve that conflict,Frege introduces‘≡’in §8 and, thus, circumstances with names as constituents. Tothe same end, in“On Sense and Denotation,”Frege introduces senses andThoughts and abandons both ‘≡’ and circumstances. He solves what we call theCo-instantiation problem, and disregards, but does not solve, the Name problem. (shrink)

In these short comments, I concentrate mostly on the discussion about belief retention, about Frege’s dilemma concerning sentences containing temporal indexical expressions and about the problems of cognitive significance it raises. I argue that Bozickovic’s interpretation of Perry’s proposals (both of the 70’s proposal and of its later developments) is not accurate. I offer an account of these problems that I take to be congenial with Perry’s own explanation and which I think might complement Bozickovic’s own proposal.

Prior's approach to time has been neglected by semanticists for several reasons. The main one, we believe, is the inability of Priorean tense logic to refer to times. The second one, is the inability to account for some important features of natural language such as temporal anaphora and the role of temporal constructions in discourse. Priorean tense logic has, however, one important advantage over other accounts: the internal perspective of time (due to its modal nature). This paper examines extensions of (...) Priorean tense logic in which reference to times is possible, focusing on the so-called hybrid temporal logic. We will outline some of its main features and analyze some of its philosophical implications. (shrink)

To address the topic of children’s online aggression, this article explores a subsample from the EU Kids Online dataset of 1404 children, aged 9–16, who reported having engaged in aggressive acts online in the previous year. Through a cluster analysis, respondents were classified into three groups. Findings emphasize the risk factors for aggression and how they relate to age-specific developmental tasks. Boys predominate, but the gender gap is not as wide as in offline contexts. For almost half of the children, (...) aggression goes hand in hand with victimization. All the clusters share high levels of emotional deprivation. A sense of lacking social support, from both adults and peers, becomes more relevant among those children with high and more problematic engagement in online aggression. Results confirm that online aggression must be considered within the complex and fluid offline–online continuum cutting across the social contexts in which children grow. (shrink)

In §8 of his Begriffsschrift (1879), Gottlob Frege discusses issues related to identity. Frege begins his most famous essay, “On Sense and Denotation” (1892), published 13 years later, by criticizing the view advocated in §8. He returns to these issues in the concluding paragraph. Controversies continue over these important passages. We offer an interpretation and discuss some alternatives. We defend that in the Begriffsschrift, Frege does not hold that identity is a relation between signs. §8 of the Begriffsschrift is motivated (...) by the conflict between two different criteria for sameness of conceptual content of sentences. To resolve that conflict, Frege introduces ‘≡’ in §8 and, thus, circumstances with names as constituents. To the same end, in “On Sense and Denotation,” Frege introduces senses and Thoughts and abandons both ‘≡’ and circumstances. He solves what we call the Co-instantiation problem, and disregards, but does not solve, the Name problem. (shrink)

This paper presents an approach to the belief system based on a computational framework in three levels: first, the logic level with the definition of binary local rules, second, the arithmetic level with the definition of recursive functions and finally the behavioural level with the definition of a recursive construction pattern. Social communication is achieved when different beliefs are expressed, modified, propagated and shared through social nets. This approach is useful to mimic the belief system because the defined functions provide (...) different ways to process the same incoming information as well as a means to propagate it. Our model also provides a means to cross different beliefs so, any incoming information can be processed many times by the same or different functions as it occurs is social nets. (shrink)

Alguns humanos possuem um excêntrico modo de existência e não guardam para si aquilo que sabem; anunciam e entregam para o outro o que aprenderam, o que trazem consigo; são uma espécie de ponte ancestral entre sucessivas gerações; parecem ter herdado de Hermes, Mercúrio, Agni, um espírito que lhes impulsionam a conceder àqueles com quem convivem sabedoria, aprendizado. Uns assumem-no como missão, outros convertem isso em ofício e se transformam em educadores e professores. Rosilene Maria Alves Pereira assumiu o (...) ofício de ser professora universitária ainda muito jovem, e, algumas gerações de alunos do curso de Licenciatura em filosofia da Universidade Federal do Piauí, testemunham esse legado de forma substantiva desde 1993. (shrink)

Nas últimas décadas, a desconstrução do paradigma antropocêntrico colocou questões como a exploração animal no centro dos debates éticos e meta-éticos modernos. Este tema tem sido o foco de atenção também no âmbito dos estudos Kantianos. À luz das diferenças fundamentais entre seres humanos e animais e da impossibilidade posta pela teoria de Kant de atribuir deveres diretos aos animais, tornar sua filosofia prática útil para a defesa do bem-estar animal parece uma tarefa impossível. A esta dificuldade soma-se a crítica (...) de que uma teoria baseada em princípios universais e deveres individuais pode ser inadequada para lidar com o bem-estar animal sob considerações culturais e situacionais. Ao abordar estes desafios, pretendo mostrar que a filosofia prática de Kant fornece recursos valiosos para a defesa do bem-estar animal. Neste espírito, eu sustento que, embora limitado, o tratamento de Kant acerca do auto-engano é uma forma promissora de fazer a ponte entre o bem-estar animal e o ethos da sua teoria moral. (shrink)

This paper analyses the successive waves of penetration of oriental goddesses, assimilated to Aphrodite, by Greeks coming from the Near East (Syria, Phoenicia) to the Greek colonies on the Black Sea. The first stage, that of the cuit of Syrian Aphrodite, is assigned to the 6th c. BC in the Greek towns of Olbia, Berezan and perhaps Istros. In the 4th c. a second wave arrived, chiefly in the Kingdom of the Bosphorus, which introduced the cuit of Aphrodite Ourania. The (...) analysis is based on ancient texts, graffiti, inscriptions, reliefs and terracottas. (shrink)

CICLO DE CONFERÊNCIAS Encontramos aqui uma panorâmica simultaneamente vasta e profunda sobre a relação entre Filosofia e Literatura, es elecendo diversas pontes de diálogo entre estas duas margens que, em geral, não comunicam ou comunicam pouco, decerto muito menos do que seria desejável Pontes de diálogo que passam pela recordação da Filosofia Antiga ou, mais especificamente, da tradição neoplatónica, e que se projectam em autores contemporâneos como, entre outros, Paul Ricoeur, Jean-Paul Sartre, Clarice Lispector, Hilda Hist, Leonardo Coimbra, Teixeira de (...) Pascoaes, Fernando Pessoa, Vergílio Ferreira, Jorge de Sena e Gonçalo M Tavares. (shrink)

ABSTRACT In this review, I try to present and discuss the main elements of each chapter of the book as briefly and instructively as possible. The first group of chapters deals with various issues about language, and the second group focuses on thought.

Partindo da ideia de metamorfose proposta por Emanuele Coccia, desenhamos um percurso que nos levará a pensar, a partir de temporalidades espiraladas, as ilustrações entomológicas da cientista Maria Sibylla Merian (1647 - 1717), bem como as narrativas de ficção especulativa hopepunk, que defende futuros esperançosos em contraposição às histórias de teor pessimista ou apocalíptico. Em uma estratégia de costura metodológica a partir de patchworks narrativos (GÜNEL; VARMA; WATANABE, 2020), mobilizamos os materiais apresentados em ressonância com dados etnográficos provenientes de entrevistas (...) presenciais com G., jovem artesão e aprendiz de curandeiro da etnia shipibo na Amazônia peruana (Tamshiyacu, 2013). Os retalhos apresentados nos permitirão explorar vínculos e pontes experienciais entre epistemes diversas, navegando pela contação de histórias, a oniria e a fabulação enquanto modos metamórficos de pensar e agir no mundo. (shrink)

Resumen: Este artículo se propone analizar las razones por las que las prostitutas, a causa de su opción sexual, han sido criminalizadas por imposición de distintos órdenes normativos, fuertemente coercitivos, que censuran gravemente su desviación. Ellos –y sus potentes discursos-se muestran capaces de explicar ese continuum ininterrumpido e inacabable de estigma, persecución, inferiorización, aislamiento social o encarcelamiento que acompaña a la historia de la prostitución de las mujeres y que la mantiene todavía hoy en las profundidades de la jerarquía sexual (...) de la sociedad. Abstract: This article aims to analyze the reasons why prostitutes because of their sexual option have been criminalized by imposing highly coercive normative orders that censure severely their deviation. These normative orders -and their powerful discourses- explain the continuous and endless continuum of stigma, persecution, inferiority, social isolation or imprisonment that accompains the history of prostitution of women and that remain still today in the depths of the sexual hierarchy of society. (shrink)

In proposing this reflection about the relationship between dogmatic theology and Christian spiritual experience, we want to demonstrate in this article how a great 20 th century theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar, invites the reader to enter into the reading and understanding of the historical and theological reasons that have guided some options and postures assumed, as well as to recognize the impacts caused both in the theology and in the spiritual experience and yet, more widely, in Christianity and its (...) mission. The path chosen for this study starts from one of his works, L’amour seul est digne de foi, and relies, then, in the impressive intellectual patrimony of the author, by researching in the same the transversality of the theme. We will be, in the present work, vigilant to the threat of disruptions, particularly analyze the conception and the possibility of the Christian spiritual experience by inquiring the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Holy Fathers. What is the hope delineated in this dialogue? It will be possible to infer partial conclusions from the route made. Further researches will be essential in order to reach the understanding of everything that is at stake in the search for intelligibility of the Theology and of the Christian experience itself. (shrink)

This chapter discusses the topics of trust and expertise from the perspective of political epistemology. In particular, it addresses four main questions: (§1) How should we characterise experts and their expertise? (§2) How can non-experts recognize a reliable expert? (§3) What does it take for non-experts to trust experts? (§4) What problems impede trust in experts?

In the ongoing pandemic, death statistics influence people’s feelings and government policy. But when does COVID-19 qualify as the cause of death? As philosophers of medicine interested in conceptual clarification, we address the question by analyzing the World Health Organization’s rules for the certification of death. We show that for COVID-19, WHO rules take into account both facts and values.

The mind is a powerful anticipatory device. It frequently makes predictions about the future, telling us not only how the world might or will be, but also how it should be - or better - how we would like it to be. This book explores anticipation-based emotions - the emotions associated with the interaction between 'what is' and 'what is not '.

is to discuss the nurse leader's role in ensuring congruence between caring missions and caring practices. Ethical principles are discussed as the foundation necessary for creating an ethical climate for nursing practice. Components of ethical climate are presented and strategies to create a positive ethical climate for nursing practice are provided....

Introdução Nos dias 4 e 5 de novembro de 2019 realizou-se, na Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, um “Encontro Regional da Residência Pedagógica em Filosofia”, sobre o tema dos “lugares da Filosofia”. A primeira parte da minha fala no evento foi dedicada à discussão de aspectos particulares do currículo local, em especial a questão dos critérios de decisão que levamos em conta nas reformas curriculares. Fiz uma breve revisão da história do Curso de Licenciatura em Filosofia da UFSM, que tem (...) mais de cinquenta anos de funcionamento. Fiz também uma avaliação da conjuntura que vivemos no ensino de filosofia. Retomei o tema das dificuldades de caracterização da filosofia para sua apresentação didática e pedagógica. Na medida em que as decisões sobre o desenho curricular em nossa área são bastante amparadas nas intuições e preferências docentes, amplia-se a possibilidade de que elas sejam vistas como de ordem subjetiva. Eu tenho procurado identificar algumas dificuldades do que chamo de “decisionismo curricular”, mas também tenho feito sugestões no sentido de que a exploração conceitual das diferenças entre três eixos no ensino da filosofia, como produto, como problema e como processo, pode ser o ponto de partida para novos esforços de caracterização da disciplina, a partir de seu eixo de procedimentos. O problema torna-se ainda mais premente no quadro político e social que estamos vivendo. Somam-se às dificuldades institucionais a necessidade de darmos conta de uma caracterização da filosofia que faça justiça não apenas a temas emergentes, mas ao processo de redesenho de suas próprias fronteiras. Nesta versão eu suprimi a abordagem da situação curricular da UFSM em benefício de uma expansão da segunda parte. Incluí algumas discussões que não apresentei naquele dia, em especial uma apresentação sobre A paixão segundo G. H., de Clarice Lispector, que me serviu, no presente texto, para fazer uma ponte entre certos temas. Incluí também uma abordagem de A Vida do Espírito, de Hannah Arendt, que me pareceu essencial para o mosaico que tento desenhar, faz anos. O resultado está longe de ser satisfatório. O fracasso, como diz Clarice, dá muito trabalho, pois para cair é preciso subir um pouco e “é inútil procurar encurtar caminho, a trajetória não é apenas um modo de ir, a trajetória somos nós mesmos”. (shrink)

Recent years have witnessed an increasing growth in mutual funds that invest according to social criteria. As a consequence, the financial performance of these portfolios has attracted the interest of academics and practitioners. This paper investigates the performance of a sample of socially responsible mutual funds from seven European countries investing globally and/or in the European market. Using unconditional and conditional models, we assess the performance of these funds in comparison to conventional and socially responsible benchmark portfolios. The results show (...) that European socially responsible funds present in general neutral performance in relation to both conventional and socially responsible benchmarks. However, performance estimates seem to be slightly higher when funds are evaluated in relation to socially responsible indices. Our results also show that socially responsible funds are more exposed to conventional than to socially responsible indices. Furthermore, conventional benchmarks are better able to explain fund returns than socially responsible benchmarks. These findings are robust to both unconditional and conditional models of performance. We also observe that conditional models lead to a slight improvement of performance estimates and to the explanatory power of the models, both when conventional and socially responsible benchmarks are considered. This is consistent with most previous empirical findings on conditional performance evaluation. Our results show that investors who wish to hold European funds can add social screens to their investment choices without compromising financial performance. (shrink)

Academic freedom has often been defended in a progressivist manner: without academic freedom, creativity would be in peril, and with it the advancement of knowledge, i.e. the epistemic progress in science. In this paper, I want to critically discuss the limits of such a progressivist defense of academic freedom, also known under the label ‘argument from truth.’ The critique is offered, however, with a constructive goal in mind, namely to offer an alternative account that connects creativity and academic freedom in (...) a way that goes beyond mere reference to epistemic progress and involves reference to the freedom to think independently as the freedom we mean when we point to creativity and when we point to academic freedom. The resulting causal independence account is not only epistemologically stronger than a progressivist account, it also allows to counter the curbing of academic freedom in the name of progress. The latter becomes key, for instance, when authoritarian political regimes limit or negate academic freedom with reference to an epistemic progress suitably defined for that regime. (shrink)

Corruption within the private sector has often not been dealt with in Brazil. Organizations may find corrupt acts in its operations or practices, but specific concepts and programs to avoid them are neither concrete nor clear. Some Brazilian stockholders have become aware of the risks involved in unethical procedures and are adopting the Best Practices of Corporate Governance initiative. International agencies have intensively supported organizations and governments in an effort to define policies that inhibit illegal or corrupt cultural habits throughout (...) the world, but Brazilian practitioners show insufficient response. Skepticism may indicate a lack of understanding about how an ethical leadership can guide employees, setting high standards for the organizational culture and climate, clearly defining limits of correct behavior, and creating appropriate codes of ethics. Transparency still has to be discovered as a significant tool to encourage professionalism in performance and reporting of data in Brazilian companies. In this article, we analyze the ethical behavior of the purchasing department of a multinational company in its host country, Brazil. It focuses specifically on the supplier–buyer relationship. The results indicate that despite the negative reputation Brazilians have in business ethics, a company can still develop a positive and ethical relationship with its stakeholders. Communication, transparency, compliance with the company’s code of conduct as well as the supplier’s awareness of the buyer’s code of conduct are the factors which influence the supplier–buyer relationship. Transparency can be used as a tool to reduce corruption, thereby increasing ethical behavior and company image. Good ethical behavior can help to build up a company’s image. (shrink)

We discuss the 'problem of convergent knowledge', an argument presented by J. Schaffer in favour of contextualism about knowledge attributions, and against the idea that knowledge- wh can be simply reduced to knowledge of the proposition answering the question. Schaffer's argument centrally involves alternative questions of the form 'whether A or B'. We propose an analysis of these on which the problem of convergent knowledge does not arise. While alternative questions can contextually restrict the possibilities relevant for knowledge attributions, what (...) Schaffer's puzzle reveals is a pragmatic ambiguity in what 'knowing the answer' means: in his problematic cases, the subject knows only a partial answer to the question. This partial knowledge can be counted as adequate only on externalist grounds. (shrink)

This article proposes an account of knowing-who constructions within a generalisation of Hintikka’s quantified epistemic logic employing the notion of a conceptual cover Aloni PhD thesis [1]. The proposed logical system captures the inherent context-sensitivity of knowing-wh constructions Boër and Lycan, as well as expresses non-trivial cases of so-called concealed questions Heim. Assuming that quantifying into epistemic contexts and knowing-who are linked in the way Hintikka had proposed, the context dependence of the latter will translate into a context dependence of (...) de re attitude ascriptions and this will result in a ready account of a number of traditionally problematic cases including Quine’s well-known double vision puzzles Quine. (shrink)

Our evaluation of questions and knowledge attributions may vary relative to the way in which the relevant objects are identified. In the first part, the article proposes a theory that represents different methods of trans-world identification and is able to account for their impact on interpretation. In the second part, the same theory is used to account for the meaning of concealed questions. On the proposed account, the interpretation of a concealed question results from the application of a type-shifting operation (...) mapping an individual denoting expression into an identity question interpreted relative to a contextually selected identification method. (shrink)

This paper addresses whether the often-bemoaned loss of unity of knowledge about humans, which results from the disciplinary fragmentation of science, is something to be overcome. The fragmentation of being human rests on a couple of distinctions, such as the nature-culture divide. Since antiquity the distinction between nature (roughly, what we inherit biologically) and culture (roughly, what is acquired by social interaction) has been a commonplace in science and society. Recently, the nature/culture divide has come under attack in various ways, (...) in philosophy as well as in cultural anthropology. Regarding the latter, for instance, the divide was quintessential in its beginnings as an academic dis-cipline, when Alfred L. Kroeber, one of the first professional anthropologists in the US, rallied for (what I call) the right to ignore—in his case, human nature—by adopting a separationist epistemic stance. A separationist stance will be understood as an epistemic research heuristic that defends the right to ignore a specif-ic phenomenon (e.g., human nature) or a specific causal factor in an explanation typical for a disciplinary field. I will use Kroeber’s case as an example for making a general point against a bias towards integration (synthesis bias, as I call it) that is exemplified, for instance, by defenders of evolutionary psychology. I will claim that, in principle, a separationist stance is as good as an integrationist stance since both can be equally fruitful. With this argument from fruitful sepa-ration in place, not just the separationist stance but also the nature/culture di-vide can be defended against its critics. (shrink)

Aristocles of Messene is a first century AD Aristotelian philosopher who discusses the thought of ancient Greek philosophers, including Plato, Zeno, Pyrrho, and Epicurus, as well as Eleatic and Cyrenaic philosophies. His main contribution is his testimony on Pyrrhonism, and his political verve makes his On Philosophy an interesting and amusing read for specialists and non-specialists alike.

Maria Baghramian; XIV*—Why Conceptual Schemes?, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 98, Issue 1, 1 June 1998, Pages 287–306, https://doi.org/10.1111.