The general slogan in the title of this paper gives a general, but nevertheless accurate, expression of Strawson’s view concerning the nature of formal logic per se in relation to natural language. What is at stake here is the extent to which the formal methods and the formal semantics of contemporary symbolic logic can render the meanings of natural language expressions. Strawson sets up an agenda for logical theory which, although rather dated for a logic text, is what one naturally (...) expects from an introduction to elementary formal logic and a systematic analysis of certain crucial metalogical concepts, most notably entailment. However, my own reading is that Strawson’s approach to logic makes a lasting contribution to understanding the inner workings of natural language through his critical discussion of the limits of the formal renderings of the semantics of natural language expressions via canonical first-order notations. One can recognize in this critical attitude towards the limits of formal methods a consistent generalization of Strawson’s own strategy from his critical response to Russell’s theory of descriptions.In my paper I shall focus on certain examples which illustrate the general slogan that characterizes Strawson’s views on the nature of logic in connection with ordinary language and talk. (shrink)

In this landmark book, first published in English in 1958, renowned scholar of religion Mircea Eliade lays the groundwork for a Western understanding of Yoga.

Many Christian scholars, if not all of them, consider Genesis to be foundational texts of the Bible and the spring for all the other doctrines of the Scripture. Therefore, I'm considering the attempt to search and find arguments for cell therapy ethical issues in the fundamental text of Genesis as a challenging and educative task. Moreover, this could be the first step in analyzing the relationships between Christian religions and bioethics, in terms of finding reasonable decisions for ethical challenges, raised (...) by the current biomedical research. As for many other dilemmas of humanity, we have to recall the text of Genesis for analyzing the goodness or evilness of our actions in translational medicine, even though that is not the only way to get a reasonable ethical decision. My contribution is an essay that is trying to correlate the Genesis lessons with the needed arguments in deciding what could be good and what could be evil in the stem cell research, according to the religious convictions. The biggest challenges of biomedical research for Christian religions were due to the human cloning issue, made possible by the somatic cell nuclear transfer, but those challenges update the older debates on birth control pill, technologically assisted reproduction, or gene therapy. Issues related to in vitro fertilization, gene enhancement and gene therapy, human cell cloning, embryonic stem cell using, and chimera cell obtaining for research are being considered and related to the putative arguments extracted from the book of Genesis, describing the origins. As a matter of fact, I may conclude that the single way to reach a reasonable ethical decision in our society is to intersect ethics, science and theology and to engage large debates involving scientists, theologians, civil society representatives, ethicists (experts in applied ethics) and moral philosophers, having the two latest professionals as referees. (shrink)

In Reference without Referents, Mark Sainsbury aims to provide an account of reference that honours the common-sense view that sentences containing empty names like "Vulcan" and "Santa Claus" are entirely intelligible, and that many such sentences -"Vulcan doesn't exist", "Many children believe that Santa Claus will give them presents at Christmas", etc.- are literally true. Sainsbury's account endorses the Davidsonian program in the theory of meaning, and combines this with a commitment to Negative Free Logic, which holds that all simple (...) sentences containing empty names are false. In this critical review, we pose a number of problems for this account. In particular, we question the ability of Negative Free Logic to make appropriate sense of the truth of familiar sentences containing empty names, including negative existential claims like "Vulcan doesn't exist". /// En Reference without Referents, Mark Sainsbury se propone ofrecer una explicación de la referencia que respete la idea de sentido común de que las oraciones con nombres vacíos como "Vulcano" y "Santa Claus" son completamente inteligibles, y que muchas de oraciones de este tipo -"Vulcano no existe", "Muchos niños creen que Santa Claus les traerá regalos en Navidad", y demás- son literalmente verdaderas. La propuesta de Sainsbury se inscribe dentro del programa davidsoniano en teoría del significado, y combina éste con un compromiso con la Lógica Libre Negativa, según la cual todas las oraciones simples que contienen nombres vacíos son falsas. En este estudio crítico, presentamos varios problemas de esta explicación. En particular, ponemos en duda la habilidad de la Lógica Libre Negativa de entender de manera apropiada la verdad de oraciones conocidas que contienen nombres vacíos, incluidas negaciones de existencia como "Vulcano no existe". (shrink)

Knowledge of the input-output characteristics of various neuronal types is a necessary first step toward an understanding of cellular events related to waking and sleep. In spite of the oversimplification involved, the dichotomy in terms of type I (long-axoned, output) neurons and type II (short-axoned, local) interneurons is helpful in functionally delineating the neuronal circuits involved in the genesis and epiphenomena of waking and sleep states. The possibility is envisaged that cortical interneurons, which are particularly related to higher neuronal activity (...) and have been found in previous experiments to be more active during sleep than during wakefulness, might be involved in complex integrative processes occurring during certain sleep stages. Electrophysiological criteria for the identification of output cells and interneurons are developed, with emphasis on various possibilities and difficulties involved in recognizing interneurons of the mammalian brain. The high-frequency repetitive activity of interneurons is discussed, together with various possibilities of error to be avoided when interpreting data from bursting cells. Data first show opposite changes in spontaneous and evoked discharges of identified output cells versus putative interneurons recorded from motor and parietal association cortical areas in behaving monkeys and cats during wakefulness (W) compared to sleep with synchronized EEG activity (S): significantly increased rates of spontaneous firing, enhanced antidromic or synaptic responsiveness, associated with shorter periods of inhibition in type I (pyramidal tract, cortico-thalamic and cortico-pontine) cells during W versus significantly decreased frequencies of spontaneous discharge and depression of synaptically elicited reponses of type II cells during W compared to S. These findings are partly explained on the basis of recent iontophoretic studies showing that acetylcholine, viewed as a synaptic transmitter of the arousal system, excites output-type neurons and inhibits high-frequency bursting cells. Comparing W and S to the deepest stage of sleep with desynchronized EEG activity (D) in type I and type II cells revealed that: (a) the increased firing rates of output cells in D, over those in W and S, is substantially due to a tonic excitation during this state, and rapid eye movements (REMs) only contribute to the further increase of discharge frequencies; (b) in contrast, the increased rates of discharge in interneurons during D is entirely ascribable to REM-related firing. On the basis of experiments reporting that increased duration of D has beneficial effects upon retention of information acquired during W, the suggestion is made that increased firing rates of association cortical interneurons during REM epochs of D sleep are an important factor in maintaining the soundness of a memory trace. (shrink)

A collective volume in memoriam Mihail Radu Solcan.

Hölder’s review of Robert Graßmann’s Theory of Number provides the first statement of Hölder’s most significant tenets concerning the distinction between the genetic and axiomatic presentation of mathematics, the mature expression of which is found in Hölder’s book The Mathematical Method of 1924. By translating Hölder’s review into English, I hope to make this unique document known to a wider public. In my introductory note I provide some context to Hölder’s paper and a few other remarks concerning the translation work.

In this paper I provide a brief reconstruction of Otto Hölder’s conception of proof. My reconstruction focuses on Hölder’s critical assessment of David Hilbert’s account of axiomatics in general, and of Hilbert’s conception of metamathematics in particular. I argue that Hölder’s analysis of Hilbert’s general methodological ideas and, more importantly, Hölder’s analysis of the logical structure of the proofs provided by Hilbert in his Grundlagen der Geometrie of 1899 are helpful in reaching a clearer understanding of van der Waerden’s claim (...) linking Hölder’s conception of proof to the tradition established by Kurt Gödel. (shrink)

This is the first book on the provocative and innovative contributions to philosophy of language, metaphysics, the philosophy of mathematics, and logic made by Kit Fine, one of the world's foremost philosophers. Topics covered include meaning and representation, arbitrary objects, essence, ontological realism, and the metaphysics of modality.

In this paper I examine some presuppositions of toleration and pluralism. I explore two models, viz. a deontological and a consequentialist model, respectively, which could support the view that rational agents should act in a tolerant way. Against the background which is offered by the first model I give two arguments in favor of the view that people are better off and more rational if they act in a tolerant way. The first argument draws upon a principle of charity which (...) one usually makes use of in philosophy of mind and philosophy of language but which could work equally well with regard to this foundational issue in ethics and philosophyof action. The second argument is built upon the epistemic principle of fallibilism and it is meant to show that from this vantage point acting in a tolerant way is the rational thing to do. (shrink)