Essa proposta nasceu de uma experiência em uma escola de ensino médio e destaca as influências geradoras da Filosofia para Crianças (P4C) em jovens adultos. Primeiramente, discuto e dou exemplos de como o sistema escolar tradicionalmente não valoriza o aprendizado e o pensamento filosófico, reduzindo o processo à distribuição pré-embalada de respostas prontas. Essas formas de aprendizado, também conhecidas como modelo “bancário” de educação, desvalorizam as formas que as crianças têm de conhecer e estar no mundo. Essa postura pedagógica, entre (...) outros problemas, resulta em um foco na dimensão quantitativa-cronológica do tempo, deixando pouco ou nenhum espaço para a importância do momento presente, que pertence e é natural à maioria das experiências infantis. A parte central do artigo é uma tentativa de explicar melhor, por meio de conceitos derivados da antropologia e da pedagogia, em quê consiste essa dimensão alternativa do tempo e que possibilidades ela abre nos ambientes educacionais. Na seção final, defendo que participar de uma comunidade de investigação como a de Filosofia para Crianças como um jovem adulto representa uma complexidade maior, pois é mais difícil romper com certezas consolidadas. No entanto, também envolve a oportunidade de entrar em uma máquina do tempo metafórica que nos permite recuperar o tempo da infância. Essa máquina do tempo metafórica abre possibilidades para que alunos e professores reorientem seu relacionamento consigo mesmos, uns com os outros e com o mundo. (shrink)

In this commentary, as philosophers of evolutionary biology, we will consider the evolutionary framework used in the Target Article by: (i) emphasising the fruitfulness of the interdisciplinary approach employed; (ii) highlighting some potentially controversial aspects of the proposal; and finally (iii) outlining some ideas for further integration within the UAL framework. The critical analysis will focus on the relationship between learning and consciousness, on the assumed need for a function for consciousness, and on the type of phylogenetic demarcation introduced by (...) UAL. (shrink)

Neuroethics, in its modern form, investigates the impact of brain science in four basic dimensions: the self, social policy, practice and discourse. In this study, we analyzed a set of 461 peer-reviewed articles with neuroethics content, published by authors from 32 countries. We analyzed the data for: (1) trends in the development of international neuroethics over time, and (2) how challenges at the intersection of ethics and neuroscience are viewed in countries that are considered developed by International Monetary Fund (IMF) (...) standards, and in those that are developing. Our results demonstrate a steady increase in global participation in neuroethics from 1989 to 2005, characterized by an increase in numbers of articles published specifically on neuroethics, journals publishing these articles, and countries contributing to the literature. The focus from all countries was on the practice of brain science and the amelioration of neurological disease. Indicators of technology creation and diffusion in developing countries were specifically correlated with increases in publications concerning policy implications of brain science. Neuroethics is an international endeavor and, as such, should be sensitive to the impact that context has on acceptance and use of technological innovation. (shrink)

In political theory it goes without saying that the constitution of government raises a claim for legitimacy. With the constitution of the people, however, it is different. It is often dismissed as a historical question. The conviction is that since the people cannot decide on its own composition the boundaries of democracy must be determined by other factors, such as the contingent forces of history. This article critically assesses this view. It argues that like the constitution of government, the constitution (...) of the people raises a claim for legitimacy. The failure to see this is what makes many theorists run into the arms of history. They submit the legitimacy of the people to the arbitrary and asymmetrical forces of the present. (shrink)

Hume y la causalidad contiene un análisis completo y detallado del abordaje de la causalidad en la filosofía de Hume. Tal como Jerónimo Narváez lo demuestra, la filosofía de Hume no desemboca en un callejón sin salida escéptico sino que nos orienta a la consideración de aspectos no racionales que intervienen en la formación de las creencias, hace un aporte a la complejización de la noción de conocimiento y brinda elementos normativos para la evaluación de los diversos tipos de creencias (...) causales. (shrink)

???? Wydawnictwo von Borowiecky : Red. naukowa: Bożena Listkowska, Artur Andrzejuk Drugi tom słownika polskich filozofów tomistycznych (obejmujący lata 1919–1945), kontynuatorów myśli św. Tomasza z Akwinu. Znajdziemy w nim biogramy oraz omówienia poglądów, a także recenzje i wspomnienia. Tom drugi poświęcony jest omówieniu filozoficznych dokonań: Michała Klepacza, Kazimierza Kowalskiego, Franciszka Kwiatkowskiego, Czesława Martyniaka, Konstantego Józefa Michalskiego, Jana Salamuchy, Franciszka Sawickiego, Jana Stepy, Antoniego Szymańskiego, Jacka Woronieckiego, Aleksandra Żychlińskiego oraz przebiegowi Międzynarodowego Kongresu Tomistycznego, który odbył się w Poznaniu w 1935 r. (...) © Wydawnictwo von Borowiecky. (shrink)

Miran Božovič, an expert in modern philosophy, in his new work begins to read some literary works from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries in the light of philosophical theories, either explicitly or implicitly contained in them. These range from little-known novels such as G. Daniel's Journey to the World of Descartes (1690) and Fontenell's State of the Philosophers (1682), through 18th century classics, Diderot's Rameau's nephew, to one of the greatest 19th century novels, Melville's Moby Dick (1851) and Tolstoy's (...) short stories Kreutzer's Sonata (1889)--Publisher's website. (shrink)

In a special issue of “Ethics and Information Technology” (September 2012), various philosophers have discussed the notion of online friendship. The preferred framework of analysis was Aristotle’s theory of friendship: it was argued that online friendships face many obstacles that hinder them from ever reaching the highest form of Aristotelian friendship. In this article I aim to offer a different perspective by critically analyzing the arguments these philosophers use against online friendship. I begin by isolating the most common arguments these (...) philosophers use against online friendship and proceed to debunk them one by one by pointing out inconsistencies and fallacies in their arguments and, where needed, offering empirical findings from media and communication studies that offer a more nuanced view on online friendships. I conclude my analysis by questioning the correctness of the application of the Aristotelian theory of friendship by the critics of online friendship: in my view, the critics are applying the Aristotelian theory to online friendships in a rather narrow and limited way. Finally, I conclude my thesis by proposing that in the rapidly changing online landscape, a one-size-fits-all application of the Aristotelian theory on friendship is not sufficient to accurately judge the multitude of relationships that can exist online and that the various positive and valuable elements of online friendships should also be acknowledged and analyzed. (shrink)

Increased work complexity and financial strain in the health care sector have led to higher demands on staff to handle ethical issues. These demands can elicit stress reactions, that is, moral distress. One way to support professionals in handling ethical dilemmas is education and training in ethics. This article reports on a controlled prospective study evaluating a structured education and training program in ethics concerning its effects on moral distress. The results show that the participants were positive about the training (...) program. Moral distress did not change significantly. This could be interpreted as competence development, with no effects on moral distress. Alternatively, the result could be attributed to shortcomings of the training program, or that it was too short, or it could be due to the evaluation instrument used. Organizational factors such as management involvement are also crucial. There is a need to design and evaluate ethics competence programs concerning their efficacy. (shrink)

When interacting with other people, we assume that they have their reasons for what they do and believe, and experience recognizable feelings and emotions. When people act from weakness of will or are otherwise irrational, what they do can still be comprehensible to us, since we know what it is like to fall for temptation and act against one’s better judgment. Still, when someone’s experiences, feelings and way of thinking is vastly different from our own, understanding them becomes increasingly difficult. (...) Delusions and psychosis are often seen as marking the end of intelligibility. In this paper, I argue first for the importance of seeing other people as intelligible as long as this is at all possible. Second, I argue, based on both previous literature and my own lived experience, that more psychotic phenomena than previously thought can be rendered at least somewhat intelligible. Besides bizarre experiences like illusions, hallucinations and intense feelings of significance, I also explain what it is like to lose one’s bedrock, and how this loss impacts which beliefs one has reason to reject. Finally, I give an inside account of some disturbances of reason, and show that there are important similarities between certain psychotic reasoning problems and common non-pathological phenomena. (shrink)

This article presents the development, validation and application of an instrument to measure everyday moral distress in different health care settings. The concept of moral distress has been discussed and developed over 20 years. A few instruments have been developed to measure it, predominantly in nursing. The instrument presented here consists of two factors: level of moral distress, and tolerance/openness towards moral dilemmas. It was tested in four medical departments and three pharmacies, where 259 staff members completed a questionnaire. The (...) two factors were found to be reliable. Differences in levels of moral distress were found between pharmacies and clinical departments, and between the youngest and oldest age groups; departmental staff and the youngest group experienced higher levels of moral distress. Departments reported less tolerance/openness towards moral dilemmas than pharmacies. The instrument needs to be tested further, but its strengths are the focus on everyday ethical dilemmas and its usefulness in different health care settings. (shrink)

Proof requires a dialogue between agents to clarify obscure inference steps, fill gaps, or reveal implicit assumptions in a purported proof. Hence, argumentation is an integral component of the discovery process for mathematical proofs. This work presents how argumentation theories can be applied to describe specific informal features in the development of proof-events. The concept of proof-event was coined by Goguen who described mathematical proof as a public social event that takes place in space and time. This new meta-methodological concept (...) is designed to cover not only “traditional” formal proofs but all kinds of proofs and inference steps, including incomplete or purported proofs. Our approach attempts to make proof-events more comprehensive to express the complete trajectory of a mathematical proof-event until the ultimate validation of the proving outcome. Thus, we advance an extended version of proof-event calculus which is built on argumentation theories designed to capture the internal and external structure of collaborative mathematical practice and highlight the relationship between proof, human reasoning, and cognitive processes. In addition, another area in which argumentation can make a significant contribution is dealing with the defeasible knowledge of the Web which is a product of its open and ubiquitous nature. This approach seems to be sufficient for the presentation of Web-based proving processes as manifested in the case of the Mini-Polymath 4 project. (shrink)

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries worldwide have put lockdowns in place to prevent the virus from spreading. Evidence shows that lockdown measures can affect mental health; it is, therefore, important to identify the psychological characteristics making individuals more vulnerable. The present study aimed, first, to identify, through a cluster analysis, the psychological attributes that characterize individuals with similar psychological responses to the COVID-19 home confinement; second, to investigate whether different psychological characteristics, such as personality traits, alexithymia, and resilience, specifically (...) influence anxiety, stress, and depression, depending on the scope of the confinement. We analyzed data from 393 participants who completed an online survey on their experiences during two different phases of the Italian lockdown, characterized by more or less strict measures of confinement. Two clusters were identified which included participants reporting a better (+ER) and worse (−ER) emotional response to the lockdown, respectively. Individuals in the −ER group showed lower emotional stability, resilience, and higher alexithymia. Moreover, even if lifting part of the restrictions decreased psychological distress among all participants, a reduction in perceived stress was observed only among individuals with high resilience. Finally, personality traits, alexithymia, and resilience differently affected depression, anxiety, and stress. Our results suggest that different psychological interventions should be planned depending on the context: mental health professionals should focus on enhancing the individuals’ coping strategies to alleviate stress in emergencies, while long-term intervention aiming at alleviating anxiety and depressive symptoms should focus on alexithymic tendencies and personality constructs. (shrink)

The supreme counsel of the religion of Islam insistently emphasizes and promotes social solidarity and solidarity at every stage of life. Among the encouraged advices; the Qur'an and the hadith how meticulously focused on orphans and promised conditions and provisions for a virtuous life. The aim of the protection of orphans, shelter, representation, surety, evaluation of his property for bestowal, approaching with compassion and mercy. The prophet of Islam, who was born as orphan, Muhammad (pbuh.), by addressing the conscience of (...) humanity in order to protect the rights and law of orphan, brought preventive, encouraging orders and prohibitions. When it comes to dealing with orphans and protecting their rights and laws, it is not a correct approach to understand only in the form of protecting and meeting their material needs. On the contrary, it has been emphasized to meet his spiritual and psychological needs, not to insult his personality, and to contribute to his growing up as a beneficial individual for the society. This issue is stated as follows in the verse: “So don't crush the orphan” (Duhâ, 93/9). This order and the person of the Messenger of Allah also, draw the attention of mankind to respect for the material and spiritual rights of the orphan. The main target of the related things is not to leave the orphans alone, but to protect them, to provide an atmosphere of love. Otherwise, orphans deprived of the environment of love may pose problems for themselves and society while struggling with some psychological problems. The main purpose of our study is to draw attention to the compliance of the orphans' rights-law in the axis of the Qur'an and hadith according to the rapidly developing and changing life conditions in our age. (shrink)

One of the most influential arguments against compatibilism is Derk Pereboom’s four-case manipulation argument. Professor Plum, the main character of the thought experiment, is manipulated into doing what he does; he therefore supposedly lacks moral responsibility for his action. Since he is arguably analogous to an ordinary agent under determinism, Pereboom concludes that ordinary determined agents lack moral responsibility as well. I offer a hard-line reply to this argument, that is, a reply which denies that this kind of manipulation is (...) responsibility undermining. I point out that fully fleshed-out manipulated characters in fiction can seem morally responsible for what they do. This is plausibly because we identify with such characters, and therefore focus on their options and the reasons for which they act rather than the manipulation. I further argue that we ought to focus this way when interacting with other agents. We have no reason to trust the incompatibilist intuitions that arise when we regard manipulated agents from a much more detached perspective. (shrink)

Because the term ‘epigenetics’ has been used in a wide array of inquires within the life-sciences, it has come to bear a significant number of meanings. And just as biologists cannot come to an univocal understanding on what epigenetics connotes, the effect that its study has had in challenging contemporary neo-Darwinian, genecentred paradigms is also unclear. Some scientists and philosophers go as far as to say epigenetics has eroded dichotomies central to modern western thought, such as nature and nurture, or (...) genotype and phenotype – but the matter ignites a great deal of controversy. What seems unquestionable, however, is that the notion that genetic material is a ‘programme’ that simply manifests itself in an external correlative, thus accounting for the development of a living organism, seems to have – at the very least – shifted. Rather than attempting to pinpoint the implications of epigenetics in contemporary biology, this article focuses on the ‘literary’ dimension of scientific debate: instability of meaning, metaphorical shifts, a redrawing of margins and limits. Furthermore, it will be argued that metaphor does not merely have a pedagogical value in the field but rather works proactively throughout the genesis, development and morphology of science and theory. By outlining a ‘literary’ dimension in discussions around genetics one can identify what Squier refers to as ‘the epistemological value of the imprecise’, which in the case of epigenetics seems to have jeopardized not only the boundaries between genes and their external correlatives, but even challenged the frontiers of traditional disciplinary discourse. (shrink)

Pre-reflective Consciousness: Sartre and Contemporary Philosophy of Mind delves into the relations between the current debates on consciousness within analytical philosophy and the debates taking place in continental philosophy in the twentieth century and in particular within the work of Sartre. Examining the return of the problem of subjectivity in philosophy of mind and the idea that phenomenal consciousness could not be reduced to functional or cognitive properties this volume aims to rethink borders between what counts as ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ (...) when the nature of the mental is at stake. (shrink)

Praise, unlike blame, is generally considered well intended and beneficial, and therefore in less need of scrutiny. In line with recent developments, we argue that praise merits more thorough philosophical analysis. We show that, just like blame, praise can be problematic by expressing a failure to respect a person’s equal value or worth as a person. Such patronizing praise, however, is often more insidious, because praise tends to be regarded as well intended and beneficial, which renders it harder to recognize (...) and object to. Among other things, a philosophical analysis of patronizing praise helps people on the receiving end articulate why they feel uncomfortable or offended by it, shows patronizing praisers how their praise is problematic, and provides input for further philosophical analysis of blame.In the first section of the paper, we discuss how hypocritical praise, just like hypocritical blame, can fail to respect the equality of persons by expressing that the praiser applies more demanding moral standards to the praisee than to themself. We further discuss obstructionist praise, which loosely corresponds to complicit blame, and can similarly express that certain moral standards apply to others but not to the praiser. In the second part of the paper, we discuss another variety of patronizing praise. Praise can be an inaccurate appraisal of a person based on irrelevant considerations – like race, gender, or class – and thereby constitute a failure to recognize their equal worth as a person. We identify three ways in which such praise can manifest. (shrink)

A short autobiographical piece on madness and philosophy that I wrote for the Schizophrenia Bulletin's First Person Account section.

One of the most important criteria for professionalism is accumulation of knowledge that is usable in professional practice. Nursing models and theories are important elements of accumulating nursing knowledge and have a chance to guarantee the ethical professional practice. In recent years, there has been an increase in the use of models in nursing research and newly created terminology has started to be used in nursing. In this study, a new model, termed as the Professional Values Model, developed by the (...) authors was described. Concepts comprising the conceptual framework of the model and relations between the concepts were explained. It is assumed that awareness about concepts of the model will increase not only the patients’ satisfaction with nursing care, but also the nurses’ job satisfaction and quality of nursing care. Contemporary literature has been reviewed and synthesized to develop this theoretical paper on the Professional Values Model in nursing. Having high values in nursing increases job satisfaction, which results in the improvement of patient care and satisfaction. Also, individual characteristics are effective in the determination of individual needs, priorities, and values. This relation, proved through research about the Professional Values Model, has been explained. With development of these concepts, individuals’ satisfaction with care and nurses’ job satisfaction will be enhanced, which will increase the quality of nursing care. Most importantly, nurses can take proper decisions about ethical dilemmas and take ethical action when they take these values into consideration when giving care. The Professional Values Model seems suitable for nurse managers and it is expected that testing will improve it. Implementation of the Professional Values Model by nurse managers may increase motivation of nurses they work with. It is suggested that guidance by the Professional Values Model may help in enhancement of motivation efforts of the nurse managers and therefore should be taken into account. (shrink)

Wouter Kusters argues that madness has much to offer philosophy, as does philosophy to madness. In this paper, i support both claims by drawing on a mad phenomenon which I label Radical Psychotic Doubt, or RPD. First, although skepticism is a minority position in epistemology, it has been claimed that anti-skeptical arguments remain unsatisfying. I argue that this complaint can be clarified and strengthened by showing that anti-skeptical arguments are irrelevant to RPD sufferers. Second, there's a debate about whether so-called (...) hinge commitments are beliefs or not. I argue that RPD can be used to strengthen the case that they are. Moreover, if hinges are beliefs, some madpeople are more epistemically rational than some sane philosophers. Third, drawing on my own mad experiences, I challenge evidentialism by presenting a better candidate for a truly forced cchoice about what to believe than William James' traditional religious example. I further show that in certain psychiatric contexts, evidentialism has more radical implications than Jamesian pragmatism, which comes out as more conservative. Finally, I discuss how philosophical theories like pragmatism and Pyrrhonism can provide inspiration for new and much-needed coping strategies for RPD sufferers. (shrink)

Martha Nussbaum argues that animals are entitled to a flourishing life according to the norm for their species. Nussbaum furthermore suggests that in the case of dogs, breed norms as well as species norms are relevant. Her theses capture both common intuitions among laypeople according to which there is something wrong with the breeding of “unnatural” animals, or animals that are too different from their wild ancestors, and the dog enthusiast’s belief that dogs departing from the norms for their breed (...) are tragic. I argue that the high diversity of the dog species and the ultimate arbitrariness of breed norms support the thesis that a conception of welfare must be tied to what the individual requires in order to flourish. In the second part of the paper, I discuss the implications that an individualized welfare conception has for the breeding of dogs for conformation shows, for the pet market and for the performance of various tasks for which we need working dogs. (shrink)

Harming other people is prima facie wrong. Unless we can be very certain that doing so is justified under the circumstances, we ought not to do it. In this paper, I argue that we ought to dismantle harsh retributivist criminal justice systems for this reason; we cannot be sufficiently certain that the harm is justified. Gregg Caruso, Ben Vilhauer and others have previously argued for the same conclusion; however, my own version sidesteps certain controversial premises of theirs. Harsh retributivist criminal (...) justice can only be morally right if the following three propositions are true: Moral responsibility exists, retributivism is right, and we can find out how much punishment offenders deserve for their crimes. Suppose that we initially assign a high credence to each of the three propositions; I assume for the sake of argument that there are good arguments in support of each. Nevertheless, these arguments ultimately depend on intuitions. Since we have philosophical peers whose intuitions differ from ours, we ought to downgrade our credence in each. However, even slightly less credence in each proposition means far less credence in a conjunction of all three. Since the stakes are high and there are morally safer options for a criminal justice system, we ought to dismantle harsh retributivist ones. (shrink)

How should we adjust our beliefs in light of the testimony of those who are in a better epistemic position than ourselves, such as experts and other epistemic superiors? In this paper, I develop and defend a deference model of epistemic authority. The paper attempts to resolve the debate between the preemption view and the total evidence view of epistemic authority by taking an accuracy-first approach to the issue of how we should respond to authoritative and expert testimony. I argue (...) that when we look at the debate through the lens of accuracy, it becomes clear that matters are more complicated than either the preemption view or the total evidence view are able to account for. Consequently, a deference model, outlined within a credence-based framework, does a better job of capturing the relevant phenomena, and explaining how we should update our beliefs in response to epistemically authoritative testimony. (shrink)