How do we get out knowledge of the natural numbers? Various philosophical accounts exist, but there has been comparatively little attention to psychological data on how the learning process actually takes place. I work through the psychological literature on number acquisition with the aim of characterising the acquisition stages in formal terms. In doing so, I argue that we need a combination of current neologicist accounts and accounts such as that of Parsons. In particular, I argue that we learn the (...) initial segment of the natural numbers on the basis of the Fregean definitions, but do not learn the natural number structure as a whole on the basis of Hume's principle. Therefore, we need to account for some of the consistency of our number concepts with the Dedekind-Peano axioms in other terms. (shrink)

The Approximate Number System (ANS) is a system that allows us to distinguish between collections based on the number of items, though only if the ratio between numbers is high enough. One of the questions that has been raised is what the representations involved in this system represent. I point to two important constraints for any account: (a) it doesn’t involve numbers, and (b) it can account for the approximate nature of the ANS. Furthermore, I argue that representations of pure (...) magnitude with vehicles that have an imprecision in the value of the unit of measurement (further clarified through a formal model from measurement theory) fit both these requirements. (shrink)

An English double-embedded relative clause from which the middle verb is omitted can often be processed more easily than its grammatical counterpart, a phenomenon known as the grammaticality illusion. This effect has been found to be reversed in German, suggesting that the illusion is language specific rather than a consequence of universal working memory constraints. We present results from three self-paced reading experiments which show that Dutch native speakers also do not show the grammaticality illusion in Dutch, whereas both German (...) and Dutch native speakers do show the illusion when reading English sentences. These findings provide evidence against working memory constraints as an explanation for the observed effect in English. We propose an alternative account based on the statistical patterns of the languages involved. In support of this alternative, a single recurrent neural network model that is trained on both Dutch and English sentences is shown to predict the cross-linguistic difference in the grammaticality effect. (shrink)

The globalization movement in recent decades has meant rapid growth in trade, financial transactions, and cross-country ownership of economic assets. In this article, we examine how the globalization of national business systems has influenced the framing of corporate social responsibility (CSR). This is done using text analysis of CEO letters appearing in the annual reports of 15 major corporations in Sweden during a period of transformational change. The results show that the discourse about CSR in the annual reports has changed (...) from a national and communitarian view of social responsibility (cf. a negotiated view of CSR) toward an international and individualistic view of social responsibility (cf. a self-regulating view of CSR). The article contributes theoretically (1) by adding a national–global dimension to previous conceptualizations of CSR and (2) by showing that the rise of CSR discourse and activities in the last 10 years does not have to imply an increased commitment and interest in corporate responsibility per se, only that there are increased societal expectations that corporations should develop the capability to act more independently as moral agents. (shrink)

Can concepts be acquired by testing hypotheses about these concepts? Fodor famously argued that this is not possible. Testing the correct hypothesis would require already possessing the concept. I argue that this does not generally hold for mathematical concepts. I discuss specific, empirically motivated, hypotheses for number concepts that can be tested without needing to possess the relevant number concepts. I also argue that one can test hypotheses about the identity conditions of other mathematical concepts, and then fix the application (...) conditions based on those hypotheses—under the assumption that the neo‐logicist view on abstraction principles is correct. (shrink)

I am focusing here on the main counterarguments that were raised against a thesis I put forward in my article “Nietzsche, the Overhuman, and Transhumanism” (2009), namely that significant similarities can be found on a fundamental level between the concept of the posthuman, as put forward by some transhumanists, and Nietzsche’s concept of the overhuman. The articles with the counterarguments were published in the recent “Nietzsche and European Posthumanisms” issue of The Journal of Evolution and Technology (January-July 2010). As several (...) commentators referred to identical issues, I decided that it would be appropriate not to respond to each of the articles individually, but to focus on the central arguments and to deal with the counterarguments mentioned in the various replies. I am concerned with each topic in a separate section. The sections are entitled as follows: 1. Technology and evolution; 2. Overcoming nihilism; 3. Politics and liberalism; 4. Utilitarianism or virtue ethics?; 5. The good Life; 6. Creativity and the will to power; 7. Immortality and longevity; 8. Logocentrism; 9. The Third Reich. When dealing with the various topics, I am not merely responding to counterarguments; I also raise questions concerning transhumanism and put forward my own views concerning some of the questions I am dealing with. (shrink)

Argues that content-independent reasons are intentions. Relies on Grice's distinction between natural and non-natural meaning. Rejects previous accounts, and argues that his account can understand the force of such reasons appropriately, through the conept of enabling-conditions. Illustrates through several paridigmatic types of content-independent reasons.

A computational model of inference during story comprehension is presented, in which story situations are represented distributively as points in a high‐dimensional “situation‐state space.” This state space organizes itself on the basis of a constructed microworld description. From the same description, causal/temporal world knowledge is extracted. The distributed representation of story situations is more flexible than Golden and Rumelhart's [Discourse Proc 16 (1993) 203] localist representation.A story taking place in the microworld corresponds to a trajectory through situation‐state space. During the (...) inference process, world knowledge is applied to the story trajectory. This results in an adjusted trajectory, reflecting the inference of propositions that are likely to be the case. Although inferences do not result from a search for coherence, they do cause story coherence to increase. The results of simulations correspond to empirical data concerning inference, reading time, and depth of processing.An extension of the model for simulating story retention shows how coherence is preserved during retention without controlling the retention process. Simulation results correspond to empirical data concerning story recall and intrusion. (shrink)

This systematic review identified and evaluated instruments measuring patients' perceptions of patient‐centred nursing care. Of 2629 studies reviewed, 12 were eligible for inclusion. Four instruments were reported: The Individualized Care Scale, the Client‐Centred Care Questionnaire, the Oncology patients' Perceptions of the Quality of Nursing Care Scale and the Smoliner scale. These instruments cover themes addressing patient participation and the clinician–patient relationship. Instruments were shown to have satisfactory psychometric properties, although not all were adequately assessed. More research is needed regarding test–retest (...) reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, validity with known groups and structural validity using confirmatory factor analysis. (shrink)

Topic of the paper is Q-logic – a logic of agency in its temporal and modal context. Q-logic may be considered as a basal logic of agency since the most important stit-operators discussed in the literature can be defined or axiomatized easily within its semantical and syntactical framework. Its basic agent dependent operator, the Q-operator (also known as Δ- or cstit-operator), which has been discussed independently by F. v. Kutschera and B. F. Chellas, is investigated here in respect of its (...) relation to other temporal and modal operators. The main result of the paper, then, is a completeness result for a calculus of Q-logic with respect to a semantics defined on the tree-approach to agency as introduced and developed by, among others, F. v. Kutschera and N. D. Belnap. (shrink)

This book offers a scientific whistleblower’s perspective on current implementation of federal research misconduct regulations. It provides a narrative of general interest that relates current cases of research ethics to philosophical, historical and sociological accounts of fraud in scientific research. The evidence presented suggests that the problems of falsification and fabrication remain as great as ever, but hidden because the current system puts universities in charge of investigations and permits them to use confidentiality regulations to hide the outcomes of investigations. (...) The book documents the significant conflict of interest that arises because federal regulation gives universities the responsibility to conduct investigations of their own faculty with severely limited oversight. The book is intended for young research scientists or anyone who wishes to understand the challenges faced by scientists in the workplace today. The central thread in the book is an exclusive account of an experienced research scientist who was the first to expose the facts that led to the longest running research misconduct investigation in the history of the National Science Foundation. (shrink)

The number of people with dementia is increasing worldwide. At the same time, family and professional caregivers’ resources are limited. A promising approach to relieve these carers’ burden and assist people with dementia is assistive technology. In order to be useful and accepted, such technologies need to respect the values and needs of their intended users. We applied the value sensitive design approach to identify values and needs of patients with dementia and family and professional caregivers in respect to assistive (...) technologies to assist people with dementia in institutionalized care. Based on semi-structured interviews of residents/patients with cognitive impairment, relatives, and healthcare professionals (10 each), we identified 44 values summarized by 18 core values. From these values, we created a values’ network to demonstrate the interplay between the values. The core of this network was caring and empathy as most strongly interacting value. Furthermore, we found 36 needs for assistance belonging to the four action fields of activity, care, management/administration, and nursing. Based on these values and needs for assistance, we created possible use cases for assistive technologies in each of the identified four action fields. All these use cases already are technologically feasible today but are not currently being used in healthcare facilities. This underlines the need for development of value-based technologies to ensure not only technological feasibility but also acceptance and implementation of assistive technologies. Our results help balance conflicting values and provide concrete suggestions for how engineers and designers can incorporate values into assistive technologies. (shrink)

Two Sides of the Same Coin. Unpacking Rainer Forst’s Basic Right to Justification This paper makes two comments on Rainer Forst’s keynote contribution. It argues, first, that three important distinctions introduced by Forst are, in fact, all different versions of the more primary distinction between the a priori reconstruction of basic rights by philosophers and the discursive construction of basic rights by citizens. It proposes, secondly, an alternative discourse-theoretical reconstruction which makes a distinction between the basic right to justification and (...) the basic right to choose your own ends as two different but inseparable rights – two sides of the same coin – which jointly provide the moral ground for our basic rights as citizens. (shrink)

This article is devoted to two different generalizations of projective Boolean algebras: openly generated Boolean algebras and tightly ϭ-filtered Boolean algebras. We show that for every uncountable regular cardinal κ there are 2κ pairwise non-isomorphic openly generated Boolean algebras of size κ > N1 provided there is an almost free non-free abelian group of size κ. The openly generated Boolean algebras constructed here are almost free. Moreover, for every infinite regular cardinal κ we construct 2κ pairwise non-isomorphic Boolean algebras of (...) size κ that are tightly ϭ-filtered and c.c.c. These two results contrast nicely with Koppelberg's theorem in [12] that for every uncountable regular cardinal κ there are only 2<κ isomorphism types of projective Boolean algebras of size κ. (shrink)

This chapter evaluates the biography of Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche and elaborates on his particular thoughts on musical philosophy. Nietzsche was born on October 15, 1844 in Röcken. Three phases can be recognized in Nietzsche's philosophy, although it should be noted that the differences are much less momentous than they are sometimes considered to be. For Nietzsche, the given cultural circumstances played a decisive role in addressing the content of the artworks that were developed. The philosophy of music occupied a larger (...) place in Nietzsche's early work. His theories of opera and of the music dramas of the future were based on his attitude toward life. The most direct relationship of Nietzsche's philosophy of music to a music philosophy of the twentieth century occurred with Martin Heidegger. His philosophy of music affected how classical philologists have understood tragedy. (shrink)

It is a commonly held belief among many psychological scientists that the more plausible a hypothesis, the better it is scientifically. It is also often believed that if there are two alternative theories which are equally strong in terms of explanatory power, one should choose the plausible theory over the implausible one. The goal of this article is to challenge these assumptions. Based on Popper's philosophical views, it will be argued that psychological scientists should be encouraged to formulate implausible hypotheses (...) and theories. Examples from other scientific disciplines will be presented to illustrate this argument. 2012 APA, all rights reserved). (shrink)

In spite of the fact that Helmholtz made a decisive contribution to the first principle of thermodynamics by his Erhaltung der Kraft of 1847 he did not participate actively in the following debates about the nature of heat. Probably he was cautious in some way as he did not yet belong to the community of university physicists. His research concentrated on physiology at that time. On the other hand he was rather influential by his public speeches and his comprehensive reviews (...) on problems of heat even without further publications. Insofar the discussion of Helmholtz's activities on heat of the time before he became chairholder of physics in 1871 will help to understand his special relation to physics in this early period. (shrink)

Abstract In this paper I offer an anti-Humean interpretation of the causal interactions in somatic medicine. I focus on life-threatening pathological states and show how Nancy Cartwright’s capacities can offer a plausible epistemology for medical processes and the singular causal claims advanced in medical diagnoses. I argue that the capacities manifested in the emergence of symptoms and signs could be tracked down if healthy organisms are construed as nomological machines and suggest that the causal reasoning from current medical practice bears (...) a tacit adherence to anti-Humean assumptions. Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-28 DOI 10.1007/s12136-011-0141-1 Authors Stefan Dragulinescu, Drumul Taberei 20, Bucharest, Romania Journal Acta Analytica Online ISSN 1874-6349 Print ISSN 0353-5150. (shrink)

One of the important discussions in the philosophy of mathematics, is that centered on Benacerraf’s Dilemma. Benacerraf’s dilemma challenges theorists to provide an epistemology and semantics for mathematics, based on their favourite ontology. This challenge is the point on which all philosophies of mathematics are judged, and clarifying how we might acquire mathematical knowledge is one of the main occupations of philosophers of mathematics. In this thesis I argue that this discussion has overlooked an important part of mathematics, namely mathematics (...) as it is exercised by ordinary people. I do so by looking at the different theories that have been put forward in the recent debate, and showing for each of these that they are unable to account for the mathematical practices of ordinary people. In order to show that these practices do need to be accounted for, I also argue that ordinary people are doing mathematics, i.e. that they engage in properly mathematical practices. Because these practices are properly mathematical, they should be accounted for by any philosophy of mathematics. The conclusion of my thesis, then, is that current theories fail to do something that they should do, while remaining neutral on how well they perform when it comes to accounting for the practices of professional mathematicians. (shrink)

Is there any good reason to believe in Nietzsche's metaphysics even thought he himself claims that it is not "the truth" in correspondence with the world? According to Danto, Nietzsche's metaphysics is only valid for Nietzsche himself. However, this answer does not take into consideration Nietzsche's claim for the general superiority of his philosophy. Nietzsche's view seems inconsistent: on the one hand, he claimed all perspectives are equally false in respect to "the truth," but on the other, he regarded his (...) view as superior. This book explains in which respect Nietzshe justifies his claims, that Nietzsche's position is not inconsistent, and why consistency is important for him. (shrink)

Ludwig Wittgenstein ist zweifellos einer der bedeutendsten und einflussreichsten Philosophen des 20. Jahrhunderts – und das, obwohl er zu Lebzeiten kaum etwas veröffentlicht hat. Bis heute wirken der Stil seines Philosophierens und seine Radikalität auf viele philosophisch außerordentlich inspirierend. Hinzu kommt das Schillernde seiner von Anekdoten umrankten Persönlichkeit, die in etlichen biographischen Werken aufgearbeitet wurde. Stefan Majetschak gibt einen konzisen Überblick über Leben und Gesamtwerk dieser Jahrhundertfigur und spürt ihren Wirkungen nach.

Carl Schmitt verfügt heute über eine so breite und stets wachsende internationale Leserschaft wie kein anderer deutscher Staatsrechtslehrer des vergangenen Jahrhunderts. Sein Werk wird dabei freilich meist isoliert betrachtet und allenfalls auf den staatsrechtlichen Kontext bezogen. Im Mittelpunkt dieses Buches steht dagegen der politische Intellektuelle, der weit über die Grenzen seines Faches hinauswirkte. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit gilt dabei den Anfangs- und den Endjahren der Weimarer Republik. Während Schmitt in München Strategien zur Zähmung der Revolution entwickelte, setzte er sich in seinen Berliner (...) Jahren für eine autoritäre Transformation der Verfassung ein, die neben der äußersten Linken auch die äußerste Rechte von der Macht fernhalten sollte. Das geschah nicht nur in der Form der verfassungsrechtlichen Expertise für Regierungskreise, sondern auch durch publizistische Interventionen, bei denen der in Bonn gebildete Schülerkreis Schmitts eine tragende Rolle spielte. Zeitschriften wie Der Ring und das Deutsche Volkstum standen in der Endkrise der Weimarer Republik zeitweise vollständig unter dem Einfluß Schmittscher Ideen, und auch im breiteren Umfeld waren sie präsent, etwa in den Organen der Bündischen Jugend oder in der vielgelesenen Tat. Selbst Kritiker Schmitts konnten sich diesem Einfluß nicht entziehen, wie am Beispiel Otto Kirchheimers, Franz Neumanns, Ernst Fraenkels, Waldemar Gurians und anderer gezeigt wird. Gestützt auf nachgelassene Korrespondenzen und eine umfassende Auswertung der zeitgenössischen Publizistik gibt das Buch Aufschluß über Schmitts Netzwerk und seine politischen Strategien. (shrink)

This is the first volume of essays on Berkeley's Three Dialogues, a classic of early modern philosophy. Leading experts cover all the central issues in the text: the rejection of material substance, the nature of perception and reality, the limits of human knowledge, and the perceived threats of skepticism, atheism, and immorality.

Adventure -- Call -- Brother paul -- Transgression -- Two loves -- Freedom -- Interlude -- Freedom again -- Between Heidegger and Derrida -- Dancing in the void -- The advent of weak theology -- Kingdom.

In the following paper I will argue that there are interesting connections between the founder of analytical psychology, Carl Gustav Jung, and the school of existentialism. Analytical psychology and existentialism share almost the same Zeitgeist (becoming influential between the 1930’s and 1960’s) and are both interested in the concept of individuality. I would like to follow the liaison between Jung and existentialism regarding authenticity and death. First of all, the concept of authenticity deserves extensive treatment. Heidegger’s Das Man and Sartre’s (...) mauvaise foi have an interesting companion in Jung’s notion of the persona, the psychological concept of the mask. Second of all, existentialist authenticity can be compared to the Jungian integration of the shadow. Moreover, the concept of death (Heidegger’s Sein-zum-Tode) can be compared with Jung’s understanding of death from The Red Book. (shrink)

In this article I seek to explain Hegel’s significance to contemporary meta-ethics, in particular to Kantian constructivism. I argue that in the master–slave dialectic in the Phenomenology of Spirit, Hegel shows that self-consciousness and intersubjectivity arise at the same time. This point, I argue, shows that there is no problem with taking other people’s reasons to motivate us since reflection on our aims is necessarily also reflection on the needs of those around us. I further explore Hegel’s contribution to the (...) debate about internal and external reasons. I end by arguing that we should understand reasons as historically constructed in the sense that who counts as an intrinsic bearer of value changes over time. I thus argue that the struggle for recognition is in fact the beginning of the long march toward the idea of recognition and the Kantian kingdom of ends. This march, however, is driven by the need to overcome injustice as it is instantiated at the beginning of history by the master’s absolute domination of the slave. (shrink)

According to Humean promotionalism about practical reasons, the fact that I have a reason to φ holds in virtue of the fact that φ-ing promotes one or more of my desires. The topic of this discussion note is the question of how best to understand the promotion relation. In particular, I defend a probabilistic understanding of promotion against a line of argument recently brought forth by Jeff Behrends, Joshua DiPaolo, and Nate Sharadin. Roughly, their argument is that probabilistic promotion leads (...) to implausible results in cases in which the relevant desires are certain to be satisfied. In these cases, a probabilistic understanding tells us that we do not have a reason to φ because the probability of desire satisfaction is 1 already. Contrary to Behrends', DiPaolo's, and Sharadin's claims, I argue that this is precisely the result a Humean theory of reasons should generate. According to Humeanism, we have reasons for actions because these actions make a difference to the occurrence of desire satisfaction - where the causal route to desire satisfaction is normatively irrelevant. Thus, if desire satisfaction is dead certain, we have no reason to do anything. (shrink)

Der Artikel diskutiert Bolzanos Theorie der Abfolge (grounding). Im Mittelpunkt steht eine kritische Untersuchung der These Bolzanos, dass sich eine Vielzahl von Grund-Folge-Beziehungen auf die Beziehung der Abfolge zurückführen lassen.

Amsterdam University Press is a leading publisher of academic books, journals and textbooks in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Our aim is to make current research available to scholars, students, innovators, and the general public. AUP stands for scholarly excellence, global presence, and engagement with the international academic community.

Relativistic accounts of interpretation are widespread in literary studies. According to these accounts, interpretations of works of literature can, at best, be relatively valid. Aiming for objective validity, proponents of relativism say, is an intrinsically flawed approach to the interpretation of literature. The book offers a comprehensive analysis of relativistic theories of literary interpretation. It examines the different forms relativistic theories can take, presents the arguments that were given for their justification, and gives a critical assessment of these arguments. The (...) main part of the book discusses four of the most prevailing argumentative strategies in favor of interpretive relativism: deconstructive relativism, pragmatic relativism, alethic (or logical) relativism, and constructive relativism. These types of relativistic theories are examined through the examples of four actual, fleshed-out theories of interpretation proposed by Jacques Derrida and other deconstructionists, Stanley Fish, Joseph Margolis, and Michael Krausz. Their specific theories are scrutinized in great detail but with an overarching purpose: The study aims at highlighting general problems and difficulties connected to the different justifications for interpretive relativism. The last part of the book deals with a number of theses that enjoy some popularity in literary studies – common assumptions that at least under some reading may have relativistic consequences. In particular, the following theses are discussed: the claim that ‘every reader interprets her/his own text’; the claim that readers should not aim for ‘true’ interpretations but for interpretations that are ‘plausible’ (with plausibility being construed without any appeal to truth); and the claim that the validity of interpretations is, in a non-trivial sense, relativeto the different interpretive aims readers may pursue. Finally, the question is raised (and answered at least in broad outline) to what extent the well-known fact of a vast plurality of divergent and sometimes incompatible theories, approaches, and methods in literary studies has any relativistic implications. (shrink)

Starting from the question whether one has to assign Fichte and Jacobi to the Enlightenment movement, this paper makes the attempt to show that it is the categorical interest in the reality of reason, which is an at least necessary condition for characterizing a certain way of thinking as enlightening. At the center of the study stands the relationship of Jacobi and Fichte to Friedrich Nicolai and the Berlin Enlightenment. In this controversy, all thinkers share the very same interest, namely, (...) the interest in the reality of reason. But what distinguishes Fichte and Jacobi from Nicolai is the absoluteness of their interest in reason, scilicet an interest which is not induced by affects or needs exterior to reason. At the same time, the dispute addresses the relation between absoluteness and conditionality of reason itself. Both Fichte and Jacobi try to elaborate a critical notion of reason mediating between absoluteness and conditionality. Ausgehend von der Frage, ob Jacobi und Fichte der Aufklärung zuzuordnen sind, versucht der Artikel zu zeigen, dass das unbedingte Interesse an der Wirklichkeit der Vernunft eine wenn auch nicht hinreichende, so doch zumindest notwendige Bedingung für die Bezeichnung eines Denkens als aufklärerisch in einem systematischen Sinne ist. Im Zentrum der Untersuchung steht dabei das Verhältnis von Jacobi und Fichte zu Friedrich Nicolai und der Berliner Aufklärung. In ihrer Auseinandersetzung teilen alle Denker nämlich ein gemeinsames Interesse, und zwar das Interesse an der Wirklichkeit der Vernunft. Was Fichte und Jacobi aber von Nicolai unterscheidet, ist die Unbedingtheit ihres Interesses an der Vernunft – also ein Interesse, das nicht durch der Vernunft äußerliche Neigungen oder Bedürfnisse bedingt ist. Der Disput thematisiert dabei zugleich das Verhältnis von Bedingtheit und Unbedingtheit der Vernunft selbst. Fichte und Jacobi bringen jeweils einen zwischen Bedingtheit und Unbedingtheit vermittelnden kritischen Vernunftbegriff zur Geltung. (shrink)

Starting from the hypothesis that the predominant church, religion and belief in Romania (i.e. the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Orthodox religion and the Orthodox belief) are paradigms that help understand politics, we will highlight in the present article three major aspects of the political phenomenon in post-communist Romania: de-symbolizing the democratic function, institutionalizing “democratism” and manifesting integralism in the public space. Our analysis is based on a communicational approach which postulates the conceptual oppositions as a fundament of understanding. The interpretation (...) of these oppositions has lead us to discovering a series of coherent actions, behaviors, facts, etc., but also a series of incoherent, at some point irrational situations in the relation between the religious and the political spheres. The importance of this article lies in the fact that, once highlighted, these structures allow us to take into consideration the possibility of analyzing the meaning of the relation between the religious and the political spheres. (shrink)

Auxin is a simple molecule but one with a complex and crucial influence on plant development. Accumulation and response to this important plant hormone underlies events as diverse as embryo patterning and growth responses to light and gravity. As such, research on auxin can be traced back to Darwin and has flourished into an immense body of work that has often had implications beyond plant biology. The latest instalment of the auxin story is no different:(1) the solution of the crystal (...) structure of the auxin receptor TIR1 illustrates, in spectacular detail, precisely how auxin is perceived and provides an insight into the working of a new class of receptor, which seems likely to be the first example of a new paradigm in eukaryotic signal transduction. BioEssays 29:953–956, 2007. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)