The grounding of symbols in computational models of linguistic abilities is one of the fundamental properties of psychologically plausible cognitive models. In this article, we present an embodied model for the grounding of language in action based on epigenetic robots. Epigenetic robotics is one of the new cognitive modeling approaches to modeling autonomous mental development. The robot model is based on an integrative vision of language in which linguistic abilities are strictly dependent on and grounded in other behaviors and skills. (...) It uses simulated robots that learn through imitation the names of basic actions. Robots also learn higher order action concepts through the process of grounding transfer. The simulation demonstrates how new, higher order behavioral abilities can be autonomously built on previously grounded basic action categories following linguistic interaction with human users. (shrink)

Reprinted by permission of Open Court Publishing Company, a division of Carus Publishing Company, Chicago, IL, from Sartre’s two ethics: from authenticity to integral humanity by Anderson, Thomas C., copyright © 1993 by Open Court Publishing Company.

The six articles that comprise Book 2, Distinction 1, Question 1 of Aquinas' Writings on the "Sentences" of Peter Lombard represent his earliest and most succinct account of creation. These texts contain the essential Thomistic doctrines on the subject, and are here translated into English for the first time, along with an introduction and analysis. In Article One Aquinas argues, against Manichean dualism, that there is one ultimate cause of all created being; in so doing he gives three proofs for (...) the existence of the Creator and the essential features of his answer to the problem of evil. Thomas establishes his definition of creation in Article Two, providing the needed distinctions between philosophical and theological senses of creation. Emanationism and the problem of whether there can be any intermediary causes in God's act of creation are the subject of Article Three. The next article demonstrates that although God is the cause of all created being, nevertheless creatures are true causes in nature. Article Five argues that it is from revelation alone that we know that the world had a temporal beginning, and that the philosophical arguments that purport to show either the necessity or impossibility of the temporal beginning are not persuasive. A detailed exposition of the meaning of the first sentence of the Bible, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," follows in Article Six. (shrink)

The central positoin of St. Thomas Aquinas in the pantheon of Catholic thinkers along with St. Augustine of Hippo more than justifies ongoing attention to his thought and contributions to philosophy, theology, and medieval culture. This volume is an anthology of the passages of his Summa Theologia on human nature or the "human constitution.".

Die Geschichtswissenschaft steckt in der Krise. Ist sie dabei, ihre Deutungshoheit über die Geschichte endgültig zu verlieren? Und was bedeutet das für die Zukunft der liberalen Demokratie, deren eigene Krise sich immer deutlicher abzeichnet? Zur Beantwortung dieser Fragen macht sich Thomas Walach auf die Suche nach dem Unbewussten in der Geschichte und den weitgehend unerforschten Wegen, die es mit politischer Identität und öffentlichen Geschichtsbildern verbinden. Will die Geschichtswissenschaft ihre Stimme im politischen Diskurs über Vergangenheit wiederfinden, muss sie lernen, sich (...) mit dem historischen Unbewussten auseinanderzusetzen. Der Inhalt Psychoanalyse und Geschichtswissenschaft Das historische Unbewusste Das kollektive Gedächtnis als politischer Vergangenheitskonsens Revision und Geschichtsbewusstsein Die Geschichtsarbeit am Werk Gesellschaft ohne Geschichte Wir Historisten Was tun? Plädoyer für eine Geschichte im Dienst der Gegenwart Geschichtsarbeit als Methode der öffentlichen Geschichte Nachwort Die Zielgruppen Dozierende, Studierende und Praktiker aus den Fachbereichen der Geschichtswissenschaft Politikwissenschaften Soziologie Kulturwissenschaften Psychologie Bevölkerungswissenschaft Kulturwissenschaft Journalismus Kommunikationswissenschaft Der Autor Thomas Walach ist Universitätsassistent für die Geschichte der Neuzeit an der Universität Wien. Er lehrt und forscht zu Digitalisierung, Quellentheorie und dem Verhältnis von Geschichte und Öffentlichkeit. (shrink)

What conclusions do the facts of cosmic and organic evolution require or permit on the origin and destiny of the world and the individual? From 1881 to 1925 Thomas Whittaker, an Oxford-trained scientist turned philosopher, grappled with this question, which he tried to answer by metaphysical interpretation of the sciences. The majority of the essays in this volume first appeared in Mind, and a few in other journals, while three had not been previously published. Whittaker ranges widely over some (...) of the most daring theories of the past, from the early centuries of the common era (including Apollonius of Tyana and Origen), to the middle ages (including John Scotus Erigena and Nicholas of Cusa), the renaissance (Giordano Bruno, Shakespeare) and the early modern period. Whittaker's own view is that hypothesis and imagination are legitimate aids in the search for truth in both science and philosophy in a new synthesis. (shrink)

translation of Aquinas's various sets of disputed questions on virtue, with introduction.

The rich have two defining capabilities: independence from and command over others. These make being wealthy very pleasant indeed, but they are also toxic to democracy. First, I analyse the mechanisms by which the presence of very wealthy individuals undermines the two pillars of liberal democracy, equality of citizenship and legitimate social choice. Second, I make a radical proposal. If we value the preservation of democracy we must limit the amount of wealth any individual can have and still be a (...) citizen of our polity. (shrink)

One of the most complex doctrines in contemporary international law, jus cogens is the immediate product of the socialization of the international community following the Second World War. However, the doctrine resonates in a centuries-old legal tradition which constrains the dynamics of voluntarism that characterize conventional international law. To reconcile this modern iteration of individual-oriented public order norms with the traditionally state-based form of international law, Thomas Weatherall applies the idea of a social contract to structure the analysis of (...) jus cogens into four areas: authority, sources, content and enforcement. The legal and political implications of this analysis give form to jus cogens as the product of interrelation across an individual-oriented normative framework, a state-based legal order, and values common to the international community as a whole. (shrink)

Includes the complete texts of Common Sense; Rights of Man, Part the Second; The Age of Reason (part one); Four Letters on Interesting Subjects , published anonymously and just discovered to be Paine’s work; and Letter to the Abbé Raynal, Paine’s first examination of world events; as well as selections from The American Crises In 1776, America was a hotbed of enlightenment and revolution. Thomas Paine not only spurred his fellow Americans to action but soon came to symbolize the (...) spirit of the Revolution. His elegantly persuasive pieces spoke to the hearts and minds of those fighting for freedom. He was later outlawed in Britain, jailed in France, and finally labeled an atheist upon his return to America. (shrink)

I. Rights of man; being the first volume of an entirely new and unabridged issue. Ed. by Hypatia Bradlaugh Bonner, with a biographical and critical introduction by John M. Robertson. -- II. The age of reason; being the second volume of an entirely new and unabridged issue of the chief works of Thomas paine. Ed., with historical introduction, by Hypatia Bradlaugh Bonner.

Die nunmehr unter dem Namen der neuen Autoren Christian Armbrüster, Nicola Preuß und Thomas Renner erscheinende 5. Auflage des von Diether Huhn und Hans-Joachim von Schuckmann begründeten Kommentars zum Beurkundungsgesetz berücksichtigt: die Gesetzesänderungen zur Vorsorgevollmacht und zu elektronischen Zeugnissen ; die aktuelle BGH-Rechtsprechung zu Voraussetzungen und Reichweite der notariellen Belehrungspflichten; die neuesten Entwicklungen zur notariellen Tätigkeit mit Auslandsbezug und zum elektronischen Rechtsverkehr sowie insbesondere die Änderungen durch das MoMiG. Neben dem Beurkundungsgesetz und der Dienstordnung für Notarinnen und Notare enthält (...) der Kommentar die Bedingungen für Anderkonten und Anderdepots von Notaren und die Benachrichtigung in Nachlasssachen. Der Anhang zum Internationalen Urkundsverkehr umfaßt: Gutachten zum internationalen und ausländischen Privatrecht, Haager Postille, Anerkennung deutscher notarieller Urkunden im Ausland. Mit dem Armbrüster/Preuß/Renner liegt nun wieder eine geschlossene und praxisbezogene Darstellung auf neuestem Stand vor. (shrink)

A Reply to William James on the value of life.

There is a consensus that post-war British analytic philosophy was politically neutral. This view has been affirmed by the post-war analysts themselves, and by their critics. This paper argues that this consensus-view is false. Many central analytic philosophers claimed that their empirical philosophy had liberal outcomes, either through cultivating liberal habits of mind, or by revealing truths about the world that supported liberal conclusions. These beliefs were not subject to significant scrutiny or attempts at justification, but they do help us (...) to explain the otherwise puzzling disinclination to engage with questions of political philosophy on the part of these politically active individuals. (shrink)

"Philosophy and Civilization" is one of Dewey's most important—and most neglected—essays. It is unsettling to anyone who wants to think of Dewey primarily as a "pragmatist." Dewey says the aim of philosophy should be to deal with the meaning of culture and not "inquiry" or "truth": "Meaning is wider in scope as well as more precious in value than is truth and philosophy is occupied with meaning rather than with truth" (LW 3:4).1 Truths are one kind of meaning, but they (...) are only an "island" lying in "the ocean of meanings to which truth and falsity are irrelevant. We do not inquire whether Greek civilization was true or false, but we are immensely concerned to penetrate its meaning," he adds, and continues, "In .. (shrink)

(2003). Thinking in place: Comments on Scott Pratt's Native Pragmatism. Philosophy & Geography: Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 225-236.

L’étude d’un document épigraphique antinoïte, jusqu’ici négligé, suggère que le géomètre Serenus, auteur de deux traités "Sur la section du cylindre" et "Sur la section du cône", vivait au début du IIIe siècle. Le réexamen plus précis d’un certain nombre d’éléments tirés tant des traités de Serenus que de la tradition indirecte permet de faire de celui-ci le continuateur tardif d’une tradition de recherches sur les coniques très liée à la catoptrique, remontant aux travaux pré-apolloniens sur la question menés autour (...) de Conon de Samos et de Pythion de Thasos. Cette hypothèse pose, corrélativement, le problème de la nature du platonisme de Serenus: on l’examine à la lumière du constructivisme de Ménechme. Enfin, la prise en compte d’un détail de la tradition arabe des "Coniques" d’Apollonius permet de préciser un élément dans la transmission textuelle des deux traités de Serenus. (shrink)

Geprägt von metaethischen Fragestellungen hat sich die philosophische Diskussion wieder intensiv mit der ontologischen und erkenntnistheoretischen Dimension von Werten befasst und der Phänomenologie zu einer Relecture verholfen. Zugleich hat die Tugendethik eine Renaissance erfahren. In die Schnittstellen dieser aktuellen moralphilosophischen Debatten arbeitet dieses Buch den originären Ansatz Edith Steins zu einer Ethik des christlichen Glaubens heraus. Auf der Grundlage des Personbegriffs entwickelt Edith Stein eine innovative Tugenderkenntnistheorie, deren Bezugspunkt die Wahrheitsfrage ist. Es geht ihr dabei um eine intersubjektiv, in personaler (...) Kommunikation vermittelte Erkenntnis des sittlich Guten, d. h. aber zugleich um eine unmittelbare Konnaturalität mit dem Guten. (shrink)

Americans encounter their homes in ways comforting and haunting: as an imagined refuge or a place of mastery and domination, a destination or a place to escape. Drawing on literature, personal experience, and the histories of slavery, incarceration, and homesteading, Thomas Dumm offers a meditation on the richness and poverty of the idea of home.

Fair trade has been researched extensively. However, our understanding of why consumers might be reluctant to purchase fair trade goods, and the associated potential barriers to the wider adoption of fair trade products, is incomplete. Based on data from 409 USA participants, our study demonstrates some of the psychological processes that underlie the rejection of fair trade products by conservatives. Our findings show that political conservatism affects fair trade perspective-taking and fair trade identity, and these latter two subsequently affect fair (...) trade purchase intention. The decrease in fair trade perspective-taking and fair trade identity are two psychological features that potentially shield conservatives from the appeals of fair trade products. We extend prior research on the effects of political ideology on consumption not only by demonstrating the predisposition of highly conservative consumers towards prosocial consumption, but also by showing the internal functioning of the conservative decision-making process. We further demonstrate that the effect of conservatism on fair trade purchase deliberation is moderated by age and income. Age reduces the negative effect of conservatism on fair trade perspective-taking, whereas income heightens the negative effect of conservatism on fair trade perspective-taking. Our results suggest that fair trade initiatives can target the conservative consumer segment in high-income countries with a greater chance of success when applying marketing strategies that make perspective-taking redundant and that aim at younger consumers with lower incomes. (shrink)