Literacy and Technological Development in Nigeria: A Philosophical ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Literacy and Technological Development in Nigeria: A Philosophical ... Many challenges have occurred in society as a result of advances in sciences and technology. ... historical and cultural factors determine if and how, a technology is used.

A brief philosophical encounter with science and medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Karbasizadeh, Amir Ehsan

2013-08-01

We show a lot of respect for science today. To back up our claims, we tend to appeal to scientific methods. It seems that we all agree that these methods are effective for gaining the truth. We can ask why science has its special status as a supplier of knowledge about our external world and our bodies. Of course, one should not always trust what scientists say. Nonetheless, epistemological justification of scientific claims is really a big project for philosophers of science. Philosophers of science are interested in knowing how science proves what it does claim and why it gives us good reasons to take these claims seriously. These questions are epistemological questions. Epistemology is a branch of philosophy which deals with knowledge claims and justification. Besides epistemological questions, metaphysical and ethical issues in science are worthy of philosophical scrutiny. This paper gives a short survey of these intellectually demanding issues.

Finding a Reasonable Foundation for Peace

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberta Bayer

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Can world peace come about through a world federation of governments? Is growing agreement and appreciation for, throughout the world, the doctrine of equal human rights inevitable? Such questions are raised by Mortimer Adler in How to Think about War and Peace. Adler argues in this book that both are possible, and in doing so he argues that the insights of liberal contract thinkers, particularly Immanuel Kant, are essentially true. Kant argues that each person has the capacity to discover within himself the foundation for human rights because they are self-evident. It follows that over time inequalities and prejudices will disappear, and people will gain the freedom to advance the cause of peace. About this account of the possibility of world peace I ask the question: is it indeed reasonable? For if it is reasonable, it is not reasonable for the reasons that would have been advanced by Aristotle or Plato or their medieval followers. In older political philosophy it is agreement about the unchanging truth of things that can bring peace. To seek the unchanging truth of things, philosophical speculation about God and things divine, is the highest human activity. It is that end to which life in this world is directed, and upon which human flourishing depends. Freedom depends upon our openness to unchanging eternal truth, even more than self-evident rights; the exercise of speculative reasoning allows for political discourse and an open society.

VIRTUAL PHILOSOPHER PROJECT: PHILOSOPHICAL, PEDAGOGICAL AND TECHNICAL ASPECTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. V. Kuchinov

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article describes philosophical and pedagogical aspects of an idea of the ‘virtual philosopher’ project developed at creative sessions at Minin University and technically concretized during interaction with the Laboratory of Mobile Services. ‘Virtual philosopher’ is thought to deliver creative automation of routine operations; producing contingent matter for philosophical processing as well as elements of the philosophical artificial intelligence and forms of ‘artificial life’. Project implementation may lead to the creation of an unparalleled educational technology that functions on the principles of flexibility, nonlinearity, affective inclusion and gamification of the educational process. Based on specific character of problems raised, rhizomatic analysis of the philosophical communities’ requests, assessment of their technical feasibility and technical development, provisions are made on the feasibility, prospects and productivity of this project.

Spirituality in the Philosophical Thought of Seyyed Hossein Nasr

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fadhilah Khunaeni

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Spirituality for Seyyed Hossen Nasr is an inner reality that becomes a religious central in Islam. It is the esoteric dimension hidden in the reality of exoteric Islam. That view on spirituality brings Nasr to the philosophical thought that cannot be separated from religious metaphysical doctrine. Nasr argues that philosophy is more than just a ratio but also the activity of intellect that can reach the meta-cosmic nature to find the essence of truth namely the universal and eternal truth that lies behind the physical and relative truth. The philosophical efforts to find this truth are a combination of the optimizing potential of reason and intellectual intuition. Nasr refers to ḥikmah or wisdom as a kind of philosophy that combines logic and intellectual intuition. That philosophical view brings Nasr on a dualistic view of nature which not only has a cosmic dimension as such but also has a meta-cosmic dimension. This dualistic view is his fundamental reason in formulating the concept of metaphysical cosmology as a solution to the crisis of modern science that has caused a variety of ecological damage due to the secular vision.  DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20414/ujis.v20i2.812

A Brief Philosophical Encounter with Science and Medicine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amir Ehsan Karbasizadeh

2013-01-01

Full Text Available We show a lot of respect for science today. To back up our claims, we tend to appeal to scientific methods. It seems that we all agree that these methods are effective for gaining the truth. We can ask why science has its special status as a supplier of knowledge about our external world and our bodies. Of course, one should not always trust what scientists say. Nonetheless, epistemological justification of scientific claims is really a big project for philosophers of science. Philosophers of science are interested in knowing how science proves what it does claim and why it gives us good reasons to take these claims seriously. These questions are epistemological questions. Epistemology is a branch of philosophy which deals with knowledge claims and justification. Besides epistemological questions, metaphysical and ethical issues in science are worthy of philosophical scrutiny. This paper gives a short survey of these intellectually demanding issues.

Causal reasoning in physics

CERN Document Server

Frisch, Mathias

2014-01-01

Much has been written on the role of causal notions and causal reasoning in the so-called 'special sciences' and in common sense. But does causal reasoning also play a role in physics? Mathias Frisch argues that, contrary to what influential philosophical arguments purport to show, the answer is yes. Time-asymmetric causal structures are as integral a part of the representational toolkit of physics as a theory's dynamical equations. Frisch develops his argument partly through a critique of anti-causal arguments and partly through a detailed examination of actual examples of causal notions in physics, including causal principles invoked in linear response theory and in representations of radiation phenomena. Offering a new perspective on the nature of scientific theories and causal reasoning, this book will be of interest to professional philosophers, graduate students, and anyone interested in the role of causal thinking in science.

PHILOSOPHICAL-ANTROPOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF A PROBLEM OF SEARCH EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL OF CIVILIZATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. T. Tshedrin

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The fears express, that «METI-projects», which testify to existence of mankind as technicalgeneous of a civilization for highly advanced ETC of a Galaxy, can have the extremely negative consequences, and «SETI-projects» and received radiosignals can become the information weapon aggressive ETC. The analysis of these fears as complete sociocultural of a phenomenon, them philosophical-anthropological of measurement, sociocultural of the basis, the forms of their display are the purpose of clause. Methodology. Author used the social-communicative approach, methods of system and cluster analyses. Scientific innovation. Are opened philosophical-anthropological of measurement of a problem of life extra-terrestrial intelligents (ETI, the factors of statement of a problem of contacts with ETC in the modern form connected with spacing of scientific and technical activity of mankind, influence of processes globalization on philosophical-anthropological aspects of a problem ETC, connected with changes in the fundamental relation «the Man - World» are investigated. These processes conduct to growth of fears concerning unpredictable intervention in terrestrial sociocultural system of alien reason. The persuasive fears, connected with possible consequences of contacts with ETC, take the form of hypotheses rather extra-terrestrial of artificial intelligence (ETAI as potential subject of space contact. The positive and negative scripts of dialogue with ETAI, problem «of high quality of a signal» and «SETI-hacker», connected with ETAI as by the subject of space dialogue are considered. Conclusions. The further development of a problem of search ETC and establishment of contacts with it will be connected, on the one hand to success in overcoming civilization of impasse, in which there was a mankind on a boundary ХХ – ХХI of centuries, and with another - deepening of revolution in cosmology, progress of observant astronomy, philosophical

Evaluating the philosophical foundation of 2013 Curriculum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Mardiana

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The study was to: (1 identify the interpretation toward the philosophical foundation of 2013 Curriculum; and (2 evaluate the philosophical foundation of 2013 Curriculum. In order to achieve these objectives, the researchers implemented the method of philosophy interpretation, namely a method that might discover an individual’s paradigm through the texts or the articles that he or she composed. Furthermore, in order to evaluate the philosophical foundation of 2013 Curriculum the researchers implemented certain criteria and this effort was supported by the expert interview. The data were analyzed by means of hermeneutic method, namely the presence of a relationship among the three elements namely text, interpreter and reader. The conclusions of the study then were as follows: (1 the interpretation toward the philosophical foundation of 2013 Curriculum contained six points namely: (a establishing and developing the nation’s attitude and civilization or the nation’s character, (b developing the curriculum based on the nation’s culture, (c referring to the fact that education had been a process of developing the learning participants’ potentials, (d referring to the fact that education had been based on the nation’s culture and experience in the past, (e referring to the fact that education had been basis of the nation’s life continuity and (f Referring to the fact that education had been adjusted to the life of the learning participants as an individual, a society member and a citizen; (2 the six philosophical reasons namely: (a perennialism, (b essentialism, (c progressivism, (d pragmatism, (e existentialism and (f reconstructionism; (3 the following evaluation results: (a the philosophical foundation of 2013 Curriculum based on the interpretation results had provided clear educational objectives and functions, (b the philosophical foundation of 2013 Curriculum had been in accordance to facts, (c the philosophical foundation of 2013

Reasons for Action: Wittgensteinian and Davidsonian perspectives in historical, meta-philosophical and philosophical context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hans-Johann Glock

2014-06-01

Full Text Available My paper reflects on the debate about reasons for action and action explanations between Wittgensteinian teleological approaches and causalist theories inspired by Davidson. After a brief discussion of similarities and differences in the philosophy of language, I sketch the prehistory and history of the controversy. I show that the conflict between Wittgenstein and Davidson revolves neither around revisionism nor around naturalism. Even in the philosophy of mind and action, Davidson is not as remote from Wittgenstein and his followers as is commonly assumed: there are numerous points of contact of both a biographical and a substantive kind. The real conflict concerns the difference between Davidson’s official subjectivist approach to reasons for action, according to which they are mental states of believing and desiring (or their onsets on the one hand, and an objectivist approach, according to which reasons for action are what is believed or desired, non-mental facts or states of affairs.

Specifics of methodology historical and philosophical researh of hesychasm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. B. Klimenko

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the research methodology of  Hesychasm ­ one of the most important schools of the Byzantine philosophy, which played a significant role in the development of modern civilization. However, to date it remains a kind of «terra incognita» for the world historical and philosophical thought. Hesychasm is a kind of Christian mystical worldview that is embodied in a certain spiritual practices that form the basis of Orthodox asceticism. Even half a century ago, history of philosophy left without attention of philosophical and theological teachings of the authors of the late antiquity and the early middle ages, be they Christian thinkers or the neo­Platonists. The era of post­Plotins philosophers Neoplatonists or commentators on Aristotle considered as a period of decline of this philosophy and the time of the rise of irrationality. For the same reason it was considered that the system of Christian thinkers cannot and should not be subject to the historical and philosophical science. This fully relates Hesychasm. However, on the basis of works of the French philosopher P. Ado, the paper argues that philosophy in late antiquity when there is Hesychasm is first of all a way of life, and therefore Hesychasm can be considered as a specific philosophical school of Christian asceticism. The main modern method of historical and philosophical studies is the hermeneutical reconstruction of cultural meaning of the philosophical texts, however, Hesychasm cannot be reduced to the «amount of texts» or rational philosophical discourses. When learning is impossible not to take into account the existing experience, what is behind the lyrics: the experience of the inner purification, «the noetic prayer, which often has verbal reflection. Therefore, along with the use of hermeneutic and semiotic principles of research work with the texts, there is a problem of the analysis of the experience of spiritual practices. This requires the use

Philosophical Reflections made explicit as a Tool for Mathematical Reasoning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frølund, Sune; Andresen, Mette

2009-01-01

    A new construct, ‘multidiciplinarity', is prescribed in the curricula of Danish Upper Secondary Schools by governmental regulations since 2006. Multidisciplinarity offers a good chance to introduce philosophical tools or methods in mathematics with the aim to improve the students' learning...... of both subjects, and to study the students' reactions and signs of progressive mathematizing. Based on realistic mathematics education (RME) which is rooted in Hans Freudenthal's idea of mathematics as a human activity, we decided to centre our work on the concept of reflection and to build a model...... for making students reflections in the mathematics class explicit to themselves. In our paper, we present a combination of two stratifications of reflections which were developed recently in works by other authors. The paper outlines our model and exemplifies its use on the teaching of mathematical models...

Back to Hegel? On Gillian Rose's critique of sociological reason.

Science.gov (United States)

Fuller, Brian W

2017-08-22

Thirty-five years ago, Gillian Rose articulated a significant critique of classical sociological reason, emphasizing its relationship to its philosophical forebears. In a series of works, but most significantly in her Hegel contra Sociology, Rose worked to specify the implications of sociology's failure, both in its critical Marxist and its 'scientific' forms, to move beyond Kant and to fully come to terms with the thought of Hegel. In this article, I unpack and explain the substance of her criticisms, developing the necessary Hegelian philosophical background on which she founded them. I argue that Rose's attempted recuperation of 'speculative reason' for social theory remains little understood, despite its continued relevance to contemporary debates concerning the nature and scope of sociological reason. As an illustration, I employ Rose to critique Chernilo's recent call for a more philosophically sophisticated sociology. From the vantage point of Rose, this particular account of a 'philosophical sociology' remains abstract and rooted in the neo-Kantian contradictions that continue to characterize sociology. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2017.

Similarities of theoretical and practical reasoning processes : behavioral and brain imaging evidences

OpenAIRE

Wiedenmann, Patrick

2009-01-01

For hundreds of years, philosophers explored how humans reason and what reasoning abilities humans possess. They were also interested at how these reasoning abilities could and should be applied to reach a peaceful and flourishing coexistence. The two sub-disciplines investigating these issues are theoretical and practical philosophy. Epistemology is the main research domain of the former, whereas morals and ethics represent the main research field of the latter. Philosophers like Kant often ...

Sensitizing Reasons by Emulating Exemplars

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kunimasa Sato

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The fostering of rationality has long been endorsed as an educational ideal by some philosophers; in recent years, whereas some have argued for this ideal, others have challenged it, particularly within debates relevant to the study of critical thinking. Harvey Siegel, who has spelled out the philosophical theory of educating for rationality, not only has defended his view from such challenges but also has been deepening his thoughts regarding how rationality can be fostered. This paper centers on the cultivating of sensitivity to reasons in the fostering of rationality by critically examining and extending Siegel’s arguments concerning the notion of what he calls “felt reasons.” By clarifying the notion of felt reasons, I will argue for two ideas: first, teachers, parents, and fictional characters in media such as novels and films can be seen as exemplars that manifest rationality; second, the emotion of admiring exemplars may act as a motivating force for children—including small children who are still not sensitive to reasons and thus are not moved by reasons—to be critical thinkers.

Procreative reasons-relevance: on the moral significance of why we have children.

Science.gov (United States)

Lotz, Mianna

2009-06-01

Advances in reproductive technologies - in particular in genetic screening and selection - have occasioned renewed interest in the moral justifiability of the reasons that motivate the decision to have a child. The capacity to select for desired blood and tissue compatibilities has led to the much discussed 'saviour sibling' cases in which parents seek to 'have one child to save another'. Heightened interest in procreative reasons is to be welcomed, since it prompts a more general philosophical interrogation of the grounds for moral appraisal of reasons-to-parent, and of the extent to which such reasons are relevant to the moral assessment of procreation itself. I start by rejecting the idea that we can use a distinction between 'other-regarding' and 'future-child-regarding' reasons as a basis on which to distinguish good from bad procreative reasons. I then offer and evaluate three potential grounds for elucidating and establishing a relationship between procreative motivation and the rightness/wrongness of procreative conduct: the predictiveness, the verdictiveness, and the expressiveness of procreative reasons.

Mario Bunge: Physicist, philosopher and defender of science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael R. Matthews

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Mario Bunge was born in Argentina in the final year of the First World War. He learnt atomic physics andquantum mechanics from an Austrian refugee who had been a student of Heisenberg. Additionally he taughthimself modern philosophy in an environment that was a philosophical backwater. He was the first SouthAmerican philosopher of science to be trained in science. His publications in physics, philosophy, psychology,sociology and the foundations of biology, are staggering in number, and include a massive 8-volume Treatise onPhilosophy. The unifying thread of his scholarship is the constant and vigorous advancement of theEnlightenment Project, and criticism of cultural and academic movements that deny or devalue the core planksof the project: namely its naturalism, the search for truth, the universality of science, rationality, and respect forindividuals. At a time when specialisation is widely decried, and its deleterious effects on science, philosophy ofscience, educational research and science teaching are recognised – it is salutary to see the fruits of one person’spursuit of the ‘Big’ scientific and philosophical picture.

Does the Explanatory Constraint on Practical Reasons favour ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Some philosophers, notably Bernard Williams, have argued that the explanatory constraint favours internalism about reasons: for an agent to have a reason to x, it is at least a necessary condition that she would, after ideal deliberation, be motivated to x. Internalism suggests that naturalism about reasons is more plausible ...

The Concept of Philosophical Education

Science.gov (United States)

Boyum, Steinar

2010-01-01

Strangely, the concept of philosophical education is not much in use, at least not as a "philosophical" concept. In this essay, Steinar Boyum attempts to outline such a philosophical concept of philosophical education. Boyum uses Plato's Allegory of the Cave, Rene Descartes's life of doubt, and Immanuel Kant's criticism of metaphysics as paradigms…

How can one be both a philosophical ethicist and a democrat?

Science.gov (United States)

Oswald, Malcolm

2015-03-01

How can one be both a philosophical ethicist and a democrat? In this article I conclude that it can be difficult to reconcile the two roles. One involves understanding, and reconciling, the conflicting views of citizens, and the other requires the pursuit of truth through reason. Nevertheless, an important function of philosophy and ethics is to inform and improve policy. If done effectively, we could expect better, and more just, laws and policies, thereby benefiting many lives. So applying philosophical thinking to policy is an important job. However, it comes with substantial difficulties, not least in reconciling, or choosing between, competing philosophical theories. Despite the importance of the task, and the apparent obstacles, there is relatively little literature on how to apply ethics to real-world policy-making. Democracies need ethicists who can engage in democratic debate and bridge the gap between philosophy and public policy. I offer some tactics here.

Is Proust a philosopher?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luc Fraisse

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Different philosophers pondered on Proust’s novel, including those who formulated a subtle hypothesis that philosophical thought that emerged from the novel went beyond the passages of philosophical character that could be found in Proust’s work. It is difficult to determine precisely Proust’s approach towards the novel which he, alternately, favors or disdains. A hypothesis has been formulated that In Search of Lost Time shapes the fiction in the style of Shelling’s and Schopenhauer’s philosophy; it is pointed out that the novelist developed a kind of rivalry between him and his second cousin Bergson. Proust received a thorough education in philosophy yet philosophy is only present in his novel in an anecdotal form. The debate that he starts between idealism and philosophical realism in his prose takes the form of a discussion between symbolism and naturalism. The reconstruction of Proust’s philosophical culture leads to the observation that it is, without a doubt, significantly influenced in different ways by two philosophers: Leibniz and Kant. Still, the writer does not admit to being impacted by any particular thinker; therefore, his narrator’s line of thought is constantly changing in such a way that any school of philosophical thought that appears in the novel is present only for a short while.

Qualitative research in multicultural psychology: philosophical underpinnings, popular approaches, and ethical considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

Ponterotto, Joseph G

2010-10-01

This article reviews the current and emerging status of qualitative research in psychology. The particular value of diverse philosophical paradigms and varied inquiry approaches to the advancement of psychology generally, and multicultural psychology specifically, is emphasized. Three specific qualitative inquiry approaches anchored in diverse philosophical research paradigms are highlighted: consensual qualitative research, grounded theory, and participatory action research. The article concludes by highlighting important ethical considerations in multicultural qualitative research. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

Philosophical Roots of Cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Ivanovic, M.

2008-10-01

We shall consider the philosophical roots of cosmology in the earlier Greek philosophy. Our goal is to answer the question: Are earlier Greek theories of pure philosophical-mythological character, as often philosophers cited it, or they have scientific character. On the bases of methodological criteria, we shall contend that the latter is the case. In order to answer the question about contemporary situation of the relation philosophy-cosmology, we shall consider the next question: Is contemporary cosmology completely independent of philosophical conjectures? The answer demands consideration of methodological character about scientific status of contemporary cosmology. We also consider some aspects of the relation contemporary philosophy-cosmology.

PHILOSOPHERS BEFORE AND AFTER SPACEFLIGHT

OpenAIRE

Fabio Grigenti

2011-01-01

In my contribution, I will show the ways by which philosophers have treated the topic of space-travel before and after its implementation. I will discuss the following points: a) Introduction: the human condition. b) Philosophers before spaceflight: the Astolfo Protocol. c) Philosophers after spaceflight: the Promethean suspect. In this paper I will emphasize the elements of two different and alternative visions of spaceflight that can be found in the Western tradition of philosophical thought.

PHILOSOPHERS BEFORE AND AFTER SPACEFLIGHT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabio Grigenti

2011-12-01

Full Text Available In my contribution, I will show the ways by which philosophers have treated the topic of space-travel before and after its implementation. I will discuss the following points: a Introduction: the human condition. b Philosophers before spaceflight: the Astolfo Protocol. c Philosophers after spaceflight: the Promethean suspect. In this paper I will emphasize the elements of two different and alternative visions of spaceflight that can be found in the Western tradition of philosophical thought.

A concept analysis of abductive reasoning.

Science.gov (United States)

Mirza, Noeman A; Akhtar-Danesh, Noori; Noesgaard, Charlotte; Martin, Lynn; Staples, Eric

2014-09-01

To describe an analysis of the concept of abductive reasoning. In the discipline of nursing, abductive reasoning has received only philosophical attention and remains a vague concept. In addition to deductive and inductive reasoning, abductive reasoning is not recognized even in prominent nursing knowledge development literature. Therefore, what abductive reasoning is and how it can inform nursing practice and education was explored. Concept analysis. Combinations of specific keywords were searched in Web of Science, CINAHL, PsychINFO, PubMed, Medline and EMBASE. The analysis was conducted in June 2012 and only literature before this period was included. No time limits were set. Rodger's evolutionary method for conducting concept analysis was used. Twelve records were included in the analysis. The most common surrogate term was retroduction, whereas related terms included intuition and pattern and similarity recognition. Antecedents consisted of a complex, puzzling situation and a clinician with creativity, experience and knowledge. Consequences included the formation of broad hypotheses that enhance understanding of care situations. Overall, abductive reasoning was described as the process of hypothesis or theory generation and evaluation. It was also viewed as inference to the best explanation. As a new approach, abductive reasoning could enhance reasoning abilities of novice clinicians. It can not only incorporate various ways of knowing but also its holistic approach to learning appears to be promising in problem-based learning. As nursing literature on abductive reasoning is predominantly philosophical, practical consequences of abductive reasoning warrant further research. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Art and Perspicuous Vision in Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Reflection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giuseppe Di Giacomo

2013-05-01

Full Text Available If today a decidedly analytical interpretation of Wittgenstein’s thought seems to be dominant in many ways, there are, in my opinion, countless reasons that lead instead to reintroduce the possibility, and even the opportunity, of a different reading: a proper philosophical-aesthetic reading – where “philosophical” is equivalent to “transcendental” in the Kantian sense – which certainly seems to me more productive in theoretical terms.

Is Proust a philosopher?

OpenAIRE

Luc Fraisse

2015-01-01

Different philosophers pondered on Proust’s novel, including those who formulated a subtle hypothesis that philosophical thought that emerged from the novel went beyond the passages of philosophical character that could be found in Proust’s work. It is difficult to determine precisely Proust’s approach towards the novel which he, alternately, favors or disdains. A hypothesis has been formulated that In Search of Lost Time shapes the fiction in the style of Shelling’s and Schopenhauer’s philos...

[The concept of mania in Greek medical and philosophical literature].

Science.gov (United States)

Corleto, L M

1992-01-01

Coverage of the concept of mania in late archaic Greek culture displays a clear difference between its use in medical and philosophical works. Medical literature uses the terms [Greek] and [Greek] to describe mania, with the condition seen largely associated with physical illness. Specific treatment for this attered psychic state is not advanced. The philosophical view sees mania as a divine folly and thus possessing positive as well as negative aspects. Plate identifies four types of mania and treatment is closely associated with the divinity seen as responsible for that particular type. The radical rationalism found in the medical literature is a counterpoint to moderation as shown by Plato with his interest on regulations of society.

INFORMATIZATION: PHILOSOPHICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROBLEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. A. Kosolapov

2015-07-01

paradigms that are described by three characteristics was proposed. The advanced anthrop-centric model of the AIS was used for each paradigm specification. Features of philosophical and anthropological problems, that have a new ICT are formulated and disclosed. Practical value. The proposed model of the evolution of information society paradigms and knowledge of related problems will allow reducing the impact of negative trends in the global information society especially in the field of education and research activities.

The quantum world philosophical debates on quantum physics

CERN Document Server

Zwirn, Hervé

2017-01-01

In this largely nontechnical book, eminent physicists and philosophers address the philosophical impact of recent advances in quantum physics. These are shown to shed new light on profound questions about realism, determinism, causality or locality. The participants contribute in the spirit of an open and honest discussion, reminiscent of the time when science and philosophy were inseparable. After the editors’ introduction, the next chapter reveals the strangeness of quantum mechanics and the subsequent discussions examine our notion of reality. The spotlight is then turned to the topic of decoherence. Bohm’s theory is critically examined in two chapters, and the relational interpretation of quantum mechanics is likewise described and discussed. The penultimate chapter presents a proposal for resolving the measurement problem, and finally the topic of loop quantum gravity is presented by one of its founding fathers, Carlo Rovelli. The original presentations and discussions on which this volume is based t...

The philosophical aspect of learning inverse problems of mathematical physics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Виктор Семенович Корнилов

2018-12-01

Full Text Available The article describes specific questions student learning inverse problems of mathematical physics. When teaching inverse problems of mathematical physics to the understanding of the students brought the information that the inverse problems of mathematical physics with a philosophical point of view are the problems of determining the unknown causes of known consequences, and the search for their solutions have great scientific and educational potential. The reasons are specified in the form of unknown coefficients, right side, initial conditions of the mathematical model of inverse problems, and as a consequence are functionals of the solution of this mathematical model. In the process of learning the inverse problems of mathematical physics focuses on the philosophical aspects of the phenomenon of information and identify cause-effect relations. It is emphasized that in the process of logical analysis applied and humanitarian character, students realize that information is always related to the fundamental philosophical questions that the analysis applied and the humanitarian aspects of the obtained results the inverse problem of mathematical physics allows students to make appropriate inferences about the studied process and to, ultimately, new information, to study its properties and understand its value. Philosophical understanding of the notion of information opens up to students a new methodological opportunities to comprehend the world and helps us to reinterpret existing science and philosophy of the theory related to the disclosure of the interrelationship of all phenomena of reality.

Early Modern Philosophical Systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

L. van Bunge (Wiep)

2014-01-01

textabstractThe occurrence of an entry on early modern philosophical systems in an encyclopaedia of Neo-Latin studies is fraught with complications, if only on account of the gradual disappearance during the early modern period of Latin as the main vehicle of philosophical communication. What

About social and cultural aspects of human nature in the context of philosophical anthropology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. K. Kostiuchkov

2015-02-01

Full Text Available In the paper the approaches to socio­cultural understanding of human nature in the context of philosophical anthropology, analyzes the essence of human nature contradictions inherent in the contradiction between biological and social components; author focuses attention on the concept of «identity» in the context of philosophical anthropology and characterization of the status of human life; put forward a reasoned statement that outlook, as the level of philosophical understanding of the world, combining both biological and social components of human nature. It is emphasized that universal principle transistorychnym public attitudes towards human life is the recognition of its absolute value in different dimensions ­ religious, philosophical, scientific. The author notes that religious, especially biblical doctrine emphasizes the value of human life that flows from dignity of man, created in God’s image, a rational being who comes to Earth as, in a sense, a representative of God. The article stresses the urgency of a new philosophical paradigm as an important ideological guideline that requires perceive and understand the biological basis of man is not as indispensable, but neutral background of social life, but as a basis upon which and through which a person is transformed into a cultural and civilized being.

A Philosophical Treatise of Universal Induction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samuel Rathmanner

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Understanding inductive reasoning is a problem that has engaged mankind for thousands of years. This problem is relevant to a wide range of fields and is integral to the philosophy of science. It has been tackled by many great minds ranging from philosophers to scientists to mathematicians, and more recently computer scientists. In this article we argue the case for Solomonoff Induction, a formal inductive framework which combines algorithmic information theory with the Bayesian framework. Although it achieves excellent theoretical results and is based on solid philosophical foundations, the requisite technical knowledge necessary for understanding this framework has caused it to remain largely unknown and unappreciated in the wider scientific community. The main contribution of this article is to convey Solomonoff induction and its related concepts in a generally accessible form with the aim of bridging this current technical gap. In the process we examine the major historical contributions that have led to the formulation of Solomonoff Induction as well as criticisms of Solomonoff and induction in general. In particular we examine how Solomonoff induction addresses many issues that have plagued other inductive systems, such as the black ravens paradox and the confirmation problem, and compare this approach with other recent approaches.

Between relativism and pluralism: Philosophical and political relativism in Feyerabend's late work.

Science.gov (United States)

Heller, Lisa

2016-06-01

Relativism is one of the most problematic terms associated with philosophical discourse, with Feyerabend considered among the most important twentieth century theorists subscribing to it. This paper provides a detailed overview of relativist positions advanced in Feyerabend's mid-to-late work and investigates the associated epistemic and political applications. Emphasis is placed on how Feyerabend supported certain aspects of relativism, and at what stage he rejected others. It is noted that Feyerabend had already imposed limitations on relativism in Farewell to Reason, in which he entertained the possibility of epistemic definition within stable contexts, and advanced the notion that opportunities and equality associated with political and cultural units could only be valid within a democratic system. In Conquest of Abundance, political relativism is largely discarded, while epistemological relativism is increasingly treated as an appeal for diversity in all areas. In this re-reading of his work, it becomes clear that Feyerabend was already advocating a moderate form of epistemic and political relativism in the middle of his career, which he subsequently developed in the direction of "ontological pluralism" in his later work. This paper thus shows that Feyerabend's relativism should not be completely rejected, but rather that it continues to offer interesting food for thought. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The philosopher and the phenomenologist

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniele Valli

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This paper concerns the relation between philosophy and philosophical practice in the husserlian paradigm of phenomenology. The role and the method that Husserl conceives for the philosopher are related unavoidably to his theoretical system. During his long and hard work, he deals with the question of the genesis of logic in the platonic-aristotelic dichotomy, with the connection between philosophy and objective sciences and with the problem of phenomenology as descriptive practice. Thanks to this reflections, in The crisis of european sciences he conceives the role of the philosopher with a precise historical and ethical function. This new model represents one of the last philosophical systems as a universal theory.

Epicureanism as a Foundation for Philosophical Counseling

OpenAIRE

Fatić, Aleksandar

2013-01-01

The paper discusses the manner and extent to which Epicurean ethics can serve as a general philosophy of life, capable of supporting philosophical practice in the form of philosophical counseling. Unlike the modern age academic philosophy, the philosophical practice movement portrays the philosopher as a personal or corporate advisor, one who helps people make sense of their experiences and find optimum solutions within the context of their values and general preferences. Philosophical counse...

On a Philosophical Motivation for Mutilating Truth Tables

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcos Silva

2016-06-01

Full Text Available One of the reasons colours, or better the conceptual organisation of the colour system, could be relevant to the philosophy of logic is that they necessitate some mutilation of truth tables by restricting truth functionality. This paper argues that the so-called ‘Colour Exclusion Problem’, the first great challenge for Wittgenstein’s Tractatus, is a legitimate philosophical motivation for a systematic mutilation of truth tables. It shows how one can express, through these mutilations, some intensional logical relations usually expressed by the Aristotelian Square of Oppositions, as contrariety and subcontrariety.

La voix du philosophe Laruelle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gilbert Kieffer

2018-03-01

(Abstract   What is a voice in the context of the arts and philosophy? In the space of the philosopher's voice, in the complex grammar of his language is played his philosophical timbre, his own space, his particular voice, composed of concepts, articulated by the laws of coherence of the common philosophical language, with hypnotic specificities. These specificities are precisely the fruit of processes formerly called rhetoric, which I call non-hypnotics (of generalized hypnotic space, one of whose functions is just to speak in a double space: the common reference space of the reader or listener, and the conceptual virtual space peculiar to the philosopher. To the extent that the reader must pay increased and permanent attention to this double space, the philosophical trance effect, equivalent to the Ericksonian hypnotic trance, is facilitated. The difficulty of this double reading is the incessant passage from one code to another, which is also a hypnotic fascination. Heidegger prolongs and renews its structures and draws some effects from them, which provoke in the mind of the reader as an over-flow, a saturation effect, which itself favors the philosophical trance. Thus, each voice seeks to captivate the mind by confusing it with concepts, which seem at first sight familiar, but which reveal themselves with the use which is made, like formidable concepts to the power of unaccustomed fascination. One of the pleasures of reading Lareuelle's philosophy is due to this type of fascination with the philosophical voice and its language.

“Sketches of landscapes”: On philosophical poems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Troy Jollimore

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Is it possible to do philosophy by writing lyric poems—or reading them? How can a poem be genuinely philosophical, and can a philosophical poem do something that straightforward philosophical writing cannot do? Some have suggested that poems and philosophical writings have different aims and are subject to different and conflicting demands, which would render it difficult if not impossible to write a successful philosophical poem. I suggest that while this is true with respect to the aims of the standard academic philosophical journal essay, there is a different way of doing philosophical work—one that pays close attention to actual thought processes and that dramatizes the interplay of ideas—that lyric poetry is quite well suited to take on. Such work may be significant not only in helping us better understand human consciousness, but in letting us grasp insights and aspects of our experience of the world which the philosophical demand for simple, unified theories might otherwise tempt us to minimize or ignore altogether.

Shakespeare, dramatist-philosopher

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Armando Pego Puigbó

2017-09-01

Full Text Available In this essay a philosophical approach to the dramatic universe of William Shakespeare is proposed beyond the historic, social or aesthetic interpretations which are usual in some current critical theories. Its aim is not primarily to highlight only the philosophical intuitions which are contained in the Shakespere’s work, but to try to show the close philosophical condition of its literary imagination. Though avoiding the excess of the Bardolatry, it is necessary to reexamine the paradoxical relationship which the tragic model of Shakespeare maintains with some categories —and not the rules— of the Aristotelean Poetics. In putting them in check, it may be observed how the theatrical energy of Shakespeare has unveiled some ambiguous territories that the contemporary philosophy is groping as places of the modern invention of «human». Hamlet will be used as example of this capacity to raise a moral and aesthetic debate in interpretations of authors as C. Schmitt, S. Cavell, F. Ricordi o R. Girard.

The quantum Hall effects: Philosophical approach

Science.gov (United States)

Lederer, P.

2015-05-01

The Quantum Hall Effects offer a rich variety of theoretical and experimental advances. They provide interesting insights on such topics as gauge invariance, strong interactions in Condensed Matter physics, emergence of new paradigms. This paper focuses on some related philosophical questions. Various brands of positivism or agnosticism are confronted with the physics of the Quantum Hall Effects. Hacking's views on Scientific Realism, Chalmers' on Non-Figurative Realism are discussed. It is argued that the difficulties with those versions of realism may be resolved within a dialectical materialist approach. The latter is argued to provide a rational approach to the phenomena, theory and ontology of the Quantum Hall Effects.

The idea of philosophical sociology.

Science.gov (United States)

Chernilo, Daniel

2014-06-01

This article introduces the idea of philosophical sociology as an enquiry into the relationships between implicit notions of human nature and explicit conceptualizations of social life within sociology. Philosophical sociology is also an invitation to reflect on the role of the normative in social life by looking at it sociologically and philosophically at the same: normative self-reflection is a fundamental aspect of sociology's scientific tasks because key sociological questions are, in the last instance, also philosophical ones. For the normative to emerge, we need to move away from the reductionism of hedonistic, essentialist or cynical conceptions of human nature and be able to grasp the conceptions of the good life, justice, democracy or freedom whose normative contents depend on more or less articulated conceptions of our shared humanity. The idea of philosophical sociology is then sustained on three main pillars and I use them to structure this article: (1) a revalorization of the relationships between sociology and philosophy; (2) a universalistic principle of humanity that works as a major regulative idea of sociological research, and; (3) an argument on the social (immanent) and pre-social (transcendental) sources of the normative in social life. As invitations to embrace posthuman cyborgs, non-human actants and material cultures proliferate, philosophical sociology offers the reminder that we still have to understand more fully who are the human beings that populate the social world. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2014.

PHILOSOPHICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF DEVELOPMENT OF ARTIFICIALLY CREATED INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu. D. Gensitskiy

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Understanding the philosophical and anthropological importance of the development the artificial intelligence systems requires the analysis of the socio and anthropological content of intercomputer problems of interaction in the context of media philosophical praxis, anthropological maintenance of intellect nature, considering the specifics of the concept of artificial intelligence systems in the environment of M2M development of socio-cognitive practices of intercomputer interaction of social and humanitarian potential. Methodology. The implementation target is seen in the use of scientific and theoretical basis of the media philosophical, philosophical anthropology, the media philosophical approach to understanding society, science and technology, the use of publications on selected topics of research. Scientific novelty. The concept of artificial intelligence systems in the aspect of social and humanitarian potential of their formation and development in the environment of M2M was considered. The problems of machine learning as technology transformation M2M were analysed. The anthropological threats to the development of artificially created intelligent systems were defined. Conclusions. From the global risks point of view, one of the most critical circumstances due to the artificial intelligent system can strengthen its intelligence very quickly. The obvious reason for suspecting such an opportunity – a recursive self-improvement. Such system becomes smarter, including the intelligent writing of internal cognitive function, that the ability to rewrite their existing cognitive function to make it work better. This will make such systems more intelligent, and smarter in terms of the processing itself. The success of artificial intelligence may be the beginning of the end of the human race. Almost any technology falling into malicious hands reveals the potential for harm, but when it comes to artificial intelligent system, there is a

A Philosophical vs. a Psychological Perspective on Borders.

Science.gov (United States)

Klempe, Sven Hroar

2016-03-01

This paper questions to what extent borders are to be understood from a philosophical or a psychological perspective. This is done by investigating the distinction between philosophy and psychology that comes up as a result of Immanuel Kant's investigation of the pure reason. Ontology is found as a demarcation criterion between the two fields in the sense that it is of crucial importance in philosophy, but not of certain interest from a psychological point of view. An investigation of three assumptions in the perspective of affective loading follows this up, which confirms the efficiency of borders in psychological meaning production.

Philosophical biography : some problems of conceptualization

OpenAIRE

Polyakova, Irina

2014-01-01

This article considers the specificity of the genre of philosophical biography and brings to light its conceptual grounds. “Philosophical biography” is defined as an understanding of human life, which has received not only a literary but also a philosophical form of expression. It shows that philosophical biography has a variety of features, which limit the applications of chronology, rubrication and other principles of organizing in a linear manner the material of a biography. In this contex...

Ethical issues in radiology: A philosophical perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sia, S.

2009-01-01

Given that there is much disagreement as to what constitutes 'philosophy', even among philosophers, it is a challenge to provide a philosophical perspective. There are, however, at least two areas that most philosophers would regard as coming within the terrain of philosophical thinking: (1) the clarification of issues and (2) providing some sort of a foundation on which further thinking can take place. Thus, by way of contributing a philosophical perspective to the discussion, this paper will clarify some of the more fundamental issues regarding ethical debates in the hope of establishing some kind of theoretical foundation on which to base the discussion of the more specific issues and of widening the scope of the discussion. (authors)

Conscientious refusals and reason-giving.

Science.gov (United States)

Marsh, Jason

2014-07-01

Some philosophers have argued for what I call the reason-giving requirement for conscientious refusal in reproductive healthcare. According to this requirement, healthcare practitioners who conscientiously object to administering standard forms of treatment must have arguments to back up their conscience, arguments that are purely public in character. I argue that such a requirement, though attractive in some ways, faces an overlooked epistemic problem: it is either too easy or too difficult to satisfy in standard cases. I close by briefly considering whether a version of the reason-giving requirement can be salvaged despite this important difficulty. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Temporal Reasoning and Default Logics.

Science.gov (United States)

1985-10-01

Aritificial Intelligence ", Computer Science Research Report, Yale University, forthcoming (1985). . 74 .-, A Axioms for Describing Persistences and Clipping...34Circumscription - A Form of Non-Monotonic Reasoning", Artificial Intelligence , vol. 13 (1980), pp. 27-39. [13] McCarthy, John, "Applications of...and P. J. Hayes, "Some philosophical problems from the standpoint of artificial intelligence ", in: B. Meltzer and D. Michie (eds.), Machine

Kant on mental disorder. Part 2: philosophical implications of Kant's account.

Science.gov (United States)

Frierson, Patrick

2009-09-01

This paper considers various philosophical problems arising from Kant's account of mental disorder. Starting with the reasons why Kant considered his theory of mental disorder important, I then turn to the implications of this theory of Kant's metaphysics, epistemology and ethics. Given Kant's account of insanity as 'a totally different standpoint... from which one sees all objects differently' (7: 216), the Critique of Pure Reason should be read as offering a more social epistemology than typically recognized. Also, mental disorders that seem to undermine human freedom and rationality raise problems for Kant's moral philosophy that his pragmatic anthropology helps to mitigate. Finally, I propose some implications of Kant's account of mental disorder for contemporary work on mental illness.

Heteroglossia and Philosophers of Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Abowitz, Kathleen Knight

2002-01-01

Accepts the premise of Rene Arcilla's article, "Why Aren't Philosophers and Educators Speaking to One Another?" asking how philosophers of education of a Deweyan character can occupy the intermediary position between philosophy and education with their different languages, contexts, and concerns. The essay uses examples from the work of…

A New Philosophical Underpinning of Macromarketing Theories

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skytte, Hans

2014-01-01

and concepts: “language is autonomous”, “concept”, “seeing as”, “language-games”, etc. In this paper these philosophical thoughts and concepts combine so that they over time form recursive processes which spiral. These processes are taken as the philosophical foundation for researching the language and actions...... of the social actors in marketing systems. The unit of analysis for marketing systems and macromarketing issues is the idea in the recursive process and spiral. The introduction gives a brief overview of what is understood by macromarketing. Followed by a thorough explanation of many of Wittgenstein......This paper proposes a new philosophical foundation for analyzing macromarketing issues, and for further development of macromarketing theory, building on the language philosophy developed by the German/British philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. The building blocks are a number philosophical thoughts...

John Dewey--Philosopher and Educational Reformer

Science.gov (United States)

Talebi, Kandan

2015-01-01

John Dewey was an American philosopher and educator, founder of the philosophical movement known as pragmatism, a pioneer in functional psychology, and a leader of the progressive movement in education in the United States.

CLASSICAL AND NON-CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. A. Kozlova

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The goals and values of human life, the search for the meaning of human existence contain the potential for a meaningful, progressive development of philosophical and anthropological ideas at any time in history. One of the tasks of philosophical anthropology is the formation of the image of man, the choice of ways to achieve the ideal, the methods of comprehension and resolution of universal problems. The increasing processes of differentiation in science led to the formation of different views on the nature of man, to the distinction between classical and non-classical philosophical anthropology. А comparative analysis of these trends is given in this article.Materials and methods: The dialectical method is preferred in the question of research methodology, the hermeneutic and phenomenological approaches are used.Results: The development of philosophical anthropology correlates with the challenges of modernity. By tracking the trends of human change, philosophical anthropology changes the approach to the consideration of its main subject of research. The whole array of disciplines that study man comes to new discoveries, new theories, and philosophical anthropology changes its view of the vision, challenging the principles of classical philosophical anthropology.Classical philosophical anthropology elevates the biological nature of man to a pedestal, non-classical philosophical anthropology actualizes questions of language, culture, thinking, understanding, actualizes the hermeneutic and phenomenological approaches. The desire to understand a person in classical philosophical anthropology is based on the desire to fully reveal the biological mechanisms in a person. The perspective of treating a person in nonclassical philosophical anthropology is polyformen: man as a text, as a dreaming self, as an eternal transition. Non-classical philosophical anthropology, goes from the idea of identity to the idea of variability, from

Philosophical theories of probability

CERN Document Server

Gillies, Donald

2000-01-01

The Twentieth Century has seen a dramatic rise in the use of probability and statistics in almost all fields of research. This has stimulated many new philosophical ideas on probability. Philosophical Theories of Probability is the first book to present a clear, comprehensive and systematic account of these various theories and to explain how they relate to one another. Gillies also offers a distinctive version of the propensity theory of probability, and the intersubjective interpretation, which develops the subjective theory.

Distinct neural substrates of visuospatial and verbal-analytic reasoning as assessed by Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chen, Zhencai; De Beuckelaer, A.; Wang, Xu; Liu, Jia

2017-01-01

Recent studies revealed spontaneous neural activity to be associated with fluid intelligence (gF) which is commonly assessed by Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices, and embeds two types of reasoning: visuospatial and verbal-analytic reasoning. With resting-state fMRI data, using global brain

'To Philosophize is to Learn How to Die?'

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saitya Brata Das

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Philosophical thinking, as it is thinking of existence, is essentially finite thinking. This is to say that as thinking of existence, philosophical thinking is essentially also thinking of finitude. This ‘also' is not the accidental relationship between existence and finitude. Rather, to think existence in its finitude, insofar as existence is finite, is to think existence in its existentiality. Philosophy that gives itself the task of thinking the relationship between existence and finitude, must in the same gesture, be concerned with its own finitude: to philosophize is not only to think the finitude of existence, but the very finitude of thinking that thinks finite existence. To philosophize is not only to philosophize the finitude of existence as such, but also in so far as philosophising itself is a task which is essentially in itself finite. To assume as the task of thinking the finitude of existence is to think the very finitude of philosophical thinking: this is the profound relationship that exists between existence and philosophy, which is that philosophizing existence and an existential philosophy are essentially finite. This is perhaps what Socrates says of philosophizing: ‘to philosophize is to learn how to die.' "To philosophize is to learn how to die": this is to say, to philosophize is to learn that philosophy and existence are essentially finite. Philosophy and existence belong to finitude and gifts of finitude; therefore to philosophize is to learn how existence is this gift. To be able to learn how existence is this gift of finitude, to be able to assume this gift that makes existence essentially finite, which is to be able to assume existence at all, is to be able to die.' Learning to die' then comes to signify the ability of dying, which is in the same gesture, the ability of existing: existence, and dying at the end must be this ability, of existing and dying. Philosophizing must provide, then, the learning of this

Understanding Philosophical Counseling | Sivil | South African ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

philosophical counseling by exploring its points of convergence to and deviation from its complimentary parts – philosophy and counseling. The practical and applied orientation of philosophical counseling seems worlds apart from what many consider to exemplify philosophy – theoretical, intellectual and abstract concern ...

Philosophical Papers

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Philosophical Papers is a generalist journal of philosophy edited in the Department of Philosophy at Rhodes University. The journal appears three times a year; the November issue of every year is topic-based and guest-edited. The journal is published by Routledge (Taylor & Francis). Information regarding submissions ...

The scientist as philosopher philosophical consequences of great scientific discoveries

CERN Document Server

Weinert, Friedel

2005-01-01

How do major scientific discoveries reshape their originators’, and our own, sense of reality and concept of the physical world? The Scientist as Philosopher explores the interaction between physics and philosophy. Clearly written and well illustrated, the book first places the scientist-philosophers in the limelight as we learn how their great scientific discoveries forced them to reconsider the time-honored notions with which science had described the natural world. Then, the book explains that what we understand by nature and science have undergone fundamental conceptual changes as a result of the discoveries of electromagnetism, thermodynamics and atomic structure. Even more dramatically, the quantum theory and special theory of relativity questioned traditional assumptions about causation and the passage of time. The author concludes that the dance between science and philosophy is an evolutionary process, which will keep them forever entwined.

Education and the Limits of Reason: Reading Dostoevsky

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Peter

2012-01-01

Philosophers of education have had a longstanding interest in the nature and value of reason. Literature can provide an important source of insight in addressing questions in this area. One writer who is especially helpful in this regard is Fyodor Dostoevsky. In this essay Peter Roberts provides an educational reading of Dostoevsky's highly…

Human Freedom and the Philosophical Attitude

Science.gov (United States)

Rider, Sharon

2015-01-01

Attempts to describe the essential features of the Western philosophical tradition can often be characterized as "boundary work", that is, the attempt to create, promote, attack, or reinforce specific notions of the 'philosophical' in order to demarcate it as a field of intellectual inquiry. During the last century, the dominant tendency…

The Lublin Philosophical School: Founders, Motives, Characteristics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mieczysław A. Krąpiec

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article is focused on the Lublin Philosophical School; it explains its name, presents its founders, reveals the causes of its rise, and introduce the specific character of the School’s philosophy.It starts with stating the fact that in the proper sense, the term “Lublin Philosophical School” describes a way of cultivating realistic (classical philosophy developed in the 1950s by a group of philosophers at the Catholic University of Lublin, Poland. The Lublin Philosophical School is characterized by cognitive realism (the object of cognition is really existing being, maximalism (taking up all existentially important questions, methodological autonomy (in relation to the natural-mathematical sciences and theology, transcendentalism in its assertions (its assertions refer to all reality, methodological-epistemological unity (the same method applied in objectively cultivated philosophical disciplines, coherence (which guarantees the objective unity of the object, and objectivity (achieved by the verifiability of assertions on their own terms, which is achieved by relating them in each instance to objective evidence. The term is the name of the Polish school of realistic (classical philosophy that arose as a response to the Marxism that was imposed administratively on Polish institutions of learning, and also as a response to other philosophical currents dominant at the time such as phenomenology, existentialism, and logical positivism.

The Role of Confucian Thought in Preservation of Humanity and Reasonableness in the Modern World

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrej Ule

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The article examines the possibility of providing a synthesis of humanness and rationality in the modern world, and considers whether, and how, Chinese philosophical thought in general and Confucian tradition in particular might help us in this endeavour. Chinese philosophical tradition broadly construes rationality as the ability of the human “heart mind” (xin to engage in wise deliberation, clever discussion, and proper conduct carried out in accordance with the highest virtues of the gentleman. This conception is much more in tune with holistic views of reasonableness than with ideas about rationality that have become rooted in the Western philosophical tradition. In the context of Chinese culture, especially Confucianism, reasonableness is firmly associated with distinct forms of argumentation, primarily with those of analogical inference, metaphor use, and paradigmatic behavioural models which cannot be expressed within the framework of logical (deductive or inductive reasoning. By focusing on Mencius’s method of “extending” innate human virtues (humanness, righteousness, dignity, and wisdom from their paradigmatic cases to parallel cases from everyday life, it is possible to get a better insight into the idea of cultivating and practicing reasonableness conceived as a synthesis of humanness and rationality. There seems to be no internal conflict between our self-interests and our morality; on the contrary, actual morality and actual reasonableness emerge against the backdrop of the dynamic interplay between our striving for self-realization and our moral orientation.

Philosophical and theoretical content of the nursing discipline in academic education: A critical interpretive synthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Rega, Maria Luisa; Telaretti, Fabia; Alvaro, Rosaria; Kangasniemi, Mari

2017-10-01

Nursing as clinical practice, management and research are based on nursing philosophy and theory. Thus, the philosophical and theoretical content is required to be incorporated in academic education in order to enable nurses' skills for reflection, analysis, and thinking about the profession. The aim of this review was to describe what is known of the philosophical and theoretical content of the nursing discipline within academic education. A critical interpretive synthesis (CIS). Electronic searches were performed across four databases, CINAHL, Scopus, Medline, and Web of Science, for papers published in English from 1980 to 2016. The selection of original articles was based on stages, and inclusion and exclusion criteria were used. Quality of the selected papers were evaluated by method sensitive appraisal criteria. The five phases of CIS were used to combine the selected data. The searches resulted 9148 titles, whereas 13 were selected. Nurses need philosophical and theoretical education in order to be aware of human health and explain the complexity of the human experience of illness. The philosophy of science, the philosophy of care, and theory development were highlighted as the key contents in nursing academic education as these subjects are central to the discipline that ensures that nurses acquire advanced skills. A model was developed that linked disciplinary issues the progression nursing science through the influence of advanced skills. Based on the findings in this study the philosophical and theoretical content of nursing discipline crates a basis for the academic education and enables a professional and exclusive vision for nurses. It provides an overall understanding of people's lives and support nurses to achieve deeper awareness of the meaning of illness and health in a person lifespan what is needed on the evidence-based decision making. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advancing clinical reasoning in virtual patients - development and application of a conceptual framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Hege, Inga; Kononowicz, Andrzej A; Berman, Norman B; Lenzer, Benedikt; Kiesewetter, Jan

2018-01-01

Background: Clinical reasoning is a complex skill students have to acquire during their education. For educators it is difficult to explain their reasoning to students, because it is partly an automatic and unconscious process. Virtual Patients (VPs) are used to support the acquisition of clinical reasoning skills in healthcare education. However, until now it remains unclear which features or settings of VPs optimally foster clinical reasoning. Therefore, our aims were to identify key concepts of the clinical reasoning process in a qualitative approach and draw conclusions on how each concept can be enhanced to advance the learning of clinical reasoning with virtual patients. Methods: We chose a grounded theory approach to identify key categories and concepts of learning clinical reasoning and develop a framework. Throughout this process, the emerging codes were discussed with a panel of interdisciplinary experts. In a second step we applied the framework to virtual patients. Results: Based on the data we identified the core category as the "multifactorial nature of learning clinical reasoning". This category is reflected in the following five main categories: Psychological Theories, Patient-centeredness, Context, Learner-centeredness, and Teaching/Assessment. Each category encompasses between four and six related concepts. Conclusions: With our approach we were able to elaborate how key categories and concepts of clinical reasoning can be applied to virtual patients. This includes aspects such as allowing learners to access a large number of VPs with adaptable levels of complexity and feedback or emphasizing dual processing, errors, and uncertainty.

Human Being and the Philosophical Discourse

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirela Arsith

2012-05-01

Full Text Available The hypothesis from which we start our approach is the one according to which the philosophicaldiscourse is a specific way of communicating the reality. The base of the philosophical communication issurprise, doubt, uncertainty, anxiety, all generated by the fundamental interrogations of Kantian origin: Howmuch am I able to know? What do I have to do? What am I allowed to hope? The answers to all thesequestions were set up in philosophical concepts and visions, all of them leading to communication, trying toexpress themselves and make themselves understood. Communicability is the very essence of thephilosophical approach. Actually, communication is a fundamental philosophical attitude as I, in my capacityof human being, live only with the other, in full interaction. On my own I am nothing. Throughout this paperwe find arguments for the idea according to which the philosophical discourse subordinates an art ofgenuinely living and communicating about balance and avoidance of excess, about the ability to assume andovercome, about lucidity and wisdom, about credibility, certainty and truth, about freedom and limitation,about the meaning and value of the human condition.

The pre-political bases of the liberal State. Some aspects of the dialog about “reason and faith” between the philosopher Jürgen Habermas and the theologian Joseph Ratzinger

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nelson Villarreal Durán

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The changes produced in the last few decades are a concern for contemporary thinkers, such as a philosopher of the Frankfurt School, and a Roman Catholic theologian who later became a pope. Both of them address the fundamental aspects of secularism in the early 21st century in cultural relativism, postmodernity and incomplete modernity from a new perspective. They converge in the non-sacralization of the state and politics with regard to the value of human rights. Analyze the dialog as part of the modernism-postmodernism debate, focused on the relation between reason and religion in a “post-secular” (Habermas or “global” society (Ratzinger. The complexity of modern reason as part of theoretical and practical philosophy; a convergence and an open contradiction in the 21st century. The center of this exchange, an expression of reason and faith, lies in the recognition that the liberal State finds two bases in the moral foundations that make it possible. In this sense, the roots of modern secularism are not only the rationality of modernity, but also the contribution of Judeo-Christian, and in some contexts Islamic, religious meaning. This has an impact on the comprehension and development of the discipline, and the practice of law in the West as a pre-political substrate of democratic principles.

[On the philosophical genealogy of Freud].

Science.gov (United States)

Dimitrov, C T

1975-06-01

The origins of psycho-analysis, like those of every other medico-psychological study, have their own particular scientific and specific social, historical and philosophical-theoretical presuppositions. Freud's philosophical genealogy is closely linked to classical german philosophy and subsequent philosophical movements. I. Kant, J.-F. Herbart, A. Schopenhauer, F. Nietzsche, E. v. Hartmann, G. T. Fechner, E. Mach, W. Ostwald, L. Feuerbach and others did not only emphasise the significance of drives and the unconscious in human behaviour, they also described many psychological mechanisms from depth psychology, (for example repression, condensation, substitution, sublimation). Some false theoretical trends in psycho-analysis (biologism, psychologism and simplifying psycho-energetics to simplify) can be explained to some extent by the influences mentioned above.

Philosophical Papers

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The other minds skeptic supposes there may be no minds other than his. The external world skeptic thinks there could be no world external to him. Some philosophers think a person can refute the skeptic and prove that his world is not the solitary scenario the skeptic supposes his could be. In this paper I examine one ...

Is Odysseus a philosopher?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deretić Irina J.

2017-01-01

critically discussed the philosophical motives and reasons of Odysseus' 'adventures', as well as the philosophical character of his journey as such. One may assume that Odysseus in his journey is motivated by the urge to survive in almost impossible circumstances. Yet, there are lot of sections in Homer's Odyssey which call in question such an assumption. Odysseus, for example, wants to hear the deadly song of the sirens, not because it is tempting and beautiful, but because it provides an access to the total knowledge. Odysseus' return to Ithaca might be understood as the end of a process of self-formation and self-discovery, in which Odysseus discovers the things and himself as being significantly different and more complex than they and he were in the beginning of his journey.

Philosophical Toys Today

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Dvořák, Tomáš

2013-01-01

Roč. 35, č. 2 (2013), s. 173-196 ISSN 1210-0250 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP401/11/2338 Institutional support: RVO:67985955 Keywords : philosophical toys * scientific instruments * modern visual culture Subject RIV: AA - Philosophy ; Religion

Philosophic foundations of quantum mechanics

CERN Document Server

Reichenbach, Hans

1998-01-01

Physics concerns direct analysis of the physical world, while philosophy analyzes knowledge about the physical world. This volume combines both disciplines for a philosophical interpretation of quantum physics - an interpretation free from the imprecision of metaphysics, offering a view of the atomic world and its quantum mechanical results as concrete as the visible everyday world.Written by an internationally renowned philosopher who specialized in symbolic logic and the theory of relativity, this approach consists of three parts. The first section, which requires no background in math or p

The grand leap of the whale up the Niagara Falls: converting philosophical conclusions into policy prescriptions.

Science.gov (United States)

Holm, Søren

2015-04-01

This article analyzes a neat conjuring trick employed in bioethics, that is, the immediate conversion of a philosophical conclusion into a policy prescription, and compares it to the "grand leap of the whale up the Niagara Falls" mentioned by Benjamin Franklin. It is shown that there is no simple and easy way to achieve the conversion, by considering arguments falling under four headings: (1) reasonable disagreement about values and theories, (2) general jurisprudential arguments, (3) the differences between policymaking and philosophy, and (4) the messy world of implementation. The particular issue used to illustrate the difficulties in moving from philosophical conclusion to policy description is infanticide of healthy infants, but the analysis is general, and the conclusion that the immediate move to policy is illegitimate is quite general.

Computational approaches to analogical reasoning current trends

CERN Document Server

Richard, Gilles

2014-01-01

Analogical reasoning is known as a powerful mode for drawing plausible conclusions and solving problems. It has been the topic of a huge number of works by philosophers, anthropologists, linguists, psychologists, and computer scientists. As such, it has been early studied in artificial intelligence, with a particular renewal of interest in the last decade. The present volume provides a structured view of current research trends on computational approaches to analogical reasoning. It starts with an overview of the field, with an extensive bibliography. The 14 collected contributions cover a large scope of issues. First, the use of analogical proportions and analogies is explained and discussed in various natural language processing problems, as well as in automated deduction. Then, different formal frameworks for handling analogies are presented, dealing with case-based reasoning, heuristic-driven theory projection, commonsense reasoning about incomplete rule bases, logical proportions induced by similarity an...

Philosophical Papers: Submissions

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Articles should be relevant to the analytic tradition in philosophy, understood broadly and including critiques of that tradition. All submissions are independently refereed. In most cases, decisions are based on reports from at least two referees. Final editorial decisions are made by the Editorial Board of Philosophical Papers.

Naming Being - or the Philosophical Content of Heidegger's National Socialism

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blok, V.

2012-01-01

This contribution discusses the philosophical meaning of the Martin Heidegger’s Rectoral address. First of all, Heidegger’s philosophical basic experience is sketched as the background of his Rectoral address; the being-historical concept of “Anfang”. Then, the philosophical question of the Rectoral

Sacred Torrents in Modernity: German Jewish Philosophers and the Legacy of Secularization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roemer Nils

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This article investigates the ongoing interaction between the Jewish sacred past and its modern interpreters. Jewish thinkers from the eighteenth century reclaimed these ideals instead of dismissing them. Sacred traditions and modern secular thought existed in their mutual constitutive interdependence and not in opposition. When the optimism in historical progress and faith in reason unraveled in the fin de siècle, it engendered a new critical response by Jewish historians and philosophers of the twentieth century. These critical voices emerged within the fault lines of nineteenth and early twentieth century Jewish anti-historicist responses. What separated twentieth-century Jewish thinkers such as Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, and Gershom Scholem from their nineteenth-century forerunners was not their embrace of religion but their critical stance toward reason and their crumbling faith in historical progress.

Two Forms of Philosophical Argument or Critique

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall, James D.

2004-01-01

In this paper the author looks at two forms of philosophical argument or critique. These are derived by himself from the work of the late Kantian scholar, Stephan Korner who, in his book "What is Philosophy?" (1969), draws a number of distinctions between different forms of "philosophical" argument or critique. The two forms of derived argument,…

The philosopher in Plato’s state

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikitović Aleksandar

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Plato’s political theory rests on metaphysical principles that are understandable to only a few. It is assumed that only a narrow group of philosophers is able to put this theory into practice, and using repressive measures. The fewer the initiated the greater the repression. It is assumed that those who do not know the truth can neither predict their destiny nor do anything to make it better because they are unable to understand the goal and purpose of the repression. It is demonstrated that, in the imagined use of force, the sophists, who do acknowledge it, resort to repression to a much lesser extent than Plato’s philosopher. At first, Plato’s philosopher rejects the use of force as virtue, but it turns out to be indispensible, and in incomparably more aspects than it was in the sophists’ case. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179049

Causality in cancer research: a journey through models in molecular epidemiology and their philosophical interpretation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paolo Vineis

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract In the last decades, Systems Biology (including cancer research has been driven by technology, statistical modelling and bioinformatics. In this paper we try to bring biological and philosophical thinking back. We thus aim at making different traditions of thought compatible: (a causality in epidemiology and in philosophical theorizing—notably, the “sufficient-component-cause framework” and the “mark transmission” approach; (b new acquisitions about disease pathogenesis, e.g. the “branched model” in cancer, and the role of biomarkers in this process; (c the burgeoning of omics research, with a large number of “signals” and of associations that need to be interpreted. In the paper we summarize first the current views on carcinogenesis, and then explore the relevance of current philosophical interpretations of “cancer causes”. We try to offer a unifying framework to incorporate biomarkers and omic data into causal models, referring to a position called “evidential pluralism”. According to this view, causal reasoning is based on both “evidence of difference-making” (e.g. associations and on “evidence of underlying biological mechanisms”. We conceptualize the way scientists detect and trace signals in terms of information transmission, which is a generalization of the mark transmission theory developed by philosopher Wesley Salmon. Our approach is capable of helping us conceptualize how heterogeneous factors such as micro and macro-biological and psycho-social—are causally linked. This is important not only to understand cancer etiology, but also to design public health policies that target the right causal factors at the macro-level.

Training and "Abrichtung": Wittgenstein as a Tragic Philosopher of Education

Science.gov (United States)

Friesen, Norm

2017-01-01

As a landmark philosopher of language and of mind, Ludwig Wittgenstein is also remarkable for having crossed, with apparent ease, the "continental divide" in philosophy. It is consequently not surprising that Wittgenstein's work, particularly in the "Philosophical Investigations," has been taken up by philosophers of education…

Soviet Philosophers and Religion: Case of Il’enkov (Marxism as Philosophy of Life and Blank Spot of Death

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pushchaev Iurii

2017-03-01

Full Text Available In this article the author analyzes the religious views of prominent Soviet philosopher E. V. Il`enkov and to demonstrates some ambivalent moments in his attitude to religion, for example, quasi-religious character of some of his ideas and deeds. Those were, for example, his engagement in studies of deaf-blind students in Moscow State University and his views on some philosophical and psychological aspects of education and teaching of deaf-blind children. Il’enkov’s interpretation of these aspects and the history of teaching deaf-blind students in MSU were named “Zagorsky experiment”. Also it is claimed that Marxism belongs to the philosophy of life and pointed out the latent favorable treatment of suicide in Marxism as atheistic philosophy. The article demonstrates that this latent favorable treatment of suicide was generated mainly because the death was not the subject of reflection and analysis for Marxist philosophers. Putting out of philosophy of life the phenomenon of death and connected aspects is the reason of some tragedies, as in the case of Il’enkov.

Philosophical and methodological analyses in Japanese particle physics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bardos, G. (Kossuth Lajos Tudomanyegyetem, Debrecen (Hungary). Elmeleti Fizikai Tanszek)

1984-01-01

The history and philosophy of the Japanese school of dialectical materialism and its influence on nuclear and particle physicists are discussed. The ideas of main characters of this philosophical school are summerized. Parallel physical and philosophical works of Sakata are analyzed.

Advancing clinical reasoning in virtual patients – development and application of a conceptual framework

Science.gov (United States)

Hege, Inga; Kononowicz, Andrzej A.; Berman, Norman B.; Lenzer, Benedikt; Kiesewetter, Jan

2018-01-01

Background: Clinical reasoning is a complex skill students have to acquire during their education. For educators it is difficult to explain their reasoning to students, because it is partly an automatic and unconscious process. Virtual Patients (VPs) are used to support the acquisition of clinical reasoning skills in healthcare education. However, until now it remains unclear which features or settings of VPs optimally foster clinical reasoning. Therefore, our aims were to identify key concepts of the clinical reasoning process in a qualitative approach and draw conclusions on how each concept can be enhanced to advance the learning of clinical reasoning with virtual patients. Methods: We chose a grounded theory approach to identify key categories and concepts of learning clinical reasoning and develop a framework. Throughout this process, the emerging codes were discussed with a panel of interdisciplinary experts. In a second step we applied the framework to virtual patients. Results: Based on the data we identified the core category as the "multifactorial nature of learning clinical reasoning". This category is reflected in the following five main categories: Psychological Theories, Patient-centeredness, Context, Learner-centeredness, and Teaching/Assessment. Each category encompasses between four and six related concepts. Conclusions: With our approach we were able to elaborate how key categories and concepts of clinical reasoning can be applied to virtual patients. This includes aspects such as allowing learners to access a large number of VPs with adaptable levels of complexity and feedback or emphasizing dual processing, errors, and uncertainty. PMID:29497697

Social-philosophical practices of success

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. R. Karpenko

2017-01-01

Is social-philosophical experts of success represent the complicated system of various world outlook, speech, mental factors and events in life of the various professional, age and subcultural bunches producing assessments under different visual angles, from positions of various social installations and identity in what the social philosophy of success expresses. In the course of forming social an expert (both in daily, and in an institutional discourse are shaped also theoretical ideas success: instrumental, is social-philosophical, is social-psychological, world outlook, historical and cultural, etc., characterising thereby various systems of a social discourse. Examination is social-philosophical the success expert shows the real complexity and ambiguity of the given appearance. Besides the presented typology constructed as the most approximate abstract plan, in each separate case probably build-up of typological models according to a principle ad hoc. It looks quite justified, considering that circumstance that representations about success and the successful person are constantly transformed and acquire new performances. Efficiency of the further examinations of a discourse and a success expert will depend on accepting of new heuristic approaches, capable to consider multidimensionality and ambiguity of the given phenomenon.

MARTIN HEIDEGGER’S BLACK NOTEBOOKS AND POLITICAL ECONOMY OF CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHICAL CRITIQUE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. O. Karpenko

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the study is to determine the key strategies of philosophical criticism of Heidegger’s Black Notebooks, whose achievement is realized in the following tasks: 1 to identify the body of texts that represent the discourse of philosophical criticism of Heidegger notes; 2 to reveal the typological features of the different strategies of interpreting Black Notebooks; 3 to reconstruct a thematic horizon of Heidegger studies, opened up by discussion on published notes. The methodology combines elements of discourse analysis with traditional methods of historical and philosophical criticism. Scientific novelty is expressed in the following: 1 philosophical discourse of the Notebooks’ reception includes texts of narrowly specialized character (Gatherings collection of articles, as well as reflections of key philosophers (A. Badiou, J.-L. Nancy 2 basic strategies in philosophical critique of Black Notebooks convey the overall structure of the discourse of interpretation of Heidegger’s legacy, distributed between apologetics and ideological criticism; 3 Black Notebooks have exacerbated the problem of architectonics of Gesammtausgabe and formed the textual basis for the study of "silence" period in philosophical life of Heidegger. Conclusions. The discourse of philosophical critique of Heidegger’s notes proves evidence for ideological charge of philosophizing and justifies socially oriented approaches of historical and philosophical studies examining philosophizing as a special cultural practice, not as a form of sublime creativity.

Diego Velázquez's Kings, Buffoons and Philosophers in the Context of His Religious Paintings: the View from Russia (Philosophical-Anthropological Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margarita Silantieva

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The article is dedicated to the analysis of philosophic anthropology of the great Spanish artist of the 17th century Diego Velazquez. This anthropology is considered through the prism of the problems that set the life of contemporary Russia and its "reflections" in the present-day Russian artists' works. At that Velazquez's philosophical anthropology is reconstructed on the basis of his works. As a consequence, significant part of attention is paid to the method that allows performing such reconstruction. The author proceeds from the belief according to which not only written texts can be considered philosophically. The visual "texts" connected with certain world outlook component of art creative work undoubtedly possess definite semantics. Expressed by the language of art, such image lines contain intelligible sense component reconstruction of which can be subjected to strict scientific and philosophical analysis and corrected with its help. At that one should not think that the images are "translated" into "the text of words" - on the contrary, philosophical reconstruction implies not as "verbalization" of visual line as coherent to it logical mastering of the picture's sense (in this case against the background of historical and historical-philosophical "scenery". The urgency of turning to this problem is brought about by the fact that a number of questions that found vivid and coherent (as philosophical-anthropological research shows embodiment in Velazquez's creative work are extremely interesting for contemporary thinkers speaking the language of contemporary fine arts. "The topic of mirror" is among such questions and it deals with correlation of intellectual and rational in a person's consciousness, and, finally, there is the issue of the man as a bearer of moral principles. Comparison of attitudes shown by contemporary painting with Velazquez's ideas enables to trace the development of philosophical anthropology and in the area of its

Discussing a Philosophical Background for the Ethnomathematical Program

Science.gov (United States)

Vilela, Denise Silva

2010-01-01

This article examines the extent to which Wittgenstein's analytical framework may be relevant to philosophical reflection on ethnomathematics. The discussion develops Bill Barton's suggestion that a philosophical basis for the ethnomathematical program should include and explain culturally different mathematics systems, and the coexistence of…

Terrorism: some philosophical and ethical dilemmas

OpenAIRE

Stojanov, Trajce; Unsal, Zeynep

2017-01-01

Philosophers weren`t thinking a lot about terrorism before the terrorist attacks in the United States on 11 September 2001. Or even when they were thinking the main concern was how to deal with terrorism. But after this attack terrorism was high on the philosophical agenda mainly manifested as an ethical problem. The key concern was: can terrorism be morally justified? That is the issue we are dealing in this paper too. But, the answer of this question largely depends on the treatment of t...

Transforming Medical Assessment: Integrating Uncertainty Into the Evaluation of Clinical Reasoning in Medical Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Cooke, Suzette; Lemay, Jean-Francois

2017-06-01

In an age where practicing physicians have access to an overwhelming volume of clinical information and are faced with increasingly complex medical decisions, the ability to execute sound clinical reasoning is essential to optimal patient care. The authors propose two concepts that are philosophically paramount to the future assessment of clinical reasoning in medicine: assessment in the context of "uncertainty" (when, despite all of the information that is available, there is still significant doubt as to the best diagnosis, investigation, or treatment), and acknowledging that it is entirely possible (and reasonable) to have more than "one correct answer." The purpose of this article is to highlight key elements related to these two core concepts and discuss genuine barriers that currently exist on the pathway to creating such assessments. These include acknowledging situations of uncertainty, creating clear frameworks that define progressive levels of clinical reasoning skills, providing validity evidence to increase the defensibility of such assessments, considering the comparative feasibility with other forms of assessment, and developing strategies to evaluate the impact of these assessment methods on future learning and practice. The authors recommend that concerted efforts be directed toward these key areas to help advance the field of clinical reasoning assessment, improve the clinical care decisions made by current and future physicians, and have positive outcomes for patients. It is anticipated that these and subsequent efforts will aid in reaching the goal of making future assessment in medical education more representative of current-day clinical reasoning and decision making.

Poincaré, philosopher of science problems and perspectives

CERN Document Server

DiSalle, Robert

2014-01-01

This volume presents a selection of papers from the Poincaré Project of the Center for the Philosophy of Science, University of Lisbon, bringing together an international group of scholars with new assessments of Henri Poincaré's philosophy of science—both its historical impact on the foundations of science and mathematics, and its relevance to contemporary philosophical inquiry. The work of Poincaré (1854-1912) extends over many fields within mathematics and mathematical physics. But his scientific work was inseparable from his groundbreaking philosophical reflections, and the scientific ferment in which he participated was inseparable from the philosophical controversies in which he played a pre-eminent part. The subsequent history of the mathematical sciences was profoundly influenced by Poincaré’s philosophical analyses of the relations between and among mathematics, logic, and physics, and, more generally, the relations between formal structures and the world of experience. The papers in this col...

Euthanasia in South Africa: Philosophical and theological considerations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mojalefa L.J. Koenane

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Debates on euthanasia (or �mercy killing� have been a concern in moral, philosophical, legal, theological, cultural and sociological discourse for centuries. The topic of euthanasia inspires a variety of strong views of which the �slippery slope� argument is one. The latter warns that the principle(s underlying any ethical issue (including euthanasia may be distorted. Scholars� views on euthanasia are influenced mainly by cultural, personal, political and religious convictions. In South Africa, the issue of euthanasia has arisen from time to time, but the question of whether it should be legalised was not seriously considered until it recently attracted attention because of a particular case, that of Cape Town advocate Robin StranshamFord. Although euthanasia is still illegal (this is because the Stransham-Ford ruling is confined to this particular case only, as stated in the ratio decidendi by Judge Hans Fabricius of the High Court in Pretoria, the Court granted leave to appeal its April 2015 judgement regarding euthanasia in the application lodged by Stransham-Ford. In considering the contentious nature of the issue of euthanasia, this article adopts a multidisciplinary approach which includes historical, legal, theological, philosophical, theoretical and analytic frameworks, discussing euthanasia from philosophical and theological perspectives, in particular. We conclude by recommending that the subject of applied ethics, which helps to educate citizens about contemporary moral problems such as euthanasia, be introduced at school level. Exposing young people to the debates around thorny issues such as this would familiarise them with the discourse, encourage them to engage with it and empower them as mature citizens to make informed, reasonable decisions, obviating confusion and conflict which might otherwise arise. The problems surrounding the issue of euthanasia are multidimensional and have the capacity to polarise the nation and

Advancing beyond the system: telemedicine nurses' clinical reasoning using a computerised decision support system for patients with COPD - an ethnographic study.

Science.gov (United States)

Barken, Tina Lien; Thygesen, Elin; Söderhamn, Ulrika

2017-12-28

Telemedicine is changing traditional nursing care, and entails nurses performing advanced and complex care within a new clinical environment, and monitoring patients at a distance. Telemedicine practice requires complex disease management, advocating that the nurses' reasoning and decision-making processes are supported. Computerised decision support systems are being used increasingly to assist reasoning and decision-making in different situations. However, little research has focused on the clinical reasoning of nurses using a computerised decision support system in a telemedicine setting. Therefore, the objective of the study is to explore the process of telemedicine nurses' clinical reasoning when using a computerised decision support system for the management of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The factors influencing the reasoning and decision-making processes were investigated. In this ethnographic study, a combination of data collection methods, including participatory observations, the think-aloud technique, and a focus group interview was employed. Collected data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. When telemedicine nurses used a computerised decision support system for the management of patients with complex, unstable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, two categories emerged: "the process of telemedicine nurses' reasoning to assess health change" and "the influence of the telemedicine setting on nurses' reasoning and decision-making processes". An overall theme, termed "advancing beyond the system", represented the connection between the reasoning processes and the telemedicine work and setting, where being familiar with the patient functioned as a foundation for the nurses' clinical reasoning process. In the telemedicine setting, when supported by a computerised decision support system, nurses' reasoning was enabled by the continuous flow of digital clinical data, regular video-mediated contact and shared decision

The Philosopher In The Newspaper: Serhiy Krymsky As A Public Intellectual

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melnyk Andriy

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Interactions of philosophical and journalistic spheres, mediatization of philosophy are main problems of this article. Author considers public philosophy of contemporary Ukrainian philosopher Serhiy Krymsky and determines a role of philosophical journalism in modern media discourse.

Philosophical Foundations of Business Ethics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rendtorff, Jacob Dahl

2016-01-01

This article gives an overview of my book French Philosophy and Social Theory. A Perspective for Ethics and Philosophy of Management, published by Springer 2014. As an extension of my earlier work on French philosophy, this book provides an application of important concepts from contemporary French...... philosophy to business ethics and the ethics of organizations. Although the book covers a wide range of philosophers and philosophical movements, there is a core and deep unity of the book. This is the demonstration of how the conceptual resources of contemporary French philosophy from the early 20th Century...... to the present day can be applied to give us new perspectives on business ethics and the ethics of organizations....

Distinct neural substrates of visuospatial and verbal-analytic reasoning as assessed by Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Zhencai; De Beuckelaer, Alain; Wang, Xu; Liu, Jia

2017-11-24

Recent studies revealed spontaneous neural activity to be associated with fluid intelligence (gF) which is commonly assessed by Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices, and embeds two types of reasoning: visuospatial and verbal-analytic reasoning. With resting-state fMRI data, using global brain connectivity (GBC) analysis which averages functional connectivity of a voxel in relation to all other voxels in the brain, distinct neural correlates of these two reasoning types were found. For visuospatial reasoning, negative correlations were observed in both the primary visual cortex (PVC) and the precuneus, and positive correlations were observed in the temporal lobe. For verbal-analytic reasoning, negative correlations were observed in the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG), dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and temporoparietal junction, and positive correlations were observed in the angular gyrus. Furthermore, an interaction between GBC value and type of reasoning was found in the PVC, rIFG and the temporal lobe. These findings suggest that visuospatial reasoning benefits more from elaborate perception to stimulus features, whereas verbal-analytic reasoning benefits more from feature integration and hypothesis testing. In sum, the present study offers, for different types of reasoning in gF, first empirical evidence of separate neural substrates in the resting brain.

Philosophical counselling: Towards a 'new approach' in pastoral ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In this article it was argued that philosophical counselling opens up new avenues for pastoral care and counselling. Philosophical counselling probes into the realm of different schemata of interpretation. A model for the making of a spiritual existential analysis was proposed in order to detect the impact of the Christian ...

The philosophical terrain of behavior analysis: a review of B. A. Thyer (Ed.), The Philosophical Legacy of Behaviorism.

Science.gov (United States)

Lamal, P A

2000-09-01

The Philosophical Legacy of Behaviorism, edited by Bruce A. Thyer, is a set of original contributions, each dealing, from a behavioral stance, with one of the following major topics of philosophy: epistemology, ethics, consciousness, language, free will and determinism, and self-control. Confusions about radical behaviorism and its similarities to, and differences from, other behavioral and non-behavioral approaches are described in the book, which provides a state-of-the-art description of the philosophical underpinnings of behavior analysis.

Pursuing Improvement in Clinical Reasoning: The Integrated Clinical Education Theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Jessee, Mary Ann

2018-01-01

The link between clinical education and development of clinical reasoning is not well supported by one theoretical perspective. Learning to reason during clinical education may be best achieved in a supportive sociocultural context of nursing practice that maximizes reasoning opportunities and facilitates discourse and meaningful feedback. Prelicensure clinical education seldom incorporates these critical components and thus may fail to directly promote clinical reasoning skill. Theoretical frameworks supporting the development of clinical reasoning during clinical education were evaluated. Analysis of strengths and gaps in each framework's support of clinical reasoning development was conducted. Commensurability of philosophical underpinnings was confirmed, and complex relationships among key concepts were elucidated. Six key concepts and three tenets comprise an explanatory predictive theory-the integrated clinical education theory (ICET). ICET provides critical theoretical support for inquiry and action to promote clinical education that improves development of clinical reasoning skill. [J Nurs Educ. 2018;57(1):7-13.]. Copyright 2018, SLACK Incorporated.

PHILOSOPHICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF AESTETICS IN POST-CLASSICAL EPOCH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dariia M. Skalska

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Purpose. To understand the dynamics of aesthetic conception as representative of the main directions of philosophical anthropology, identifying their contribution to the development of aesthetics and expand its research field. The condition of the study of the problem is the evolutionary process of adequateness, authenticity and alternativeness in determination of both the phenomenon of "aesthetic" and its role in philosophical and anthropological  convention. Methodology. Both the measurements of aesthetic as a unique, peculiar, specific and aesthetic dimensions of philosophical anthropology /systems of philisophy/ have in sight  the necessity to solve the same problem - the identification of new methodological basis. Theoretical results. The experience of theoretical researches of contemporary domestic and foreign philosophical and aesthetic schools іs generalized. The content of phenomenological and existential breakthrough in  modern age  of aesthetics іs revealed. The essence of "anthropological turn" in European philosophy of 20th century  as philosophical paradigm of the modern age and its impact on development of aesthetic theories of post-classical period was investigated. Conclusion. Philosophical and anthropological studies have amounted the "methodological synthesis" that appeared as the theoretical principles of the understanding of aesthetics due to its polystylistics.

YHWH and the God of philosophical theology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J W Gericke

2005-10-01

Full Text Available In popular orthodox Christian philosophical theology, it is often taken for granted that the divine philosophised about is none other than the Hebrew deity YHWH himself. Moreover , it is often assumed that the Old� Testament depicts YHWH as being, inter alia, single, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and eternal. Now while it is to be admitted that there are indeed depictions of YHWH in the Old Testament in which his profile might be thought of as corresponding more or less to the popular philosophical ideal, it is also true that there are many representations that contradict it. In this article, the author looks at how the popular profile of� YHWH in the Old Testament as reconstructed by some philosophical theologians claiming to be �biblical�� is deconstructed when it is juxtaposed with alternative renderings of the divine in the same texts.

Reason and Revelation for an Averroist Pursuit of "Convivencia" and Intercultural Dialogue

Science.gov (United States)

Habti, Driss

2011-01-01

Throughout medieval thought, a major issue raised was that of the relationship between religion and philosophy. Alternative frameworks see the problem as a conflict between faith and reason, tradition and speculation, mysticism and rationalism. The medieval Muslim philosopher Ibn Rushd, or Averroes, (1126-98), who lived in medieval Spain, attempts…

Feser on Rothbard as a Philosopher

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gerard Casey

2009-08-01

Full Text Available In “Rothbard as a philosopher” (Feser 2006 Edward Feser harshly criticises the philosophical abilities of Murray Rothbard. According to Feser, Rothbard seems unable to produce arguments that don’t commit obvious fallacies or produces arguments that fail to address certain obvious objections. His criticism centres on what he regards as Rothbard’s principal argument for the thesis of self-ownership. In this paper, I attempt to show that Feser’s criticism fails of its purpose and that Rothbard is very far from being the epitome of philosophical ineptitude that Feser takes him to be.

The Use of Philosophical Practice in Lifelong and Self-Directed Learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Finn Thorbjørn

2001-01-01

In this article I invite the reader to reconsider philosophical counselling and practice first of all as a pedagogical practice. Recent research in adult education and especially in the area of "self-directed learning" reveals a growing interest in the existential and philosophical dimensions...... of learning and guidance in the adult education setting. I suggest that we use philosophical counselling to strengthen the adult´s capacity for lifelong and self-directed learning and that philosophical practice in general could be connected to a new kind of "existential adult pedagogy"....

IMPLIED AUTHOR IN PHILOSOPHICAL NOVELS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga Senkāne

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The present article falls within a number of papers about research on specification of philosophical novels. The aim of this article is to analyze author’s function as a narrative category in classical philosophical novels (Franz Kafka "The Trial" (1925, "The Castle" (1926, Jean-Paul Sartre "Nausea" (1938, Hermann Hesse "The Glass Bead Game" (1943, Albert Camus "The Plague" (1947 and a novel of Latvian prose writer Ilze Šķipsna "Neapsolītās zemes" ["Un-Promised Lands"] (1970. The analysis is based on theoretical ideas of structural narratologists Gerard Genette, William Labov, Seymuor Chatman, Wolf Schmid, as well as philosophers Edmund Husserl, Jean-Paul Sartre, Paul Ricouer and semioticians Yuri Lotman (Юрий Лотман and Umberto Eco. The real author can ”enter” the text only indirectly—as an image, with the help of the storyteller, and the way how this ”entry” happens is determined by the narration of the real author or narrative (communication skills of the author. Thus, the author and implied author are functionally different concepts: author as a real person develops the concept idea, his intention is to define the concept under his original vision; narrator, in its turn, communicates with the reader, representing the concept, and his aim is to select appropriate means of communication with regard to reader’s perceptual abilities.

Peace Education: Exploring Some Philosophical Foundations

Science.gov (United States)

Page, James S.

2004-01-01

Peace education has been recognized as an important aspect of social education for the past three decades. The critical literature as well as official documents, however, have given little attention to its philosophical foundations. This essay explores these foundations in the ethics of (1) virtue, (2) consequentialism, (3) aesthetics, (4) conservative politics and (5) care. Each of these alone composes a significant element of peace education, although ultimately its solid basis can only be established through an integrative approach encouraging a culture of peace. The more complete development and articulation of the philosophical rationale of peace education is yet to be accomplished and remains a task for the future.

Should Philosophers and Educators Be Speaking to Each Other?

Science.gov (United States)

Fenstermacher, Gary D.

2002-01-01

Responds to Arcilla's article, "Why Aren't Philosophers and Educators Speaking to One Another?" suggesting that philosophers and educators are actually speaking to one another, copiously and productively, though the conversation sometimes takes other, less direct modes. The paper asks whether they should be talking to each other,…

Peirce and Rationalism: Is Peirce a Fully Semiotic Philosopher?

Science.gov (United States)

Stables, Andrew

2014-01-01

While Peirce is a seminal figure for contemporary semiotic philosophers, it is axiomatic of a fully semiotic perspective that no philosopher or philosophy (semiotics included) can provide any final answer, as signs are always interpreted and the context of interpretation always varies. Semiosis is evolutionary: it may or may not be construed as…

Philosophical explorations on energy transition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geerts, Robert-Jan

2017-01-01

This dissertation explores energy transition from a philosophical perspective. It puts forward the thesis that energy production and consumption are so intimately intertwined with society that the transition towards a sustainable alternative will involve more than simply implementing novel

EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. M. Alilova

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Aim. The aim is to consider the relationship of philosophy and education; the article also reviews the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD, a global model for a special educational activity. We also discuss the features of the philosophical approach to the issue of sustainable development. Discussion. In research, we use the method of socio-natural approach, a new educational paradigm that combines the theory and concept of training and education within the anthropocentric approach based on humanistic philosophical ideas which laid the basis for understanding the person as the subject of life, history and culture. We analyzed environmental and educational aspects of sustainable development in the current context. In order to address these challenges, philosophy produces new concepts, theories and paradigms. It is necessary to work on people's motivation and values, develop their cooperation skills, teach civic engagement and democratic by action rather than words. Only a highly educated society can generate environmental paradigm and implement the strategy of sustainable development. Conclusions. We recommend transferring research outcomes into practice in schools starting with elementary school, as well as in vocational schools and universities. Clarifying the essence of the concept of education for sustainable development is possible through philosophical understanding of its genesis and ideas.

Public political thought: bridging the sociological-philosophical divide in the study of legitimacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Abulof, Uriel

2016-06-01

The study of political legitimacy is divided between prescriptive and descriptive approaches. Political philosophy regards legitimacy as principled justification, sociology regards legitimacy as public support. However, all people can, and occasionally do engage in morally reasoning their political life. This paper thus submits that in studying socio-political legitimation - the legitimacy-making process - the philosophical ought and the sociological is can be bridged. I call this construct 'public political thought' (PPT), signifying the public's principled moral reasoning of politics, which need not be democratic or liberal. The paper lays PPT's foundations and identifies its 'builders' and 'building blocks'. I propose that the edifice of PPT is built by moral agents constructing and construing socio-moral order (nomization). PPT's building blocks are justificatory common beliefs (doxa) and the deliberative language of legitimation. I illustrate the merits of this groundwork through two empirical puzzles: the end of apartheid and the emergence of Québécois identity. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2016.

God and religion in post-modern philosophers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José J. Queiroz

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper is an essay on the positions of some post-modern philosophers on religion, with the debate about post-modernity as a background. Its preliminary objective is to situate post-modernity taking a position between plain acceptance and categorical refusal in contemporary society. In this polemical field, the paper focuses on three important post-modern philosophers by pointing their contributions for a new thinking about religion today. The procedure consists in the reading of the authors´ texts looking for an interpretation of their discourses on God, religion and the sacred. The conclusion is that post-modernity is not as new era overcoming modernity, but that it is comprised of new themes  that are on the fringes  or even  in opposite directions of modernity´s parameters . One can find these themes in many fields of human knowledge including theology and science of religion. On Derrida´s position, who is the most focused philosopher, the text is still embryonic as it comes from ongoing research.  

Religion as a philosophical matter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Albinus, Lars

with groundbreaking thoughts about culture and a basic human 'conditionality' among interwar philosophers such as Ernst Cassirer, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Walter Benjamin, and Martin Heidegger. Finally it draws a line to Jean-Luc Nancy’s deconstruction of Christianity which can also be seen as a deconstruction...

Shirakatsi Astronomical and Natural Philosophical Views

Science.gov (United States)

Mkrtchyan, Lilit

2016-12-01

Our work is aimed at presenting Shirakatsi astronomical and natural philosophical views. Karl Anania Shirakatsi is classified as one of the world-class intellectual geniuses. He was endowed with exceptional talent and analyzing scientific understanding of natural phenomena. He refers his philosophical works to almost all fields of science, cosmography, mathematics, calendarology, historiography, etc. Shirakatsy's earnings of natural science and natural philosophy in medieval is too big He was the first prominent scholar and thinker of his time, creating a unique, comprehensive gitapilisopayakan system that still feeds the human mind. The scientific value of Shirakatsi has great importance not only for Armenians but also for the whole world of science, history, culture and philosophy. Shirakatsi can be considered not only national but also universal greatness.

PHILOSOPHICAL COMMUNITARIANISM LIKE THE ACTUAL PARADIGM OF SOCIAL BEING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oleg Borisovich Davydov

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article discusses one of the most pressing areas of social philosophy – communitarianism. Analyzes the basic concepts that operate representatives of the philosophical direction, among them – the community, the common good, virtue ethics. Demonstrates that the issues raised in the social and philosophical discussions that ensued between the liberal and communitarian social philosophy are essential for the social practice, and therefore, can not be solved solely by means of the theoretical. Considrered the main points of communitarian critics of liberal philosophy. Ethical dimensions of philosophy, which is constitutive for the communitarian discourse, also have importance in today’s society, which is accompanied by a deep crisis. Analyzed the concept of virtue, which plays a key role in the socio-philosophical communitarianism.

The Philosophical Background and Scientific Legacy of E. B. Titchener's Psychology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beenfeldt, Christian

, this book reopens and rewrites the chapter in the history of early scientific psychology pertaining to the nature of E. B. Titchener’s psychological system. Arguing against the view that Titchener’s system was undone by an overreliance on introspection, the author explains how this idea was first introduced......This volume offers a new understanding of Titchener’s influential system of psychology popularly known as introspectionism, structuralism and as classical introspective psychology. Adopting a new perspective on introspectionism and seeking to assess the reasons behind its famous implosion...... in defiance of introspection, not because of introspection. The book is divided into three parts. In Part I, British associationism is examined thoroughly. The author here discusses the psychology of influential empiricist philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, David Hume, David Hartley, James Mill...

Dementia: sociological and philosophical constructions.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Daniel H J

2004-01-01

This analysis presents a challenge to the biomedical view of dementia as a disease. This view is critiqued from two perspectives: those of sociology and philosophy. Because these domains inform the creation of the medical discourse, their analysis provides an important refinement to the apprehension of the phenomenon of dementia. From the work of Foucault, and in particular his analysis of the historical origins of modern medicine, the sociological construction of dementia is considered. Following this, the philosophical question of Being is discussed, considering particularly the positions of Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty. Lastly aspects of dementia nursing that are damaging to those relatives forced to take on the role of primary carer are isolated, in the context of Kitwood's view that it is possible to maintain personhood at the extremes of this condition. It is suggested that this critique of sociological and philosophical foundations of dementia might offer a way of approaching the dismantling of the self and revise current conceptions of dementia care for the better.

Catharsis – Philosophical and Spiritual Aspects of Long-Distance Running

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nemec Marcel

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the study was to identify and analyze the occurrence of cathartic states in a sample of long-distance runners. Data collected via questionnaires were used to evaluate quantitative variables complemented by heuristics while aiming at qualitatively categorize the areas of cathartic states in the context of philosophical and spiritual aspects of long-distance running. The study findings objectify philosophical and spiritual aspects affecting personalities of long-distance runners. The study findings have shown that catharsis represents a relevant philosophical and spiritual aspect affecting long-distance running. We assume that authentic experience of catharsis and its effects motivates runners to perform regular physical activity. The analysis of philosophical and spiritual aspects of long-distance running has revealed a multi-spectral holistic relevance based on the transfer affecting a specific way of life, spectrum of values, ethical personality traits, and also the quality of long-distance runners’ lives.

Strategy of Media Education: Philosophical and Pedagogical Aspects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evgeniya Mikhailovna Nikolaeva

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Modern requirements for educational activities have a binary nature. Thus, on the one hand, educational practice established in the form of a social institution is one of the most conservative areas of social space. On the other hand, comfortable adaptation of a person to the processes occurring in the modern world is impossible without taking into account the phenomena of digital nature. The article provides a philosophical and pedagogical strategy aimed at the development of critical and creative thinking skills and competent reasoning, which can act as a basis for media education. The paper shows that the community of researchers is an interactive form of lesson organization, which makes it possible to develop rationality and ethical-and-democratic behaviour and, thus, to promote information and media literacy among students. The article also presents theoretical justification of the strategy, as well as techniques and materials for its empirical assessment. These can help arrange a lesson according to the principle of research community, which will contribute to the development of both cognitive and ethical-and-social skills in students.

. MODERN EDUCATION: FROM RATIONALITY TO REASONABLENESS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. S. Anisimov

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the problem of modern education development and criticizes a pragmatic attitude to education. Based on the retrospective historical analysis, the author maintains that educational systems are generally focused on fostering the pragmatic intellect rather than reasoning, which leads to a superficial world perception, and undermines personal analytical potential and capability of strategic problem solving. Concentration on rationality is unlikely to provide a way out of the world crisis. In the author’s view, education demands both the deep and solid comprehension of existential concepts and the reference to the “absolute spirit” of Confucius, Plato, Kant and Hegel. The research is aimed at justifying the civilizational paradigm of education on the basis of Hegelian fundamental ideas of intellectual perception with the emphasis on reasonability instead of rationality. As the most adequate implementation instrument, the author suggests a game simulating technique that combines the benefits of philosophical, scientific and methodological thinking.

Moral Cognitivism | Lillehammer | Philosophical Papers

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The paper explicates a set of criteria the joint satisfaction of which is taken to qualify moral judgements as cognitive. The paper examines evidence that some moral judgements meet these criteria, and relates the resulting conception of moral judgements to ongoing controversies about cognitivism in ethics. Philosophical ...

Cosmos of science philosophical problems of the internal and external worlds

CERN Document Server

Earman, John

1998-01-01

The inaugural volume of the series, devoted to the work of philosopher Adolf Grünbaum, encompasses the philosophical problems of space, time, and cosmology, the nature of scientific methodology, and the foundations of psychoanalysis.

George Santayana’s Teleological Poetics: Inspiration, Knowledge and Happiness in Reason in Art

OpenAIRE

Rocío Badía Fumaz

2012-01-01

With The Life of Reason George Santayana earned his reputation as philosopher; this is due to its length but also because it is his most detailed moral work. The fourth volume of the work, entitled Reason in Art, analyzes both the historical and synchronic origin of the work of art. Santayana’s Poetics are built on the strained relationship he draws between, ethics and aesthetics, ingenium and ars, literature and philosophy. He develops a teleological and eudaimonistic approach which centres ...

Critics to Metaphysics by Modern Philosophers: A Discourse on Human Beings in Reality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frederikus Fios

2016-01-01

Full Text Available We have entered the 21st century that is popularly known as the era of the development of modern science and technology. Philosophy provides naming for contemporary era as postmodern era. But do we suddenly come to this day and age? No! Because humans are homo viator, persona that does pilgrimage in history, space and time. Philosophy has expanded periodically in the long course of history. Since the days of classical antiquity, philosophy comes with a patterned metaphysical paradigm. This paradigm survives very long in the stage history of philosophy as maintained by many philosophers who hold fast to the philosophical-epistemic claim that philosophy should be (das sollen metaphysical. Classical Greek philosopher, Aristotle was a philosopher who claims metaphysics as the initial philosophy. Then, Immanuel Kant, Hegel, Heidegger, Marx even Habermas offer appropriate shades of metaphysical philosophy versus spirit of the age. Modern philosophers offer a new paradigm in the way of doing philosophy. The new spirit of modern philosophers declared as if giving criticism on traditional western metaphysics (since Aristotle that are considered irrelevant. This paper intends to show the argument between traditional metaphysical and modern philosophers who criticize metaphysics. The author will make a philosophical synthesis to obtain enlightenment to the position of human beings in the space of time. Using the method of Hegelian dialectic (thesis-antiteses-synthesis, this topic will be developed and assessed in accordance with the interests of this paper. 

Special Needs: A Philosophical Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Vehmas, Simo

2010-01-01

This paper attempts to illuminate a central concept and idea in special education discourse, namely, "special needs". It analyses philosophically what needs are and on what grounds they are defined as "special" or "exceptional". It also discusses whether sorting needs into ordinary and special is discriminatory. It is argued that individualistic…

Fear of knowledge: Clinical hypotheses in diagnostic and prognostic reasoning.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiffi, Daniele; Zanotti, Renzo

2017-10-01

Patients are interested in receiving accurate diagnostic and prognostic information. Models and reasoning about diagnoses have been extensively investigated from a foundational perspective; however, for all its importance, prognosis has yet to receive a comparable degree of philosophical and methodological attention, and this may be due to the difficulties inherent in accurate prognostics. In the light of these considerations, we discuss a considerable body of critical thinking on the topic of prognostication and its strict relations with diagnostic reasoning, pointing out the distinction between nosographic and pathophysiological types of diagnosis and prognosis, underlying the importance of the explication and explanation processes. We then distinguish between various forms of hypothetical reasoning applied to reach diagnostic and prognostic judgments, comparing them with specific forms of abductive reasoning. The main thesis is that creative abduction regarding clinical hypotheses in diagnostic process is very unlikely to occur, whereas this seems to be often the case for prognostic judgments. The reasons behind this distinction are due to the different types of uncertainty involved in diagnostic and prognostic judgments. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Anarchism and the nature of man: a philosophical appraisal | Ogan ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This work with the title “Anarchism and the Nature of Man: a Philosophical Appraisal” holds that Anarchism as a belief, movement or school of thought boils down to the age long philosophical problem of the relationship between authority and individuals or put differently, the problem of the justification of constituted authority ...

Étienne Gilson’s Philosophical Realism / Realizm filozoficzny w ujęciu Étienne Gilsona

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natalia Kunat

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This paper attempts to analyze realist philosophy as the way of knowing reality in the thought of Étienne Gilson. The French Philosopher was a defender of philosophical realism who rationally justified the thesis about knowing things existing in the world independently of the knowing subject. Philosophical inquiry, carried out in a realist way, should start with the being which really exists. The basic philosophical method aims to rationally understand reality as well as explain the multifaceted cognition of reality. Gilson’s contribution to the development of philosophical realism includes the promotion of a realist philosophical awareness and the opposition to idealistic philosophies (Cartesianism, Kantianism.

There's Madness in Your Method: A Philosophical Exploration into the Thought of Paul Feyerabend and Its Implications for Music Education

Science.gov (United States)

Louth, Paul

2014-01-01

Drawing on the work of the philosopher of science Paul Feyerabend, this paper argues that the popular yet mistaken notion of scientific method has had a deleterious effect on music education by discouraging us from embracing conflict or pursuing counterinductive ways of thinking about music. Feyerabend argues that knowledge advances not according…

ON TRANSLATION OF SOME PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTS IN KARL MARX’S WORKS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mr. Pyotr N. Kondrashov

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The article considers, that in Russian-speaking editions of K. Marx's works some philosophical concepts (produktiv, erzeugen, Erzeugung, Äußerung, Aneignung, Genuß, Arbeit, Verkehr, Gebrauchswert were translated as words with the productive and economic sense while Marx put philosophical, anthropological and existential connotations into these words in various contexts. It led to incorrect understanding of Marx's philosophy. The author of the article draws a conclusion about indispensability of new adequate translation of Marx's works and about radical reconsideration of its philosophical system.

Philosophical engineering toward a philosophy of the web

CERN Document Server

Halpin, Harry

2013-01-01

This is the first interdisciplinary exploration of the philosophical foundations of the Web, a new area of inquiry that has important implications across a range of domains. Contains twelve essays that bridge the fields of philosophy, cognitive science, and phenomenologyTackles questions such as the impact of Google on intelligence and epistemology, the philosophical status of digital objects, ethics on the Web, semantic and ontological changes caused by the Web, and the potential of the Web to serve as a genuine cognitive extensionBrings together insightful new scholarship from well-known an

1. The Province of Philosophers

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 4; Issue 4. Mapmakers - The Province of Philosophers. Harini Nagendra. Series Article Volume 4 Issue 4 April 1999 pp 6-11. Fulltext. Click here to view fulltext PDF. Permanent link: https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/reso/004/04/0006-0011 ...

Fighting corruption – a philosophical approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schalk W. Vorster

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Corruption has reached astounding proportions in South Africa. The purpose of this article is to contribute to philosophical approaches aimed at combating corruption. In considering punishment for acts of corruption the most common approach is based on the philosophical theory of consequentialism, which allows only consideration of the consequences of corrupt acts. Ideally, cognisance should be taken of the norms in question, especially those norms demanding the judicious execution of obligations. It was, however, found that the Kantian categorical imperative presupposes an ideal rational society. The imperative has to be ‘softened’ by also allowing for enquiry about the corruptor’s personal circumstances, in the light of Christ’s love commandment. This article highlights the most prominent attributes of two important philosophical theories applicable to the study of corruption, namely utilitarianism (a variant of consequentialism and deontology. It is argued that qualified deontological and utilitistic approaches hold the best promise to curb corruption in the long run. The conclusion is that the state will urgently have to attend to the social context by revitalising programmes of ‘social renewal’, based on effective application of the law, the provision of adequate education and the eradication of poverty. There is also an urgent need for the ‘moral renewal’ of the entire population, focused on Christian values, operationalised within the context of the South Africa of today. Herein lies a massive task for the church.

O cidadão Sócrates e o filosofar numa democracia Socrates as a citizen and the act of philosophizing in a democracy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberto Goto

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Examinando o julgamento de Sócrates (470-399 a.C. por Atenas, no contexto da Guerra do Peloponeso (431-404 a.C., este texto busca as raízes, as razões e os significados de sua condenação nas críticas relações entre o filósofo e seus concidadãos. Neste caso - justamente no que podemos chamar de ''o caso Sócrates'' - o filósofo aparece (de conformidade com a Apologia escrita por Platão como um cidadão-filósofo que desafia o Estado ateniense e incomoda seus concidadãos na medida em que exerce a cidadania como uma forma de filosofar e pratica a filosofia como um direito e um dever de cidadania.This article examines the trial of Socrates (470-399 B.C. by Athens, in the context of the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C., searching for the roots, reasons and meanings of his condemnation in the critical relations between the philosopher and his fellow citizens. In this case - exactly in what we can call ''the Socrates case'' - the philosopher appears (according to Plato's Apology as a citizen-philosopher who challenges the Athenian State and disturbs his fellow citizens while he exercises citizenship as a form of philosophizing and practices philosophy as a right and a duty of citizenship.

Three Philosophical Pillars That Support Collaborative Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Maltese, Ralph

1991-01-01

Discusses three philosophical pillars that support collaborative learning: "spaces of appearance," active engagement, and ownership. Describes classroom experiences with collaborative learning supported by these pillars. (PRA)

Singularity hypotheses a scientific and philosophical assessment

CERN Document Server

Moor, James; Søraker, Johnny; Steinhart, Eric

2012-01-01

Singularity Hypotheses: A Scientific and Philosophical Assessment offers authoritative, jargon-free essays and critical commentaries on accelerating technological progress and the notion of technological singularity. It focuses on conjectures about the intelligence explosion, transhumanism, and whole brain emulation. Recent years have seen a plethora of forecasts about the profound, disruptive impact that is likely to result from further progress in these areas. Many commentators however doubt the scientific rigor of these forecasts, rejecting them as speculative and unfounded. We therefore invited prominent computer scientists, physicists, philosophers, biologists, economists and other thinkers to assess the singularity hypotheses. Their contributions go beyond speculation, providing deep insights into the main issues and a balanced picture of the debate.

Historia and materia: the philosophical implications of Francis Bacon's natural history.

Science.gov (United States)

Giglioni, Guido

2012-01-01

This article examines the philosophical implications underlying Bacon's views on historical knowledge, paying special attention to that variety of historical knowledge described by Bacon as "natural." More specifically, this article explores the interplay of history (historia) and fable (fabula). In the sphere of thought, fabula is the equivalent to materia in nature. Both are described by Bacon as being "versatile" and "pliant." In Bacon's system of knowledge, philosophy, as the domain of reason, starts from historiae and fabulae, once memory and the imagination have fulfilled their cognitive tasks. This means that, for Bacon, there is no such thing as a pure use of reason. He advocates a kind of reason that, precisely because it is involved with matter's inner motions (its "appetites," in Bacon's characteristic language), is constitutively 'impure'. The article shows how the terms historia and fabula cover key semantic areas in defining Bacon's philosophy: historia may mean "history" as well as "story,"fabula "myth" as well "story". In both cases, we can see significant oscillations from a stronger meaning (close to those of matter and nature) to a weaker one (connected to wit and imagination), as if the power of nature decreases moving from histories and myths to stories. On the other hand, there are cases in which Bacon seems to stick to a diachronic view of the meaning of fables and histories, such that the transition from myths to history, especially natural history, is described as a collective effort towards reality and enlightenment.

La raison et la foi. Des philosophes Polonais rapprochent les deux domaines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Władysław Zuziak

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents three attempts of grasping the relations between faith and reason made by M. Heller, J. Tischner and K. Tarnowski. Reason and faith are two foundations for human desire to understand the world. Without them, no attempts to understand can take place. As Heller points out, both of them, due to cooperation, support development and help to eliminate dangerous simplifications. Faith, or more precisely – religious thinking – is, as J. Tischner famously argued, a condition for dialogue, for being open to others and community. Faith gives strength and courage, supports the search for existing (although very often unconscious ties that bonds people. Faith allows us to discover the meaning and purpose of our lives. K. Tarnowski goes even further and claims, that faith reveals “the surplus” of meaning, which invites us to investigate what is impossible to express – the Mystery. Only in the face of Mystery, by a communion with the Other, can we feel that the presence of the Other is important for our existence. The three philosophers from Krakow emphasized in their works, that the relations between faith and reason, although connected and supplementing themselves, require much attention from both scientists, who create rational models of reality, and theologians, who aim to create a coherent vision linking these two aspects of human world.

The Centrality of Philosophical Anthropology to (a Future) Environmental Ethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Gare, Arran

2016-01-01

While environmental ethics has successfully established itself in philosophy, as presently conceived it is still largely irrelevant to grappling the global ecological crisis because, as Alasdair MacIntyre has argued, ethical philosophy itself is in grave disorder. MacIntyre's historically oriented recovery of virtue ethics is defended, but it is argued that even MacIntyre was too constrained by received assumptions to overcome this disorder. As he himself realized, his ideas need to be integrated and defended through philosophical anthropology. However, it is suggested that current defenders of philosophical anthropology have not done it justice. To appreciate its importance it is necessary accept that we are cultural beings in which the core of culture is the conception of what are humans. This is presupposed not only in thought but in social practices and forms of life. This was understood by Aristotle, but modernity has been straightjacketed by the Seventeenth Century scientific revolution and Hobbes' philosophical anthropology, identifying knowledge and with techno-science and eliminating any place for questioning this conception of humans. The only conception of humanity that could successfully challenge and replace Hobbes' philosophical anthropology, it is argued, is Hegel's philosophical anthropology reformulated and developed on naturalistic foundations. This involves subordinating science to a reconceived humanities with a fundamentally different role accorded to ethics, placing it at the center of social life, politics and economics and at the centre of the struggle to transform culture and society to create an ecologically sustainable civilization.

Teacher learning about probabilistic reasoning in relation to teaching it in an Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE programme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Faaiz Gierdien

2008-02-01

Full Text Available I report on what teachers in an Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE in-service programme learned about probabilistic reasoning in relation to teaching it. I worked 'on the inside' using my practice as a site for studying teaching and learning. The teachers were from three different towns in the Northern Cape province and had limited teaching contact time, as is the nature of ACE programmes. Findings revealed a complicated picture, where some teachers were prepared to consider influences of their intuitive probabilistic reasoning on formal probabilistic reasoning when it came to teaching. It was, however, the 'genuineness' of teacher learning which was the issue that the findings have to address. Therefore a speculative, hopeful strategy for affecting teacher learning in mathematics teacher education practice is to sustain disequilibrium between dichotomies such as formal and intuitive probabilistic reasoning, which has analogies in content and pedagogy, and subject matter and method.

Use of classroom "clickers" to promote acquisition of advanced reasoning skills.

Science.gov (United States)

DeBourgh, Gregory A

2008-03-01

Use of classroom response systems (a.k.a. "clickers" or "audience polling systems") are growing in popularity among faculty in colleges and universities. When used by faculty in a strategic instructional design, clickers can raise the level of participation and the effectiveness of interaction, promote engagement of students in active learning, foster communication to clarify misunderstanding and incorrect thinking, and provide a method to instructionally embed assessment as a learning activity rather than reliance on the traditional approach of summative assessment for assigning grades. This article describes the use of clicker technology in a baccalaureate nursing program to promote acquisition and application of advanced reasoning skills. Methods are suggested for embedding formative assessment and the tactical use of questioning as feedback and a powerful learning tool. Operational aspects of clickers technology are summarized and students' perceptions and satisfaction with use of this teaching and learning technology are described.

Using Computer Simulations for Promoting Model-based Reasoning. Epistemological and Educational Dimensions

Science.gov (United States)

Develaki, Maria

2017-11-01

Scientific reasoning is particularly pertinent to science education since it is closely related to the content and methodologies of science and contributes to scientific literacy. Much of the research in science education investigates the appropriate framework and teaching methods and tools needed to promote students' ability to reason and evaluate in a scientific way. This paper aims (a) to contribute to an extended understanding of the nature and pedagogical importance of model-based reasoning and (b) to exemplify how using computer simulations can support students' model-based reasoning. We provide first a background for both scientific reasoning and computer simulations, based on the relevant philosophical views and the related educational discussion. This background suggests that the model-based framework provides an epistemologically valid and pedagogically appropriate basis for teaching scientific reasoning and for helping students develop sounder reasoning and decision-taking abilities and explains how using computer simulations can foster these abilities. We then provide some examples illustrating the use of computer simulations to support model-based reasoning and evaluation activities in the classroom. The examples reflect the procedure and criteria for evaluating models in science and demonstrate the educational advantages of their application in classroom reasoning activities.

The Transcendence in Lucian Blaga’s Philosophical Thinking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stelian Manolache

2016-03-01

Full Text Available On the occasion of the conference on Transcendence and Immanence - a topic buiding on the dialogue between philosophy and theology in the modern and post-modern time -, among the produced subjects, a discussion was held on the role played in respect with this dailogue by the inter-war famous philosophers, such as Lucian Blaga and Dumitru Stăniloaie. Below, we will present the issue of Transcendence according the the philosopher-poet Lucian Blaga’s vision; his vision is tructured into a Trilogy in his work: The Trilogy of Knowledge - The Dogmatic Aeon, The Luciferic Knowledge, The Transcendental Censorship - The Trilogy of the Culture - Horizon and Style; The Mioritic Space; The Genesis of the Metaphor and The Meaning of Culture - and The Trilogy of Values - Science and Creation; Magic Thinking and Religion; Art and Value. In these trilogies, the philosopher - poet elaborates, from an original metaphysical point of view, on the dimension of the knowledge of Transcendence - which he would define in in The Horizon of Mystery and Revelation. His vision will be addressed in a new theory of knowledge, which the philosopherpoet Lucian Blaga would distinguish as Paradisiac knowledge and Lucifer knowledge, within a new Metaphysics that would allow access to Transcendence and to the wonders beyond. Postulating the existence of certain faculties of Conscience, his Metaphysics would become, according to the Theory of Transcendence, a must for the human spirit; a proof for his approach would be the great philosophical systems of the world, from the antique to the modern.

The Vienna Roundabout. On the Significance of Philosophical Reaction

OpenAIRE

Hrachovec, Herbert

1989-01-01

There are three sentimental centres of 20th-century philosophical geography: Todtnauberg, Frankfurt and Vienna. Their exceptional status results not only from having given rise to decisive philosophical movements but also from the weight of stories about victimization and exile lacking with regard to Paris, Berkeley and Cambridge. Each of these centres is compromised in its own way: the Schwarzwald cottage from which Heidegger emerged to take over the Rektorat of Freiburg University and to wh...

A legal and philosophical perspective on the in loco parentis position of teachers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I.J. Oosthuizen

1998-03-01

Full Text Available The in loco parentis position of the teacher implies that he/she is regarded as acting in the place of the parent. This principle is embedded in South African common law and in many respects confirmed by statutory law. In the South African legal context, it implies that the teacher is obliged to take care of the physical and mental safety of the pupil and has the right to maintain discipline. It is a legal instrument for bringing about order in the educative duties of teachers. A more philosophical line of reasoning, centring on sphere sovereignty, reveals why jurists tend to compare the duties of teachers with those of parents, but do not equate them with each other or regard these duties as synonymous.

Is a new version of philosophical pragmatism necessary? A reply to Barnes-Holmes

Science.gov (United States)

Leigland, Sam

2003-01-01

Barnes-Holmes (2000) discussed certain issues regarding philosophy, pragmatism, and behavior analysis, and offered a “behavioral pragmatism” based on or derived from behavior-analytic perspectives. In a comparison of certain philosophical views, Quine's concept of observation sentences was employed for representing pragmatism, but this concept is not sufficiently representative of the literature of philosophical pragmatism to warrant the broad conclusions drawn by Barnes-Holmes. Further, although the extensive and diverse literature of philosophical pragmatism has been shown by a number of writers to have various themes and perspectives in common with Skinner's radical behaviorism, it is unnecessary to extract a limited, generic version of pragmatism because (a) the latter cannot match the range and depth of the various extant versions and (b) the problems raised by Barnes-Holmes in justification for the new version yield readily to the current versions in philosophy. A set of philosophical views may provide additional verbal support for a given system of science, and the science of behavior analysis may eventually contribute to philosophical discourse. The latter, however, will not be achieved by proposing new versions of old philosophy, but rather by approaching established philosophical issues in new ways. PMID:22478409

Defining a middle ground for philosophers and production: bioethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, S L; Croney, C C

2004-03-01

From the perspective of most animal scientists and producers, animal agriculture has become increasingly contentious over the last 10 to 20 years. Furthermore, our critics seem to be extremists whose views are biased and unreasonable. But guess what? The critics say the same thing about animal producers and scientists (us). So where is the middle ground and how do we get there? Should we even worry about trying to define the middle ground? Are these contentious issues a fad that will go away? Are these "extremist" critics so far outside reason that they will be ignored by society? Ignoring "them" is not likely to work because we have seen society changing its mind (developing a new social ethic) with regard to farm animals, in part because of what these critics are saying. As a result, it is vitally important for us to know and understand what is happening and why. For example, there isn't just one voice among the critics. There is actually a spectrum of opinion among the group which conventional agriculturalists usually call their critics. The WCC-204 committee generally agrees that the key to finding the middle ground between what is perceived as a polarized set of issues between "us" (animal scientists and producers) and "them" (philosopher critics) is for both sides to learn about the reasons why each side says what they do. Only then can all parties rationally begin to identify where the middle ground lies.

The Philosophical Anthropology of José Manzana

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael Gómez Miranda

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The main focus and interest of José Manzana’s philosophical anthropology is centred on the human condition, the sense of man’s action, the possibility of knowledge… and all that refers to «vertical transcendence», towards the Absolute, which finally culminates in God. With his philosophical anthropology, Manzana aims to ground on a transcendental method of reflection the conditions of man and his different options as a human being. The objective of this author is to clarify human existence by identifying his moment of creation. The aforementioned reflection brings us to three main dimensions of the individual: the human being as an inquiring entity, his interpersonal dimension and his awakening to the Transcendental.

Measuring Music Education: A Philosophical Investigation of the Model Cornerstone Assessments

Science.gov (United States)

Richerme, Lauren Kapalka

2016-01-01

Despite substantial attention to measurement and assessment in contemporary education and music education policy and practice, the process of measurement has gone largely undiscussed in music education philosophy. Using the work of physicist and philosopher Karen Barad, in this philosophical inquiry, I investigated the nature of measurement in…

Whose Ethics? Which Wittgenstein? | Richter | Philosophical Papers

African Journals Online (AJOL)

. I argue that we should distinguish not only between Wittgenstein's personal opinions and his philosophy, but also, within his philosophical work, between broadly methodological remarks and what Wittgenstein might call genuinely ...

Challenges in reading the Greek philosophers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Behnaz Aghili Dehkordi

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Although Presocratics in 600 B.C founded new research ways in science and philosophy, wrote the first scientific essays, introduced basic conceptions of deduction, and abandoned mythological explanations, all we have of their works is but the fragments in the works of further doxographers, biographers, historians or philosophers who brought their statements between their own words. This would sometimes result in misunderstanding the presocratics’ purposes. Hermann Diels in his Doxographi Graeci raised a new method for dealing with doxography tradition. Diels’ new approach to doxography returned all this tradition to Aristotle’s pupil, Theophrastus. Some scholars like Jaap Mansfield criticized his disregard for the sophists like Gorgias and Hippias, and the successions of philosophers. According to his criticism, some matters like the Sophists’ influence on Plato, Aristotle’s definition of Doxa in the Placita and the influence of the succession and interpretation tradition on doxogtaphy are more noteworthy than Diels has thought.

Philosophic-educational intelligence analysis as a subject of marketing management

OpenAIRE

N. V. Litvinenko

2014-01-01

The highest value for the philosophical problems of education should consider introducing within the philosophical foundations of marketing management methodology for systematic consideration of education as a social subject­object process, which is based on needs. Philosophy of Education in the face of marketing philosophy and management philosophy got a good theoretical and methodological framework for the synthesis of market interpretations educational development and the development of fu...

Between Laws and Models: Some Philosophical Morals of Lagrangian Mechanics

OpenAIRE

Butterfield, Jeremy

2004-01-01

I extract some philosophical morals from some aspects of Lagrangian mechanics. (A companion paper will present similar morals from Hamiltonian mechanics and Hamilton-Jacobi theory.) One main moral concerns methodology: Lagrangian mechanics provides a level of description of phenomena which has been largely ignored by philosophers, since it falls between their accustomed levels--``laws of nature'' and ``models''. Another main moral concerns ontology: the ontology of Lagrangian mechanics is bot...

Freud's dreams of reason: the Kantian structure of psychoanalysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Tauber, Alfred I

2009-10-01

Freud (and later commentators) have failed to explain how the origins of psychoanalytical theory began with a positivist investment without recognizing a dual epistemological commitment: simply, Freud engaged positivism because he believed it generally equated with empiricism, which he valued, and he rejected "philosophy," and, more specifically, Kantianism, because of the associated transcendental qualities of its epistemology. But this simple dismissal belies a deep investment in Kant's formulation of human reason, in which rationality escapes natural cause and thereby bestows humans with cognitive and moral autonomy. Freud also segregated human rationality: he divided the mind between (1) an unconscious grounded in the biological and thus subject to its own laws, and (2) a faculty of autonomous reason, lodged in consciousness and free of natural forces to become the repository of interpretation and free will. Psychoanalysis thus rests upon a basic Kantian construction, whereby reason, through the aid of analytic techniques, provides a detached scrutiny of the natural world, i.e. the unconscious mental domain. Further, sovereign reason becomes the instrument of self-knowing in the pursuit of human perfection. Herein lies the philosophical foundation of psychoanalytic theory, a beguiling paradox in which natural cause and autonomous reason - determinism and freedom - are conjoined despite their apparent logical exclusion.

Creative Understanding Philosophical Reflections on Physics

CERN Document Server

Torretti, Roberto

1990-01-01

"A pleasure to read. Gracefully written by a scholar well grounded in the relevant philosophical, historical, and technical background. . . . a helpfully clarifying review and analysis of some issues of importance to recent philosophy of science and a source of some illuminating insights."—Burke Townsend, Philosophy of Science

Advances in Reasoning-Based Image Processing Intelligent Systems Conventional and Intelligent Paradigms

CERN Document Server

Nakamatsu, Kazumi

2012-01-01

The book puts special stress on the contemporary techniques for reasoning-based image processing and analysis: learning based image representation and advanced video coding; intelligent image processing and analysis in medical vision systems; similarity learning models for image reconstruction; visual perception for mobile robot motion control, simulation of human brain activity in the analysis of video sequences; shape-based invariant features extraction; essential of paraconsistent neural networks, creativity and intelligent representation in computational systems. The book comprises 14 chapters. Each chapter is a small monograph, representing resent investigations of authors in the area. The topics of the chapters cover wide scientific and application areas and complement each-other very well. The chapters’ content is based on fundamental theoretical presentations, followed by experimental results and comparison with similar techniques. The size of the chapters is well-ballanced which permits a thorough ...

Reasoning in Design: Idea Generation Condition Effects on Reasoning Processes and Evaluation of Ideas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cramer-Petersen, Claus Lundgaard; Ahmed-Kristensen, Saeema

2015-01-01

to investigate idea generation sessions of two industry cases. Reasoning was found to appear in sequences of alternating reasoning types where the initiating reasoning type was decisive. The study found that abductive reasoning led to more radical ideas, whereas deductive reasoning led to ideas being for project...... requirements, but having a higher proportion being rejected as not valuable. The study sheds light on the conditions that promote these reasoning types. The study is one of the first of its kind and advances an understanding of reasoning in design by empirical means and suggests a relationship between......Reasoning is at the core of design activity and thinking. Thus, understanding and explaining reasoning in design is fundamental to understand and support design practice. This paper investigates reasoning in design and its relationship to varying foci at the stage of idea generation and subsequent...

Con Drury: philosopher and psychiatrist.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayes, John

2017-12-01

Maurice O'Connor Drury (1907-76), an Irish psychiatrist, is best known for his accounts of his close friendship with the eminent twentieth-century philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein. His only book, The Danger of Words (1973), was well received by those who had an interest in the relationship between psychiatry, psychology and philosophy. This article concentrates on Drury's experiences, studies and writings in these fields.

Philosophic-educational intelligence analysis as a subject of marketing management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. V. Litvinenko

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Philosophy of Education creates conceptual and methodological prerequisites for distribution to the field of marketing management in education as a portion of the general laws of development of scientific knowledge. Marketing management education facilitates the implementation of a sociologically principles, adapting to their needs sociocentrical priorities developed within the philosophy of education. The most significant factor in social development has been the ability of society to the creation and innovation through the use of their intellectual potential. The concept of intellectual capacity within the philosophical and educational research marketing management should be used primarily in view of its importance for personal development needs analysis in the context of the needs of social and economic development, that is a combination of the characteristics of carrier capacity (human and its socio­cultural environment. For marketing management education is most important composition of individual intellectual potential. The most heuristic value for philosophical and educational analysis of marketing management has its creative cognitive component that directs people to the practical application of knowledge and mental abilities. Intellectual potential can be seen within the philosophical and educational analysis of marketing management is quite close to the economic category of «human capital» and the philosophical category of «personal capacity».

[The notion of conflict of interest in the field of health and environment: philosophical and legal approaches].

Science.gov (United States)

Hermitte, M-A; Le Coz, P

2014-06-01

This paper considers the conflict of interest in philosophical and legal perspective. The philosophical approach comes from two perspectives: political philosophy focuses on the role of the link of interest in the city considered in the light of a broader reflection on the conditions of living together. Antiquity philosophers have enhanced the interest link as privileged vector of humanization and socialization of individuals. In the eighteenth century, Adam Smith considers the pursuit of individual interests a stronger social base that love of neighbor advocated by Christians. Moral philosophy focuses specifically on the passage of interest linked to the conflict of interest. It wondered if we should be impartial in all circumstances or whether it's right to give priority to our friends and loved ones. Thus, it poses the question of whether introspection is sufficient to detect conflicts of interest or if the look of an external third party is still required. The legal process differs from the philosophical approach at two levels; on the one hand, its scope is more limited: the law doesn't envisage the benefits of links of interest on social life even though it may protect some of them (in the context of the family, for example) and is intended to prevent bias that may taint the decision public. On the other hand, the lawyer doesn't enter the interiority of individuals but stands by what appears on the outside: it tracks the suspicion of bias can have serious impacts, such as health and the environment. Somehow, it is more radical. It's noteworthy that despite its many developments, the law can't to stop conflicts of interest in research. Several reasons account for this impasse: scientists receive mission to partner with industry to develop products but they must remain independent in order to assess the risks; there is a tendency to always choose the same experts; there are conflicts of interest intellectuals which are not easy to detect.

Effectiveness of interactive tutorials in promoting "which-path" information reasoning in advanced quantum mechanics

Science.gov (United States)

Maries, Alexandru; Sayer, Ryan; Singh, Chandralekha

2017-12-01

Research suggests that introductory physics students often have difficulty using a concept in contexts different from the ones in which they learned it without explicit guidance to help them make the connection between the different contexts. We have been investigating advanced students' learning of quantum mechanics concepts and have developed interactive tutorials which strive to help students learn these concepts. Two such tutorials, focused on the Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) and the double-slit experiment (DSE), help students learn how to use the concept of "which-path" information to reason about the presence or absence of interference in these two experiments in different situations. After working on a pretest that asked students to predict interference in the MZI with single photons and polarizers of various orientations placed in one or both paths of the MZI, students worked on the MZI tutorial which, among other things, guided them to reason in terms of which-path information in order to predict interference in similar situations. We investigated the extent to which students were able to use reasoning related to which-path information learned in the MZI tutorial to answer analogous questions on the DSE (before working on the DSE tutorial). After students worked on the DSE pretest they worked on a DSE tutorial in which they learned to use the concept of which-path information to answer questions about interference in the DSE with single particles with mass sent through the two slits and a monochromatic lamp placed between the slits and the screen. We investigated if this additional exposure to the concept of which-path information promoted improved learning and performance on the DSE questions with single photons and polarizers placed after one or both slits. We find evidence that both tutorials promoted which-path information reasoning and helped students use this reasoning appropriately in contexts different from the ones in which they had learned

The Philosophical Foundations of Modern Medicine

CERN Document Server

Lee, Dr Keekok

2011-01-01

An exploration of the philosophical foundation of modern medicine which explains why such a medicine possesses the characteristics it does and where precisely its strengths as well as its weaknesses lie. Written in plain English, it should be accessible to anyone who is intellectually curious, lay persons and medical professionals alike.

A philosophical taxonomy of ethically significant moral distress.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Tessy A; McCullough, Laurence B

2015-02-01

Moral distress is one of the core topics of clinical ethics. Although there is a large and growing empirical literature on the psychological aspects of moral distress, scholars, and empirical investigators of moral distress have recently called for greater conceptual clarity. To meet this recognized need, we provide a philosophical taxonomy of the categories of what we call ethically significant moral distress: the judgment that one is not able, to differing degrees, to act on one's moral knowledge about what one ought to do. We begin by unpacking the philosophical components of Andrew Jameton's original formulation from his landmark 1984 work and identify two key respects in which that formulation remains unclear: the origins of moral knowledge and impediments to acting on that moral knowledge. We then selectively review subsequent literature that shows that there is more than one concept of moral distress and that explores the origin of the values implicated in moral distress and impediments to acting on those values. This review sets the stage for identifying the elements of a philosophical taxonomy of ethically significant moral distress. The taxonomy uses these elements to create six categories of ethically significant moral distress: challenges to, threats to, and violations of professional integrity; and challenges to, threats to, and violations of individual integrity. We close with suggestions about how the proposed philosophical taxonomy of ethically significant moral distress sheds light on the concepts of moral residue and crescendo effect of moral distress and how the proposed taxonomy might usefully guide prevention of and future qualitative and quantitative empirical research on ethically significant moral distress. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Inc. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Philosophical inquiry and the goals of nursing: a critical approach for disciplinary knowledge development and action.

Science.gov (United States)

Grace, Pamela J; Perry, Donna J

2013-01-01

Philosophical inquiry remains critically important for nursing education, practice, and knowledge development. We propose a 3-level taxonomy of philosophical inquiry to guide nursing curricula and research development. Important background information about philosophy and the development of philosophical methods is given. Then philosophical inquiry is linked to the goals of nursing using our proposed taxonomy: level I-cultivating an attitude of "critical consciousness" related to all nursing situations and actions, level II-analysis and application of philosophical perspectives to nursing problems and level III-generating new knowledge for nursing purposes including new theories of practice and research.

Stop, look, listen: the need for philosophical phenomenological perspectives on auditory verbal hallucinations

Science.gov (United States)

McCarthy-Jones, Simon; Krueger, Joel; Larøi, Frank; Broome, Matthew; Fernyhough, Charles

2013-01-01

One of the leading cognitive models of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) proposes such experiences result from a disturbance in the process by which inner speech is attributed to the self. Research in this area has, however, proceeded in the absence of thorough cognitive and phenomenological investigations of the nature of inner speech, against which AVHs are implicitly or explicitly defined. In this paper we begin by introducing philosophical phenomenology and highlighting its relevance to AVHs, before briefly examining the evolving literature on the relation between inner experiences and AVHs. We then argue for the need for philosophical phenomenology (Phenomenology) and the traditional empirical methods of psychology for studying inner experience (phenomenology) to mutually inform each other to provide a richer and more nuanced picture of both inner experience and AVHs than either could on its own. A critical examination is undertaken of the leading model of AVHs derived from phenomenological philosophy, the ipseity disturbance model. From this we suggest issues that future work in this vein will need to consider, and examine how interdisciplinary methodologies may contribute to advances in our understanding of AVHs. Detailed suggestions are made for the direction and methodology of future work into AVHs, which we suggest should be undertaken in a context where phenomenology and physiology are both necessary, but neither sufficient. PMID:23576974

Toward a New Philosophical Anthropology of Education: Fuller Considerations of Social Constructivism

Science.gov (United States)

Fleury, Stephen; Garrison, Jim

2014-01-01

Philosophical anthropology is philosophical inquiry into human nature that seeks to answer the fundamental question of what generally characterizes human beings and differentiates them from other creatures and things. Political theories considerably influence educational theories. We call attention to the fact that the three main political…

Social and philosophical analysis of brand clothes : the Ukrainian context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. V. Skalatskaya

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the article is to consider the prospects of social and philosophical analysis of the product (clothes of fashion brand. In social and philosophical analysis of brand clothes, its fashion shows there is a range of discursive questions: the use and the definition of the concepts «designer» and «brand»; thematic focus of the brand (fabrics, colors, prints, shapes its semantics; format of representation of fashion collection in dependence; and a number of other structural elements. In the analysis of fashion trends or seasonal collections the concepts designer or brand are used. The concept «brand» contains an economic component, certain calculations, and intangible assets (goodwill; design work is subject to market needs and the interests of consumers (for analysis of the individual designer the biographical method is used. Theoretical analysis of fashion cannot be made apart from empirical material. A performative approach of K. Wolfe can be the methodology of the social and philosophical research of fashion show. The advantages of this method of the research are to determine fashion as performative space, staging ideas of the designer in the fashion show and making clothes. Implementation of performative approach allowed considering thematic focus of the brand of clothes and format of its representation in seasonal fashion shows on the example of Ukrainian brand «Domanoff». Social and philosophical analysis of brand clothes can be divided into the following main components, excluding aesthetic and economic aspects: the use of the concepts designer and brand (a set of aesthetic, economic, social and subjective components and design`s view; review of the semantics of clothes and staging (by providing clothes in the form of seasonal fashion shows of collections. For complex social and socio­philosophical analysis of fashion brand it necessary to have: the press release (description, designer`s interview (disclosure of early

Seneca's theology in its philosophical context

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Houte, M.S.A.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/304835862

2010-01-01

This study aims at a better understanding of the theological views of the Roman Stoic Seneca and the status of these views in relation to those of the earlier Stoics, and in the context of various other factors, such as the views of other philosophical schools and the purpose of Seneca's work.This

["Chemistry of Concepts”and “Historical Sense”. On Philosophical Concept Formation].

Science.gov (United States)

Blättler, Christine

2015-06-01

"Chemistry of Concepts" and "Historical Sense". On Philosophical Concept Formation. The question concerning concepts and their relations to objects and words has had a long and controversial history. Recently, it is challenged by an anew turn towards objects and an emphasized object-oriented ontology. The article argues that one reason for this is the reduction of concepts towards pure rational constructions and offers arguments for alternative understandings. In this context, the article proposes a re-reading of Nietzsche's particular approach and shows that Nietzsche's thought is decisively shaped by the sciences of his time, especially physiology and chemistry. Before the background of the recent increase in research interest on Nietzsche and the sciences the article examines place and function of the sciences related to the genealogy and justification of concepts. Opposing a strong naturalist reading it makes a plea for understanding Nietzsche's epistemological critique concerning concepts systematically as a triple one: philological, physiological, and historical. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Meaningful Human Control over Autonomous Systems: A Philosophical Account

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Filippo Santoni de Sio

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Debates on lethal autonomous weapon systems have proliferated in the past 5 years. Ethical concerns have been voiced about a possible raise in the number of wrongs and crimes in military operations and about the creation of a “responsibility gap” for harms caused by these systems. To address these concerns, the principle of “meaningful human control” has been introduced in the legal–political debate; according to this principle, humans not computers and their algorithms should ultimately remain in control of, and thus morally responsible for, relevant decisions about (lethal military operations. However, policy-makers and technical designers lack a detailed theory of what “meaningful human control” exactly means. In this paper, we lay the foundation of a philosophical account of meaningful human control, based on the concept of “guidance control” as elaborated in the philosophical debate on free will and moral responsibility. Following the ideals of “Responsible Innovation” and “Value-sensitive Design,” our account of meaningful human control is cast in the form of design requirements. We identify two general necessary conditions to be satisfied for an autonomous system to remain under meaningful human control: first, a “tracking” condition, according to which the system should be able to respond to both the relevant moral reasons of the humans designing and deploying the system and the relevant facts in the environment in which the system operates; second, a “tracing” condition, according to which the system should be designed in such a way as to grant the possibility to always trace back the outcome of its operations to at least one human along the chain of design and operation. As we think that meaningful human control can be one of the central notions in ethics of robotics and AI, in the last part of the paper, we start exploring the implications of our account for the design and use of non

Philosophical problems between teaching and learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raquel Alvim Monteiro

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper intends to think the relation between teaching and learning, questioning the conception of education as a way to shape the subject involved in this relationship. Thus, introduce some legal bases readings that establish the Brazilian high school in order to consider the importance of discussing philosophically the Philosophy teaching.This way, with the reading of Foucault and Deleuze, rethink the conception of subject present in the parameters that rule the education, as well as the education paradigm as a way to promote the student to a social subject. In this sense, it is necessary to bring official discourse elements to stablish the conception of educating in this curriculum and, together, discuss about the notion of subject present in this documents. We intend to dissolve the comprehension of universal subject in order to treat the subjectivities and rethink the relation between teaching and learning. This relation is designed, most of the time, with a certain homogeneity in the formation of a certain subject and a certain knowledge. Therefore, this proposal aims to question the bases of education that start from a perception of teaching as a product. Discourse about a teaching that does not address only content transmission, but a teaching as philosophical experience. Think with Deleuze that learning is related not only to a rational aspect, but also to a sensitive one. However, starting with some researchers interested in the subject, consider these terms in order to propose possibilities of thinking a philosophical Philosophy teaching in high school. It is noteworthy that this proposal do not intend to deplete the thought of concepts that are so complex, but to raise questions that are still in an investigation process and should be analyzed constantly.

Status of the human embryo: Philosophical Foundations from Phenomenology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Emilia de Oliveira Schpallir Silva

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Given the difficulty in demonstrating the moment of ontogenesis in which personalization takes place, we sought to define, from a philosophic point of view, the nature of the human embryo regarding its individuality, using Phenomenology, specifically reflections of philosophers Bourghet and Merleau-Ponty on the embryo. Although the statement of their individuality does not entail ethical content in itself, from the point of view of ethical responsibility, it is an extremely important fact to be considered in the bioethical reflection about the moment of ontogeny from which human life must (ethical duty be protected.

Social research design: framework for integrating philosophical and practical elements.

Science.gov (United States)

Cunningham, Kathryn Burns

2014-09-01

To provide and elucidate a comprehensible framework for the design of social research. An abundance of information exists concerning the process of designing social research. The overall message that can be gleaned is that numerable elements - both philosophical (ontological and epistemological assumptions and theoretical perspective) and practical (issue to be addressed, purpose, aims and research questions) - are influential in the process of selecting a research methodology and methods, and that these elements and their inter-relationships must be considered and explicated to ensure a coherent research design that enables well-founded and meaningful conclusions. There is a lack of guidance concerning the integration of practical and philosophical elements, hindering their consideration and explication. The author's PhD research into loneliness and cancer. This is a methodology paper. A guiding framework that incorporates all of the philosophical and practical elements influential in social research design is presented. The chronological and informative relationships between the elements are discussed. The framework presented can be used by social researchers to consider and explicate the practical and philosophical elements influential in the selection of a methodology and methods. It is hoped that the framework presented will aid social researchers with the design and the explication of the design of their research, thereby enhancing the credibility of their projects and enabling their research to establish well-founded and meaningful conclusions.

Moral Attention: A Comparative Philosophical Study

Science.gov (United States)

Gendron, Claude

2016-01-01

The notion of moral attention allows the recognition of fundamental aspects of ethical life ignored or neglected by mainstream ethical theories. It is central to the theories of several notable female ethicists and many of them identify the French philosopher Simone Weil as the source of the contemporary use of this concept which invites…

An Introduction to the Medieval English: The Historical and Literary Context, Traces of Church and Philosophical Movements in the Literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esmail Zare Behtash

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The Transition from Greek to medieval philosophy that speculated on religion, nature, metaphysics, human being and society was rather a rough transition in the history of English literature. Although the literature content of this age reflected more religious beliefs, the love and hate relationship of medieval philosophy that was mostly based on the Christianity with Greek civilization was exhibited clearly. The modern philosophical ideologies are the continuation of this period’s ideologies. Without a well understanding of the philosophical issues related to this age, it is not possible to understand the modern ones well. The catholic tradition as well as the religious reform against church called Protestantism was organized in this age. In Medieval Period, philosophy and theoretical thoughts related to the Christianity were well-organized and the philosophy, science and theoretical thoughts served religion. Philosophy had different forms and orientations in various stages of this period. One of these philosophical thoughts was the Augustinian philosophy which was strongly in favor of church with its different practices and styles. It used Platonic and Neo-Platonic traditions to prove that faith is the result of divine dispensations, not the result of human will power and wisdom. On the other hand, according to Aquinas, we experience different types of the effects that existed in the world around us. He believed that we assign an effective cause to each effect we experienced around us. Additionally, he claimed that reasoning was the only way to reach the real faith. In fact, philosophy of Medieval Period attempted to prove that religious assertions and ideologists were in search of matching their philosophical beliefs with the beliefs of Christianity. Christianity as the dominant factor in Middle English Literature helped English to be stablished as a literary language.

Philosophical origins of the social rate of discount in cost-benefit analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, J C

1990-01-01

The social rate of discount--that is, the way decision makers today evaluate future consequences of collective activity--raises difficult issues of intergenerational justice. When benefits are discounted at the present rate the United States government requires, serious efforts to promote public health over the long term will fail cost-benefit tests. No consensus exists among theorists to establish fair rates; philosophers support discounting with economic arguments that economists reject, while economists no less paradoxically support the concept using philosophical arguments that philosophers disavow. A new emphasis on the role of consumers' and citizens' time preferences, however, will keep open rather than close debates on the social discount rate.

VULNERABILITY, AUTHENTICITY, AND INTER-SUBJECTIVE CONTACT: PHILOSOPHICAL PRINCIPLES OF INTEGRATIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY

OpenAIRE

Richard G. Erskine

2013-01-01

The Philosophical principles of a relationally focused Integrative Psychotherapy are described through the concepts of vulnerability, authenticity, and inter-subjective contact. Eight principles or therapist attitudes are outlined with clinical examples that illustrate the philosophy. These philosophical principles provide the foundation for a theory of methods. This article is based on a keynote address given at the 6th International Integrative Psychotherapy Association Conference, Granth...

The Joint Philosophical Program of Russell and Wittgenstein and Its Demise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikolay Milkov

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Between April and November 1912, Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein were engaged in a joint philosophical program. Wittgenstein’s meeting with Gottlob Frege in December 1912 led, however, to its dissolution—the joint program was abandoned. Section 1 of this paper outlines the key points of that program, identifying what Russell and Wittgenstein each contributed to it. The second section determines precisely those features of their collaborative work that Frege criticized. Finally, building upon the evidence developed in the first two sections, section 3 recasts along previously undeveloped lines Wittgensein’s logical–philosophical discoveries in the two years following his encounter with Frege in 1912. The paper concludes, in section 4, with an overview of the dramatic consequences the Frege–Wittgenstein critique had for Russell’s philosophical development.

Fiction and Conviction | Blackburn | Philosophical Papers

African Journals Online (AJOL)

I claim that there is nothing so unusual in the interleaving of myth or fiction and history that Williams finds in Herodotus. I also reflect on the difficulty of separating acceptance of truth from acceptance of myth, metaphor, and model, not only in history but also in science. Philosophical Papers Vol.32(3) 2003: 243-260 ...

Can a Rabbit Be a Scientist? Stimulating Philosophical Dialogue in Science Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Dunlop, Lynda; de Schrijver, Jelle

2018-01-01

Philosophical dialogue requires an approach to teaching and learning in science that is focused on problem posing and provides space for meaning making, finding new ways of thinking and understanding and for linking science with broader human experiences. This article explores the role that philosophical dialogue can play in science lessons and…

The levels of the reason in Islam: An answer to the critique of the Islamic reason of Arkoun

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Halilović Seid

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Mohammed Arkoun, who was the professor of Islamic Studies at the New Sorbonne University for many years, can be considered one of the most influential reformist thinkers of the contemporary Islamic world. In the light of his most fundamental views about the critique of the Islamic reason, he brought about many changes in the methodology of understanding of intellectual and cultural inheritance of Islam in most expert circles in the West and throughout the Islamic world. He writes in detail about this and says that the epistemological foundations and traditional analytical tools of Islam lack any kind of value today. From his epistemological standpoint, modern man, he says, sees them to be irrational. He emphasizes that traditional Muslim theologians and jurisprudents have erroneously been teaching that the Islamic reason is an absolute reason and that it is not connected to any historical contexts. In the same vein, he attempts to prove that the reason (that the Qur'an mentions is simply a practical and empirical reason. In this article, by using the philosophical analytical method, we will examine the content of some of the most important works of Arkoun. In those, he has explained in detail his critique of the Islamic reason. While answering his criticism, we will explain that the Qur'an and the totality of the Islamic scientific inheritance gives cosmological value to the different levels of the reason and that it does not in any manner reduce truth and knowledge at the level of instrumental and empirical reason. We will talk about 11 types of reasons that have been mentioned in Islam. These are the following: conceptual reason, theoretical reason, practical reason, metaphysical reason, common sense, universal reason, particular reason, empirical reason, instrumental reason, intuitive reason and sacred reason. In contrast to Arkoun, who considers Western thought to be the standard by means of which one must reconstruct the Islamic reason, we

Evidence that logical reasoning depends on conscious processing.

Science.gov (United States)

DeWall, C Nathan; Baumeister, Roy F; Masicampo, E J

2008-09-01

Humans, unlike other animals, are equipped with a powerful brain that permits conscious awareness and reflection. A growing trend in psychological science has questioned the benefits of consciousness, however. Testing a hypothesis advanced by [Lieberman, M. D., Gaunt, R., Gilbert, D. T., & Trope, Y. (2002). Reflection and reflexion: A social cognitive neuroscience approach to attributional inference. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 34, 199-249], four studies suggested that the conscious, reflective processing system is vital for logical reasoning. Substantial decrements in logical reasoning were found when a cognitive load manipulation preoccupied conscious processing, while hampering the nonconscious system with consciously suppressed thoughts failed to impair reasoning (Experiment 1). Nonconscious activation (priming) of the idea of logical reasoning increased the activation of logic-relevant concepts, but failed to improve logical reasoning performance (Experiments 2a-2c) unless the logical conclusions were largely intuitive and thus not reliant on logical reasoning (Experiment 3). Meanwhile, stimulating the conscious goal of reasoning well led to improvements in reasoning performance (Experiment 4). These findings offer evidence that logical reasoning is aided by the conscious, reflective processing system.

Foundations for Reasoning in Cognition-Based Computational Representations of Human Decision Making; TOPICAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

SENGLAUB, MICHAEL E.; HARRIS, DAVID L.; RAYBOURN, ELAINE M.

2001-01-01

In exploring the question of how humans reason in ambiguous situations or in the absence of complete information, we stumbled onto a body of knowledge that addresses issues beyond the original scope of our effort. We have begun to understand the importance that philosophy, in particular the work of C. S. Peirce, plays in developing models of human cognition and of information theory in general. We have a foundation that can serve as a basis for further studies in cognition and decision making. Peircean philosophy provides a foundation for understanding human reasoning and capturing behavioral characteristics of decision makers due to cultural, physiological, and psychological effects. The present paper describes this philosophical approach to understanding the underpinnings of human reasoning. We present the work of C. S. Peirce, and define sets of fundamental reasoning behavior that would be captured in the mathematical constructs of these newer technologies and would be able to interact in an agent type framework. Further, we propose the adoption of a hybrid reasoning model based on his work for future computational representations or emulations of human cognition

Terrestrial analogs, planetary geology, and the nature of geological reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Victor R.

2014-05-01

Analogical reasoning is critical to planetary geology, but its role can be misconstrued by those unfamiliar with the practice of that science. The methodological importance of analogy to geology lies in the formulation of genetic hypotheses, an absolutely essential component of geological reasoning that was either ignored or denigrated by most 20th century philosophers of science, who took the theoretical/ experimental methodology of physics to be the sole model for all of scientific inquiry. Following the seminal 19th century work of Grove Karl Gilbert, an early pioneer of planetary geology, it has long been recognized that broad experience with and understanding of terrestrial geological phenomena provide geologists with their most effective resource for the invention of potentially fruitful, working hypotheses. The actions of (1) forming such hypotheses, (2) following their consequences, and (3) testing those consequences comprise integral parts of effective geological practice in regard to the understanding of planetary surfaces. Nevertheless, the logical terminology and philosophical bases for such practice will be unfamiliar to most planetary scientists, both geologists and nongeologists. The invention of geological hypotheses involves both inductive inferences of the type Gilbert termed “empiric classification” and abductive inferences of a logical form made famous by the 19th century American logician Charles Sanders Peirce. The testing and corroboration of geological hypotheses relies less on the correspondence logic of theoretical/ experimental sciences, like physics, and more on the logic of consistency, coherence, and consilience that characterizes the investigative and historical sciences of interpretation exemplified by geology.

A Brief Prehistory of Philosophical Paraconsistency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

William H. F. Altman

2010-04-01

Full Text Available In celebration of Newton da Costa’s place in the history of paraconsistency, this paper considers the use and abuse of deliberate self-contradiction. Beginning with Parmenides, developed by Plato, and continued by Cicero, an ancient philosophical tradition used deliberately paraconsistent discourses to reveal the truth. In modern times, decisionism has used deliberate self-contradiction against Judeo-Christian revelation.

Does Prigogine’s Non-linear Thermodynamics Support Popular Philosophical Discussions of Self-Organization?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Pechenkin

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The article is concerned with the philosophical talks which became popular in the 1980s and have kept their popularity till now–the philosophical essays about self-organization. The author attempts to find out as to which extent are these essays founded on the scientific theory to which they regularly refer, that is, Ilya Prigogine’s non-linear thermodynamics. The author insists that the equivalent of self-organization in Prigogine’s theoretical physics is the concept of dissipative structure. The concept of selforganization, as it is used in philosophical literature, presupposes a sequence of extrapolations, the first extrapolation being conducted by Prigogine and his coauthors. They became to use the concept of dissipative structure beyond the rigorous theory of this phenomenon. The subsequent step was that the scientific term “dissipative structure” was replaced by the vague concept “self-organization” in many popular and semi-popular books and papers. The author also emphasizes that by placing the concept of self-organization into the framework of philosophical concepts (the picture of the world, the ideals of scientific thought, the contemporary scientific revolution, etc. a philosopher conducts the extrapolation of extrapolation and comes to a kind of what Edmund Husserl called Weltanschauung (‘worldview’ philosophy.

A Philosophical Look at the Higgs Mechanism

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Friederich, Simon

2014-01-01

On the occasion of the recent experimental detection of a Higgs-type particle at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the paper reviews philosophical aspects of the Higgs mechanism as the presently preferred account of the generation of particle masses in the Standard Model of elementary particle

VULNERABILITY, AUTHENTICITY, AND INTER-SUBJECTIVE CONTACT: PHILOSOPHICAL PRINCIPLES OF INTEGRATIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard G. Erskine

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The Philosophical principles of a relationally focused Integrative Psychotherapy are described through the concepts of vulnerability, authenticity, and inter-subjective contact. Eight principles or therapist attitudes are outlined with clinical examples that illustrate the philosophy. These philosophical principles provide the foundation for a theory of methods. This article is based on a keynote address given at the 6th International Integrative Psychotherapy Association Conference, Grantham, UK, July 11-14, 2013.

Wiittgensteins's contributions to a Philosophical reflection on technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Geraldo Dôres Armendane

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This article examines Wittgenstein’s cultural pessimism on the progress of Western techno-scientific civilization in the first half of the twentieth century, as well as the contributions of the Austrian thinker for a philosophical reflection on technology. We will also show that Wittgenstein’s philosophical position was based on a deep and intense activity of thought and language. The text is divided on in three parts: the first shows Wittgenstein’s cultural pessimism on the technological civilization progress; the second shows Wittgenstein's relationship with science and his strong opposition to the scientist ideology; the third presents Wittgenstein’s conception of philosophy therapy including for the uses of technological civilization. Finally, we conclude by showing that Wittgenstein's philosophy avoids the use of the "ladder" dealing with problems in the contemporary world.

Depressive Symptoms and Inductive Reasoning Performance: Findings from the ACTIVE Reasoning Training Intervention

OpenAIRE

Parisi, Jeanine M.; Franchetti, Mary Kathryn; Rebok, George W.; Spira, Adam P.; Carlson, Michelle C.; Willis, Sherry L.; Gross, Alden L.

2014-01-01

Within the context of the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) study, we examined the longitudinal association of baseline depressive symptoms on inductive reasoning performance over a ten-year period between the reasoning training and control conditions (N = 1,375). At baseline, 322 participants (23%) reported elevated depressive symptoms, defined by a score ≥ 9 on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale (12-item). Differences in baseline dep...

THE PRINCIPLES OF LAW. PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MARIUS ANDREESCU

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Any scientific intercession that has as objective, the understanding of the significances of the “principle of law” needs to have an interdisciplinary character, the basis for the approach being the philosophy of the law. In this study we fulfill such an analysis with the purpose to underline the multiple theoretical significances due to this concept, but also the relationship between the juridical principles and norms, respectively the normative value of the principle of the law. Thus are being materialized extensive references to the philosophical and juridical doctrine in the matter. This study is a pleading to refer to the principles, in the work for the law’s creation and applying. Starting with the difference between “given” and ‘constructed” we propose the distinction between the “metaphysical principles” outside the law, which by their contents have philosophical significances, and the “constructed principles” elaborated inside the law. We emphasize the obligation of the law maker, but also of the expert to refer to the principles in the work of legislation, interpretation and applying of the law. Arguments are brought for the updating, in certain limits, the justice – naturalistic concepts in the law.

Theories of Social Media: Philosophical Foundations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiayin Qi

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Although many different views of social media coexist in the field of information systems (IS, such theories are usually not introduced in a consistent framework based on philosophical foundations. This paper introduces the dimensions of lifeworld and consideration of others. The concept of lifeworld includes Descartes’ rationality and Heidegger’s historicity, and consideration of others is based on instrumentalism and Heidegger’s “being-with.” These philosophical foundations elaborate a framework where different archetypal theories applied to social media may be compared: Goffman’s presentation of self, Bourdieu’s social capital, Sartre’s existential project, and Heidegger’s “shared-world.” While Goffman has become a frequent reference in social media, the three other references are innovative in IS research. The concepts of these four theories of social media are compared with empirical findings in IS literature. While some of these concepts match the empirical findings, some other concepts have not yet been investigated in the use of social media, suggesting future research directions. Keywords: Social media, Lifeworld, Consideration of others, Rationality, Historicity, Instrumentalism, Being-with, Presentation of self

Software theory a cultural and philosophical study

CERN Document Server

Frabetti, Federica

2014-01-01

This book engages directly in close readings of technical texts and computer code in order to show how software works. It offers an analysis of the cultural, political, and philosophical implications of software technologies that demonstrates the significance of software for the relationship between technology, philosophy, culture, and society.

Philosophical introduction to set theory

CERN Document Server

Pollard, Stephen

2015-01-01

The primary mechanism for ideological and theoretical unification in modern mathematics, set theory forms an essential element of any comprehensive treatment of the philosophy of mathematics. This unique approach to set theory offers a technically informed discussion that covers a variety of philosophical issues. Rather than focusing on intuitionist and constructive alternatives to the Cantorian/Zermelian tradition, the author examines the two most important aspects of the current philosophy of mathematics, mathematical structuralism and mathematical applications of plural reference and plural

C. F. v. Weizsaecker. Physicist, philosopher, visionary; C. F. v. Weizsaecker. Physiker, Philosoph, Visionaer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goernitz, Thomas

2012-11-01

The 20th century with its political, social, and scientific aspects bundles itself in the life of Carl Friedrich v. Weizsaecker. As comprehensive thinker of the presence he led natural science, philosophy, and spirituality to a unity. In the public the grandson of last in Germany enobled minster and brother of the senior federal president achieved by his engagement for peace and disarmament a global effect. Competently and understandably his visionary and prospective physical ideas and his philosophical considerations are explained by his long standing coworker and close confident.

A Philosophical reflection on European integration : Aristotelian subsidiarity versus Kantian universalism

OpenAIRE

Bielskis, Andrius

2010-01-01

This paper aims to show how contemporary Aristotelian political philosophy can be utilised in our reflections on European integration. It argues that changes in international relations after the end of the Cold War and a growing cultural divide between Europe and the US makes Europe's Western identity untenable. Through a brief philosophical sketch of the history of 'the West' it argues that Europe needs to return to its European rather than Western roots. The philosophical emphasis on nation...

Tracing Young Children's Scientific Reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

Tytler, Russell; Peterson, Suzanne

2003-08-01

This paper explores the scientific reasoning of 14 children across their first two years of primary school. Children's view of experimentation, their approach to exploration, and their negotiation of competing knowledge claims, are interpreted in terms of categories of epistemological reasoning. Children's epistemological reasoning is distinguished from their ability to control variables. While individual children differ substantially, they show a relatively steady growth in their reasoning, with some contextual variation. A number of these children are reasoning at a level well in advance of curriculum expectations, and it is argued that current recommended practice in primary science needs to be rethought. The data is used to explore the relationship between reasoning and knowledge, and to argue that the generation and exploration of ideas must be the key driver of scientific activity in the primary school.

CONSERVATIVE ATTITUDES TO OLD-ESTABLISHED ORGANS: OLIVER LODGE AND PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE.

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, Imogen; Mussell, James

2015-09-20

In 1921 Oliver Lodge defended Philosophical Magazine against charges of mismanagement from the National Union of Scientific Workers. They alleged that its editors performed little editorial work, the bulk being done by the publishers, Taylor & Francis. Lodge reassured Nature's readers that the journal did consult its editors, and suggested 'a conservative attitude towards old-established organs is wise; and that it is possible to over-organise things into lifelessness.' The paper explores Lodge's response by considering the editorial arrangements at Philosophical Magazine. Founded in 1798, it remained remarkably unchanged and so appeared old-fashioned when compared with its closest rivals, Proceedings of the Royal Society and Proceedings of the Physical Society. We argue that for Lodge the management of Philosophical Magazine gave it the flexibility and independence required to sustain the kind of physics, also open to accusations of obsolescence, in which he believed.

Philosophical Performances in Everyday Life Situations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rüdiger H. Rimpler

2016-07-01

Following some of the ideas of Julian Klein and Arno Böhler on the significance of our feelings and on the limits of conceptual thinking I propose a specific form of philosophical performances, which is based on a grounding of emotions within thinking and on postponed deliberations within networking groups of individuals who are sharing a similar background of specific experiences in a given population.

The literary and philosophical conceptions of Laza Kostić

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleksić Slađana V.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Laza Kostić, in the early seventies of the XIX century, opposed the utilitarianism of Nikolay Chernyshevsky and Svetozar Markovié, and advocated the idea of aestheticism in poetry and art. In his study about Jovan Jovanović Zmaj, Kostić had discovered two opposing processes in the poet, which he symbolically named the battle between the dragon and the nightingale. Kostić's conception about the origin of poetry is at the intersection of romanticist poetics about creation from divine inspiration, and a philosophical concept of the interference as a basic principle. The paper sheds light on the correspondence among the philosophical and literary views of Laza Kostić and his artistic work.

Adam Smith : Systematic Philosopher and Public Thinker

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schliesser, E.

2017-01-01

This book treats Adam Smith as a systematic philosopher. Smith was a giant of the Scottish Enlightenment with polymath interests. The book explores Smith’s economics and ethics in light of his other commitments on the nature of knowledge, the theory of emotions, the theory of mind, his account of

Introducing Giovanni Gentile, the "Philosopher of Fascism"

Science.gov (United States)

Clayton, Thomas

2009-01-01

This essay aims to introduce Giovanni Gentile to scholars of Gramsci studies broadly and Gramsci-education studies more specifically. The largest part of the essay explores Gentile's academic life, his philosophical agenda, and his political career. Having established a basis for understanding the educational reform Gentile enacted as Mussolini's…

Dwie (antyfilozoficzne „gramatyki” Wittgensteina [Two (anti philosophical grammars of Ludwig Wittgenstein

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam Nowaczyk

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Wittgenstein is the author of two conceptions of “grammar”, that were meant to be tools of reaching the same goal: discrediting of the traditional, i.e. “metaphysical” questions of philosophy. His early conception concerns logical grammar being the language of logic notation, which is devoid of logical constants. This idea was supported by the ontological thesis that there are no logical objects. In fact, it was not indispensable for achieving the intended purpose, since the elimination of philosophical problems was provided by the semantic argument that the only sensible statements are those of the natural sciences. The second concept of grammar, presented in the writings of the later Wittgenstein, seems more ambiguous. Grammar is a set of rules of the language game, having a status of grammatical statements. Examples of such statements are diverse, and desirable, according to the authors, reformulation of them all into concrete orders or prohibitions seems problematic. In the Investigations Wittgenstein distinguishes between deep and surface grammar, which serves to determine the proper task of philosophy as description of the deep grammar (especially the grammar of philosophically relevant words. In this sense New Philosophy is a kind of philosophical grammar. Wittgensteinian grammar is also anti-philosophical, as it aims at the elimination of erroneous (pseudometaphysical claims derived from misleading forms of surface grammar. Despite the differences in the concepts of language and grammar in the early and late Wittgenstein, he has not changed his critical approach to the traditional philosophical questions.

Philosophical conceptions of the self: implications for cognitive science.

Science.gov (United States)

Gallagher

2000-01-01

Several recently developed philosophical approaches to the self promise to enhance the exchange of ideas between the philosophy of the mind and the other cognitive sciences. This review examines two important concepts of self: the 'minimal self', a self devoid of temporal extension, and the 'narrative self', which involves personal identity and continuity across time. The notion of a minimal self is first clarified by drawing a distinction between the sense of self-agency and the sense of self-ownership for actions. This distinction is then explored within the neurological domain with specific reference to schizophrenia, in which the sense of self-agency may be disrupted. The convergence between the philosophical debate and empirical study is extended in a discussion of more primitive aspects of self and how these relate to neonatal experience and robotics. The second concept of self, the narrative self, is discussed in the light of Gazzaniga's left-hemisphere 'interpreter' and episodic memory. Extensions of the idea of a narrative self that are consistent with neurological models are then considered. The review illustrates how the philosophical approach can inform cognitive science and suggests that a two-way collaboration may lead to a more fully developed account of the self.

The philosophical premises of the second King Report on corporate governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G.J. Rossouw

2005-07-01

Full Text Available This article focuses on the philosophical presuppositions of the second King Report on corporate governance for South Africa (hereafter referred to as the King II Report. Especially in the “Introduction and Background” section of the King II Report it is clear that the Report is premised upon a specific understanding of the present-day corporation and its moral obligations. The purpose of this article is to commit what Charles Taylor called “an act of retrieval” in which the philosophical premises of the King II Report will be unearthed and exposed. It will be argued that the view of the present-day corporation that underlies the King II Report could be related back to a number of debates on the notion of the comtemporary corporation and its moral responsibilities that have been played out since the 1970s. It will be indicated how these debates provide the philosophical foundations for the view of the comtemporary corporation and its moral obligations that is espoused in the King II Report. The claim made in the Report that the African world view and culture influenced the Report’s notion of corporate governance will also be critically reviewed. Finally it will be attempted to evaluate to what extent the recommendations of the King II Report live up to its own philosophical premises.

The nature of delusion: psychologically explicable? psychologically inexplicable? philosophically explicable? Part 2.

Science.gov (United States)

Cutting, J; Musalek, M

2016-03-01

The first part of this article dealt with the extant formulations of delusion, psychiatric and psychological, suggestions which, respectively, regard delusion as psychologically inexplicable or explicable. All this was subjected to critique. This second part puts forward informed philosophical thesis whereby delusion can be explained within the philosophical movement known as phenomenology and, in particular, Max Scheler's version of this. © The Author(s) 2015.

Self-knowledge in the process of interpreting philosophical texts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Kulik

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Modern philosophical researches pay attention to various aspects of self-knowledge investigation. For instance, there are works on historical concepts of self-knowledge (e.g. ones by C. Moore, or articles about the place of self-knowledge in the phenomenon of rationality (e.g. ones by J. Roessler, or articles about epistemological lacks of self-knowledge (e.g. ones by J. Fernández. However, our paper is about the aspect that is not in the researchers’ centre of attention. Our study shows that practicing of book reading can be a source of information not only about the content of the books, but also about their readers. We investigate a phenomenon of incompatible interpretations, Ludwig Wittgenstein’s ideas about understanding his texts, Merab Mamardashvili’s concept of ‘novel as a machine’, Ludwig Feuerbach’s theory of specifics of human cognition, and Philosophical Hermeneutics thinkers’ concepts about problems of understanding. The purpose of our paper is to describe possibilities of getting self-knowledge by analyzing the information about the results of philosophical texts reading. The research holds that these results give information about the content of the text as well as a reader’s ideas. A reader can use word forms from the texts to express his own implicit thoughts. Philosophical texts are the most effective tool for doing that because their content and ways of text organization stimulate such an activity. We illustrate these statements by examples from history of philosophy. For instance, we investigate the creation of the theory on the genealogy of morality by Friedrich Nietzsche. Analyzing phrases, which were important for him in the text, a person can estimate his own ideas. If one uses this theoretical model for getting self-knowledge he takes a new source of information about his own implicit ideas. The interpretation of this information will be effective. As a result of analyzing of Friedrich Schleiermacher

The Philosophical Problem of Truth in Librarianship

Science.gov (United States)

Labaree, Robert V.; Scimeca, Ross

2008-01-01

The authors develop a framework for addressing the question of truth in librarianship and in doing so attempt to move considerations of truth closer to the core of philosophical debates within the profession. After establishing ways in which philosophy contributes to social scientific inquiry in library science, the authors examine concepts of…

Harmonies of disorder Norbert Wiener : a mathematician-philosopher of our time

CERN Document Server

Montagnini, Leone

2017-01-01

This book presents the entire body of thought of Norbert Wiener (1894–1964), knowledge of which is essential if one wishes to understand and correctly interpret the age in which we live. The focus is in particular on the philosophical and sociological aspects of Wiener’s thought, but these aspects are carefully framed within the context of his scientific journey. Important biographical events, including some that were previously unknown, are also highlighted, but while the book has a biographical structure, it is not only a biography. The book is divided into four chronological sections, the first two of which explore Wiener’s development as a philosopher and logician and his brilliant interwar career as a mathematician, supported by his philosophical background. The third section considers his research during World War II, which drew upon his previous scientific work and reflections and led to the birth of cybernetics. Finally, the radical post-war shift in Wiener’s intellectual path is considered, e...

10. Chigbo J. Ekwealo Contextualising Philosophic Sagacity among ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Ekwealo

on Chinua Achebe's epic novel, Things Fall Apart, set among the Igbo of South-. Eastern ... because they chose to deny philosophic status to Africans in order to be compliant with the ..... condemned for seven years to live in a strange land.

The philosophical and pedagogical underpinnings of Active Learning in Engineering Education

Science.gov (United States)

Christie, Michael; de Graaff, Erik

2017-01-01

In this paper the authors draw on three sequential keynote addresses that they gave at Active Learning in Engineering Education (ALE) workshops in Copenhagen (2012), Caxias do Sol (2014) and San Sebastian (2015). Active Learning in Engineering Education is an informal international network of engineering educators dedicated to improving engineering education through active learning (http://www.ale-net.org/). The paper reiterates themes from those keynotes, namely, the philosophical and pedagogical underpinnings of Active Learning in Engineering Education, the scholarly questions that inspire engineering educators to go on improving their practice and exemplary models designed to activate the learning of engineering students. This paper aims to uncover the bedrock of established educational philosophies and theories that define and support active learning. The paper does not claim to present any new or innovative educational theory. There is already a surfeit of them. Rather, the aim is to assist Engineering Educators who wish to research how they can best activate the learning of their students by providing a readable, reasonable and solid underpinning for best practice in this field.

Pedagogical tools to explore Cartesian mind-body dualism in the classroom: philosophical arguments and neuroscience illusions.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamilton, Scott; Hamilton, Trevor J

2015-01-01

A fundamental discussion in lower-level undergraduate neuroscience and psychology courses is Descartes's "radical" or "mind-body" dualism. According to Descartes, our thinking mind, the res cogitans, is separate from the body as physical matter or substance, the res extensa. Since the transmission of sensory stimuli from the body to the mind is a physical capacity shared with animals, it can be confused, misled, or uncertain (e.g., bodily senses imply that ice and water are different substances). True certainty thus arises from within the mind and its capacity to doubt physical stimuli. Since this doubting mind is a thinking thing that is distinct from bodily stimuli, truth and certainty are reached through the doubting mind as cogito ergo sum, or the certainty of itself as it thinks: hence Descartes's famous maxim, I think, therefore I am. However, in the last century of Western philosophy, with nervous system investigation, and with recent advances in neuroscience, the potential avenues to explore student's understanding of the epistemology and effects of Cartesian mind-body dualism has expanded. This article further explores this expansion, highlighting pedagogical practices and tools instructors can use to enhance a psychology student's understanding of Cartesian dualistic epistemology, in order to think more critically about its implicit assumptions and effects on learning. It does so in two ways: first, by offering instructors an alternative philosophical perspective to dualistic thinking: a mind-body holism that is antithetical to the assumed binaries of dualistic epistemology. Second, it supplements this philosophical argument with a practical component: simple mind-body illusions that instructors may use to demonstrate contrary epistemologies to students. Combining these short philosophical and neuroscience arguments thereby acts as a pedagogical tool to open new conceptual spaces within which learning may occur.

Pedagogical tools to explore Cartesian mind-body dualism in the classroom: philosophical arguments and neuroscience illusions

Science.gov (United States)

Hamilton, Scott; Hamilton, Trevor J.

2015-01-01

A fundamental discussion in lower-level undergraduate neuroscience and psychology courses is Descartes’s “radical” or “mind-body” dualism. According to Descartes, our thinking mind, the res cogitans, is separate from the body as physical matter or substance, the res extensa. Since the transmission of sensory stimuli from the body to the mind is a physical capacity shared with animals, it can be confused, misled, or uncertain (e.g., bodily senses imply that ice and water are different substances). True certainty thus arises from within the mind and its capacity to doubt physical stimuli. Since this doubting mind is a thinking thing that is distinct from bodily stimuli, truth and certainty are reached through the doubting mind as cogito ergo sum, or the certainty of itself as it thinks: hence Descartes’s famous maxim, I think, therefore I am. However, in the last century of Western philosophy, with nervous system investigation, and with recent advances in neuroscience, the potential avenues to explore student’s understanding of the epistemology and effects of Cartesian mind-body dualism has expanded. This article further explores this expansion, highlighting pedagogical practices and tools instructors can use to enhance a psychology student’s understanding of Cartesian dualistic epistemology, in order to think more critically about its implicit assumptions and effects on learning. It does so in two ways: first, by offering instructors an alternative philosophical perspective to dualistic thinking: a mind-body holism that is antithetical to the assumed binaries of dualistic epistemology. Second, it supplements this philosophical argument with a practical component: simple mind-body illusions that instructors may use to demonstrate contrary epistemologies to students. Combining these short philosophical and neuroscience arguments thereby acts as a pedagogical tool to open new conceptual spaces within which learning may occur. PMID:26321981

Estimation of the monthly average daily solar radiation using geographic information system and advanced case-based reasoning.

Science.gov (United States)

Koo, Choongwan; Hong, Taehoon; Lee, Minhyun; Park, Hyo Seon

2013-05-07

The photovoltaic (PV) system is considered an unlimited source of clean energy, whose amount of electricity generation changes according to the monthly average daily solar radiation (MADSR). It is revealed that the MADSR distribution in South Korea has very diverse patterns due to the country's climatic and geographical characteristics. This study aimed to develop a MADSR estimation model for the location without the measured MADSR data, using an advanced case based reasoning (CBR) model, which is a hybrid methodology combining CBR with artificial neural network, multiregression analysis, and genetic algorithm. The average prediction accuracy of the advanced CBR model was very high at 95.69%, and the standard deviation of the prediction accuracy was 3.67%, showing a significant improvement in prediction accuracy and consistency. A case study was conducted to verify the proposed model. The proposed model could be useful for owner or construction manager in charge of determining whether or not to introduce the PV system and where to install it. Also, it would benefit contractors in a competitive bidding process to accurately estimate the electricity generation of the PV system in advance and to conduct an economic and environmental feasibility study from the life cycle perspective.

PHILOSOPHEME OF SYMBOL AND CONCEPT OF THE MEANING: PHILOSOPHICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASPECTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. V. Kretov

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of the study is to find out the meaning of the symbolic nature of the philosophical and anthropological knowledge deployment, as well as symbolic forms of correlation between artificial and natural in the consciousness of human identity and their fixation in the language and also in the forms and structures of culture. The research is based on the methodology of historical and philosophical analysis in synchronic and diachronic aspects, principles of hermeneutic understanding and reconstruction and phenomenological descriptions. Scientific novelty is represented by the postulating such predications of symbolic structures of language and consciousness as multipanorama and transfinite, justification of the ontological status of symbol and symbolism. The symbolic functioning character of language metaphor in scientific discourse and especially the symbolic dimension of semantic field of language and culture, as well as their symbolic association was fixed. The author proves the thesis about the symbolic nature of a holistic, means forming, philosophical knowledge of man, and the relation between the underlying symbolic and metaphorical structures of language and the mechanisms of consciousness, which finds its expression, in particular, in the language of science. The symbolic design that transmits the philosophical aspects of meaning that go beyond definition and formal-logic descriptions is used. In the comparison of the concepts of spiral dynamics, memetics and autopoiesis the existence of a specific symbolic dimension of the semantic field of language, culture and consciousness is postulated. Conclusions of the article define the role of symbol and symbolic and metaphorical constructions and structures of language in forming the discourse of modern philosophical anthropology, which would include the whole thesaurus of language and culture.

God as Intellect in the philosophical Theology of Plato, Aristotle and Plotinus.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadezhda Volkova

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The article gives an overview of the main stages in the development of philosophical theology in Plato, Aristotle and Plotinus, as well as its central concept - Active Intellect or God. It is shown, firstly, that Plato was the first who formulated the concept of a One omnibenevolent God. Plato opposed this doctrine to the gods of traditional mythology. In the "Timaeus" talking about the creation of the world, Plato represents God as an artisan, i. e. Demiurge, who arranges the World soul and matter with the help of the numbers. Therefore, God is introduced as an Intellect, because looking at an intelligible paradigm, he created the cosmos as its likeness. Secondly, it was shown that Aristotle made theology demonstrative theoretical knowledge. God as a subject of such knowledge is the pure actuality of thinking. Third, it is shown that Plotinus, continuing the line of Plato and Aristotle, gave philosophical theology a new, much more personal character. Theology for Plotinus is not only an demonstrative knowledge of the omnibenevolent God, but also a personal experience of reunion with him. A special attention in the article is paid for Plotinus' interpretation of the Platonic Demiurge. It is shown that Plotinus first connected the two aspects of the divine, namely the Demiurge-creator and the intelligible paradigm that are described in the "Timaeus," into the single hypostasis of Intellect. The main reason for this assertion was the necessity to postulate the unity of the intellect and the intelligible object as a necessary condition for the possibility of all cognitions. As a result, instead of the traditional idea of the two gods, Plotinus elaborates the doctrine of a single divine Intellect, combining both these aspects.

[Origin and thought on the philosophical ideas of acupuncture in Chinese medicine].

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Xiumei

2017-12-12

Acupuncture in Chinese medicine has been a treasure in Chinese traditional medicine for thousands of years. It is opposite to many basic theories in modern medicine in dynasties. Different from the cross compatibility and interactions among medical medicines, acupuncture in Chinese medicine has its own consolidation and inherent philosophical ideas. In view of this, how to discuss the philosophical ideas and its development of acupuncture in Chinese medicine becomes of great importance. It is crucial to clearly answer the three theoretical propositions in the development of acupuncture in Chinese medicine. Firstly, the differences in acupuncture should be identified between the ancient time and the modern time. The issues focus on the origin of Huangdi Neijing ( Yellow Emperor's Internal Medicine ) and its philosophical divergence. Secondly, the origin of acupuncture should be identified, whether it is from China or India. Thirdly, the differences in acupuncture should be identified between China and the west, focusing on the explanation and rectification of the interrelationship between the acupuncture in Chinese medicine and the western acupuncture. Hence, the basic features are discussed on the reality of acupuncture in Chinese medicine as well as its diversity. Finally, the proposition is extended on how to holistically grasp the philosophical foundation of acupuncture in Chinese medicine and its future trend.

Tolstoy’s Philosophic System and Taoism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lu Venya

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Due to the intensive economic growth and consumer society formation, there expands a view that the human life value depends mainly on the material benefits and money; meanwhile, the moral values trail behind leading the humanity towards the spiritual crisis. The author recommends addressing the heritage of our great ancestors and studying both the works of L. N. Tolstoy and Taoism philosophy in order to maintain the spiritual self and revive our faith in human powers. Taoism is the native law of the world’s order demonstrating the natural ways of life, developing the harmonious life style, and teaching the natural control methods in compliance with the laws of nature.For the most Russian and Chinese readers Lev Tolstoy is a great writer and thinker; his philosophic system being one of the most significant in the Russian spirituality and ideology. L. Tolstoy rejected the western rationalism and studied the Chinese philosophic and religious doctrines. The author conducted a comparative analysis of Tolstoy’s concepts (non-resistance to evil by violence, wise non- doing and Taoism key concepts, and makes a conclusion about their organic interrelations, and the influence of the Chinese wisdom on Tolstoy’s works and worldview. 

Social space: Philosophical reflections | Strauss | South African ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Our analysis of the phrase 'social space' first of all concentrates on the modal or functional nature of the different aspects of reality, including the social and spatial aspects. Subsequently this leads to an analysis of the problem of modal analogies – one way in which an answer is given to the perennial philosophical problem ...

Review of the Book: Yakubovich M.M. Philosophical Thought of the Crimean Khanate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R.R. Abduzhemilev

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The book “Philosophical Thought of the Crimean Khanate” by Mikhaylo Yakubovich offers a comprehensive study of the religious and philosophical heritage of the Crimean Khanate. It should be mentioned that up to the present there was no such work among the list of available research monographs. There were only some fragmentary works, which did not cover the conceptual essence of the philosophical perspectives and concepts of medieval thinkers whose activity was shaped within the context of the Crimean Khanate. Thus, Mikhaylo Yakubovich’s contribution is obvious and there is no doubt of the work’s significance. The book consists of a preface, an introduction, seven chapters, conclusions, appendixes, list of illustrations (religious sites, libraries and photocopies of manuscripts, and a bibliography. A wide source-base is evident in the work: the bibliography lists manuscripts from various libraries throughout the world. In the first introductory chapter, a review of historiography is carried out and the range of sources within the framework of the study is defined. The prehistory of the formation of philosophical thought of the Crimean khanate, namely the origins of its formation back to the Golden Horde era, is outlined in the second chapter. This section presents the hermeneutical aspects of Sharaf ad-Din al-Kyrymi and Ahmad bin ‘Abd Allah al-Kyrymi’s interpretation of the philosophy of Ibn al-‘Arabi and Sadr al-Din al-Kunavi. The third chapter contains biographical information about Ibrahim al-Kyrymi, the specificity of the Qur’anic hermeneutics in his work, as well as the idea of a spiritual journey as viewed from anthropological and historiosophical perspectives. In the fourth chapter, the creativity of Abu’l-Baka’ al-Kafauvi is considered, while also reflecting on the life and scientific heritage of this philosopher, his work “al-Qulliyyat” in the context of Islamic encyclopedic learning, understanding the divine

Depressive symptoms and inductive reasoning performance: findings from the ACTIVE reasoning training intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Parisi, Jeanine M; Franchetti, Mary Kathryn; Rebok, George W; Spira, Adam P; Carlson, Michelle C; Willis, Sherry L; Gross, Alden L

2014-12-01

Within the context of the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly study (ACTIVE; Ball et al., 2002; Jobe et al., 2001; Willis et al., 2006), we examined the longitudinal association of baseline depressive symptoms on inductive reasoning performance over a 10-year period between the reasoning training and control conditions (N = 1,375). At baseline, 322 participants (23%) reported elevated depressive symptoms, defined by a score ≥9 on the 12-item version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Mirowsky & Ross, 2003; Radloff, 1977). Differences in baseline depressive status were not associated with immediate posttraining gains or with subsequent annual change in reasoning performance, suggesting that the presence of elevated baseline depressive symptoms does not impact the ability to benefit from reasoning training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

The «Philosophical Bible» and the Reformation: the case of John Locke

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Montserrat Herrero

2018-06-01

Full Text Available The transition of Sacred Scripture from a supernatural text to a mere secular text can be related to the Reformation, but we cannot say that it was the work of the protestant Reformation. Moreover it was the result of the enlightened biblical criticism practiced by some philosophers, as is the case of John Locke. Locke’s work contributes to the construction of the «Academic Bible» as opposed to the «Biblical Scripture». In his writings we can detect a kind of dialectic between the supernatural character of the Sacred Scriptures and the consideration of reason as natural revelation that leads to some paradoxes. Because of that the literature has considered Locke’s position, as been alternatively Calvinist, Arminian, Socinian, Latitudinarian or Unitarian. This article deals with these paradoxes and evaluates the original Lockean thesis on Biblical interpretation, which is inseparable of his faith, his epistemology and his theory of language.

Realistic Humanism. Luc Dardenne as a Philosopher and Filmmaker

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Walter Lesch

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Luc Dardenne is not only a successful filmmaker together with his brother Jean-Pierre. He is also a stimulating philosopher who has reflected on the influence of Emmanuel Levinas on the brothers’ cinematic work. This article shows typical constellations of film and philosophy and focuses on the special contribution of a Levinasian perspec¬tive on face-to-face encounters, violence and compassion as central topics in the films of the Dardennes. Luc Dardenne has developed his philosophical approach in his dia¬ries and in the essay The Human Affair, published in 2012. This text can be used as a key for an understanding of the film Le gamin au vélo (The Kid with a Bike, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, FR/BE/IT 2011.

Philosophizing about Teacher Dissatisfaction: A Multidisciplinary Hermeneutic Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Santoro, Doris A.

2015-01-01

In this methodological reflection, I describe the multidisciplinary hermeneutic process of philosophizing about teacher dissatisfaction. I discuss how philosophy serves as a starting point for interpretive work based on interviews with former teachers and readings of qualitative and quantitative research on teacher attrition and dissatisfaction.…

Inductive reasoning 2.0.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayes, Brett K; Heit, Evan

2018-05-01

Inductive reasoning entails using existing knowledge to make predictions about novel cases. The first part of this review summarizes key inductive phenomena and critically evaluates theories of induction. We highlight recent theoretical advances, with a special emphasis on the structured statistical approach, the importance of sampling assumptions in Bayesian models, and connectionist modeling. A number of new research directions in this field are identified including comparisons of inductive and deductive reasoning, the identification of common core processes in induction and memory tasks and induction involving category uncertainty. The implications of induction research for areas as diverse as complex decision-making and fear generalization are discussed. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Reasoning and Decision Making Psychology > Learning. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PHILOSOPHIC AND CLINICAL DISCOURSE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. M. Skyrtach

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose is to identify common and distinctive features of concepts and methodology of the problem of subject within different discourses, implicitly or explicitly relevant to the definition of "clinical" mode of human existence. The research methodology combines techniques of discourse analysis and basic principles of historical and philosophical studies. Originality of the research lies in definition of the clinical philosophical discourse as a special communicative process, where utterances not only focus on disease syndromes, and reveal phenomenology of inner experience of a pathological self, but also structure a certain type of sociality. Clinical discourse represents the space where the patient is treated not as a subject but as an object of disease. Ontology of clinical discourse prevails over ontology of disease, since its structures determine the notion of disease as such. Categorization of the disease, the idea of disease as a phenomenon subdued to professional authority leads to the idea of the need for patient’s isolation from the natural environment and removing him to special social institutions. The clinicist doctrines share the intention to reduce the patient’s self to its bodily dimension, while ignoring social determinants of psychological deviations. Conclusions of the study are summarized in the following positions: the current clinical discourse is based on the positivist-biological trend in humanitarian knowledge and it is the basis for the production and reproduction of medical and pharmaceutical repressive ideology; criticism of philosophical clinical discourse opens the possibility of overcoming the dominance of purely clinicist discourse; such a transformation is possible only after a paradigm shift in understanding the category of subject.

How to transform economics? A philosophical appraisal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deniz Kellecioglu

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Ten years after the global financial crisis there is hardly any evidence that the theories, teaching and policies of mainstream economics have changed. This paper is an attempt to contribute to the greater understanding of this persistence, but also to the discussion on what the requirements are to materialise a transformation in economics, given the dismal outcomes in the world economy. The analytical approach of the paper is to utilise relevant philosophical accounts that point out attributes of dominant discourses, and methodological requirements to supersede an already dominant discourse. The objective is to contribute to an improved understanding of factors that obstruct or construct transformations in a knowledge field such as economics; and thereby contribute to transformation efforts, preferably for a more pluralist and emancipatory economics. Given the complexities and the tensions between different philosophical positions, the conclusions of this appraisal are summarised into five criteria that appear essential to realise a successful transformation in economics: critical juncture; dissimilarity; scholar validation; sensibility; and external power. It is suggested to revise efforts to fulfil these criteria as much, and as soon as possible, given the importance and urgency of changing the trajectory of our economies and societies.

Philosophic Processes and the Study of Human Moving.

Science.gov (United States)

Bressan, Elizabeth S.; Pieter, Willy

1985-01-01

A theoretical framework describing second-order philosophical processes that can be productive for human movement studies is presented. The processes of edification and theory building can clarify issues, expand viewpoints, and establish systematic ways of dealing with a phenomenon, leading to the more mature forms of dialogues and theories. (MT)

Why People are Atypical Agents | Ross | Philosophical Papers

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In this paper, I argue that the traditional philosophical approach of taking cognitively and emotionally competent adult people to be the prototypical instances of agency should be revised in light of current work in the behavioral sciences. Logical consistency in application is better served by taking simple goal-directed and ...

A Quantitative Reasoning Approach to Algebra Using Inquiry-Based Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victor I. Piercey

2017-07-01

Full Text Available In this paper, I share a hybrid quantitative reasoning/algebra two-course sequence that challenges the common assumption that quantitative literacy and reasoning are less rigorous mathematics alternatives to algebra and illustrates that a quantitative reasoning framework can be used to teach traditional algebra. The presentation is made in two parts. In the first part, which is somewhat philosophical and theoretical, I explain my personal perspective of what I mean by “algebra” and “doing algebra.” I contend that algebra is a form of communication whose value is precision, which allows us to perform algebraic manipulations in the form of simplification and solving moves. A quantitative reasoning approach to traditional algebraic manipulations rests on intentional and purposeful use of simplification and solving moves within contextual situations. In part 2, I describe a 6-week instructional module intended for undergraduate business students that was delivered to students who had placed into beginning algebra. The perspective described in part 1 heavily informed the design of this module. The course materials, which involve the use of Excel in multiple authentic contexts, are built around the use of inquiry-based learning. Upon completion of this module, the percentage of students who successfully complete model problems in an assessment is in the same range as surveyed students in precalculus and calculus, approximately two “grade levels” ahead of their placement.

Heuristic reasoning

CERN Document Server

2015-01-01

How can we advance knowledge? Which methods do we need in order to make new discoveries? How can we rationally evaluate, reconstruct and offer discoveries as a means of improving the ‘method’ of discovery itself? And how can we use findings about scientific discovery to boost funding policies, thus fostering a deeper impact of scientific discovery itself? The respective chapters in this book provide readers with answers to these questions. They focus on a set of issues that are essential to the development of types of reasoning for advancing knowledge, such as models for both revolutionary findings and paradigm shifts; ways of rationally addressing scientific disagreement, e.g. when a revolutionary discovery sparks considerable disagreement inside the scientific community; frameworks for both discovery and inference methods; and heuristics for economics and the social sciences.

Cultural Difference and Human Rights : A Philosophical-Anthropological Approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J. Kloeg (Julien)

2014-01-01

textabstractIn ‘Cultural Difference and Human Rights’, Julien Kloeg claims, with Pablo Gilabert, that theoretical attempts to justify human rights should move beyond the dichotomy of providing either a humanist or a political justification. Kloeg demonstrates how philosophical anthropology could

A Philosophical View of Research in Music Education

Science.gov (United States)

Jorgensen, Estelle R.

2009-01-01

In this paper, four interrelated questions are addressed: What counts as research? What are some present challenges to music education research? What should be the relationship between theory and empirical data? What ought to be the distinctive features of music education research? The purpose is to elucidate how philosophical inquiry can be…

European advanced driver training programs: Reasons for optimism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simon Washington

2011-03-01

This paper reviews the predominant features and empirical evidence surrounding post licensing advanced driver training programs focused on novice drivers. A clear articulation of differences between the renewed and current US advanced driver training programs is provided. While the individual quantitative evaluations range from marginally to significantly effective in reducing novice driver crash risk, they have been criticized for evaluation deficiencies ranging from small sample sizes to confounding variables to lack of exposure metrics. Collectively, however, the programs sited in the paper suggest at least a marginally positive effect that needs to be validated with further studies. If additional well controlled studies can validate these programs, a pilot program in the US should be considered.

The humanistic psychology-positive psychology divide: contrasts in philosophical foundations.

Science.gov (United States)

Waterman, Alan S

2013-04-01

The relationship between the fields of humanistic and positive psychology has been marked by continued tension and ambivalence. This tension can be traced to extensive differences in the philosophical grounding characterizing the two perspectives within psychology. These differences exist with respect to (a) ontology, including the ways in which human nature is conceptualized regarding human potentials and well-being; (b) epistemology, specifically, the choice of research strategies for the empirical study of these concepts; and (c) practical philosophy, particularly the goals and strategies adopted when conducting therapy or undertaking counseling interventions. Because of this philosophical divide, adherents of the two perspectives may best be advised to pursue separately their shared desire to understand and promote human potentials and well-being.

Philosophical Papers: Advanced Search

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Search tips: Search terms are case-insensitive; Common words are ignored; By default only articles containing all terms in the query are returned (i.e., AND is implied); Combine multiple words with OR to find articles containing either term; e.g., education OR research; Use parentheses to create more complex queries; e.g., ...

The digital divide: philosophical reflection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dedyulina Marina Anatolevna

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The problem of digital divide itself is interesting for philosophical reflection as it lies at the crossroads of interests of social and political philosophy, philosophy of technology and epistemology, and these are just some of them. Due to the constant development of information technologies and the introduction of new technologies the digital divide is a dynamic problem. The main aim of this work is to analyse the conceptual and descriptive aspects of the problem of the digital divide, to get a more complete picture of the phenomenon. The digital divide is a complex problem that has social, political, cultural and ethical aspects.

The Role of Historical-Philosophical Controversies in Teaching Sciences: The Debate between Biot and Ampere

Science.gov (United States)

Braga, Marco; Guerra, Andreia; Reis, Jose Claudio

2012-01-01

This paper evaluates the viability of using controversies in teaching. An educational project has been elaborated in which some historical-philosophical clashes were introduced into the classical syllabus of physics. The historical-philosophical controversy dealt with here, took place between the French physicists Biot and Ampere in the 19th…

The experience of freedom in decisions - Questioning philosophical beliefs in favor of psychological determinants.

Science.gov (United States)

Lau, Stephan; Hiemisch, Anette; Baumeister, Roy F

2015-05-01

Six experiments tested two competing models of subjective freedom during decision-making. The process model is mainly based on philosophical conceptions of free will and assumes that features of the process of choosing affect subjective feelings of freedom. In contrast, the outcome model predicts that subjective freedom is due to positive outcomes that can be expected or are achieved by a decision. Results heavily favored the outcome model over the process model. For example, participants felt freer when choosing between two equally good than two equally bad options. Process features including number of options, complexity of decision, uncertainty, having the option to defer the decision, conflict among reasons, and investing high effort in choosing generally had no or even negative effects on subjective freedom. In contrast, participants reported high freedom with good outcomes and low freedom with bad outcomes, and ease of deciding increased subjective freedom, consistent with the outcome model. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Structure and unity. Trancendence-philosophical interpretation of quantum physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lambrecht, Juergen

2013-01-01

Since their beginnings at the begin of the 20th century quantum physics in the ontological and epistemological interpretation of their results is facing persistent difficulties, which could not be satisfactorily solved to this day. Some quantum phenomena are beyond of both our everyday understanding of the world and the classical-physical picture of the world, which is essentially based on the mechanics of Isaac Newton. They exceed our imagination and seem at least partly contradict logical and space-time laws. Transcendence-philosophical thinking, which exhibits a close structural relation to the logics of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and to the philosophical systems analysis, provides a set of methodological instruments, which can help to avoid some problems of quantum-theoretical interpretation, which are in striking contrast to the mathematically consistent formulation of quantum theory. This is paradigmatically shown by selected main themes of the quantum-theoretical discussion.

Philosophical and cultural perspectives on acoustics in Vedic Hinduism

Science.gov (United States)

Prasad, M. G.

2004-05-01

Acoustics plays a very important multi-faceted role in Vedic Hinduism. Vedas, that is an infinitely large collection of chants (mantras) in ancient Sanskrit language, form the foundational literature of Vedic Hinduism. The Vedic chants have specific acoustical qualities and intonations. The Vedic literature describes the various aspects of acoustics, namely, philosophical, spiritual, and cultural. The use of sounds from conch-shell, bells, cymbal in addition to the Vedic chants in rituals shows the spiritual aspects. Vedic literature discusses the role of sound in the philosophical understanding of our world. Music, both vocal and instrumental, plays an important role in the cultural aspects of Vedic Hinduism. It can be seen that certain musical instruments such as ``mridangam,'' a percussion drum, reflect scientific principles underlying in their design. This paper presents an overview of the various important and interesting roles of acoustics in Vedic Hinduism.

The Dialogue of Heidegger with Pre-Socratic Philosophers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio M. Martín Morillas

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1898-1976 attempted to outline in his second philosophy a hermeneutics of the thought of some philosophers (Anaximander, Parmenides and Heracleitus prior to the metaphysical development of Western thought. In several of his second work’s writings, Heidegger delimits, examines and reinterprets certain primitive Greek notions, which were especially appropriate for the jump from the «first beginning» of philosophy in Greece to the «other beginning» (not a metaphysical one of a «thinking of being» (Seinsdenken as «appropriating event» (Er-eignis. They are the pre-Socratic notions of Chreón (necessity, Lógos (thought-word, Móira (fate, Alétheia (truth y Ph?sis (nature-reality. Within the context of his long ontological research on the «essencing of being» (Seinswesen, Heidegger offers a reading in terms of an overcoming (Überwindung of metaphysical thought in general, understood as onto-theo-logy and marked by its «forgetfulness of being».

8th International Workshop on Non-Monotonic Reasoning

CERN Document Server

Truszczynski, Mirek

2000-01-01

The papers gathered in this collection were presented at the 8th International Workshop on Nonmonotonic Reasoning, NMR2000. The series was started by John McCarthy in 1978. The first international NMR workshop was held at Mohonk Mountain House, New Paltz, New York in June, 1984, and was organized by Ray Reiter and Bonnie Webber. In the last 10 years the area of nonmonotonic reasoning has seen a number of important developments. Significant theoretical advances were made in the understanding of general abstract principles underlying nonmonotonicity. Key results on the expressibility and computational complexity of nonmonotonic logics were established. The role of nonmonotonic reasoning in belief revision, abduction, reasoning about action, planing and uncertainty was further clarified. Several successful NMR systems were built and used in applications such as planning, scheduling, logic programming and constraint satisfaction. The papers in the proceedings reflect these recent advances in the field. They are g...

Revisiting Mary Daly: Towards a quadripartite theological and philosophical paradigm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hannelie Wood

2015-06-01

Full Text Available I was a tenderfoot in feminist discourse when I started my research on patriarchy, feminism, and Mary Daly. In my thesis, one aspect I engaged was Daly’s battle with gender issues in Christian theology. From the beginning I was troubled by Mary Daly’s views on God, men, and women in her discourse on Christianity. Daly undoubtedly contributed to the discussion on gender issues in the Christian faith, but her focus on androcentrism and her interpretations of Scripture led her to abandon the Christian faith. Mary Daly has written extensively on patriarchy as it is found in religion – particularly in the Christian faith – and how it filters through society. In her critique of patriarchy she set her course to dismantle the facade of a patriarchal and misogynistic God as the root of patriarchy. Daly did not see any positive qualities of the Christian faith and completely rejected other interpretations of a God whose person embraces both male and female qualities. Against this background I will evaluate Daly’s post-Christian feminist theological and philosophical paradigm. I propose that Daly has a quadripartite theological and philosophical paradigm wherein there are four main players. The ‘Who is who’ in Daly’s quadripartite patriarchal theological and philosophical paradigm are the patriarchal male, the patriarchal female, the patriarchal God and the biophilic woman.

Scientific Reasoning and Argumentation: Advancing an Interdisciplinary Research Agenda in Education

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, Frank; Kollar, Ingo; Ufer, Stefan; Sodian, Beate; Hussmann, Heinrich; Pekrun, Reinhard; Neuhaus, Birgit; Dorner, Birgit; Pankofer, Sabine; Fischer, Martin; Strijbos, Jan-Willem; Heene, Moritz; Eberle, Julia

2014-01-01

Scientific reasoning and scientific argumentation are highly valued outcomes of K-12 and higher education. In this article, we first review main topics and key findings of three different strands of research, namely research on the development of scientific reasoning, research on scientific argumentation, and research on approaches to support…

Study of the scientific reasoning methods: Identifying the salient reasoning characteristics exhibited by engineers and scientists in an R&D environment

Science.gov (United States)

Kuhn, William F.

At the core of what it means to be a scientist or engineer is the ability to think rationally using scientific reasoning methods. Yet, typically if asked, scientist and engineers are hard press for a reply what that means. Some may argue that the meaning of scientific reasoning methods is a topic for the philosophers and psychologist, but this study believes and will prove that the answers lie with the scientists and engineers, for who really know the workings of the scientific reasoning thought process than they. This study will provide evidence to the aims: (a) determine the fundamental characteristics of cognitive reasoning methods exhibited by engineer/scientists working in R&D projects, (b) sample the engineer/scientist community to determine their views as to the importance, frequency, and ranking of each of characteristics towards benefiting their R&D projects, (c) make concluding remarks regarding any identified competency gaps in the exhibited or expected cognitive reasoning methods of engineer/scientists working on R&D projects. To drive these aims are the following three research questions. The first, what are the salient characteristics of cognitive reasoning methods exhibited by engineer/scientists in an R&D environment? The second, what do engineer/scientists consider to be the frequency and importance of the salient cognitive reasoning methods characteristics? And the third, to what extent, if at all, do patent holders and technical fellows differ with regard to their perceptions of the importance and frequency of the salient cognitive reasoning characteristics of engineer/scientists? The methodology and empirical approach utilized and described: (a) literature search, (b) Delphi technique composed of seven highly distinguish engineer/scientists, (c) survey instrument directed to distinguish Technical Fellowship, (d) data collection analysis. The results provide by Delphi Team answered the first research question. The collaborative effort validated

Prisoners' Right to Education: A Philosophical Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Vorhaus, John

2014-01-01

Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares: "Everyone has the right to education." This implies that the right to education and training applies to all persons, including all persons in prison. This position is considered here from a philosophical point of view and it will receive some support. Yet it is not obvious…

Higher education and general studies in Nigeria: A philosophical ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Higher education and general studies in Nigeria: A philosophical investigation. ... Mgbakoigba: Journal of African Studies ... national policy on education on tertiary or higher education reveals a startling chasm of gap between the goals of the policy through General Studies Programme and their expected actualizations.

Conjoined Twins: Philosophical Problems and Ethical Challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Savulescu, Julian; Persson, Ingmar

2016-02-01

We examine the philosophical and ethical issues associated with conjoined twins and their surgical separation. In cases in which there is an extensive sharing of organs, but nevertheless two distinguishable functioning brains, there are a number of philosophical and ethical challenges. This is because such conjoined twins: 1. give rise to puzzles concerning our identity, about whether we are identical to something psychological or biological; 2. force us to decide whether what matters from an ethical point of view is the biological life of our organisms or the existence of our consciousness or mind; 3. raise questions concerning when, if ever, it is morally acceptable to sacrifice one of us to save another; 4. force us to reflect on the conditions for ownership of organs and the justification of removal of organs for transplantation which causes the death of the donor; 5. raise questions about who should take decisions about life-risking treatments when this cannot be decided by patients themselves. We examine and suggest answers to these questions. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Inc. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

R. S. Peters: The Reasonableness of Ethics

Science.gov (United States)

Haynes, Felicity

2013-01-01

This article will begin by examining the extent to which R. S. Peters merited the charge of analytic philosopher. His background in social psychology allowed him to become more pragmatic and grounded in social conventions and ordinary language than the analytic philosophers associated with empiricism, and his gradual shift from requiring internal…

TOWARDS A PHILOSOPHICAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE LOGICS OF FORMAL INCONSISTENCY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

WALTER CARNIELLI

2015-01-01

Full Text Available AbstractIn this paper we present a philosophical motivation for the logics of formal inconsistency, a family of paraconsistent logics whose distinctive feature is that of having resources for expressing the notion of consistency within the object language in such a way that consistency may be logically independent of non-contradiction. We defend the view according to which logics of formal inconsistency may be interpreted as theories of logical consequence of an epistemological character. We also argue that in order to philosophically justify paraconsistency there is no need to endorse dialetheism, the thesis that there are true contradictions. Furthermore, we show that mbC, a logic of formal inconsistency based on classical logic, may be enhanced in order to express the basic ideas of an intuitive interpretation of contradictions as conflicting evidence.

AAAI Workshop on Nonmonotonic Reasoning

OpenAIRE

Etherington, David

1985-01-01

On October 17-19 1984 a workshop on non-monotonic reasoning was held at Mohonk Mountain House, outside New Paltz, New York. The workshop was organized by Raymond Reiter and Bonnie Webber, and was sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence.

María Zambrano: a woman, a republican and a philosopher in exile

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

PATRICIA PALOMAR GALDÓN

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The subject of this presentation is an attempt to understand the concept of exile in terms of the works of Spanish philosopher María Zambrano, a woman who left her country after the Spanish civil war and lived the life of an exile. This work focuses on the difficulties encountered by thinkers when they try to reflect on the experience of exile, and it aims to bring Zambrano’s thought on exile closer to her main philosophical concepts.

Philosophical skepticism not relativism is the problem with the Strong Programme in Science Studies and with Educational Constructivism

Science.gov (United States)

Papayannakos, Dimitris P.

2008-06-01

The structure of David’s Bloor argument for the Strong Programme (SP) in Science Studies is criticized from the philosophical perspective of anti-skeptical, scientific realism. The paper transforms the common criticism of SP—that the symmetry principle of SP implies an untenable form of cognitive relativism—into the clear philosophical issue of naturalism versus Platonism. It is also argued that the concrete patterns of SP’s interest-explanations and its sociological definition of knowledge involve philosophical skepticism. It is claimed, then, that the most problematic elements of SP reside primarily in philosophical skepticism. It is also claimed that this sort of criticism can be directed against other more radical, versions of constructivism in science and science education studies.

Socio-philosophical preconditions of formation of the concept of security in protosociology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. V. Kalashnikova

2016-08-01

The development of the theory of security is impossible without taking into account the foundations of social and philosophical heritage in this area, which is often out of sight of researchers. Socio-philosophical prerequisites of security concept creates the necessary conditions for the formation of general ideas about it as an objective reality, the study of which with the use of scientific and special methods of knowledge allows us to formulate the basic laws, scientific system of safety management principles that will ensure the safe existence of the person, the effective functioning of society and the state.

Designing A Space For Thoughtul Voices: Aligning The Ethos Of Zines With Youth-Driven Philosophical Inquiry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natalie M. FLETCHER

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This article strives to lay some necessary theoretical groundwork for justifying an alliance between zining and youth-driven “philosophical inquiry” (Lipman, 2004—two important practices that operate outside the mainstream yet can shed light on conventional (misunderstandings of youth by illustrating innovative ways of designing space for young voices to emerge and thrive in their educational experiences and beyond. By highlighting the shared ethos between zining and philosophical inquiry as practices that foster meaning-making, this article aims to emphasize their common participatory, do-it-yourself, experimental, politicizing and transformative features, while noting the challenges involved in extending them to the context of childhood. Further, it illustrates how aligning zining and philosophical inquiry can contribute to a re-envisioning of children by portraying them as capable cultural producers and social historians of their own discourse communities. Lastly, it explores issues of adult authority, suggesting conditions that may help to authenticate the philosophical use of zines with youth.

[Feelings as considered by preplatonic and contemporary philosophers--coincidence or influence?].

Science.gov (United States)

Zaborowski, Robert

2007-01-01

Feelings' role in ancient Greek conceptions up till now has not become clear. As far as the researchers of antiquity are interested in Aristotle's and Hellenistic philosophers, Plato's and his predecessors has not been analysed from this point of view yet. It is often connected with a fact that Preplatonic philosophy is so-called philosophy of physis, and/or its nature is exclusively rationalistic. Thanks to the analysis of three passages (Heraclitus fr. B 85, Parmenides fr. B 3 and Democritus fr. B 31), and multilevel interpretation of Plato's conception one can indicate--if focus one's attention on the elements concerning the affectivity--the similarities to contemporary philosophers' outlooks. Among others, they concern 1) Heraclitus (and Parmenides fr. B 1, 1) versus Hume, Pascal, Ribot, Brentano, Bergson, 2) Parmenides versus Descartes, 3) Democritus versus Ribot, 4) Plato versus Scheler and Hartmann. Such analyses and interpretations let conquer conventional thinking of the Greek emotionality issue, because on the one hand they reveal a kind of deformations and misconstructions in searches, and on the other show a current importance of ancient conceptions. In support of the statement it is worth reminding of the formulation emotional intelligence that recently has enjoyed great popularity. His origins can be found already in Greek philosophers' thought.

Révision de Jane Eyre comme métacommentaire philosophique dans les romans d’Anita Brookner Re-Vision of Jane Eyre as Philosophical Metacomment in the Novels of Anita Brookner

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eileen Williams-Wanquet

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Although none of Brookner’s twenty-three novels to date actually re-write Jane Eyre as hypotext, Brontë’s novel is part of the pervasive intertextuality of Brookner’s text, addressed here as a monolithic fiction. This omnipresent intertextuality, which is the key to understanding the whole œuvre, serves to define the moral codes followed by the heroine and to make a philosophical metacommentary on contemporary culture. Brookner’s characters read and comment on Jane Eyre, the heroine takes Jane as a role model of virtue and the masculine characters are divided into those who resemble Mr Rochester and those who belong to the same category as St John Rivers. But Brookner’s text is a re-vision of Brontë’s novel, as of other novels set in the tradition of the classic realist text and of romance, which have Cartesian rationalism and Christianity as philosophical underpinnings. Brookner reverses the poetic justice of Jane Eyre, which is re-contextualised to fit a new moral landscape in which God is dead as ultimate justification for virtuous conduct. Whereas Jane Eyre can ultimately be read as a “Victorian romance” which preaches reason in the name of social order, by replacing the traditional happy ending by an unhappy ending in which virtue is punished and by foregrounding the disastrous effects of suppressing passion in the name of reason or self in the name of the other, Brookner announces the end of a philosophical humanistic tradition in which the subject / object or self / other opposition gives rise to a host of binary oppositions, the notion of centre validating the dominance of one of the terms of the hierarchy.

[The anti-philosophical anthropology in the Hippocratic treatise De Vetere Medicina (On Ancient Medicine)].

Science.gov (United States)

Imai, Masahiro

2007-01-01

The Hippocratic treatise De Vetere Medicina (On Ancient Medicine) has been the focus of attention among classical scholars and historians of medicine. The author attacks in ch. 20 doctors and sophists who base their own medical theories and methods on philosophical anthropology taken from the contemporary natural philosophers. Many attempts have been made to elucidate, as opposed to their philosophical inquiry into human nature, the author's way of understanding it, which still remains unclear. I draw attention to the following points to make it clear that the conceptual framework of the author's medical anthropology is different from theirs. Their philosophical inquiry into human nature has its starting point in fundamental element(s), from which human beings were originally formed. The author focuses on human beings as existent in their present states, whose conditions and functions must be investigated through interrelations between them and their external factors, such as foods and drinks. A medical investigation into the interrelations will give us a scientific idea about human body, whose constituents are taken to be a large number of humors, reacting against some external factors and accordingly making us feel pain. This may presuppose that, in the author's medical anthropology, human body is conceptually demarcated as the physical or material aspect of human being, within which all physiological events depending on external factors and the humors take place. In their philosophical anthropology, however, human body doesn't seem to have been clearly conceptualized as such, because our experience of feeling pain should be judged to take place within the actions of the fundamental element(s), which must be supposed to constitute our cognitive self.

Philosophical Thinking and the Concept of Security in the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The paper seeks to unpack the essentially contested concept of security, exposing its deep philosophical bases, for a better understanding of the concept by theorists involved in its interrogation. Relying on analytic and reflectively interrogative methods of social inquiry, the study has two inter-related objectives. First ...

Technology, recommendation and design: on being a 'Paternalistic philosopher'

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wong, Pak-Hang

2013-01-01

Philosophers have talked to each other about moral issues concerning technology, but few of them have talked about issues of technology and the good life, and even fewer have talked about technology and the good life with the public in the form of recommendation. In effect, recommendations for

The enigma of energy: A philosophical inquiry

Science.gov (United States)

Todaro-Franceschi, Vidette

1998-06-01

A philosophical inquiry was undertaken to examine the enigma of energy in an attempt to clarify and further illuminate the basic ideas of energy. Beginning with the origin of the concept-Aristotle's conceptualization of energeia-and continuing through to the present day with an overview of the historical conceptual development of energy in Western science, an analysis and interpretation of the scientific and philosophic literature was performed. Literature regarding aspects of human sentience was also examined for underlying ideas of energy. And, finally, selected medical and nursing science theoretical frameworks were analyzed with the hope of further grasping the philosophical underpinnings related to the phenomenon of human energy. Certain ideas of energy became evident. Energy can be viewed as a process and this view works well within the physical science domain. When energy is viewed as a process it falls within the mechanistic tradition: things are viewed as particulate, and cause and effect related. However, energy can also be viewed as a phenomenon, a thing. As a phenomenon, energy is continually transforming and actualizing inherent potentials in a communal process. When energy is recognized as the sole phenomenon responsible for everything in existence, it becomes evident that all is essentially one. In addition, when energy is viewed in this manner it becomes increasingly difficult to deny the purposive character underlying all nature. It is argued that the mystery ultimately leads to something far beyond what we know exists. One of the intuitive feelings of this researcher was that there were at least two different ideas of energy in the sciences of medicine and nursing, which, while different, shared some common elements as well. An examination of Hippocrates', Nightingale's, Selye's, Levine's, and Rogers' ideas, as well as the basic tenets of alternative health care, revealed two distinct worldviews regarding human energy which are congruent with the

Explaining homosexuality: philosophical issues, and who cares anyhow?

Science.gov (United States)

Suppe, F

1994-01-01

Standard behavioral and biological attempts to explain the etiology of homosexuality are surveyed. These include genetic, physiological (e.g., hormonal), constitutional (e.g., wrong pubic hair configurations), childhood experience, parenting, and psychoanalytic accounts. These are criticized from a number of perspectives, including inadequate conceptualization of homosexuality and heterosexuality. The use of path analysis to assess etiological accounts is examined, with particular attention being paid to the Kinsey Institute's Sexual Preference efforts. Drawing from the sociology of science, recent philosophical work on the growth of scientific knowledge, and historical considerations, the legitimacy of homosexual etiology as a scientific research question is examined. It is argued that homosexual etiology is a degenerative research program. The research program's conceptual crudity with respect to sexual identity and sexual orientation precludes it from making any scientific contribution. Thus the claim that homosexual etiology is a legitimate scientific issue is plausible only against the background of a set of late Victorian normative assumptions about "normal love," some surrogate thereof, or a political agenda. Implications of the homosexuality etiology case study for more general philosophical treatments of explanation are considered briefly.

Ethics in the Light Of Wittgenstein | Mulhall | Philosophical Papers

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper examines a number of ways in which Wittgenstein's later philosophical method has been appropriated for moral philosophy. The work of Paul Johnston, Sabina Lovibond and Cora Diamond is discussed in relation to the following questions. Is there a sustainable distinction between ethics and meta-ethics (in the ...

Differentially Positioned Language Games: Ethnomathematics from a Philosophical Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Knijnik, Gelsa

2012-01-01

This paper discusses a new philosophical perspective for ethnomathematics which articulates Ludwig Wittgenstein's and Michel Foucault's theoretical notions. It is conceived as a theoretical toolbox which allows the analysis of, on the one hand, the mathematical language games of different forms of life and their family resemblances and, on the…

Lipman, Dewey, and Philosophical Inquiry in the Mathematics Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Kennedy, Nadia Stoyanova

2012-01-01

The paper discusses Matthew Lipman's approach to inquiry as shaped and fashioned by John Dewey's model of scientific inquiry. Although Lipman's program adopted the major aspects of Dewey's pedagogy, at least two characteristics of that program stand out as radically different--his use of relatively free-form philosophical discussions to teach…

Daring to Question: A Philosophical Critique of Community Music

Science.gov (United States)

Kertz-Welzel, Alexandra

2016-01-01

Community music is a successful concept in the world of music and music education. Based on ethnomusicological research, community music tries to implement the notion of music for all that transforms societies and people. While celebrating informal learning and the musical amateur, community music has never really been philosophically challenged…

Will Rhetoric Ever Become Reality? A Rejoinder to Larrinaga and Schaltegger

Science.gov (United States)

Wynder, Monte

2013-01-01

The position advanced in this Rejoinder is that philosophical arguments for social and environmental performance are important and should be incorporated in accounting education. Economic rationales are also useful and important, however, for at least two reasons. Economic justification is an important part of satisfying an organisation's…

The concept of wisdom in the Hebrew Bible � A comparative-philosophical analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacobus W. Gericke

2011-03-01

Full Text Available This article provides a brief comparative philosophical clarification of the concept of wisdom in the Hebrew Bible. Utilising the format of a presentation presented by Ryan (2008, four philosophical definitions of wisdom were compared with similar sentiments in ancient Israelite religion: (1 wisdom as epistemic humility, (2 wisdom as factual knowledge, (3 wisdom as useful knowledge, and (4 wisdom as successful living. Cumulatively the four criteria might approximate a functional list of individually necessary and jointly sufficient conditions for instantiating the property of being wise.

The Idea of a Highest Divine Principle — Founding Reason and Spirituality. A Necessary Concept of a Comparative Philosophy?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia Bickmann

2012-10-01

Full Text Available By reference to the Platonic, Aristotelian, and Neo-Platonic philosophical traditions (and then to German Idealism, including Husserl and Heidegger, I will indicate the way in which the concept of reason—on the one side—depends on the horizon of spirituality (by searching for the ultimate ground within us and the striving for the highest good; and inversely—how far the idea of the divine or our spiritual self may be deepened, understood and transmitted by reference to reason and rationality. But whereas philosophical analysis aims at the universal dimensions of spirituality or the divine (as in Plato's idea of the 'highest good', the Aristotelian 'Absolute substance', the 'Oneness of the One' (Plotinus and the Neo-Platonists or the Hegelian 'Absolute spirit',—Comparative Theology may preserve the dimension of spirituality or divinity in its individuality and specifity. Comparative Theology mediates between the universality of the philosophical discourse and the uniqueness of our individual experience (symbolized by a sacred person—such as Jesus, Brahman, Buddha or Mohammed by reflecting and analyzing our religious experiences and practices. Religion may lose its specificity by comparative conceptual analysis within the field of philosophy, but Comparative Theology may enhance the vital dimensions of the very same spiritual experience by placing them in a comparative perspective.

Biomedicine or Holistic Medicine for Treating Mentally Ill Patients? A Philosophical and Economical Analysis

OpenAIRE

Ventegodt, Søren; Kandel, Isack; Merrick, Joav

2007-01-01

Today we have two scientific medical traditions, two schools or treatment systems: holistic medicine and biomedicine. The two traditions are based on two very different philosophical positions: subjectivistic and objectivistic. The philosopher Buber taught us that you can say I-Thou or I-It, holding the other person as a subject or an object. These two fundamentally different attitudes seem to characterize the difference in world view and patient approach in the two schools, one coming from p...

A discourse on moderation as a philosophical concept | Airoboman ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This work is a contemporary attempt to revivify interest in the ancient philosophical concept of moderation. It attempts a conceptual analysis of the concept of moderation as virtue. It examined this concept hand in hand with sensual desire and holds that appetites and passions need not be eradicated completely, but instead, ...

Fritjof Capra’s holism and the structures of philosophical conceptualisation: The logosemantics of complexity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P.J. Visagie

1998-03-01

Full Text Available This article explores a field of study that I call logosemantics: the theory of conceptual structures that determine philosophical expressions of ultimate insight. The kind of structures that logosemantics postulates are described with reference to the holistic philosophy of Capra. In particular the conceptualisation of holistic complexity in relation to reductionistic simplicity is thematised. In the course of this analysis the logosemantic place of complexity in the conceptual structure of philosophically foundational expressions is identified, with reference not only to Capra, but also to various philosophical "languages" in the history of Western thought, from Greek metaphysics to systems philosophy and post-structuralism. Attention is also given to some Eastern philosophies. After a purely descriptive analysis of logosemantic form, the possibility of logosemantic criticism is considered. The relation of simplicity and complexity is reviewed again, and an alternative interpretation to the one seemingly favoured by Capra is suggested.

Gordon Baker, Wittgensteinian Philosophical Conceptions and Perspicuous Representation: the Possibility of Multidimensional Logical Descriptions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oskari Kuusela

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses Gordon Baker’s interpretation of the later Wittgenstein, in particular his interpretation of the notion of Wittgensteinian philosophical conceptions (Auffassungen and the notions of non-exclusivity, local incompatibility, non-additivity and global pluralism which Baker uses to characterize Wittgensteinian conceptions. On the basis of this discussion, and a critique of certain features of Baker’s interpretation of Wittgensteinian conceptions, I introduce the notion of a multidimensional logical description of language use, explaining how this notion, which Baker’s interpretation excludes, constitutes and important element of the later Wittgenstein’s philosophical method of clarification and perspicuous representation. I conclude by explaining how Baker’s problematic notions of local incompatibility and non-additivity, if they are seen in the light of Wittgenstein’s criticisms of certain views of the completeness of philosophical or logical accounts, nevertheless point in the right direction.

The Philosophical Practitioner and the Curriculum Space

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dredge, Dianne; Benckendorff, Pierre; Day, Michele

2014-01-01

the balance between higher order knowledge in liberal education and skills-based vocational education required by industry; and it builds upon the Philosophic Practitioner Education to conceptualise a curriculum space that is socially constructed, dynamic and flexible. The proposed framework incorporates......This chapter reviews contemporary debates about tourism and hospitality education to conceptualise a curriculum space framework that can be used to facilitate understanding and decision making. The chapter is conceptual and makes two key contributions: it draws together diverse discourses about...

Exposing Latent Information in Folksonomies for Reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-14

1.73 $.") http://www.w3.org/2006/07/SWD/ SKOS /reference/20081001/ Spiteri, L.F. (2007) "The structure and form of folksonomy tags: The road to the...Exposing Latent Information in Folksonomies for Reasoning January 14, 2010 Sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DOD...DATES COVERED (From - To! 4/14/2009-12/23/2009 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Exposing Latent Information in Folksonomies for Reasoning Sa. CONTRACT

Sixth-grade students' reasoning on the order relation of integers as influenced by prior experience: an inferentialist analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Schindler, Maike; Hußmann, Stephan; Nilsson, Per; Bakker, Arthur

2017-12-01

Negative numbers are among the first formalizations students encounter in their mathematics learning that clearly differ from out-of-school experiences. What has not sufficiently been addressed in previous research is the question of how students draw on their prior experiences when reasoning on negative numbers and how they infer from these experiences. This article presents results from an empirical study investigating sixth-grade students' reasoning and inferring from school-based and out-of-school experiences. In particular, it addresses the order relation, which deals with students' very first encounters with negative numbers. Here, students can reason in different ways, depending on the experiences they draw on. We study how students reason before a lesson series and how their reasoning is influenced through this lesson series where the number line and the context debts-and-assets are predominant. For grasping the reasoning's inferential and social nature and conducting in-depth analyses of two students' reasoning, we use an epistemological framework that is based on the philosophical theory of inferentialism. The results illustrate how the students infer their reasoning from out-of-school and from school-based experiences both before and after the lesson series. They reveal interesting phenomena not previously analyzed in the research on the order relation for integers.

The Philosophical Basis of Bioethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Horn, Peter

2015-09-01

In this article, I consider in what sense bioethics is philosophical. Philosophy includes both analysis and synthesis. Analysis focuses on central concepts in a domain, for example, informed consent, death, medical futility, and health. It is argued that analysis should avoid oversimplification. The synthesis or synoptic dimension prompts people to explain how their views have logical assumptions and implications. In addition to the conceptual elements are the evaluative and empirical dimensions. Among its functions, philosophy can be a form of prophylaxis--helping people avoid some commonly accepted questionable theories. Generally, recent philosophy has steered away from algorithms and deductivist approaches to ethical justification. In bioethics, philosophy works in partnership with a range of other disciplines, including pediatrics and neurology. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Priming analogical reasoning with false memories.

Science.gov (United States)

Howe, Mark L; Garner, Sarah R; Threadgold, Emma; Ball, Linden J

2015-08-01

Like true memories, false memories are capable of priming answers to insight-based problems. Recent research has attempted to extend this paradigm to more advanced problem-solving tasks, including those involving verbal analogical reasoning. However, these experiments are constrained inasmuch as problem solutions could be generated via spreading activation mechanisms (much like false memories themselves) rather than using complex reasoning processes. In three experiments we examined false memory priming of complex analogical reasoning tasks in the absence of simple semantic associations. In Experiment 1, we demonstrated the robustness of false memory priming in analogical reasoning when backward associative strength among the problem terms was eliminated. In Experiments 2a and 2b, we extended these findings by demonstrating priming on newly created homonym analogies that can only be solved by inhibiting semantic associations within the analogy. Overall, the findings of the present experiments provide evidence that the efficacy of false memory priming extends to complex analogical reasoning problems.

Philosophical Creationism: Thomas Aquinas’ Metaphysics of Creatio ex Nihilo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrzej Maryniarczyk

2016-03-01

Full Text Available All philosophers, beginning with the pre-Socratics, through Plato and Aristotle, and up to Thomas Aquinas, accepted as a certain that the world as a whole existed eternally. The foundation for the eternity of the world was the indestructible and eternal primal building material of the world, a material that existed in the form of primordial material elements (the Ionians, in the form of ideas (Plato, or in the form of matter, eternal motion, and the first heavens (Aristotle. The article outlines the main structure of the philosophical theory of creation ex nihilo developed by St. Thomas Aquinas and indebted to his metaphysical thought. It shows the wisdom-based and ratiocinative foundation of the rational cognition of reality—reality that comes from the personal creative act of God. It concludes that the perception that the beings called to existence by the personal act of God the Creator are intelligible is the ultimate rational justification for the fact that our human cognition, love, and spiritual creativity are rational.

Expanding Advanced Civilizations in the Universe

Science.gov (United States)

Gros, C.

The 1950 lunch-table remark by Enrico Fermi `Where is everybody' has started intensive scientific and philosophical discussions about what we call nowadays the `Fermi paradox': If there had been ever a single advanced civilization in the cosmological history of our galaxy, dedicated to expansion, it would have had plenty of time to colonize the entire galaxy via exponential growth. No evidence of present or past alien visits to earth are known to us, leading to the standard conclusion that no advanced expanding civilization has ever existed in the milky-way. This conclusion rest fundamentally on the ad-hoc assumption, that any alien civilizations dedicated to expansion at one time would remain dedicated to expansions forever. Considering our limited knowledge about alien civilizations we need however to relax this basic assumption. Here we show that a substantial and stable population of expanding advanced civilization might consequently exist in our galaxy.

A Study Concerning the Maimonides’ Viewpoint on the Role of Reason and The Law in Human’s perfection, on the Basis of Sadraei’s Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hojjat Ebrahim Najafabadi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Discussion on the reason and the law, and their functions and relationship in the theoretical and practical field, as well as their role in human understanding of the facts and directing the man in the course towards perfection, are issues that  have preoccupied theologians, Philosophers and mystics in centuries, and is still subject of review and reflection for many thinkers. Throughout the history of Islamic civilization and wisdom, in addition to Muslim scholars, among believers in other religions we encounter prominent and well-known philosophers  that alongside Muslim scholars, have tried to discuss and comment on these important issues; for example, Maimonides that was a prominent rabbi and sage in the sixth century AD, like the majority of sages regardes “human” as “rational soul” ,and considers the reason as the most important distinguishing factor of mankind that God has made human a gift of it. He believes that by benefitting from the reason and in the light of the commands of the Law of Moses (PBUH, everyone can achieve the highest degrees of perfection. Therefore, he suggests various levels for perfection that start from the low degree and end in point that prophets and saints have achieved. He emphasizes that other people as much as their attempt can travel through the grades of perfection and makes it clear  that just reaching the final stage, which includes knowledge of the facts, and especially the knowledge of God and his actions can bring true happiness for man. Also, according to his opinion the usage of reason and knowledge in arena of society causes social promotion and better interactions among people. Nevertheless, dispute of  his empathetic view about the place and ability of man qua man, unlike some group of mystics and philosophers, this Jewish thinker believes that among the creatures, some of them have their own purposes; so it is not correct to say that all of  them have created for human. Close to above

Philosophical, logical and scientific perspectives in engineering

CERN Document Server

Sen, Zekâi

2013-01-01

This book highlights and explains the significance of philosophical, logical, and scientific principles for engineering education/training and engineering works. In so doing, it aims to help to rectify the neglect of philosophy and logic in current education and training programs, which emphasize analytical and numerical methods at the expense of the innovative practical and creative abilities so important for engineering in the past. Individual chapters examine the relation of philosophy, logic, and science to engineering, drawing attention to, for example, the significance of ethics, the rel

How cool is Nietzsche – an aid to remove the fear of great philosophers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Ester

2011-06-01

Full Text Available The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900 is far more accessible than many of his contemporaries. He has a tremendous sense of humour, plays with words and expressions,and he is not scared of attacking other philosophers like Hegel and Schopenhauer. Nietzsche’s use of figures is very significant thanks to the variations of these figures. The result of his style is a sort of inclusiveness towards the reader. Nietzsche seduces the reader to become a member of the select group of chosen thinkers. His central work “Thus spoke Zarathustra”, shows this strategy of conquering the reader or listener in a clear way. Nietzsche’s courage to ask other philosophers or “Geisteswissenschaftler” what their essence is can encourage us to ask essential questions. However, Nietzsche’s central value of life is too vague to be acceptable and caused a lot of political confusion during the previous century.

Culture of National Philosophical Communities: the Project Dedicated to the Research of Modern Ukrainian Philosophical Traditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lidiya Bogataya

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The article introduces a new Ukrainian research project related to the preparation of a collective monograph. This monograph will highlight the activities of modern Ukrainian philosophical communities. Such communities in their totality constitute a modern national philosophical culture and its study belongs to the category of macro-humanitarian research. The basis for a holistic observation of a culture is, on the one hand, digital technologies that enable technically to take into account practically all the studies that are carried out in a particular field in a certain period of time. On the other hand, new methodological developments are emerging that allow us to quickly process large text arrays. An example of such methodological innovations can be considered the study of American-Italian literary critic Franco Moretti. Moretti examines the opportunities that arise when using “distant reading.” The article emphasizes that the main advantage of “distant reading” is the possibility of taking into account the whole body of texts, and not only its canonical kernel. Introduces the idea of «compression reading» as a special kind of “rapid reading”, which allows you to get the most general idea of the text based on the analysis of the title of the text and its annotation. The development of compression reading technologies along with distant reading technologies will allow efficient and efficient processing of large array of texts. The expediency of actualization of the whole textual array formed in this or that humanitarian field of research is associated with the development of a new ethic. This ethic is the ethic of collective labor. A new understanding of the collective is considered, which is possible only with careful consideration of any manifestation of the individual

Heuristic Biases in Mathematical Reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

Inglis, Matthew; Simpson, Adrian

2005-01-01

In this paper we briefly describe the dual process account of reasoning, and explain the role of heuristic biases in human thought. Concentrating on the so-called matching bias effect, we describe a piece of research that indicates a correlation between success at advanced level mathematics and an ability to override innate and misleading…

Husserl and Shestov: philosophical antipodes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katarzyna Szepieniec

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The paper contains a general characteristics of the relation between Lev Shestov’s philosophy of existence and transcendental phenomenology of Edmund Husserl. The analysis was largely inspired by Cezary Wodziński’s research on Shestov’s writings, including his book published in Polish Wiedza a zbawienie. Studium myśli Lwa Szestowa (1991. In 1931, inspired by Descartes’ Meditationes de prima philosophiae, Husserl began a total transformation of philosophy into a science absolutely founded, assumptionless and developed in the spirit of absolute self-responsibility. Thus, the idea of philosophy as an exact science and Descartes’ idea of a science absolutely founded became the aim. It resulted in a project of universal science which — according to Husserl — has been the aim of European philosophy from the beginning. Ultimately, this philosophy was to rebuild the whole model of European culture. Less than two years after the first edition of Die Krisis der europäischen Wissenchaften und die transzendentale Phänomenologie, Lev Shestov published his Athens and Jerusalem (1938 where he agrees with Husserl’s diagnosis that the whole European culture is in a stage of a deep crisis which goes to its very foundations. However, Shestov points at the radically different sources of that crisis. Paradoxically, a remarkable friendship connecting these two thinkers did not affect the similarity of their views. In fact, they are located at the opposite poles of the contemporary philosophical scene. The friendship of Shestov and Husserl was born in the atmosphere of an intense and uncompromising intellectual debate. Both thinkers are strongly convinced that the fate of European culture and European understanding what it is to be man are decided in the realm of philosophy. So, the philosophical projects they offer are two extremely critical visions of culture. At the same time they suggest a way the European culture should be thoroughly reformed

Philosophical analysis of virtualization educational space problems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. D. Kolomiets

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Categorical imperative of the new spatial organization of education through its integration in the media space is its virtualization. It is possible in principle, given that both spaces are characterized by adaptability, ease transfer from one semiotic system to another, mobility, functionality, flexibility, allowing for their continuous restructuring. On the philosophical and educational perspective, for us it is important to note that the «idea» of media education space sets the goal of education, understanding of the complex and multi­level organization of information relations of the educational process is a simple link between empirical concepts and ideas about education space as integrity within the information society. Virtual dimension issues of educational space formed within one of the major philosophical and educational issues ­ problems of socio­cultural nature of education as a mechanism of becoming human in man. Today feature virtual philosophical analysis is understanding not just a technical phenomenon, but as a space of human existence, and therefore its educational space. It is in this sense the philosophy of education is important to apply the methodology of media philosophy in the development problems of media education space as a space of life, self­development and self­knowledge of man. Crisis and negative phenomena in postmodern education is not the result of the process of formation of modern electronic media and virtual media space. However, this specific problem requires analysis of education is in the context of new technologies of mass communication. The spread of the crisis of education in terms of media reality should be seen as a crisis of a man who fell into the information system, which is the media model and simulated education and awareness of life. Education in terms of media consumerism acts as a social technology and media culture «escape from thinking.» The transition from education information and

The cosmology of the pre-Socratic Greek philosophers.

Science.gov (United States)

Theodossiou, E.; Manimanis, V. N.

The views of the ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosophers from Ionia opened new paths for the study of nature using human logic. Starting from the worship of the Earth as a goddess, they proceeded to examine its position in the Cosmos (Universe), proposing a spherical shape for our planet. They pioneered the unifying approach for the physical world, assuming one element as the basis for everything in the Universe (this was water for Thales, air for Anaximenes, infinity for Anaximander, fire for Heraclitus). The genesis and the decay of worlds succeed one another eternally. Anaximenes believed, like Anaximander, that our world was not the only one that existed. Heraclitus believed that, of the vast richness of the natural creation with its unpredictable changes, nothing remains stable and motionless. There is not constancy, but only an eternal flow, a perpetual motion. This is exactly what we accept today in quantum physics; the apparent stability and immobility is an illusion of our limited senses. According to Heraclitus, matter is constantly transformed. All the natural philosophers of Ionia distanced God the Creator from nature and history, keeping always a respect for the beliefs of their fellow people; most probably they, too, kept a form of God in an area of their minds, in his spiritual and moral dimension.

3. EI Ani Critique of Nkrumah's Philosophical Materialism pp1-30

African Journals Online (AJOL)

REGINALDS

pillars of Nkrumah's theory of emergentism (which he calls “philosophical materialism”), namely ... conversion, dialectical change, self motion of matter .... be verified, because the verification has to be carried out by someone who is outside the.

Grey Wisdom? : Philosophical Reflections on Conformity and Opposition between Generations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mulder, Ernst; Goor, van Roel

2006-01-01

Should 'new' generations act in conformity with, or in opposition to 'older' generations? This can be regarded as a central question in the philosophical study of education. This question has practical implications. Should it be our main concern to initiate children into our traditions, or should we

a critical analysis of some modern igbo philosophical and satirical

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Mrs NK

theory of innate ideas as held by rationalist philosophers. .... belief in the dignity and potentiality of the black race do not find expression only in his dramatic ..... The poet used the symbol of “osisi nwere uji” – a tree that has a hole, to describe.

Patient centred medicine: reason, emotion, and human spirit? Some philosophical reflections on being with patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, R G

2003-06-01

The ideal of patient centred medicine remains only partially realised. Within modern Western society, the highly individualistic culture and religious decline linked with medicine's reluctance to relinquish an outmoded form of scientific rationalism can act as reductive influences, stifling conceptual development. Some examples of the recent literature on communication skills in medicine are analysed to discern the underlying philosophy. A rationalist stance invites an examination of the possible nature of rationality. Another example accepts the need to accommodate the emotional and the unconscious. Issues of human suffering with an inherent spiritual dimension seem to remain excluded. The need to move beyond a duality of reason and emotion to embrace the existential and spiritual is suggested as a theoretical prerequisite for developing a more inclusive concept of patient centred medicine, which only then may be realised. Some brief examples are considered of the sort of notions and types of discourse that might effectively inform "teaching" of communication skills.

Comparison of Ontology Reasoners: Racer, Pellet, Fact++

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, T.; Li, W.; Yang, C.

2008-12-01

In this paper, we examine some key aspects of three of the most popular and effective Semantic reasoning engines that have been developed: Pellet, RACER, and Fact++. While these reasonably advanced reasoners share some notable similarities, it is ultimately the creativity and unique nature of these reasoning engines that have resulted in the successes of each of these reasoners. Of the numerous dissimilarities, the most obvious example might be that while Pellet is written in Java, RACER employs the Lisp programming language and Fact++ was developed using C++. From this and many other distinctions in the system architecture, we can understand the benefits of each reasoner and potentially discover certain properties that may contribute to development of an optimal reasoner in the future. The objective of this paper is to establish a solid comparison of the reasoning engines based on their system architectures, features, and overall performances in real world application. In the end, we expect to produce a valid conclusion about the advantages and problems in each reasoner. While there may not be a decisive first place among the three reasoners, the evaluation will also provide some answers as to which of these current reasoning tools will be most effective in common, practical situations.

Pynchon and Wittgenstein: ethics, relativism and philosophical methodology

OpenAIRE

Eve, Martin Paul

2014-01-01

This piece presents a tripartite analysis of the relationship between the philosophical works of Ludwig Wittgenstein and the novels of Thomas Pynchon. This is broadly structured around three schools of Wittgenstein scholarship identified by Guy Kahane et al. as the Orthodox Tractatus, the New Wittgenstein, and several strands of the Orthodox Investigations (Kahane et al. 4-14). Moving from the earliest affiliation that Pynchon stages between Wittgenstein and Weissman, the underlying theme lie...

C. F. v. Weizsaecker. Physicist, philosopher, visionary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goernitz, Thomas

2012-01-01

The 20th century with its political, social, and scientific aspects bundles itself in the life of Carl Friedrich v. Weizsaecker. As comprehensive thinker of the presence he led natural science, philosophy, and spirituality to a unity. In the public the grandson of last in Germany enobled minster and brother of the senior federal president achieved by his engagement for peace and disarmament a global effect. Competently and understandably his visionary and prospective physical ideas and his philosophical considerations are explained by his long standing coworker and close confident.

Biomedicine or Holistic Medicine for Treating Mentally Ill Patients? A Philosophical and Economical Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Søren Ventegodt

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Today we have two scientific medical traditions, two schools or treatment systems: holistic medicine and biomedicine. The two traditions are based on two very different philosophical positions: subjectivistic and objectivistic. The philosopher Buber taught us that you can say I-Thou or I-It, holding the other person as a subject or an object. These two fundamentally different attitudes seem to characterize the difference in world view and patient approach in the two schools, one coming from psychoanalysis and the old, holistic tradition of Hippocratic medicine. Holistic medicine during the last decade has developed its philosophical positions and is today an independent, medical system seemingly capable of curing mentally ill patients at the cost of a few thousand Euros with no side effects and with lasting value for the patient. The problem is that very few studies have tested the effect of holistic medicine on mentally ill patients. Another problem is that the effect of holistic medicine must be documented in a way that respects this school's philosophical integrity, allowing for subjective assessment of patient benefit and using the patient as his/her own control, as placebo control cannot be used in placebo-only treatment. As the existing data are strongly in favor of using holistic medicine, which seems to be safer, more efficient, and cheaper, it is recommended that clinical holistic medicine also be used as treatment for mental illness. More research and funding is needed to develop scientific holistic medicine.

Biomedicine or holistic medicine for treating mentally ill patients? A philosophical and economical analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ventegodt, Søren; Kandel, Isack; Merrick, Joav

2007-12-18

Today we have two scientific medical traditions, two schools or treatment systems: holistic medicine and biomedicine. The two traditions are based on two very different philosophical positions: subjectivistic and objectivistic. The philosopher Buber taught us that you can say I-Thou or I-It, holding the other person as a subject or an object. These two fundamentally different attitudes seem to characterize the difference in world view and patient approach in the two schools, one coming from psychoanalysis and the old, holistic tradition of Hippocratic medicine. Holistic medicine during the last decade has developed its philosophical positions and is today an independent, medical system seemingly capable of curing mentally ill patients at the cost of a few thousand Euros with no side effects and with lasting value for the patient. The problem is that very few studies have tested the effect of holistic medicine on mentally ill patients. Another problem is that the effect of holistic medicine must be documented in a way that respects this school's philosophical integrity, allowing for subjective assessment of patient benefit and using the patient as his/her own control, as placebo control cannot be used in placebo-only treatment. As the existing data are strongly in favor of using holistic medicine, which seems to be safer, more efficient, and cheaper, it is recommended that clinical holistic medicine also be used as treatment for mental illness. More research and funding is needed to develop scientific holistic medicine.

The Humanistic Psychology-Positive Psychology Divide: Contrasts in Philosophical Foundations

Science.gov (United States)

Waterman, Alan S.

2013-01-01

The relationship between the fields of humanistic and positive psychology has been marked by continued tension and ambivalence. This tension can be traced to extensive differences in the philosophical grounding characterizing the two perspectives within psychology. These differences exist with respect to (a) ontology, including the ways in which…

Contesting the African Public Sphere: A Philosophical Re-imaging of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... Crow is to situate them within broader analytical frameworks. By adopting the basic methods of philosophical inquiry – exposition, critical analysis and reconstruction – the issues are lifted from the domain of fiction to the space of systematized knowledge directed at presenting a comprehensive notion of the African public ...

Use of Information Science Techniques by a Philosopher at Large.

Science.gov (United States)

Cremmins, Ed; Trachtman, Marji

This paper recounts the use of the information science techniques of subject indexing and annotation in the extensive writings and publications of the philosopher Mortimer J. Adler. A content analysis of Adler's "intellectual autobiography" is described, Adler's efforts as an indexer are reviewed, and some of Adler's thoughts on the…

Reasoning by analogy: rational foundation of natural analogue studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petit, J.-C.

1992-01-01

Long-term extrapolations concerning the safety of a nuclear waste repository cannot be satisfactorily made on the sole basis of short-term laboratory investigations. Most nuclear countries have hence developed an approach relying on the following research directions: 1. laboratory experiments; 2. in situ testing; 3. modeling; and 4. natural analogues, which are the only means by which very slow mechanisms can be identified and by which long-term predictions of models can be tested for pertinence (if not truly validated). Although the field of natural analogues has grown very rapidly in recent years, receiving support from varied specialists and institutions involved in radioactive waste disposal, there is not yet a full consensus on their actual usefulness. More problematic is the criticism sometimes made that analogical reasoning is not ''true science'' and that information retrieved from the study of natural analogues will always remain questionable. The present paper gives some clues about the exact status of reasoning by analogy, compared to more ''scientific'' ways of deriving information from investigated systems. It is not a thorough discussion of this very complex, and by far too philosophical issue but we hope, at least, to present to readers of papers devoted to natural analogue studies arguments showing that this approach has some sound foundation. (author)

The relevance of philosophical hermeneutics in qualitative research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicholas Procter

1996-12-01

Full Text Available Within a framework informed by the rhetoric of contemporary ethnography, philosophical hermeneutics, and nursing scholarship, this article focuses on the way data could be interpreted in qualitative health research. Opsomming Binne 'n raamwerk, omvorm deur die retoriek van kontemporere etnografie; filosofiese hermeneutiek en verpleegkundige vakkunde, fokus hierdie artikel op die wyse waarop data binne kwalitatiewe gesondheidsnavorsing, geinterpreteer kan word. *Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text.

Effect of Religious Belief on Informal Reasoning about Biotechnology Issues

Science.gov (United States)

Pope, Timothy; Dawson, Vaille; Koul, Rekha

2017-01-01

The advances of modern biotechnology provide teachers with a number of opportunities to explore socioscientific issues, and in doing so to enhance students' reasoning skills. Although some attempt has been made to understand cultural differences in students' informal reasoning across international and regional boundaries, there is limited research…

Retrocausal Effects as a Consequence of Quantum Mechanics Refined to Accommodate the Principle of Sufficient Reason

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stapp, Henry P.

2011-05-10

The principle of sufficient reason asserts that anything that happens does so for a reason: no definite state of affairs can come into being unless there is a sufficient reason why that particular thing should happen. This principle is usually attributed to Leibniz, although the first recorded Western philosopher to use it was Anaximander of Miletus. The demand that nature be rational, in the sense that it be compatible with the principle of sufficient reason, conflicts with a basic feature of contemporary orthodox physical theory, namely the notion that nature's response to the probing action of an observer is determined by pure chance, and hence on the basis of absolutely no reason at all. This appeal to pure chance can be deemed to have no rational fundamental place in reason-based Western science. It is argued here, on the basis of the other basic principles of quantum physics, that in a world that conforms to the principle of sufficient reason, the usual quantum statistical rules will naturally emerge at the pragmatic level, in cases where the reason behind nature's choice of response is unknown, but that the usual statistics can become biased in an empirically manifest way when the reason for the choice is empirically identifiable. It is shown here that if the statistical laws of quantum mechanics were to be biased in this way then the basically forward-in-time unfolding of empirical reality described by orthodox quantum mechanics would generate the appearances of backward-time-effects of the kind that have been reported in the scientific literature.

Retrocausal Effects as a Consequence of Quantum Mechanics Refined to Accommodate the Principle of Sufficient Reason

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stapp, Henry P.

2011-01-01

The principle of sufficient reason asserts that anything that happens does so for a reason: no definite state of affairs can come into being unless there is a sufficient reason why that particular thing should happen. This principle is usually attributed to Leibniz, although the first recorded Western philosopher to use it was Anaximander of Miletus. The demand that nature be rational, in the sense that it be compatible with the principle of sufficient reason, conflicts with a basic feature of contemporary orthodox physical theory, namely the notion that nature's response to the probing action of an observer is determined by pure chance, and hence on the basis of absolutely no reason at all. This appeal to pure chance can be deemed to have no rational fundamental place in reason-based Western science. It is argued here, on the basis of the other basic principles of quantum physics, that in a world that conforms to the principle of sufficient reason, the usual quantum statistical rules will naturally emerge at the pragmatic level, in cases where the reason behind nature's choice of response is unknown, but that the usual statistics can become biased in an empirically manifest way when the reason for the choice is empirically identifiable. It is shown here that if the statistical laws of quantum mechanics were to be biased in this way then the basically forward-in-time unfolding of empirical reality described by orthodox quantum mechanics would generate the appearances of backward-time-effects of the kind that have been reported in the scientific literature.

Philosophical problems of modern physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mittelstaedt, P.

1976-01-01

This book treats the philosophical problems that have arisen in connection with the theories of relativity and quantum theory. The book begins with a discussion of the problems that were raised by the special theory of relativity; questions relating to the structure of space and time, especially the problem of the temporal sequence of events. Subsequently problems are considered that were raised by the general theory of relativity, and which question the validity and applicability of Euclidean geometry to empirical space. The physical results, and in particular the theory of the measuring process in quantum mechanics, are considered. Criticism of the concept of substance and of the law of causality in quantum theory are discussed. Finally, the validity and applicability of classical logic for the domain of quantum-theoretical propositions are dealt with. (B.R.H.)

Approximate reasoning in decision analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gupta, M M; Sanchez, E

1982-01-01

The volume aims to incorporate the recent advances in both theory and applications. It contains 44 articles by 74 contributors from 17 different countries. The topics considered include: membership functions; composite fuzzy relations; fuzzy logic and inference; classifications and similarity measures; expert systems and medical diagnosis; psychological measurements and human behaviour; approximate reasoning and decision analysis; and fuzzy clustering algorithms.

Aufklärung and Eternal Peace: Problems of Kantian Philosophical Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vladimir-Adrian Costea

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to critically analyze the major projects of Kantian philosophy in relation to the ideal of Aufklärung and the establishment of Eternal Peace. The main objective of the research is to analyze the originality and boundaries of Kantian projects both at the level of the practical (moral rationale and at the level of the relations of power and interests of the state actors on the international political scene. We aim to identify the boundaries of the Kantian approach in order to establish Eternal Peace, applying the logic of the power relations existing on the international political scene. The secondary objective of the research is to identify how the individual and the state are projected into Kantian philosophy. The original aspect of this article is the decoding of Kantian critical thinking in relation to the project of Aufklärung and the establishment of Eternal Peace. The main result of the research is that the tension of reasoning applied by philosopher Immanuel Kant regarding the definition of human nature and the relationship of forces on the international political scene. Applying the practical (moral rationale used to define the individual’s inclination to get out of the minority state (by knowledge becomes problematic at the time of the Kantian approach to justify the (political necessity of Eternal Peace.

A Philosophical Wish List for Research in Music Information Retrieval

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grund, Cynthia M.

2006-01-01

Within a framework provided by the traditional trio consisting of metaphysics, epistemology and ethics, a first stab is made at a wish list for MIR-research from a philosophical point of view. Since the tools of MIR are equipped to study language and its use from a purely sonic standpoint, MIR re...

Oral tradition in African philosophical discourse: a critique of Sophie ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper seeks to discuss the place of oral tradition in African philosophical discourse. In doing this, the nature of oral tradition as well as its forms is critically discussed taking into cognizance Sophie Oluwole‟s scholarship on oral tradition in African philosophy. Oluwole defends the thesis that oral tradition almost ...

THE ROLE OF PHILOSOPHICAL MINDSET IN EDUCATIONAL INNOVATION ADOPTION

OpenAIRE

Ahmad Talebian; Shahram Salavati

2016-01-01

The adoption of innovation is a cultural and managerial challenge for the modern educational systems. In the educational systems, managers/principals play significant roles to a successful innovation adoption. This paper evaluates the relation between philosophical mindset (comprehensiveness, introspection and flexibility) and motivation of educational innovation adoption. Through a survey, the data were gathered from 213 secondary school principals. Testing of hypotheses, using Spearman corr...

READING LITERATURE, TAKING PHILOSOPHICAL IDEAS, AND OBTAINING CHARACTERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siti Maisaroh

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This study aims to describe the philosophical ideas and characters containing in trilogy of 'RaraMendut's' novel by YB Mangunwijaya. The method used is the knowledge archeology of Michel Foucault. The research proves that the philosophical ideas as follows: 1 wife's faithfulness contains characters of wife’s strong determination and true faithfulness sense; 2 The women seizing fate's  contains the character of high struggle spirit;3 women as a glory’s symbol contains character of self-actualization ability; 4 women and a country's defense contains a character of clever to take on the role / responsive; 5 women and their benefits contains the character as a source of love and life spirit; 6 women as good mothers contains the character of conciliatory, reassuring, joyful, sincere, and full of love; 7 the anxiety to old age contains the character of religious and strong self-awareness; 8 the glory contains the character of the glory of battle with themselves; 9 the child's nature contains the character of belief in the skill/ creativity of children and believe to God the Evolver; And 10 the essence of wisdom and usefulness of life contain  the characters of uniting the scattered things, receiving and embracing sincerely things bad/ broken/ waste, understanding and forgiving, voice sincerity and excitement, not easy to complain.

Journeying from the philosophical contemplation of constructivism to the methodological pragmatics of health services research.

Science.gov (United States)

Appleton, Jane V; King, Lindy

2002-12-01

This paper presents our journey through a contemplation of the philosophical origins of constructivism to consider its role as an active methodology in qualitative research. The first part of the paper summarizes the philosophical background of constructivism and the five principles underpinning this paradigm as described through the works of Guba and Lincoln. The philosophical roots of constructivism are then compared with postpositivism, critical realism and participatory inquiry. The paper moves on to consider their common methodological steps, before examining how the constructivist research strategy is being adopted and adapted within the pragmatics of health service research. Recent studies will be drawn upon to illustrate the use of constructivist methodology. Questions are raised about the role of philosophy and the extent to which it should or does underpin or influence qualitative research strategies. We believe that if researchers gain an understanding of both philosophy and methodology a richer and more robust study is likely to result.

Intellectual and Cognitive Effects of Plotinus on the Mystic Philosophical Opinions of Attar and Rumi

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roja Pourfaraj

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The effects and synergies of intellectual and cultural influence are the features undeniable in various nations and civilizations from ancient times until the present day. Schools of thought, ideas and theories of philosophical and mystical in human life, have seen many changes and passed through a development and evolution. Plotinus, one of the philosophers of ancient Greece and founder of the Neo-Platonic philosophy, expressed intellectual and philosophical statements about the existence of human and relationship between man and the Creator of man and the universe. In the culture of Persian mysticism, the thinkers were inspired by the ideas of this Greek scholar and created many works. In this regard, Attar and Rumi as two figures in Islamic-Iranian mysticism affected by the ideas of this outstanding thinker. In this article, we are to distinguish similarities and differences of these three thoughtful ideas with each other in eleven categories: celibacy of spirit, spiritualism, world-aversion and so on.

Aesthetics of the Human Image in Life and Iconography of the Ancient Philosophers in Art

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dorofeev, Daniil

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The acoustic and visual understanding of man is a hotly debated issue in contemporary culture. I found it important therefore to look at certain historical, cultural, aesthetical, philosophical and anthropological peculiarities of human image in Antiquity as reflected in the arts. The following aspects deserve special attention: the visualization of sense and values; the interaction of “ethos” (character and “soma” (body; the influence of the plastic images on the narrative ones; a normative typology of man; the significance of visual and acoustic perception. In this context, I studied ancient physiognomic; Aristotelian understanding of the acoustic and plastic arts; genesis, evolution and significance of the sculptural portrait image of man and the image of philosopher in Antiquity. I also pay attention to some methodological aspects of the study. As a result, there emerges an integral image of philosopher, which allows looking at the Greek culture from a fresh angle.

"Meaning is Use" and Wittgenstein’s Treatment of Philosophical Problems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefan Giesewetter

2014-06-01

Full Text Available What is the relation between later Wittgenstein’s method of dissolving philosophical problems by reminding us of how we would actually use words, and his famous statement that “meaning is use” in Investigations §43? The idea is widespread among readers of Wittgenstein that a close relation obtains between the two. This paper addresses a specific type of answer to this question: answers which have drawn on remarks of Wittgenstein’s where he explicitly establishes a connection between this method and certain misconceptions about meaning – remarks such as Investigations §117. The paper will discuss answers which have advanced the following claim: Since it is places such as §43 which play a main role in debunking misconceptions of this kind, Wittgenstein’s statement that “meaning is use” must be taken as directly related to the method of asking for the use of words. Drawing on so-called “therapeutic” readings of Wittgenstein, what I intend to show is that this seemingly straightforward answer fails to fully accommodate the fact that §43 is itself a reminder of how we would actually use a word. The paper sets out to show how truly acknowledging this forces us to rethink the relation between “meaning is use” and this method of Wittgenstein’s.

The intersection between Descriptivism and Meliorism in reasoning research: further proposals in support of 'soft normativism'.

Science.gov (United States)

Stupple, Edward J N; Ball, Linden J

2014-01-01

The rationality paradox centers on the observation that people are highly intelligent, yet show evidence of errors and biases in their thinking when measured against normative standards. Elqayam and Evans' (2011) reject normative standards in the psychological study of thinking, reasoning and deciding in favor of a 'value-free' descriptive approach to studying high-level cognition. In reviewing Elqayam and Evans' (2011) position, we defend an alternative to descriptivism in the form of 'soft normativism,' which allows for normative evaluations alongside the pursuit of descriptive research goals. We propose that normative theories have considerable value provided that researchers: (1) are alert to the philosophical quagmire of strong relativism; (2) are mindful of the biases that can arise from utilizing normative benchmarks; and (3) engage in a focused analysis of the processing approach adopted by individual reasoners. We address the controversial 'is-ought' inference in this context and appeal to a 'bridging solution' to this contested inference that is based on the concept of 'informal reflective equilibrium.' Furthermore, we draw on Elqayam and Evans' (2011) recognition of a role for normative benchmarks in research programs that are devised to enhance reasoning performance and we argue that such Meliorist research programs have a valuable reciprocal relationship with descriptivist accounts of reasoning. In sum, we believe that descriptions of reasoning processes are fundamentally enriched by evaluations of reasoning quality, and argue that if such standards are discarded altogether then our explanations and descriptions of reasoning processes are severely undermined.

Ecstasy – a way to religious knowledge: some remarks to Paul Tillich as theologian and philosopher

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tage Kurtén

1982-05-01

Full Text Available Much of the research examines ecstasy from the point of view of psychology, history or sociology, but a philosophical reflection on ecstasy is missing. Here, some points in the philosophical and theological thinking of Paul Tillich are presented. He can be looked upon as a religious thinker. In this case he is of interest for religiology mainly as historical material. Then he can be seen as a Christian who in modern time has tried theoretically to reflect upon his own religious faith and the place of ecstasy in that faith. He can also be regarded as a philosopher of religion, who tries to reflect universally and critically upon the phenomena of religion and ecstasy. In that case his main contribution to religiology is to help religiology to reflect upon the question of what possible meaning the concept of "religious ecstasy" can have in a modern scientific context. When looking at Tillich's ideas, it is very important to remember that he strives to be both a philosopher of religion and a Christian theologian, and that these two roles are different, according to Tillich. In any analysis of his thinking it is therefore necessary to discriminate between Tillich's philosophical and his theological statement. For Tillich's treatment of revelation and knowledge of revelation there are three central concepts: mystery, ecstasy and miracle. Every revelation has a subjective and an objective side, and they are both necessary for the revelation. Someone must be seized by the manifestation of the mystery and something must occur through which the mystery of revelation seizes someone, says Tillich. The subjective side is called ecstasy, the objective miracle.

On the Educational Value of Philosophical Ethics for Teacher Education: The Practice of Ethical Inquiry as Liberal Education

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Christopher

2013-01-01

This article explores the extent to which and ways in which philosophical ethics can make an educational contribution to teachers' understanding of their practice as a distinct moral domain. Philosophical ethics is argued to facilitate two necessary features of teachers' moral understanding of their practice. First, it promotes awareness of the…

The Talmudic philosophical conception of business ethics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Maune

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The Talmud is considered to be one of the cornerstones of Judaism, Jewish business ethics and Jewish wisdom for business success. The Talmud has been the guide and main nerve center of the Jewish people. This article examines the philosophical conception of business ethics from a Talmudic perspective. The article used a conceptual approach as well as a review of related literature. It was found out that the road of the Talmud led not to philosophy and theology but to ethics, law and justice; it pursued not the abstract but the concrete. This article has therefore business and academic value.

Radiation protection: Some philosophical and ethical issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sia, Santiago; Chhem, Rethy K.; Czarwinski, Renate

2010-01-01

The ethical issue of justification has become an urgent issue in radiology. There has been a shift in emphasis in the discussion from what has been regarded as a rather paternalistic attitude of practitioners to one that stresses the rights of the individual patient. This article comments on this current move on the part of the profession by offering certain relevant philosophical considerations. Using a medical scenario as the context to comment on this shift, it discusses important and fundamental issues, such as the autonomy and the rights of the patient in addition to the question of consent on the patient's part.

THE RECEPTION OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITION AS A WAY OF FORMING AMERICAN PERSONALISM: THE POST-SECULAR VIEW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. O. Patsan

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of the article is to define the way of expounding the authenticity of the experience of self-cognition opened by the personalist philosophy of the USA on the horizon of receiving the philosophical tradition established by B. P. Bowne to lay the epistemological foundations for overcoming the impersonalist modes of thought in the philosophical-humanitarian space of North America. At the emergent stage of the historical-philosophical process defined as its post-secular period the topicality of studying American personalism in the indicated aspect of its genesis is predetermined by developing the personalistic inspiration of post-non-classical philosophy into renewing the interaction of philosophical and theological discourses initial for the personalist thought and intended to reunite rationality with its spiritual sources in the course of reflecting the personal mode of being realized on the ground of theism. The further reflection of the meta-ontology of the personhood uncovered by the Scripture and expounded by patristic trinitology presupposes the retrospection of the trajectory of moving towards the Supernatural Revelation paved in the late nineteenth and the first half of twentieth centuries by the attempts of personalizing the ontology, in particular by the “personalized” ontological constructions made in the USA. The methodology of the research is based upon realizing the meta-ontological character of the problem of the personality revealed in the midst of the twentieth century by the prominent Orthodox theologian and philosopher-personalist V. N. Lossky. Taking into consideration the Biblical background of American personalism and its genetic connections with the denominations of Protestantism developed on the North American continent and the branching Protestant theology, the author focuses on both proper philosophical and theological reference points of this personalistic current of philosophizing in the historical-philosophical

A Mythological, Philosophical and Astronomical approach of our solar system

Science.gov (United States)

Drivas, Sotirios; Kastanidou, Sofia

2016-04-01

Teaching Geography in the first Class of Gymnasium - secondary education we will focus in Solar System: Astronomical approach: Students will look and find the astronomical data of the planets, they will make comparisons between the sizes of their radius, they will find the distance from the Sun, they will search the relative motion, they will calculate the gravity on each planet, etc. Mythological approach: We will search the names and meanings of the planets based on Greek mythological origin. Philosophical approach: Regarding the philosophical approach of the "solar system" we will look and find: • Why planets are called so? • How did planets get their names? • What are the periods of Greek astronomy? • What were the astronomical instruments of ancient Greeks and who did built them? • What were the Greek philosophers and astronomers? When did they live and what did they discover? • Which method did Eratosthenes of Cyrene apply about 206B.C. to serve a real measurement of the earth's radius? • What was the relationship between science and religion in ancient Greece? Literature approach: At the end of the program students will write their opinion in subject "Having a friend from another planet" based on the book of Antoine de Saint - Exupéry "The little prince". Law approach: A jurist working in Secondary Education will visits our school and engages students in the Space Law. Artistic approach: Students will create their own posters of our planetary system. The best posters will be posted on the school bulletin board to display their work. Visit: Students and teachers will visit the Observatory of Larissa where they will see how observatory works and talk with scientists about their job. They will look through telescopes and observe the sun.

How to make the best decision. Philosophical aspects of clinical decision theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Wulff, H R

1981-01-01

An attempt is made to discuss some of the philosophical implications of the use of decision-analytic techniques. The probabilities of a decision analysis are subjective measures of belief, and it is concluded that clinicians base their subjective beliefs on both recorded observations and theoretical knowledge. The clinical decision maker also evaluates the consequences of his actions, and therefore clinical decision theory transcends medical science. A number of different schools of normative ethics are mentioned to illustrate the complexity of everyday decision making. The philosophical terminology is useful for the analysis of clinical problems, and it is argued that clinical decision making has both a teleological and a deontological component. The results of decision-analytic studies depend on such factors as the wealth of the country, the organization of the health service, and cultural norms.

Philosophical counselling: Towards a ‘new approach’ in pastoral care and counselling?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel J. Louw

2011-05-01

Full Text Available The practice of pastoral counselling was dominated for several decades by the Rogerian techniques of empathetic listening. To a large extent, healing was predominately related to the realm of feelings (the affective dimension. Rational Emotive Therapy opened up other avenues. However, besides Logotherapy, the realm of meaning and its connectedness to world views and ideas (Plato: forms remained uncharted in many theories for pastoral care and counselling. In this article it was argued that philosophical counselling opens up new avenues for pastoral care and counselling. Philosophical counselling probes into the realm of different schemata of interpretation. A model for the making of a spiritual existential analysis was proposed in order to detect the impact of the Christian spiritual schema of interpretation on the dynamics of existential networking.

A Philosophical Topography of Place and Non-Place: Lithuanian Context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Odeta Žukauskienė

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Drawing on French anthropologist Marc Augé and his seminal book Non-Places (1995 the author pays attention to the transformation of contemporary urban landscapes. In thinking trough the dialectic of place and non-place, this paper aims to account for the apparent sense of placelesness in our cultural landscapes and in increasingly globalised world. If we want to ask fundamental questions about what has happened to our urban landscape and to the spirit of cities during the last decades then the concepts of place and non-place help us to describe the actual changes. Besides, Augé’s work gives us the methodological tools to address philosophical questions about the nature of supermodernity and the relationship between modernity and postmodernity moving toward new conditions of globality. This article will attempt to apply anthropological and philosophical concepts of place and space to the context of Lithuania, comparing the ways of spreading of non-places (non-lieu in the Soviet modernity and contemporary global, hyper-visual and liquid cultural landscape.

Fighting corruption – a philosophical approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schalk W. Vorster

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Corruption has reached astounding proportions in South Africa. The purpose of this article is to contribute to philosophical approaches aimed at combating corruption. In considering punishment for acts of corruption the most common approach is based on the philosophical theory of consequentialism, which allows only consideration of the consequences of corrupt acts. Ideally, cognisance should be taken of the norms in question, especially those norms demanding the judicious execution of obligations. It was, however, found that the Kantian categorical imperative presupposes an ideal rational society. The imperative has to be ‘softened’ by also allowing for enquiry about the corruptor’s personal circumstances, in the light of Christ’s love commandment. This article highlights the most prominent attributes of two important philosophical theories applicable to the study of corruption, namely utilitarianism (a variant of consequentialism and deontology. It is argued that qualified deontological and utilitistic approaches hold the best promise to curb corruption in the long run. The conclusion is that the state will urgently have to attend to the social context by revitalising programmes of ‘social renewal’, based on effective application of the law, the provision of adequate education and the eradication of poverty. There is also an urgent need for the ‘moral renewal’ of the entire population, focused on Christian values, operationalised within the context of the South Africa of today. Herein lies a massive task for the church. Korrupsie het verstommende afmetings in Suid-Afrika aangeneem. Die doel van hierdie artikel is om ’n bydrae te lewer tot filosofiese benaderings wat daarop gemik is om korrupsie te bestry. By die oorweging van strawwe vir korrupte dade word die mees algemene benadering gebaseer op die teorie van konsekwensialisme, wat slegs die gevolge van korrupte dade oorweeg. Ideaal-gesproke behoort ook kennis geneem te word

From vagueness in medical thought to the foundations of fuzzy reasoning in medical diagnosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Seising, Rudolf

2006-11-01

This article delineates a relatively unknown path in the history of medical philosophy and medical diagnosis. It is concerned with the phenomenon of vagueness in the physician's "style of thinking" and with the use of fuzzy sets, systems, and relations with a view to create a model of such reasoning when physicians make a diagnosis. It represents specific features of medical ways of thinking that were mentioned by the Polish physician and philosopher Ludwik Fleck in 1926. The paper links Lotfi Zadeh's work on system theory before the age of fuzzy sets with system-theory concepts in medical philosophy that were introduced by the philosopher Mario Bunge, and with the fuzzy-theoretical analysis of the notions of health, illness, and disease by the Iranian-German physician and philosopher Kazem Sadegh-Zadeh. Some proposals to apply fuzzy sets in medicine were based on a suggestion made by Zadeh: symptoms and diseases are fuzzy in nature and fuzzy sets are feasible to represent these entity classes of medical knowledge. Yet other attempts to use fuzzy sets in medicine were self-contained. The use of this approach contributed to medical decision-making and the development of computer-assisted diagnosis in medicine. With regard to medical philosophy, decision-making, and diagnosis; the framework of fuzzy sets, systems, and relations is very useful to deal with the absence of sharp boundaries of the sets of symptoms, diagnoses, and phenomena of diseases. The foundations of reasoning and computer assistance in medicine were the result of a rapid accumulation of data from medical research. This explosion of knowledge in medicine gave rise to the speculation that computers could be used for the medical diagnosis. Medicine became, to a certain extent, a quantitative science. In the second half of the 20th century medical knowledge started to be stored in computer systems. To assist physicians in medical decision-making and patient care, medical expert systems using the theory

Arboriculture in clinical ethics: using philosophical critical appraisal to clear away underbrush in ethical analysis and argument.

Science.gov (United States)

McCullough, Laurence B

2011-02-01

This paper introduces the 2011 number of the Journal on Clinical Ethics. Philosophical critical appraisal is essential for the success of philosophical analysis and argument in clinical ethics. To clear away conceptual underbrush, papers in this Clinical Ethics number of the Journal address genetic engineering, conscience-based objections to forms of health care, placebos, and preventing exploitation of patients to be recruited to become research subjects.

Reasons for late seeking of dental care among dental patients ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Reasons for delayed reporting for oral care were negligence (53.5%); poor dental services or visited but not treated (19.4%); financial reasons (14.8%); and dental fear (12.3%). Seventy seven percent of respondents who had toothache due to advanced dental caries were aware that the aching tooth was decayed, of which, ...

Cinema-debate like a space of philosophical approach: Towards the possibility of a teaching methodology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muriel Vázquez

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses the relationship between philosophy and film from the film production linkages with the debate surrounding from its interpretation by a group of subjects. It explores the ways of understanding the philosophical activity to suggest a conception of it as a conscious and deliberate exercise of a way of looking that results in an individual and collective transformation. The conditions of possibility to think about a teaching methodology cinema - debate based on certain guidelines aimed at guiding a conversational exchange in both philosophical dialogue arise.

Care of the spirit that transcends religious, ideological and philosophical boundaries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hegarty Meg

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Spirit and spirituality are human universals, which are understood, expressed and lived out in different ways. Care of the spirit is an integral component of holistic palliative care, respecting the individual spirituality and experience of the person for whom we care. Whatever be the religious, ideological or philosophical background of the patient and the clinician/carer, certain skills, knowledge and attitudes are essential in providing effective care of the spirit. Rather than using a single perspective, such as either a secular or a religious approach, to meet the needs of all in a pluralistic setting, effective, patient-centered spiritual care draws on the (often shared wisdoms of the great spiritual and philosophical traditions and of the evolving understandings of these, science and art. Carers need both an awareness of their own spirituality and spiritual practice and an ability to ′bracket′ this in focusing on the needs and care of the patient′s spirit.

To be Excellent Society: Comparative Analysis between Western and Muslim Philosophers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Humaidi Hum AS

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The western philosophers like Karl Marx believe that society is ontologically understood in terms of physical dimension only while the Muslim philosophers such as al-Fārābī, Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī, Ibn Khaldūn and Murtaḍā Muṭahharī argue that it consists of physical and metaphysical or spiritual aspects. The structure of a society along with its development and orientation can be seen and explained by its physical and metaphysical aspects. Moreover, the perfection of a society is not only based on the fulfilment of its physical needs but also on the establishment of intellectual and spiritual needs. This article aims to discuss society through Islamic philosophy’s perspective with the elaboration of social science, the reality of a society, the structure of an ideal society and its development and orientation. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20414/ujis.v20i1.823

A Study of Pre-Service Teachers Use of Representations in Their Proportional Reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Kim

2017-01-01

Proportional reasoning is important to the field of mathematics education because it lies at the crossroads of additive reasoning in the elementary school and multiplicative reasoning needed for more advanced mathematics. This research reports on the representations used by pre-service teachers (PSTs) as they responded to tasks involving…

Retrocausal Effects As A Consequence of Orthodox Quantum Mechanics Refined To Accommodate The Principle Of Sufficient Reason

Science.gov (United States)

Stapp, Henry P.

2011-11-01

The principle of sufficient reason asserts that anything that happens does so for a reason: no definite state of affairs can come into being unless there is a sufficient reason why that particular thing should happen. This principle is usually attributed to Leibniz, although the first recorded Western philosopher to use it was Anaximander of Miletus. The demand that nature be rational, in the sense that it be compatible with the principle of sufficient reason, conflicts with a basic feature of contemporary orthodox physical theory, namely the notion that nature's response to the probing action of an observer is determined by pure chance, and hence on the basis of absolutely no reason at all. This appeal to pure chance can be deemed to have no rational fundamental place in reason-based Western science. It is argued here, on the basis of the other basic principles of quantum physics, that in a world that conforms to the principle of sufficient reason, the usual quantum statistical rules will naturally emerge at the pragmatic level, in cases where the reason behind nature's choice of response is unknown, but that the usual statistics can become biased in an empirically manifest way when the reason for the choice is empirically identifiable. It is shown here that if the statistical laws of quantum mechanics were to be biased in this way then the basically forward-in-time unfolding of empirical reality described by orthodox quantum mechanics would generate the appearances of backward-time-effects of the kind that have been reported in the scientific literature.

Philosophical conception of music in O. Losev’s works

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olena O. Karpenko

2016-02-01

Full Text Available O. Losev’s philosophical views should be analized as a whole system, which is his conception of philosophy of music. Going beyond strictly musicological dimension of theory and philosophical dogmatism, O. Losev attempted to grasp the multidimensionality of music and sound, considering various aspects of life of music itself as symbolic expression to the doctrine of the harmony of spheres. The basis of music as an art of time is becoming, which is a constant rise and fall together, so music is a continuous turnover, on the one hand, and the tension and explosiveness on the other. Being in the music is a synthesis of unity and conscious and unconscious, cognitive and objective. Music is a unique phenomenon, an ideal substance, it is time in which there is a number that permeates the universe and human existence. The research reveals that syncretic nature of understanding the phenomenon of music in the work of O. Losev was defined by temporal ontology of music. Music opposition has directed her mind as she seeks to fill the intentionality of consciousness. O. Losev tried to find the true form of dialectics, understanding where music reached to the level of the music thinking.

The role of reason in Kant's moral philosophy | Wolemonwu | Sophia ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

One of the fundamental preoccupations of philosophers of diverse proclivities has been the quest to define the standard upon which morality could be judged. Whereas some philosophers, like the utilitarians, take a consequentialist stance in defining moral standard, where they believe that morality is based on the greatest ...

Philosophical Anthropology, Ethics and Political Philosophy in an Age of Impending Catastrophe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arran Gare

2009-11-01

Full Text Available  In this paper it is argued that philosophical anthropology is central to ethics and politics. The denial of this has facilitated the triumph of debased notions of humans developed by Hobbes which has facilitated the enslavement of people to the logic of the global market, a logic which is now destroying the ecological conditions for civilization and most life on Earth. Reviving the classical understanding of the central place of philosophical anthropology to ethics and politics, the early work of Hegel and Marx is explicated, defended and further developed by interpreting this through developments in post-mechanistic science. Overcoming the opposition between the sciences and the humanities, it is suggested that the conception of humans developed in this way can orient people in their struggle for the liberty to avert a global ecological catastrophe.

Johannes Kinker. A Kantian Philosopher Teaching Dutch Language, Literature and Eloquence.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wal, van der M.J.

2018-01-01

The cosmopolitan citizen and Kantian philosopher Johannes Kinker, who had played a leading role in many institutions and societies of the northern Netherlands, held the newly founded Dutch chair in Liège for more than a decade. The present chapter addresses the questions why he accepted this post,

Moral Reasoning in College Students: Effects of Two General Education Curricula.

Science.gov (United States)

Mustapha, Sherry L.; Seybert, Jeffrey A.

1991-01-01

Two different approaches to the undergraduate general education and liberal arts curricula were studied in terms of moral reasoning for 188 college students. Results reveal more advanced levels of moral reasoning for students in the integrated curriculum organized around decision making than for those in the traditional curriculum. (SLD)

A few philosophical ruminations on the human condition and choosing to live well

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Blake E. Hestir

2008-06-01

Full Text Available The notion that life is meaningful through choosing to live well has historically received substantive attention in various philosophical circles, notably the ancient Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and more recently several of the existentialists. In some respects, the idea of choosing to live well is a “thematization” of two widely-recognized, independent components of a meaningful life: happiness and authenticity. I develop this notion of choosing to live well by exploring, developing, and relating these conceptions of happiness and authenticity. By appealing to a very basic account of human nature that has found favor among a great number of people, I show how happiness and authenticity complement each other as conditions for the possibility of living meaningfully.

THE HOUSES OF PHILOSOPHICAL SCHOOLS IN ATHENS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Afonasin, Eugene

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In the first and second parts of the article we look at two archaeological sites excavated in the center of Athens, a building, located on the Southern slope of the Acropolis and now buried under the Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, known as House Chi, or the “House of Proclus”, and Houses A, B and C at the slope of the Areopagus overlooking the Athenian Agora. We outline and illustrate the basic finds and reexamine the principal arguments in favor of identifying these constructions as the houses of philosophical schools and, in the third part of the paper, offer a remark on religious practice in the Neoplatonic school.

Philosophical and methodological aspects of the Schroedinger paradox

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Juha, L.; Krajca, R.; Smatera, M.

1989-01-01

Methodological aspects of the foundations of quantum theory are dealt with in relation to the quantum description of macroscopic systems, biological in particular. Attention is paid to the philosophical content of the problems of 1) the logical status of the reduction postulate in quantum mechanics, and 2) the paradox of Schroedinger's cat, whose physical solution has not yet been attained. The problem of the quantum description of complex macroscopic systems is also treated, as is Herbert Froehlich's important concept of the excitation of dominant modes in biological systems. (author). 61 refs

REASON for Europa

Science.gov (United States)

Moussessian, A.; Blankenship, D. D.; Plaut, J. J.; Patterson, G. W.; Gim, Y.; Schroeder, D. M.; Soderlund, K. M.; Grima, C.; Young, D. A.; Chapin, E.

2015-12-01

The science goal of the Europa multiple flyby mission is to "explore Europa to investigate its habitability". One of the primary instruments selected for the scientific payload is a multi-frequency, multi-channel ice penetrating radar system. This "Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface (REASON)" would revolutionize our understanding of Europa's ice shell by providing the first direct measurements of its surface character and subsurface structure. REASON addresses key questions regarding Europa's habitability, including the existence of any liquid water, through the innovative use of radar sounding, altimetry, reflectometry, and plasma/particles analyses. These investigations require a dual-frequency radar (HF and VHF frequencies) instrument with concurrent shallow and deep sounding that is designed for performance robustness in the challenging environment of Europa. The flyby-centric mission configuration is an opportunity to collect and transmit minimally processed data back to Earth and exploit advanced processing approaches developed for terrestrial airborne data sets. The observation and characterization of subsurface features beneath Europa's chaotic surface require discriminating abundant surface clutter from a relatively weak subsurface signal. Finally, the mission plan also includes using REASON as a nadir altimeter capable of measuring tides to test ice shell and ocean hypotheses as well as characterizing roughness across the surface statistically to identify potential follow-on landing sites. We will present a variety of measurement concepts for addressing these challenges.

Philosophical foundations of human rights

CERN Document Server

Liao, Matthew S

2015-01-01

What makes something a human right? What is the relationship between the moral foundations of human rights and human rights law? What are the difficulties of appealing to human rights? This book offers the first comprehensive survey of current thinking on the philosophical foundations of human rights. Divided into four parts, this book focusses firstly on the moral grounds of human rights, for example in our dignity, agency, interests or needs. 'Secondly, it looks at the implications that different moral perspectives on human rights bear for human rights law and politics. Thirdly, it discusses specific and topical human rights including freedom of expression and religion, security, health and more controversial rights such as a human right to subsistence. The final part discusses nuanced critical and reformative views on human rights from feminist, Kantian and relativist perspectives among others. The essays represent new and canonical research by leading scholars in the field. Each part is comprised of a set...

Legal Culture as the Determinant of Value Orientations in Youth in the Society of the Transition Period (Philosophical Analysis)

Science.gov (United States)

Kulzhanova, Zhuldizay T.; Kulzhanova, Gulbaram T.

2016-01-01

This research is devoted to the philosophical analysis of legal culture as a determinant of value orientations in the transition period society. The purpose of the study is to discover the essence and specificity of legal culture as a determinant of value orientations in a transition society from the philosophical perspective. In accordance with…

[Conceptual and methodological issues involved in the research field of diagnostic reasoning].

Science.gov (United States)

Di Persia, Francisco N

2016-05-01

The psychopathological field is crossed by dilemmas that put in question its methodological, conceptual and philosophical filiations. Since the early works of Ey and Jaspers until recent work of Berrios it has been in question the position psychopathology has in the field of medicine in general, and in the field of psychiatry in particular, especially if it should follow the principles of natural science or if it has an autonomous position between them. This debate has led to two opposing positions facing two different models of psychopathology: the biomedical model and the socio-constructionist model. In this work it is proposed to review the scope and difficulties involved in each model following two central axes: diagnostic reasoning and mental illness conceptual problem. Later, as a synthesis of the analysis proposed they are identified central concepts of each model that could allow the development of a hybrid model in psychopathology; in between them the comprehensive framework employed in symptoms recognition and the social component that characterizes it are highlighted. As a conclusion, these concepts are proposed as central aspects for conceptual and methodological clarification of the research field of diagnostic reasoning in psychopathology.

Intergenerational Justice: How Reasonable Man Discounts Climate Damage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marc D. Davidson

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Moral philosophers and economists have evaluated the intergenerational problem of climate change by applying the whole gamut of theories on distributive justice. In this article, however, it is argued that intergenerational justice cannot imply the application of moral ideal theories to future generations. The formal principle of equality simply requires us to treat like cases as like. If intergenerational justice is to have any meaning, it would require future generations to receive the same treatment under the law and the same treatment from the authorities, as far as cases are like. In the context of climate change, the reasonable man standard from tort law is of particular relevance. There is no justification to handle pollution across generational boundaries according to norms which differ from the (international laws for handling pollution across national borders. It is argued that this implies, for example, that a zero social rate of time preference should be used in cost-benefit analysis of climate policy: climate damage experienced by future generations should be discounted neither for their higher expected wealth, nor purely for their being remote.

THE MORAL FOUNDATION OF THE RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL CURRENTS OF RUSSIAN COSMISM (THE TEACHINGS OF V. SOLOVYOV

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. A. Nekrasova

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In this article, the authors considered the religious - philosophical component of Russian cosmism, its moral Foundation. A brief philosophical analysis of the problem of good and evil in the teaching of one of the representatives of religious branches cosmism - Solovyov. At the core of his philosophy is the concept of unity, Solovyov considers the question of the relationship of the two worlds - the ideal and the real. The author's vision approaches to the study of the divine in the world, the problem of the third start - Sofia as the transformation of the world and the person, which occurs under the influence of cosmic, Divine energies is given. Man acts as the connecting link between God, the cosmos, man. He is an active creative artist of the highest will of God. Based on the Solovyov shows the role and place of religious-philosophical movement in the Russian cosmism.

Ensino de filosofia para não-filósofos. Filosofia de ofício ou ofício de professor: os limites do filosofar Philosophy teaching for non philosophers. Philosophy of occupation or teacher's occupation: the limits of philosophizing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodrigo Pelloso Gelamo

2007-04-01

Full Text Available O presente artigo é o resultado de um pensamento filosófico acerca do ensino de filosofia. O principal objetivo de nossa pesquisa foi entender o que faz o filósofo quando seu ofício é ser professor de filosofia. Para tal, utilizamos como referencial teórico-metodológico o pensamento de Foucault para pensar o filósofo-professor de filosofia em seu lócus - ensino de filosofia - enquanto uma ontologia do presente, e o pensamento de Deleuze e Guattari para indicar uma possível maneira de entender esse ofício de professor que acreditamos se dar em um fazer artístico, filosófico e científico.This paper is the result of a philosophical thinking about philosophy teaching. The main goal of our research was to understand what philosophers do when their occupation is to teach philosophy. To do so, we used Foucault's thoughts as a theoretic-methodological framework to think the philosophers-teachers of philosophy in their locus - philosophy teaching - as an ontology of the present, and Deleuze and Guattari's thoughts to point out a possible way to understand this teacher's occupation, which, we believe, happens in an artistic, philosophical and scientific manner.

Philosophical Foundations for Democracy: A Ukrainian Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuriy Myelkov

2009-07-01

Full Text Available The article intends to conduct a philosophical analysis of democracy as it is presented by democratization processes in societies under globalization. Turbulent political life or contemporary Ukraine with its recent ‘revolution’ provides an excellent example of such a process. The authors demonstrate that the processes in question could be denoted as rather manipulation and political technologies than democratic transition. They argue that democracy can only be understood correctly as the self-organization of society composed of free and conscious human personalities. They show that personality as the subject of democracy, opposed to crowds led by contemporary demagogues, is the only possibility to achieve real changes for a better society.

Philosophical Presentation in Ptolemy’s Harmonics: The Timaeus as a Model for Organization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristian Tolsa

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Ptolemy’s self-representation as philosopher is conventional in the Almagest but not so in Harmonics, which emulates Plato’s Timaeus and makes philosophy the result  of understanding harmonics rather than the premise.

Social inequality: philosophical and sociological reflection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Sh. Victorov

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Social inequality is the phenomena that is hypothetically the base for first human communities genesis. Modern model for capitalist society as market relations form fails to satisfy the needs of society’s social development, and strongly requires to create new social knowledge structure and new approach for inequality sociology theory development. Our study conceptual logic comprises routine, philosophic and ideological reflexions analysis to create new social inequality definition in the context of new sociologic knowledge structure. Social inequality is the one of key problems in global sociology; the need is obvious to extract social inequality into separate discipline. Inequality sociology target is the decision of theoretical and practical problems in the formation of comprehensive knowledge about inequality phenomena in modern community, and in the development of common and specialized theoretical-methodological base for inequality study.

The Intersection between Descriptivism and Meliorism in Reasoning Research: Further Proposals in Support of ‘Soft Normativism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edward J. N. Stupple

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The rationality paradox centres on the observation that people are highly intelligent, yet show evidence of errors and biases in their thinking when measured against normative standards. Elqayam and Evans (e.g., 2011 reject normative standards in the psychological study of thinking, reasoning and deciding in favour of a ‘value-free’ descriptive approach to studying high-level cognition. In reviewing Elqayam and Evans’ position, we defend an alternative to descriptivism in the form of ‘soft normativism’, which allows for normative evaluations alongside the pursuit of descriptive research goals. We propose that normative theories have considerable value provided that researchers: (1 are alert to the philosophical quagmire of strong relativism; (2 are mindful of the biases that can arise from utilising normative benchmarks; and (3 engage in a focused analysis of the processing approach adopted by individual reasoners. We address the controversial ‘is–ought’ inference in this context and appeal to a ‘bridging solution’ to this contested inference that is based on the concept of ‘informal reflective equilibrium’. Furthermore, we draw on Elqayam and Evans’ recognition of a role for normative benchmarks in research programmes that are devised to enhance reasoning performance and we argue that such Meliorist research programmes have a valuable reciprocal relationship with descriptivist accounts of reasoning. In sum, we believe that descriptions of reasoning processes are fundamentally enriched by evaluations of reasoning quality, and argue that if such standards are discarded altogether then our explanations and descriptions of reasoning processes are severely undermined.

The intersection between Descriptivism and Meliorism in reasoning research: further proposals in support of ‘soft normativism’

Science.gov (United States)

Stupple, Edward J. N.; Ball, Linden J.

2014-01-01

The rationality paradox centers on the observation that people are highly intelligent, yet show evidence of errors and biases in their thinking when measured against normative standards. Elqayam and Evans’ (2011) reject normative standards in the psychological study of thinking, reasoning and deciding in favor of a ‘value-free’ descriptive approach to studying high-level cognition. In reviewing Elqayam and Evans’ (2011) position, we defend an alternative to descriptivism in the form of ‘soft normativism,’ which allows for normative evaluations alongside the pursuit of descriptive research goals. We propose that normative theories have considerable value provided that researchers: (1) are alert to the philosophical quagmire of strong relativism; (2) are mindful of the biases that can arise from utilizing normative benchmarks; and (3) engage in a focused analysis of the processing approach adopted by individual reasoners. We address the controversial ‘is–ought’ inference in this context and appeal to a ‘bridging solution’ to this contested inference that is based on the concept of ‘informal reflective equilibrium.’ Furthermore, we draw on Elqayam and Evans’ (2011) recognition of a role for normative benchmarks in research programs that are devised to enhance reasoning performance and we argue that such Meliorist research programs have a valuable reciprocal relationship with descriptivist accounts of reasoning. In sum, we believe that descriptions of reasoning processes are fundamentally enriched by evaluations of reasoning quality, and argue that if such standards are discarded altogether then our explanations and descriptions of reasoning processes are severely undermined. PMID:25414687

Can Artificial Intelligences Suffer from Mental Illness? A Philosophical Matter to Consider.

Science.gov (United States)

Ashrafian, Hutan

2017-04-01

The potential for artificial intelligences and robotics in achieving the capacity of consciousness, sentience and rationality offers the prospect that these agents have minds. If so, then there may be a potential for these minds to become dysfunctional, or for artificial intelligences and robots to suffer from mental illness. The existence of artificially intelligent psychopathology can be interpreted through the philosophical perspectives of mental illness. This offers new insights into what it means to have either robot or human mental disorders, but may also offer a platform on which to examine the mechanisms of biological or artificially intelligent psychiatric disease. The possibility of mental illnesses occurring in artificially intelligent individuals necessitates the consideration that at some level, they may have achieved a mental capability of consciousness, sentience and rationality such that they can subsequently become dysfunctional. The deeper philosophical understanding of these conditions in mankind and artificial intelligences might therefore offer reciprocal insights into mental health and mechanisms that may lead to the prevention of mental dysfunction.

Quantum theory and the flight from realism philosophical responses to quantum mechanics

CERN Document Server

Norris, Christopher

2002-01-01

This book is a critical introduction to the long-standing debate concerning the conceptual foundations of quantum mechanics and the problems it has posed for physicists and philosophers from Einstein to the present. Quantum theory has been a major infulence on postmodernism, and presents significant problems for realists. Keeping his own realist position in check, Christopher Norris subjects a wide range of key opponents and supporters of realism to a high and equal level of scrutiny. With a characteristic combination of rigour and intellectual generosity, he draws out the merits and weaknesses from opposing arguments. In a sequence of closely argued chapters, Norris examines the premises of orthodox quantum theory, as developed most influentially by Bohr and Heisenberg, and its impact on varous philosophical developments. These include the ideas developed by W.V Quine, Thomas Kuhn, Michael Dummett, Bas van Fraassen, and Hilary Puttnam. In each case, Norris argues, these thinkers have been influenced by the...

Application of plausible reasoning to AI-based control systems

Science.gov (United States)

Berenji, Hamid; Lum, Henry, Jr.

1987-01-01

Some current approaches to plausible reasoning in artificial intelligence are reviewed and discussed. Some of the most significant recent advances in plausible and approximate reasoning are examined. A synergism among the techniques of uncertainty management is advocated, and brief discussions on the certainty factor approach, probabilistic approach, Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence, possibility theory, linguistic variables, and fuzzy control are presented. Some extensions to these methods are described, and the applications of the methods are considered.

Hamlet - little known piece by Enriko Josif: Literary-theoretical, philosophical and musicological views

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marjanović Nataša

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Hamlet is well-known as the most famous tragedy written by William Shakespeare. This dramatic work has, throughout the centuries, lead numerous writers, poets, literary-critics and philosophers to think about universal issues of life, human nature, love, loyalty and friendship. Hamlet has not just been the subject of discussion from the point of view of the theory of literature and human psychology and philosophy, it has also directly inspired the creation of many artistic works. One of those works which forms the main subject-matter of this paper is the almost unknown music for Hamlet by Enriko Josif. Enriko Josif was an extraordinary figure, a versatile artist and thinker, almost a kind of philosopher. In his opinion and in accordance with his inner feeling, art was a matter of divine creation first of all. He admired those artists who dealt with difficult issues of life in their works of art and William Shakespeare was to him one of the most prominent among them. In general terms, we have highlighted certain general points about Josif’s views on an artist’s life and work and have presented our notions about his piece. Specifically, we have tried to point out personal views that Josif held about Hamlet, as well as the most important features of Josif’s music, which are broadly in accordance with the literary, ethical, philosophical and theological critical tradition surrounding this masterpiece.

Comparison of the Wise and Philosophical Ideas in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh and Nasser Khusraw’s Book of Poems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maliheh Zanalimahmodabadi

2017-04-01

Full Text Available History of Iran has deep links with Shahnameh and Persian literature. In fact, it is not possible to talk about Iran as a rich culture and disregard Persian literature and brilliant works of Persian literature. According to most scholars in the field of literature and culture, Iranians have been people of wisdom, thought, and philosophy. Ferdowsi and Nasser Khusraw hold a special place in this regard because we are faced with ethical, philosophical, and religious ideas in the works of both poets. Different effects of the Iranian Wisdom are presented in their poems; the effects include ethics, philosophy, logic, medicine, music, determinism and free will, fate, arithmetic and geometry, astronomy etc. Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh and Nasser Khusraw’s Book of Poems are sublime manifestation of ideological and philosophical ideas of Iranians. Apart from the similarities and differences, Ferdowsi and Nasser Khusraw’s poems represent praise of wisdom, God, and human freedom as basic elements in the ontology of Persian culture. Hence, in addition to understanding and explanation of Ferdowsi, Nasser Khusraw’s day and age, and the importance of these two poets in Iran's development of wisdom and philosophical thought, this research tries to describe their similarities and differences in ideological and philosophical subjects.

The Context-Dependency of the Experience of Auditory Succession and Prospects for Embodying Philosophical Models of Temporal Experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Kon

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Recent philosophical work on temporal experience offers generic models that are often assumed to apply to all sensory modalities. I show that the models serve as broad frameworks in which different aspects of cognitive science can be slotted and, thus, are beneficial to furthering research programs in embodied music cognition. Here I discuss a particular feature of temporal experience that plays a key role in such philosophical work: a distinction between the experience of succession and the mere succession of experiences. I question the presupposition that there is such an evident, clear distinction and suggest that, instead, how the distinction is drawn is context-dependent. After suggesting a way to modify the philosophical models of temporal experience to accommodate this context-dependency, I illustrate that these models can fruitfully incorporate features of research projects in embodied musical cognition. To do so I supplement a modified retentionalist model with aspects of recent work that links bodily movement with musical perception (Godøy, 2006; 2010a; Jensenius, Wanderley, Godøy, and Leman, 2010. The resulting model is shown to facilitate novel hypotheses, refine the notion of context-dependency and point towards means of extending the philosophical model and an existent research program.

ROLE OF MEGALOPOLISES IN SOCIO-PHILOSOPHICAL COMPREHENSION OF GLOBALIZATION PROCESS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nistarova Anna Aleksandrovna

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In her article the author tries to establish linkage between the events that took place at the turn of the 20th – 21st centuries and the aspiration of some countries for negating or limiting their jurisdiction with respect to international law due to the international bipolar system disintegration. It should be noted that the globalization, regionalization and glocalization processes are detected as new phenomenon that arouse as a result of international relations system evolution. The article reveals socio-philosophical content of globalization phenomenon in the nature of both spatial and civilization development of the modern world. The author highlights the necessity of theoretical basis generation so that to favour scientific discourse on the globalization issues in the light of new actors (megalopolises in the international relations system. Laying stress on the major cities as the international activity centers, the author emphasizes the requirement for comprehensive analysis of their involvement into the transformation processes. The intensification of local against global actors’ position is indicated by the author in the article. It points to the research of their social and political role as a new not yet generated investigation form within the bounds of philosophical science, and it favors preservation of peace integrity.

Is Mozi a utilitarian philosopher?

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Hao Changchi

2006-01-01

In this essay I argue that Mozi's philosophy is anything but utilitarianism by way of analysing four ethical theories.Utilitarianism is an ethics in which the moral subiect is an atomic individual human being,and its concern is how to fulfill the interests of the individual self and the social maiority.Confucian ethics is centered on the notion of the family and its basic question is that of priority in the relationship between the small self and the enlarged or collective self.Opposite to these two moral theories is Mozi's ethics:The interests that Mozi is primarily concerned with are not the interests of my individual self or my collective self,but the interests of the other.The fulfillment of the material needs of the other is my moral obligation.The arguments are centered on the three basic concepts,"the I,""the we,"and"me other."The significance Of Mozi's thought in modern or postmodern context lies in its striking resemblance to the philosophy of a contemporary western philosopher,Levinas.In both Mozi and Levinas,there is a suspension of utilitarianism.

A responsible agenda for applied linguistics: Confessions of a philosopher

OpenAIRE

Albert Weideman

2011-01-01

When we undertake academic, disciplinary work, we rely on philosophical starting points. Several straightforward illustrations of this can be found in the history of applied linguistics. It is evident from the history of our field that various historically influential approaches to our discipline base themselves upon different academic confessions. This paper examines the effects of basing our applied linguistic work on the idea that applied linguistics is a discipline concerned with design. ...

Between Religion and Science: Integrating Psychological and Philosophical Accounts of Explanatory Coexistence

Science.gov (United States)

Legare, Christine H.; Visala, Aku

2011-01-01

Examining the relationship between religion and science has until recently been considered a philosophical exercise and, as a consequence, theories of how natural and supernatural explanations are related tend to be highly abstract and operate at the level of ideal rationality rather than in the psychological reality of actual believers. Although…

Head and Heart: the Pauline Corpus and its Medical and Philosophical Backdrop

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tieleman, T.L.

2014-01-01

In this paper, I examine what exactly is implied by (deutero-)Pauline references to the head as well as the heart in well-known statements from the Graeco-Roman background, i.e. the brain versus heart controversy as it arose and developed among medical scientists and philosophers. Two key passages

The Context-Dependency of the Experience of Auditory Succession and Prospects for Embodying Philosophical Models of Temporal Experience

OpenAIRE

Maria Kon

2015-01-01

Recent philosophical work on temporal experience offers generic models that are often assumed to apply to all sensory modalities. I show that the models serve as broad frameworks in which different aspects of cognitive science can be slotted and, thus, are beneficial to furthering research programs in embodied music cognition. Here I discuss a particular feature of temporal experience that plays a key role in such philosophical work: a distinction between the experience of succession and the ...

A philosophical examination of Mead's pragmatist constructivism as a referent for adult science education

Science.gov (United States)

Furbish, Dean Russel

The purpose of this study is to examine pragmatist constructivism as a science education referent for adult learners. Specifically, this study seeks to determine whether George Herbert Mead's doctrine, which conflates pragmatist learning theory and philosophy of natural science, might facilitate (a) scientific concept acquisition, (b) learning scientific methods, and (c) preparation of learners for careers in science and science-related areas. A philosophical examination of Mead's doctrine in light of these three criteria has determined that pragmatist constructivism is not a viable science education referent for adult learners. Mead's pragmatist constructivism does not portray scientific knowledge or scientific methods as they are understood by practicing scientists themselves, that is, according to scientific realism. Thus, employment of pragmatist constructivism does not adequately prepare future practitioners for careers in science-related areas. Mead's metaphysics does not allow him to commit to the existence of the unobservable objects of science such as molecular cellulose or mosquito-borne malarial parasites. Mead's anti-realist metaphysics also affects his conception of scientific methods. Because Mead does not commit existentially to the unobservable objects of realist science, Mead's science does not seek to determine what causal role if any the hypothetical objects that scientists routinely posit while theorizing might play in observable phenomena. Instead, constructivist pragmatism promotes subjective epistemology and instrumental methods. The implication for learning science is that students are encouraged to derive scientific concepts based on a combination of personal experience and personal meaningfulness. Contrary to pragmatist constructivism, however, scientific concepts do not arise inductively from subjective experience driven by personal interests. The broader implication of this study for adult education is that the philosophically laden

The Moral Development of Moral Philosophers

Science.gov (United States)

Bunzl, Martin

1977-01-01

Lawrence Kohlberg thinks that Utilitarianism and Rawls' theory of justice are formal elaborations of different stages in the psychological development of moral reasoning. Also that there are psychological reasons to favor the stage of reasoning of which he thinks Rawls' theory is an elaboration. Attempts to show that Kohlberg has confused ethics…

How to put your darlings on a diet. Philosophical practice as an epistemological practice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lystbæk, Christian Tang

Today, health care organizations are changing in several ways. New technologies, new audit regimes and new relationships with clients of various kinds all contribute to altering what it takes to perform in health care organizations. Consequently, one of the characteristics of health care organiza......Today, health care organizations are changing in several ways. New technologies, new audit regimes and new relationships with clients of various kinds all contribute to altering what it takes to perform in health care organizations. Consequently, one of the characteristics of health care...... that is spreading, but also ways of engaging with knowledge, historically associated with research communities. This contribution to the 5th Nordic Conference on Philosophical Practice describes how Philosophical Practice can enter the epistemic practices in health care organizations by inviting an open...

Identity in Physics A Historical, Philosophical, and Formal Analysis

CERN Document Server

French, Steven

2006-01-01

Can quantum particles be regarded as individuals, just like books, tables and people? According to the 'received' view - articulated by several physicists in the immediate aftermath of the quantum revolution - quantum physics itself tells us they cannot: quantum particles, unlike their classical counterparts, must be regarded as 'non-individuals' in some sense. However, recent work has indicated that this is not the whole story and that the theory is also consistent with theposition that such particles can be taken to be individuals, albeit at a metaphysical price. Drawing on philosophical acc

Ethics and Medicine: Philosophical Guidelines for a Responsible Use of Nanotechnology

Science.gov (United States)

Pelluchon, Corine

Ethics is not an isolated discipline, standing aloof from science, economics, and politics. And neither is it an authority devoted to censure, for it is not the philosopher's role to set up as an authority of any kind, nor to dictate to others what is good or bad in itself on the basis of some personal morality. Ethics is that part of philosophy that allows us to acquire the tools that serve to elucidate actions and assess them critically. The aim is to identify principles, that is, notions that are taken as fundamental and must guide our actions in medicine, in business, or in the application of biotechnology. However, these principles are not empty of content, and part of the philosopher's work in the field of applied ethics is to elucidate the values underlying the notion of autonomy and distributive justice, and to determine the relationship between the latter and the notion of equality. Likewise, the ethicist must consider the implicit and explicit norms belonging to some narrowly defined community (a group of professionals) or a broader community (a country), or even the international community.

Belief in the Spirits of the Dead in Africa: A Philosophical Interpretation

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... view that in this rapidly changing world, philosophy should inquire not only in to theoretical problems, but also into practical ones. Plato and Aristotle's theories of the soul being some of the most carefully discussed philosophical theories on immortality or lack of it, will provide the background of deliberation in this paper.

[Terhi Kiiskinen. Sigfrid Aronus Forsius : Astronomer and Philosopher of Nature] / Liivi Aarma

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Aarma, Liivi, 1948-

2009-01-01

Arvustus: Kiiskinen, Terhi. Sigfrid Aronus Forsius : Astronomer and Philosopher of Nature. Europäische Studien zur Ideen- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte / Europaen Studies in the History of Science and Ideas. Hrsg. von / edited by Georg Gimpi und Juha Manninen. Frankfurt am Main, 2007. Sigfrid Aronus Forsius on tuntuim Põhjamaade renesanssi aegne Rootsi kuningriigi teadlane

Ukrainian thinkers on philosophical and religious ideas of revelation and transfiguration: metodological prinsiples

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Z. I. Timenyk

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The article has been based on legacy of Ukrainian thinkers of 1840s-1960s. The author has highlighted how the discussed ideas function in close proximity to analogous ideas. For instance, the idea of God has been reviewed from the viewpoint of human and world structure, with the idea of interaction between good-evil, light-darkness. While interpreting the topic of the article, the reasonable interdependence of principles, ratios and other constructs has been justified by researcher. A complex of such processes creates a so-called “cascade” in which elements of (interreligious communications and multidisciplinary space become a reality through harmonized temporhythmics from various dimensions. At the same time, essential features of the revelation of nature and God on the borderline of paganism and Christianity have been distinguished in a systemic manner. Under the above-mentioned circumstances, “religious logics” demonstrates its possibilities. It is indispensable during the analysis of given ideas. When we think about the regularity of stage-by-stage transformation of the very concepts “revelation”, “transfiguration” comes to the said borderline. Big attention has been paid by the researcher to manifestations of partiality or wholeness of these notions from the standpoint of their harmony. Real functioning of “religious logics” gave ground to the introduction of such new notions as “inter-religious consciousness”, “revelation studies”. Not only their expediency have been justified. They are also used directly to elicit philosophical and religious ideas. One of the arguments in favor of these ideas is the necessity to expand terminological lexis, which is insufficient in modern studies. The introduction of new terms with the terms which were had not been used for a long time, has been combined by the author. This is, namely, the aforementioned “religious logics” as well as “divine dialectics”. Due to this

A Yanomami Shaman against the philosophical-sociological discourse of modernity

OpenAIRE

Danner, Leno Francisco; Peres, Julie Stéfane Dorrico

2017-01-01

In this paper, which intends to establish a dialogue between literature and philosophy-sociology, we develop a double argument. Based on  the discussion of Davi Kopenawa’s and Bruce Albert’s The falling sky: words of a Yanomami Shaman and Jürgen Habermas’ philosophical-sociological theory of modernity the essay discusses: i) the distinctive characteristic of Indigenous literature. We maintain that this distinction lies in the conjunction between its self-biographical style, and the fundamenta...

Further Questions: A Way Out of the Present Philosophical Situation (via Foucault

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonard Lawlor

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Let us begin by assembling some signs of the present philosophical situation. On the one hand, the most important living French philosopher, Alain Badiou, calls for a “return to Plato,” despite the movement of anti-Platonism that dominated French and German thought in the 20th century. On the other hand, the present moment sees a resurgence of naturalism in philosophy in general (including and especially Anglophone analytic philosophy, despite the criticisms of naturalism that have appeared throughout the 20th century. Phenomenology seems to be at the center of both of these movements. On the one hand, it is the idea of a mathematized ontology that requires the return to Plato, a mathematized ontology constructed without a reflection on its transcendental grounds. On the other, the resurgence of naturalism is so strong that a book could be imagined and published with the bastard name of Naturalizing Phenomenology, as if the transcendental moment of phenomenology did not transform the very meaning of nature. These signs seem to indicate that we have entered into a phase of regression or even decline in philosophical thinking. If this interpretation of the signs is correct, if we have indeed entered into a phase of regression -- a twofold regression toward Platonism and toward naturalism -- we must ask the following question: is it possible for us to define something like a project or even a research agenda that would allow us to define a way of thinking that might lead us out of the present situation, a situation, it must be said, that seems dire for philosophy in general? If we can determine such a research agenda, perhaps we can also begin to understand what the tradition of “continental philosophy” has stood for.

Postmodernism: A Reaction to the Terrorism of the Modernist Philosophical Thought

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dr. Manzoor A. Khalidi

2008-04-01

Full Text Available This paper is the concluding part of a series of two papers exploring and explaining the concept of postmodernism. The approach adopted for examining the postmodern phenomenon was to picture it as a collage incorporating three distinct but interrelated concepts/themes: one, postmodernism as an epoch; two, postmodernism as a signifier of the problematical features or the limits of modernity; and three, postmodernism as a reaction to the terrorism of the modernist philosophical thought. The first two of these were discussed in the paper published in the pervious issue of the Market Forces. This paper involves an examination of the third theme: postmodernism as a reaction to the terrorism of the modernist philosophical thought which has been described as positivistic, technocentric, and rationalistic, and the belief in linear progress, absolute truths, the rational planning of ideal social orders, and the standardization of knowledge and production. The approach adopted for this paper involves the use of the term ‘post’ as a counter concept and a broad-gauged cultural and intellectual movement that is re-conceptualizing the way we experience and understand the world around us. It involves a re-examination of eight areas of our knowledge base that form the basis of our conceptual foundations. These are: the concept of truth; the concept of theory; the concept of representation; the concept and the relationship between the author, the text, and the reader; the concept of subject; the problematic of disciplinary research; the concept of space; and the concept of history. The discussion involves an examination of the normally accepted definitions of these concepts and the counter-concepts or the alternative definitions offered within the realm of postmodern philosophical thought. Investigation into the counter-concepts is aimed as understanding how postmodernism represents a departure in our way of thinking regarding the best strategy for

Reassembling mathematical practices: a philosophical-anthropological approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karen François

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper we first explore h ow Wittgenstein ’ s philosophy provides a conceptual tools to discuss the possibility of the simultaneous existence of culturally different mathematical practices. We will argue that Wittgenstein ’ s later work will be a fruitful framework to serve as a philosophical background to investigate ethnomathematics ( Wittgenstein 1973 . W e will give an overview of Wittgenstein’s later work which is referred to by many researchers in the field of ethnomathematics . The central philosophical investigation concerns Wittgenstein’s shift to abandon ing the essentialist concept of language and therefore deny ing the existence of a universal language. Languages — or ‘language games’ as Wittgenstein calls them — are immersed in a form of life, in a cultural or social formation and are embedded in the totality o f communal activities. This gives rise to the idea of rationality as an invention or as a construct that emerges in specific local contexts. In the second part of the paper we introduce, analyse and compare the mathematical aspects of two activities known as string figure - making and sand drawing, to illustrate Wittgenstein ’s ideas . Base d on an ethnomathematical comparative analysis , we will argue that there is evidence of invariant and distinguishing features of a mathematical rationality , as expressed in both string figure - making and sand drawing practices, from one society to another . Finally, w e suggest that a philosop hical - anthropological approach to mathematical practices may allow us to better understand the interrelations between mathematics and cul tures. Philoso phical investigations may help the reflection on the possibility of culturally determined ethnomathematics, while an anthropological approach, using ethnographical methods, may afford new materials for the analysis of ethnomathematics and its links to the cultural context. This combined approach will help us to better

Systematic Clinical Reasoning in Physical Therapy (SCRIPT): Tool for the Purposeful Practice of Clinical Reasoning in Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Sarah E; Painter, Elizabeth E; Morgan, Brandon C; Kaus, Anna L; Petersen, Evan J; Allen, Christopher S; Deyle, Gail D; Jensen, Gail M

2017-01-01

Clinical reasoning is essential to physical therapist practice. Solid clinical reasoning processes may lead to greater understanding of the patient condition, early diagnostic hypothesis development, and well-tolerated examination and intervention strategies, as well as mitigate the risk of diagnostic error. However, the complex and often subconscious nature of clinical reasoning can impede the development of this skill. Protracted tools have been published to help guide self-reflection on clinical reasoning but might not be feasible in typical clinical settings. This case illustrates how the Systematic Clinical Reasoning in Physical Therapy (SCRIPT) tool can be used to guide the clinical reasoning process and prompt a physical therapist to search the literature to answer a clinical question and facilitate formal mentorship sessions in postprofessional physical therapist training programs. The SCRIPT tool enabled the mentee to generate appropriate hypotheses, plan the examination, query the literature to answer a clinical question, establish a physical therapist diagnosis, and design an effective treatment plan. The SCRIPT tool also facilitated the mentee's clinical reasoning and provided the mentor insight into the mentee's clinical reasoning. The reliability and validity of the SCRIPT tool have not been formally studied. Clinical mentorship is a cornerstone of postprofessional training programs and intended to develop advanced clinical reasoning skills. However, clinical reasoning is often subconscious and, therefore, a challenging skill to develop. The use of a tool such as the SCRIPT may facilitate developing clinical reasoning skills by providing a systematic approach to data gathering and making clinical judgments to bring clinical reasoning to the conscious level, facilitate self-reflection, and make a mentored physical therapist's thought processes explicit to his or her clinical mentor. © 2017 American Physical Therapy Association

Philosophical Concepts in Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Cushing, James T.

1998-01-01

Preface; Part I. The Scientific Enterprise: 1. Ways of knowing; 2. Aristotle and Francis Bacon; 3. Science and metaphysics; Part II. Ancient and Modern Models of the Universe: 4. Observational astronomy and the Ptolemaic model; 5. The Copernican model and Kepler's laws; 6. Galileo on motion; Part III. The Newtonian Universe: 7. Newton's Principia; 8. Newton's law of universal gravitation; 9. Some old questions revisited; Part IV. A Perspective: 10. Galileo's Letter to the Grand Duchess; 11. An overarching Newtonian framework; 12. A view of the world based on science: determinism; Part V. Mechanical Versus Electrodynamical World Views: 13. Models of the aether; 14. Maxwell's theory; 15. The Kaufmann experiments; Part VI. The Theory of Relativity: 16. The background to and essentials of special relativity; 17. Further logical consequences of Einstein's postulates; 18. General relativity and the expanding universe; Part VII. The Quantum World and the Completeness of Quantum Mechanics: 19. The road to quantum mechanics; 20. 'Copenhage' quantum mechanics; 21. Is quantum mechanics complete?; Part VIII. Some Philosophical Lessons from Quantum Mechanics: 22. The EPR paper and Bell's theorem; 23. An alternative version of quantum mechanics; 24. An essential role for historical contingency?; Part IX. A Retrospective: 25. The goals of science and the status of its knowledge; Notes; General references; Bibliography; Author index; Subject index.

ROLE OF MEGALOPOLISES IN SOCIO-PHILOSOPHICAL COMPREHENSION OF GLOBALIZATION PROCESS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Анна Александровна Нистарова

2013-04-01

Full Text Available In her article the author tries to establish linkage between the events that took place at the turn of the 20th – 21st centuries and the aspiration of some countries for negating or limiting their jurisdiction with respect to international law due to the international bipolar system disintegration. It should be noted that the globalization, regionalization and glocalization processes are detected as new phenomenon that arouse as a result of international relations system evolution. The article reveals socio-philosophical content of globalization phenomenon in the nature of both spatial and civilization development of the modern world. The author highlights the necessity of theoretical basis generation so that to favour scientific discourse on the globalization issues in the light of new actors (megalopolises in the international relations system. Laying stress on the major cities as the international activity centers, the author emphasizes the requirement for comprehensive analysis of their involvement into the transformation processes. The intensification of local against global actors’ position is indicated by the author in the article. It points to the research of their social and political role as a new not yet generated investigation form within the bounds of philosophical science, and it favors preservation of peace integrity.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2013-1-4

Spatial Reasoning: Improvement of Imagery and Abilities in Sophomore Organic Chemistry. Perspective to Enhance Student Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Hornbuckle, Susan F.; Gobin, Latanya; Thurman, Stephanie N.

2014-01-01

Spatial reasoning has become a demanded skill for students pursuing a science emphasis to compete with the dynamic growth of our professional society. The ability to reason spatially includes explorations in memory recollection and problem solving capabilities as well as critical thinking and reasoning skills. With these advancements, educational…

Dialectical Reason and Necessary Conflict—Understanding and the Nature of Terror

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Angelica Nuzzo

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Taking as point of departure Hegelrsquo;s early reflections on his historical present, this essay examines the relationship between dialectical reason and the activity of the understanding in generating contradiction. Dialecticmdash;as logic and methodmdash;is Hegelrsquo;s attempt at a philosophical comprehension of the conflicts and the deep changes of his contemporary world. This idea of dialectic as logic of historical transformation guides the development of consciousness in the emPhenomenology of Spirit/em. Since my claim is that the dialectic of consciousness and its capacity of overcoming contradiction are rooted in the historical situation of 1807, the question is raised of what would be the specific problems encountered by consciousness in our contemporary worldmdash;in 2007. What are the challenges posed by our globalized world to a phenomenology of contemporary spirit; and what is the role that contradiction and dialectic play in the understanding of our own historical present?

Methods for solving reasoning problems in abstract argumentation – A survey

Science.gov (United States)

Charwat, Günther; Dvořák, Wolfgang; Gaggl, Sarah A.; Wallner, Johannes P.; Woltran, Stefan

2015-01-01

Within the last decade, abstract argumentation has emerged as a central field in Artificial Intelligence. Besides providing a core formalism for many advanced argumentation systems, abstract argumentation has also served to capture several non-monotonic logics and other AI related principles. Although the idea of abstract argumentation is appealingly simple, several reasoning problems in this formalism exhibit high computational complexity. This calls for advanced techniques when it comes to implementation issues, a challenge which has been recently faced from different angles. In this survey, we give an overview on different methods for solving reasoning problems in abstract argumentation and compare their particular features. Moreover, we highlight available state-of-the-art systems for abstract argumentation, which put these methods to practice. PMID:25737590

Human Capital, Education and the Promotion of Social Cooperation: A Philosophical Critique

Science.gov (United States)

Gilead, Tal

2009-01-01

Although since the 1960s human capital theory has played a major role in guiding educational policy, philosophical issues that stem from this development have rarely been discussed. In this article, I critically examine how the idea that human capital should serve as a guide to educational policy making stands in relation to the role assigned to…

PHILOSOPHICAL BASICS OF FORMATION OF FUTURE PHILOLOGISTS’ PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE BY MEANS OF INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Serhiy S. Danylyuk

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The topicality of the article is in studying social-philosophic basics of computerization in the field of education and, consequently, Internet technologies usage in the process of formation of future philologists’ professional competence. The aim of this paper is defining of philosophical basics of formation of future philologists’ professional competence by means of Internet technologies. The article deals with highlighting of basic items of interaction “man-computer”, which helps to form future philologists’ professional competence in the aspect of humanization of the educational process. In particular, the essence of both learning-and-cognitive and learning-and-research activities in the aspect of usage of Internet technologies in teaching future linguists is described. Attention is also focused on the description of informational culture as one of the most important factors of informatization of the educational process.

A fascinating country in the world of computing your guide to automated reasoning

CERN Document Server

Wos, Larry

1999-01-01

This book shows you - through examples and puzzles and intriguing questions - how to make your computer reason logically. To help you, the book includes a CD-ROM with OTTER, the world's most powerful general-purpose reasoning program. The automation of reasoning has advanced markedly in the past few decades, and this book discusses some of the remarkable successes that automated reasoning programs have had in tackling challenging problems in mathematics, logic, program verification, and circuit design. Because the intended audience includes students and teachers, the book provides many exercis

ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROBLEMS IN THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS OF RUSSIAN SPIRITUAL ACADEMIES’ TEACHERS OF THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. A. Ershova

2014-01-01

knowledge necessary to base their intellectual efforts on the personal experience of the struggle against the passions; therefore, they see the new basis of theology in asceticism. Professor S. V. Troitsky considers marriage as the key problem for religion and philosophy of the early 20th century. Professor S. S. Glagolev sees the descent of a man as the crossing point of religion and science. The author mentions that despite some heterogeneity of the proposed concepts, there is an obvious General anthropological orientation that had an impact on the educational process changes in theological academies (seminaries. Scientific novelty. The author systemizes and sums up anthropologic views of the most recognizable ecclesiastical academics in the early 20th century. Representation and analysis of anthropologic problematics in philosophical and religious papers of the Russian ecclesiastical education stage of development signify essential agreement among Russian and Western sophists; they had been discussing the same problem – a human being. The author points out that their discussions were not absolutely the same, but it gives the reason to regard the anthropology of the early 20th century as modern Philosophy; and this difference allows academic anthropology to avoid classic and non-classic types of philosophy. Practical significance. The research outcomes can be used for further understanding development of the all European searching process of the early 20th century. Received by the author of the study findings provide its scientific innovation. The results of this study can be used in assessing the role of theological academies in European cultural processes and culture of the Russian society of the early 20th century; research findings can enrich the content of the lectures on the History of Philosophy, Russian History, European History, Cultural Studies and other Humanities (non-science disciplines.

Kai Kresse An Intellectual Sketch of H. Odera Oruka pp25-40

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Oduor

philosophical research, making a strong contribution to research on philosophical ... Sagacious reasoning (Kresse In Graness and Kresse eds. 1997 ..... true humanist position in politics in Kenya, a thoughtful, reasonable, and moral decision-.

Communicating “Natural knowledge” for the “common benefit” of England: Science, Trade and Colonial Expansion in Philosophical Transactions 1665-1700

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuela D'Amore

2017-11-01

Full Text Available This paper concentrates on the early Royal Society, on its idea of Nature, and on the impact that it had on the advancement and circulation of agricultural knowledge. Rich in descriptions of beautiful landscapes, in “Enquiries” on “curious” geologico-botanical phenomena and innovative plantation systems, Philosophical Transactions, the prestigious journal founded by Henry Oldenburg in 1665, effectively contributed to Britain’s techno-scientific progress as well as its openness to Europe and far-off lands. Still neglected by academic criticism, and ideally divided into two macro thematic areas, the articles which appeared in the years 1665-1700 will represent this paper’s textual and structural basis: our aim is to show that the Fellows and their correspondents also changed the idea of learned travel as they linked natural knowledge, trade and imperialism.

The ethical issues regarding consent to clinical trials with pre-term or sick neonates: a systematic review (framework synthesis) of the analytical (theoretical/philosophical) research.

Science.gov (United States)

Megone, Christopher; Wilman, Eleanor; Oliver, Sandy; Duley, Lelia; Gyte, Gill; Wright, Judy

2016-09-09

Conducting clinical trials with pre-term or sick infants is important if care for this population is to be underpinned by sound evidence. Yet, approaching the parents of these infants at such a difficult time raises challenges to obtaining valid informed consent for such research. In this study, we asked, What light does the analytical literature cast on an ethically defensible approach to obtaining informed consent in perinatal clinical trials? In a systematic search, we identified 30 studies. We began our analysis by applying philosophical frameworks, which were then refined as concepts emerged from the analytical studies, to present a coherent picture of a broad literature. Between them, the studies addressed four themes. The first three were the ethical basis for parental informed consent for neonatal and/or perinatal research, the validity of parental consent in this context, and the range of possible options in methods for gaining consent. The last was the issue of risk and the possibility of a double-standard or asymmetry in the current approaches to the requirement for consent for research and consent for clinical treatment. In addressing these issues, the analysed studies showed that, whilst there are a variety of possible defences for seeking parental 'consent' to neonatal and/or perinatal clinical trials, these are all consistent with the strongly and widely held view that it is important that parents do give (or decline) consent for such research. So far as the method of obtaining consent is concerned, none of the existing consent processes reviewed by the research is satisfactory, and there are philosophical reasons for supposing that at least some parents will fail to give valid consent in a neonatal context. Furthermore, in giving parental 'consent' in a perinatal context, parents are authorising infant participation, not giving 'proxy consent'. Finally, there are reasons for giving weight to both parental 'consent' and the infant's best interests in

Reasons Internalism and the function of normative reasons

OpenAIRE

Sinclair, Neil

2017-01-01

What is the connection between reasons and motives? According to Reasons Internalism there is a non-trivial conceptual connection between normative reasons and the possibility of rationally accessing relevant motivation. Reasons Internalism is attractive insofar as it captures the thought that reasons are for reasoning with and repulsive insofar as it fails to generate sufficient critical distance between reasons and motives. Rather than directly adjudicate this dispute, I extract from it two...

The Influence of Philosophical Perspectives in Integrative Research: a Conservation Case Study in the Cairngorms National Park

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna C. Evely

2008-12-01

Full Text Available The benefits of increasing the contribution of the social sciences in the fields of environmental and conservation science disciplines are increasingly recognized. However, integration between the social and natural sciences has been limited, in part because of the barrier caused by major philosophical differences in the perspectives between these research areas. This paper aims to contribute to more effective interdisciplinary integration by explaining some of the philosophical views underpinning social research and how these views influence research methods and outcomes. We use a project investigating the motivation of volunteers working in an adaptive co-management project to eradicate American Mink from the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland as a case study to illustrate the impact of philosophical perspectives on research. Consideration of different perspectives promoted explicit reflection of the contributing researcher's assumptions, and the implications of his or her perspectives on the outcomes of the research. We suggest a framework to assist conservation research projects by: (1 assisting formulation of research questions; (2 focusing dialogue between managers and researchers, making underlying worldviews explicit; and (3 helping researchers and managers improve longer-term strategies by helping identify overall goals and objectives and by identifying immediate research needs.

Book Review: MACBETH, Danielle. Realizing Reason: A Narrative of Truth and Knowing. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014, 494 pp., $99.00 (hbk, ISBN 9780198704751

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matheus Valente

Full Text Available ABSTRACT We review Danielle Macbeth's book Realizing Reason, published by Oxford University Press in 2014. This extensive book is composed by nine chapters in which Macbeth critically presents the development of mathematical practices in the Western world - from its founding in Ancient Greece's diagrammatic practices to the apogee of mathematical logic in the nineteenth and twentieth-centuries - while offering a revaluation of its present stage by means of a reconsideration of Gottlob Frege's philosophical contributions. In this review, we present a summary of each chapter's contents and make general considerations about them.

A philosophical analysis of the general methodology of qualitative research: a critical rationalist perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Rudnick, Abraham

2014-09-01

Philosophical discussion of the general methodology of qualitative research, such as that used in some health research, has been inductivist or relativist to date, ignoring critical rationalism as a philosophical approach with which to discuss the general methodology of qualitative research. This paper presents a discussion of the general methodology of qualitative research from a critical rationalist perspective (inspired by Popper), using as an example mental health research. The widespread endorsement of induction in qualitative research is positivist and is suspect, if not false, particularly in relation to the context of justification (or rather theory testing) as compared to the context of discovery (or rather theory generation). Relativism is riddled with philosophical weaknesses and hence it is suspect if not false too. Theory testing is compatible with qualitative research, contrary to much writing about and in qualitative research, as theory testing involves learning from trial and error, which is part of qualitative research, and which may be the form of learning most conducive to generalization. Generalization involves comparison, which is a fundamental methodological requirement of any type of research (qualitative or other); hence the traditional grounding of quantitative and experimental research in generalization. Comparison--rather than generalization--is necessary for, and hence compatible with, qualitative research; hence, the common opposition to generalization in qualitative research is misdirected, disregarding whether this opposition's claims are true or false. In conclusion, qualitative research, similar to quantitative and experimental research, assumes comparison as a general methodological requirement, which is necessary for health research.

The Philosopher and the Lecturer: John Dewey, Everett Dean Martin, and Reflective Thinking

Science.gov (United States)

Day, Michael; Harbour, Clifford P.

2013-01-01

Adult education scholars have not yet examined the connections between the philosopher, John Dewey, and the lecturer on adult education, Everett Dean Martin. These scholars generally portray Dewey as indifferent to their field. However, Dewey's correspondence with a New York newspaper editor in 1928, recommending Martin's The Meaning of…

Why Should Philosophers and Educators Speak to Each Other? There Are More Serious Problems to Face and More Important Jobs To Be Done.

Science.gov (United States)

Arnstine, Donald G.

2002-01-01

Responds to Arcilla's article, "Why Aren't Philosophers and Educators Speaking to One Another?" denying there was ever much of an engagement between professional philosophers and educators but noting there was an audience for philosophy of education, particularly when addressing broad educational aims that could drive policy. The essay…

Homo religiosus : philosophical anthropology Viktor Emil Frankl 's .

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcos Vinícius da Costa Meireles

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This work, entitled The Homo religiosus: the philosophical anthropology of Viktor Emil Frankl, is rooted in the anthropology of Frankl and aims to understand Frankl’s anthropology and its spiritual dynamic in religious experience. Using theoretical-bibliographical research with these main works—The Ignored Presence of God (1948, The Unconditioned Man (1949, Patient Man (1950, and The Search for God and Questions about the Meaning of Life (1984—this work traverses through Frankl’s anthropology, the spiritual dimension, the search for meaning, and one’s relationship with God. The work is divided into three parts. The first part consists of contextualization and critique. The second part puts forward a proposal, and the third part discusses the experience of the Homo religiosus.

PHILOSOPHICAL-CULTURAL CONCEPTION OF TELEVISION AS A VISUAL PRACTICES OF XX-XXI CENTURY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. M. Tormakhova

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose of the article is to analyze the philosophical and cultural ideas about television, which is a leading visual practice of XX century. It does not lose its relevance in the beginning of the XXI. The role of television lies in visual presentation and formation of the basic norms of taste and traditions of different social groups. Television is the leading communicative practice, which consideration is represented differently in modern science. Research methodology involves an appeal to the philosophical and cultural concepts, representing different approaches to the understanding of television. The paper considers the views of Western scholars, such as R. Arnheim, M. Wolff, A. Kroker, G. Lipovetsky, M. McLuhan, D. Mulvin, J. Mittell, N. Postman, L. Saffhil, J. Sterne, E. Thompson, J. Fiske, S. Shapiro. During analysis of the issue of the specific nature of television content the works of Russian scientists – T. Savitskaya, N. Samutina and Polish contemporary author – R. Sapenko were used. Originality lies in the depiction of the main approaches to the study of television as a visual communicative practice. Deployment of the author's position within the designated issues is presented as a historical digression – from the first attempts at understanding the phenomenon of television to the newest scientific theories that have found expression in contemporary American philosophical and cultural thought. Results of the study can be used in the training course "Visual communication and practices." Conclusions indicated that the majority of contemporary visual practices based on certain patterns, embedded TV. Despite the emergence of new media practices, TV does not lose relevance, everywhere present in the culture, which means that his research will allow a better understanding of the specificity of cultural creativity process.

Economic reasoning and artificial intelligence.

Science.gov (United States)

Parkes, David C; Wellman, Michael P

2015-07-17

The field of artificial intelligence (AI) strives to build rational agents capable of perceiving the world around them and taking actions to advance specified goals. Put another way, AI researchers aim to construct a synthetic homo economicus, the mythical perfectly rational agent of neoclassical economics. We review progress toward creating this new species of machine, machina economicus, and discuss some challenges in designing AIs that can reason effectively in economic contexts. Supposing that AI succeeds in this quest, or at least comes close enough that it is useful to think about AIs in rationalistic terms, we ask how to design the rules of interaction in multi-agent systems that come to represent an economy of AIs. Theories of normative design from economics may prove more relevant for artificial agents than human agents, with AIs that better respect idealized assumptions of rationality than people, interacting through novel rules and incentive systems quite distinct from those tailored for people. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Arendt on Hobbes as the true philosopher of the bourgeoisie

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adriano Correia

2015-07-01

Full Text Available In The Origins of Totalitarianism, when examine the elements and origins of total domination, Hannah Arendt devotes special attention to the political emancipation of the bourgeoisie. For Arendt imperialism is the truth of the bourgeois understanding of politics, according to which politics should not be more than a well-organized police force. The truth of bourgeois politics is the reduction of politics to mere force. Our purpose is to reconstruct this movement from the vantage point of arendtian appropriation of Hobbes, "the true philosopher of the bourgeoisie."

Time machine tales the science fiction adventures and philosophical puzzles of time travel

CERN Document Server

Nahin, Paul J

2017-01-01

This book contains a broad overview of time travel in science fiction, along with a detailed examination of the philosophical implications of time travel. The emphasis of this book is now on the philosophical and on science fiction, rather than on physics, as in the author's earlier books on the subject. In that spirit there are, for example, no Tech Notes filled with algebra, integrals, and differential equations, as there are in the first and second editions of TIME MACHINES. Writing about time travel is, today, a respectable business. It hasn’t always been so. After all, time travel, prima facie, appears to violate a fundamental law of nature; every effect has a cause, with the cause occurring before the effect. Time travel to the past, however, seems to allow, indeed to demand, backwards causation, with an effect (the time traveler emerging into the past as he exits from his time machine) occurring before its cause (the time traveler pushing the start button on his machine’s control panel to start his...

PHILOSOPHICAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE NATURE OF VIOLENCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. M. Boychenko

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose. In order to consistently distinguish between violence, which is always primarily a destructive force, and the civilized use of force that involves constructive, creative goals, one should explore the main possible philosophical approaches to understand the nature of violence and try to give it a systematic outline. Methodology. This study uses a systematic approach to identify the internal relationship between different forms of violence and, accordingly, the counteraction against violence. Also, the author uses an axiology to identify the values that are the basis for distinguishing violence from its prototypes, as well as for the distinction between violence and coercion, as well as different types of coercion. Originality. This article presents significant clarifications on the classification of types of violence, in particular, it is clearly established that certain types of violence can not have ethical relevance, since they belong to the sphere of biology (expansion, aggression or social anthropology (cultural, institutional coercion. Actually violence or violence in the narrow sense implies the existence of will, consciousness and destructive purpose. Accordingly, counteraction against violence should include the formation of a certain non-violent type of will, non-violent culture and creative, constructive goals. This requires both personal effort and institutional support and the availability of appropriate moral traditions. Ethical theory is intended to clarify and systematize these efforts. In this sense, ethics is the core of practical philosophy. To the extent that the influence of ethics on changes in human culture and sociality in the counterfactual regime is increasing, one should also speak of the anthropological significance of ethics. Conclusions. From the socio-philosophical point of view, it is necessary to specify exactly which social institutions and in which constellation generate violence. The ethical aspect of

Understanding the "Other": Rethinking Multiculturalism in South Korea through Gadamer's Philosophical Hermeneutics

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jeong-Hee; So, Kyunghee

2018-01-01

In this paper, we interrogate the current state of multiculturalism and multicultural education in South Korea and offer a possible theoretical framework that is lacking in the field of multicultural education. We provide three principles of multicultural understanding grounded in Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics to inform multiculturalism in…

What are we to make of the concept of race? Thoughts of a philosopher-scientist.

Science.gov (United States)

Pigliucci, Massimo

2013-09-01

Discussions about the biological bases (or lack thereof) of the concept of race in the human species seem to be never ending. One of the latest rounds is represented by a paper by Neven Sesardic, which attempts to build a strong scientific case for the existence of human races, based on genetic, morphometric and behavioral characteristics, as well as on a thorough critique of opposing positions. In this paper I show that Sesardic's critique falls far short of the goal, and that his positive case is exceedingly thin. I do this through a combination of analysis of the actual scientific findings invoked by Sesardic and of some philosophical unpacking of his conceptual analysis, drawing on a dual professional background as an evolutionary biologist and a philosopher of science. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A philosophical approach to quantum field theory

CERN Document Server

Öttinger, Hans Christian

2015-01-01

This text presents an intuitive and robust mathematical image of fundamental particle physics based on a novel approach to quantum field theory, which is guided by four carefully motivated metaphysical postulates. In particular, the book explores a dissipative approach to quantum field theory, which is illustrated for scalar field theory and quantum electrodynamics, and proposes an attractive explanation of the Planck scale in quantum gravity. Offering a radically new perspective on this topic, the book focuses on the conceptual foundations of quantum field theory and ontological questions. It also suggests a new stochastic simulation technique in quantum field theory which is complementary to existing ones. Encouraging rigor in a field containing many mathematical subtleties and pitfalls this text is a helpful companion for students of physics and philosophers interested in quantum field theory, and it allows readers to gain an intuitive rather than a formal understanding.

[Health, environment and nursing. Philosophical and theoretical foundations for the development and validation of a nursing interface terminology. Part III].

Science.gov (United States)

Juvé-Udina, Maria-Eulàlia

2012-06-01

This manuscript is the third of a triad of papers introducing the philosophical and theoretical approaches that support the development and validation of a nursing interface terminology as a standard vocabulary designed to ease data entry into electronic health records, to produce information and to generate knowledge. To analyze the philosophical and theoretical approaches considered in the development of a new nursing interface terminology called ATIC. Review, analysis and discussion of the main philosophical orientations, high and mid-range theories and nursing scientific literature to develop an interpretative conceptualization of the metaparadigm concepts "Health", "Environment" and "Nursing". In the 2 previous papers the ATIC terminology, its foundation on pragmatism, holism, post-positivism and constructivism and the construction of the meaning for the concept elndividualh is discussed. In this third paper, Health is conceptualized as a multidimensional balance state and the concepts of Partial health status, Disease and Being ill are explored within. The analysis of the Environment theories drives its conceptualization as a group of variables that has the potential to affect health status. In this orientation, Nursing is understood as the scientific discipline focused on the study of health status in the particular environment and experience of the individuals, groups, communities or societies. ATIC terminology is rooted on an eclectic philosophical and theoretical foundation, allowing it to be used from different trends within the totality paradigm.

7 CFR 3575.83 - Protective advances.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... only be added to the loan account for purposes of requirements to preserve the value of the security..., advances made for taxes, annual assessments, ground rent, hazard and flood insurance premiums affecting the... same borrower. Protective advances must be reasonable when associated with the value of the collateral...

The Relation Between Policies concerning Corporate Social Responsibility and Philosophical Moral Theories

OpenAIRE

Frederiksen, Claus S.

2009-01-01

This paper examines the relation between policies concerning Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and philosophical moral theories. The objective is to determine which moral theories form the basis for CSR policies. Are they based on ethical egoism, libertarianism, utilitarianism or some kind of common-sense morality? To address this issue, I conducted an empirical investigation examining the relation between moral theories and CSR policies, in companies engaged in CSR. Based ...

Hans-Georg Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics: Concepts of reading, understanding and interpretation

OpenAIRE

Paul Regan

2012-01-01

Hans-Georg Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics is a popular qualitative research interpretive method aiming to explore the meaning of individual experiences in relation to understanding human interpretation. Gadamer identifies that authentic engagement with reading requires awareness of the inter-subjective nature of understanding in order to promote a reflective engagement with the text. The main concepts of Gadamer’s view of reading and understanding are explored in this paper in relation ...

Behaviorism to humanism: the case for philosophical transformations in nursing education.

Science.gov (United States)

Metcalfe, S E

1998-01-01

Collaborative learning processes and problem-based learning methods facilitate critical thinking capabilities for nurses practicing in multidisciplinary settings. Nursing education, as well as that of other healthcare providers, traditionally has been based on behaviorist educational theory. Massive economic and cultural shifts, and the nationwide movement toward community-based healthcare environments will mandate broad changes for structuring the philosophical framework for nursing education. Humanistic collaborative learning methods are proposed to meet the needs of preparing the next century of nursing care professionals.

Mobile Monitoring and Reasoning Methods to Prevent Cardiovascular Diseases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diego López-de-Ipiña

2013-05-01

Full Text Available With the recent technological advances, it is possible to monitor vital signs using Bluetooth-enabled biometric mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets or electric wristbands. In this manuscript, we present a system to estimate the risk of cardiovascular diseases in Ambient Assisted Living environments. Cardiovascular disease risk is obtained from the monitoring of the blood pressure by means of mobile devices in combination with other clinical factors, and applying reasoning techniques based on the Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation Project charts. We have developed an end-to-end software application for patients and physicians and a rule-based reasoning engine. We have also proposed a conceptual module to integrate recommendations to patients in their daily activities based on information proactively inferred through reasoning techniques and context-awareness. To evaluate the platform, we carried out usability experiments and performance benchmarks.

MAIN PROBLEMS OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL CRITIQUE OF RELIGION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jowita Guja

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The paper is a synthetic overview of main problems of the philosophical critique of religion. In the beginning I identify and characterize three general threads of the critique: the enlightenment, the alienational and the thread which focuses on the problem of theodicy. The greater part of my article is devoted to the alienational critique of religion n its two types: atheistic (Feuerbach, Marx, Freud, Nietzsche, Sartre and theistic (Barth. The subjects of my analysis are the sources and foundations of the alienational critique of religion and the most important problems implied by it: the essence of religion, the ideal of the irreligious man, the prospect to remove religion. The analysis presents troubles and confusions connected to these subjects: they emerge in atheistic type of alienational critique of religion.

The oblique perspective: philosophical diagnostics of contemporary life sciences research.

Science.gov (United States)

Zwart, Hub

2017-12-01

This paper indicates how continental philosophy may contribute to a diagnostics of contemporary life sciences research, as part of a "diagnostics of the present" (envisioned by continental thinkers, from Hegel up to Foucault). First, I describe (as a "practicing" philosopher) various options for an oblique (or symptomatic) reading of emerging scientific discourse, bent on uncovering the basic "philosophemes" of science (i.e. the guiding ideas, the basic conceptions of nature, life and technology at work in contemporary life sciences research practices). Subsequently, I outline a number of radical transformations occurring both at the object-pole and at the subject-pole of the current knowledge relationship, namely the technification of the object and the anonymisation or collectivisation of the subject, under the sway of automation, ICT and big machines. Finally, I further elaborate the specificity of the oblique perspective with the help of Lacan's theorem of the four discourses. Philosophical reflections on contemporary life sciences concur neither with a Master's discourse (which aims to strengthen the legitimacy and credibility of canonical sources), nor with university discourse (which aims to establish professional expertise), nor with what Lacan refers to as hysterical discourse (which aims to challenge representatives of the power establishment), but rather with the discourse of the analyst, listening with evenly-poised attention to the scientific files in order to bring to the fore the cupido sciendi (i.e. the will to know, but also to optimise and to control) which both inspires and disrupts contemporary life sciences discourse.

Confucian "Creatio in Situ"--Philosophical Resource for a Theory of Creativity in Instrumental Music Education

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Leonard

2016-01-01

In this philosophical essay, I propose a theory of creativity for instrumental music education inspired by Confucian "creatio in situ" ("situational creativity"). Through an analysis of three major texts from classical Confucianism--the "Analects," the "Zhongyong" ("Doctrine of the Mean"), and the…

Drawings as imaginative expressions of philosophical ideas in a Grade 2 South African literacy classroom

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karin S. Murris

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This article reports on a philosophy for children (P4C literacy project in a South African foundation phase classroom that introduces an important new focus in the P4C classroom: the visualisation of philosophical ideas provoked by the picture book The Big Ugly Monster and the Little Stone Rabbit (2004 by Chris Wormell, giving voice to young children’s own imaginative ideas and beliefs (in this case about death. This research shows how a particular use of the community of philosophical enquiry pedagogy combined with the making of drawings necessitates a rethinking of what ‘voice’ means. We conclude that the children’s drawings bring something new into existence, thereby offering unique material and discursive opportunities for all children, including those who otherwise might not have expressed their ideas. Keywords: Comprehension; emergent literacy; visual research; community of enquiry; philosophy with children; picturebooks; death; voice; inclusion; participation

Physiology as the antechamber to metaphysics: the young William James's hope for a philosophical psychology.

Science.gov (United States)

Croce, P J

1999-11-01

In the 5 years before 1878, when his career in psychology was becoming established, William James wrote a series of notes and reviews assessing the work of many of the pioneers in the new field. Adopting a public and confident voice, even while he was privately still uncertain and searching, James criticized the dogmatism of positivist and idealist claims to the study of the human brain and mind. In his short writings of 1873-1877, James started to formulate his own middle path. His first steps on that path show that he did not reject either scientific or philosophic inquiry; instead, he viewed scientific knowledge as a way to understand philosophical questions more deeply. Saving his sharpest critiques for positivism, James endorsed scientific investigation without materialist assmptions. While his career in psychology was still only a hope, James treated science as a means toward humanist insight.

Philosophical and ethical perspectives on cardiovascular disease risk in low-wage workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Hwang, Won Ju

2011-01-01

One of the overriding goals of Healthy People 2010 is to reduce the health disparities observed among Americans. Because workers in small businesses tend to have little or no access to health screening or preventive health education programs, they may be unaware of their unique risk factors and are thus more at risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Furthermore, occupational health nurses are more likely to be available in health programs to employees in large rather than small businesses. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how nursing values and philosophy might influence public health nurses' thinking about nursing science and ethical issues relating to the risk of CVD among low-wage workers. The following questions will guide the exploration of health disparities among low-wage workers: (a) What are the health disparities observed among low-wage workers with CVD risk? (b) What are the philosophical and ethical perspectives on the issues presented? (c) Based on these findings, how should limited resources be allocated? and (d) How does this affect nursing? These approaches will provide the foundation for developing a culturally sensitive ethical and philosophical perspective to prevent CVD and promote cardiovascular health among low-wage workers. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The theme revenge in the cinema: a literary philosophical approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fábio José de Queiroz

2016-04-01

Full Text Available In this article, the focus is revenge, taking as a starting point two cinematographic works –Once upon a time in this article is revenge, taking as a starting point two cinematographic works­ once upon a time in West, by Sergio Leone, and also colors: White by Krzysztof Kieslowsk. Without the direct influence of a purely artistic appreciation of both movies, this is about a study of literary­ philosophical lineage by relying on classical seeks to provide an theoretical analyze of the theme, avoiding falling into an empiricist interpretation, trivial and shallow of the object.

Notion of Identification: A Philosophical Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arto Mutanen

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Human life should be good life in the real world which is not merely a function of objective facts but also a function of subjective factors like hopes, fears, interests, etc. Goodness, or excellence, is an ethical notion. The factors of good life cannot be identified solely by using the so-called factual (descriptive methods of identification. This means that the identification cannot be fully “objective” or fully “public”. Furthermore, there is a need for other methods of identification that also take into account certain “subjective” aspects of the object of identification. Following Jaakko Hintikka we call these methods contextual (perspectival methods of identification. Here ethics is not a set of ethical rules but rather the practical study of human life. How should we live our unique life? A philosophical-conceptual study is thus practical for this purpose. This is what Aristotle called practical wisdom (phronēsis.

[The structure of meta-ethical reasoning and "paradigmatic instability" of medicine].

Science.gov (United States)

Maroszyńska-Jezowska, B

1998-01-01

Meta-ethics is such a philosophical discipline that it analyses meaning and logical status of moral conceptions and arguments. Its scope of interest is focused on such problems, among others, as to what extent are moral values the intrinsic part of our reality and, on the other hand, to what extent are they merely the expression or certain conventions, emotions or directives. Codes of medical ethics and other legal acts concerning ethical commitments, both domestic and international (as, for example, Declaration of Helsinki), are based on a certain hidden meta-ethical presumption that morality is a human creation, and thus it belongs to a certain so-called "social realm". As such, medical ethics undergoes continuous transformations with regard to technological progress, which creates new moral challenges. This frequently leads to conflicts between moral, legal and praxiological norms under the absence of consensual conformity of utilitarian and deontological ways of moral reasoning. It may be useful for medical ethics to differentiate between axiological and thetic norms that are present in codes of medical ethics and in various international bioethical declarations and conventions.

CONFLICTING REASONS

OpenAIRE

Parfit, Derek

2016-01-01

Sidgwick believed that, when impartial reasons conflict with self-interested reasons, there are no truths about their relative strength. There are such truths, I claim, but these truths are imprecise. Many self-interested reasons are decisively outweighed by conflicting impar-tial moral reasons. But we often have sufficient self-interested reasons to do what would make things go worse, and we sometimes have sufficient self-interested reasons to act wrongly. If we reject Act Consequentialism, ...

Philosophers assess randomized clinical trials: the need for dialogue.

Science.gov (United States)

Miké, V

1989-09-01

In recent years a growing number of professional philosophers have joined in the controversy over ethical aspects of randomized clinical trials (RCTs). Morally questionable in their utilitarian approach, RCTs are claimed by some to be in direct violation of the second form of Kant's Categorical Imperative. But the arguments used in these critiques at times derive from a lack of insight into basic statistical procedures and the realities of the biomedical research process. Presented to physicians and other nonspecialists, including the lay public, such distortions can be harmful. Given the great complexity of statistical methodology and the anomalous nature of concepts of evidence, more sustained input into the interdisciplinary dialogue is needed from the statistical profession.

Speed of reasoning and its relation to reasoning ability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goldhammer, F.; Klein Entink, R.H.

2011-01-01

The study investigates empirical properties of reasoning speed which is conceived as the fluency of solving reasoning problems. Responses and response times in reasoning tasks are modeled jointly to clarify the covariance structure of reasoning speed and reasoning ability. To determine underlying

RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL CRITICISM OF THE PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACH TO EKZEGETICS OF DREAMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Viyacheslav Alekseevich Ermakov

2015-08-01

Full Text Available n this article the author reconstructed and generalized the religious and philosophical aspects of Christian criticism of psychoanalytic methodology of dreams interpretation. The research opens an occult specifics of a psychoanalytic oneurocritics. There is a consideration of a concept how such factors as «cocaine promotion» affects Freudian theory of dreams, a freemasonry and cabalism. The article reveals that Christian ekzegetics of dreams is essentially opposite to psychoanalytic interpretation of dreaming experience. The author makes a hypothesis of before-Freud unity of psychiatric and Christian approaches to interpretation of dreams and an orientation of psychoanalysis on destruction of this unity. The assumption of spiritual and psychological danger of application of psychoanalytic approach of dreams interpretation in psychological work is reasonable. The author comes to a conclusion that the Freudian methodology of dreams interpretation has been developed with the purposes of introduction of anti-Christian occult psychology in the theory and practice of medical and psychiatric activity and elimination of Christian vicarial psychotherapy.Purpose. The research objective consists of retrospective reconstruction of the main critical aspects of the psychoanalytic concept of dreams presented in Christian approach to ekzegetics of dreams.Methodology. Method of this research is a comparative analysis of Christian and psychoanalytic approaches of understanding the nature and essence of dreaming process and its interpretation.Results. Results of research can be used as in the scientific purposes of critical genera-lization and studying of the theoretical model of a dream developed by psychoanalysis and in educational activity where students can compare Christian and psychoanalytic approaches.Practical implementation: psychology, philosophy history, sociology, theological researches.

Transformative Education? A Philosophic-Augustinian Response to the 2010 Albertan Reform Initiatives in "Inspiring Education"

Science.gov (United States)

Steel, Sean

2012-01-01

The Alberta Government's 2010 "Inspiring Education" reform proposals claim to be "transformational" in nature. This paper examines these proposals in light of ancient philosophy and various among the world's wisdom traditions. Drawing particularly on the philosophic reflections of St. Augustine in his "Confessions",…

Historical and philosophical foundation of the interdependence of gender and environmental ideas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. I. Karpenko

2016-03-01

Consequently, the gender approach to contemporary environmental issues demonstrates the innovative interpretation of classical historical and philosophical foundation. Gender explanation is based on such values as cooperation, empathy and education, stemming from a relational perspective that elevates the role of the feminine principle in culture. It pays tribute to intuition and spontaneity in the processes of social changes, because they expand the creative space for finding the new solutions to environmental problems.

The point of view of religious authorities and philosophers on nuclear energy - Philosophy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2016-01-01

This article is the reporting of an interview made with Jacques Arnould, a science historian and philosopher. The philosopher thinks that the main problem of sciences and technologies is the lack of questioning about the real purpose of developing new technologies. Are they developed for the well-being and comfort of mankind or for the sole business and economical aspects? The response to this basic question is fundamental for the long-term acceptance of controversial technologies. In 2009 in the strong debate that took place on nano-technologies, the question of 'why this technology' was never asked and the debate was bogged down in technical issues. The consequences: 10 years later we are still at the same point. For nuclear technologies the ethical aspect is even more important because we engage future generations through the disposal of radioactive wastes. The nuclear risk should be balanced by the response to the why question: do we accept this risk because we want to provide humanity with plentiful non-carbon energy or because we want to develop an industrial sector? the ethical aspect is fundamental to deal with in terms of public acceptance. (A.C.)

[Marcus Aurelius Antonius (121-180AD), philosopher and Roman emperor, and Galen's plague].

Science.gov (United States)

Muñoz-Sanz, Agustín

2012-11-01

The study of the aetiologies of diseases in Ancient Times is usually a speculative intellectual exercise. When some authors attribute a specific aetiology to an old disease, there is a great risk of committing a methodological error, known as presentism by the modern historiography. The authority of the investigator, more than the weight of the scientific truth, is usually the reason why the diagnosis has remained over the years. The great epidemic of the years 164-165AD and afterwards, could have been smallpox (haemorrhagic form). Claude Galen, the famous doctor, described the symptoms in several books of his great Opera Omnia. For this reason, it is currently known among the scholars as Galen's plague. The epidemic was described for the first time in Seleucia (Mesopotamia). Until now, the actual geographic origin is unknown. We propose here that the beginning might be the kingdom of the old Han dynasty (now the Chinese Popular Republic). The epidemic swept the Roman Empire, from the east to the west, and from the southern to the northern borders. An immediate consequence of the infection was a high morbidity and mortality. In this sense, Galen's epidemic was one of the many factors that caused the fall and destruction of the Roman Empire. On the other hand, there is a general agreement among historians, biographers and researchers that the philosopher emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180AD was affected by the infection in the epidemic wave of 164-165AD. The death of Marcus Aurelius occurred on March 17 in the year 180AD, in Vindobonne, or perhaps Sirminium (near to Vienna). Many authors propose that the cause of the emperor's death was the same epidemic. We consider that it is not possible to demonstrate any of those speculative diagnoses. Finally, the epidemic of 189-190AD, that we have named of Commodus, was probably a different disease to the Galen's plague. There were several kinds of animals affected (anthropozoonoses). In this sense, this infection

Reply to Lebech or the ontological humility of the lawyer faced with philosophical consistency.

Science.gov (United States)

Byk, J C

1998-10-01

Replying to the criticisms of Lebech, the author tries, regarding the issue of embryo research, to draw a line between what could be an international legal approach and what is a philosophical ontological quest. It is then up to the reader to decide if, and how far, these two different approaches can be complementary.

THEOLOGICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL THEORIES OF TRUTH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hans-Peter Grosshans

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Examining some theological and philosophical theories of truth, the author concentrates his attention on the experience of giving concrete reality to the Christian discourse about truth and at the same time contrasting this search with the attempts of philosophy to define truth. He draws the reader’s attention to the understanding of truth in language and communication. In his article he discusses the essential theories of truth which are characteristic of western philosophy: classical, correspondent, coherent, pragmatic, communicative and ontic. The author notes the specific traits of a theological understanding of truth and contends that it is based on an ontologically higher level than that of the classic definition of truth viewed simply in relation to reality and the understanding. The knowledge of God given to the Christian faith by the activity of the triune God, is in itself perfect and therefore in no need of further development. It is on this basis that theology develops its knowledge of faith, sweeping aside everything which is not in accord with this fundamental affirmation of faith or with the witness of revealed truth

The Relation Between Policies Concerning Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Philosophical Moral Theories - An Empirical Investigation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frederiksen, Claus Strue

2010-01-01

philosophical moral theories and the ethical content of business activities have mainly concentrated on the ethical decision-making of managers. Some of the most prominent investigations in that regard propose that managers mainly act in accordance with utilitarian moral theory (Fritzsche, D. J. and H. Becker......: 1984, Academy of Management Journal27(1), 166–175; Premeaux, S. and W. Mony: 1993, Journal of Business Ethics12, 349–357; Premeaux, S.: 2004, Journal of Business Ethics52, 269–278). I conclude that CSR policies are not based on utilitarian thinking, but instead, on some kind of common-sense morality......This article examines the relation between policies concerning Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and philosophical moral theories. The objective is to determine which moral theories form the basis for CSR policies. Are they based on ethical egoism, libertarianism, utilitarianism or some kind...

Relations between Inductive Reasoning and Deductive Reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

Heit, Evan; Rotello, Caren M.

2010-01-01

One of the most important open questions in reasoning research is how inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning are related. In an effort to address this question, we applied methods and concepts from memory research. We used 2 experiments to examine the effects of logical validity and premise-conclusion similarity on evaluation of arguments.…

Seeing Connections: Reason, Faith, and Education

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Suzy

2015-01-01

The article explores some of the congruencies of thought and resonances in phrasing in the work of Janet Erskine Stuart, John Henry Newman and Ludwig Wittgenstein. These three writers have in common their resistance to philosophers of religion who are preoccupied with proposing arguments for the existence of God and grounds for believing in God.…

Operational Ethics in Coalition Warfare: Whose Ethics Will Prevail? A Philosophical/Theological Conundrum

Science.gov (United States)

2002-05-13

34choices freely made and the rational principle employed." 25 There are three "fathers" of Utilitarianism , Jeremy Bentham, James Mill , and his son John ... Stuart Mill who refined and expanded upon his father’s work. This ethical position states that the...Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and the indigenous religions of Africa; Western and Eastern philosophers, Aristotle, Mill , Confucius, Storer, and Rand to

Philosophy of quantum physics. Introduction and discussion of the central perceptions and problem, posings of quantum theory for physicsts and philosophers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Friebe, Cord; Kuhlmann, Meinard; Lyre, Holger; Naeger, Paul; Passon, Oliver; Stoeckler, Manfred

2015-01-01

The aim was to give advanced students of philosophy with interest for physics an actual and solid introduction to the quantum theory. Simultaneously the book confronts also physicists with the philosophical questions of their field. After clearance of the foundations the second chapters introduces to the minimal interpretation and the ''Copenhagen interpretation''. In the third chapter many-particle systems are introduced and their pecularities discussed. The fourth chapter deals with the theme-circle ''entangled states'' and ''nonlocality''. In the first parter of the fifth chapter the De-Broglie-Bohm theory and in the second part the many-world interpretation of the quantum theory are presented. In the sixth chapter the bow is spanned to (relativistic) quantum field theories. Finally the seventh chapter rounds the book off in the framework of a small chronology of important development steps in physical-mathematical as also interpretatorical view.

The Philosophical Sinification of Modernity and the Modern Confucian Paradigm of Immanent Transcendence (內在超越性

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jana S. ROŠKER

2014-05-01

Full Text Available As a major source of social values, Modern Confucian theory assumes essential significance amidst the proliferation of instrumental rationality in contemporary China. This current is distinguished by a multifaceted attempt to revitalize traditional thought by means of new influences borrowed or derived from Western systems. It defines itself with a search for a synthesis between “Western” and traditional Chinese thought, aiming to elaborate a new system of ideas and values, suitable for the modern, globalized society. The present contribution examines the ways in which 3rd generation of Modern Confucian philosophers changed the framework within which traditional Chinese philosophical inquiry has been carried out, exposing the importance of immanent transcendence.

Model Based Temporal Reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

Rabin, Marla J.; Spinrad, Paul R.; Fall, Thomas C.

1988-03-01

Systems that assess the real world must cope with evidence that is uncertain, ambiguous, and spread over time. Typically, the most important function of an assessment system is to identify when activities are occurring that are unusual or unanticipated. Model based temporal reasoning addresses both of these requirements. The differences among temporal reasoning schemes lies in the methods used to avoid computational intractability. If we had n pieces of data and we wanted to examine how they were related, the worst case would be where we had to examine every subset of these points to see if that subset satisfied the relations. This would be 2n, which is intractable. Models compress this; if several data points are all compatible with a model, then that model represents all those data points. Data points are then considered related if they lie within the same model or if they lie in models that are related. Models thus address the intractability problem. They also address the problem of determining unusual activities if the data do not agree with models that are indicated by earlier data then something out of the norm is taking place. The models can summarize what we know up to that time, so when they are not predicting correctly, either something unusual is happening or we need to revise our models. The model based reasoner developed at Advanced Decision Systems is thus both intuitive and powerful. It is currently being used on one operational system and several prototype systems. It has enough power to be used in domains spanning the spectrum from manufacturing engineering and project management to low-intensity conflict and strategic assessment.

El discurso auto-biográfico como escritura filosófica: Apertura desde el pensamiento latinoamericano The autobiographical discourse as a philosophical writing: Opening from the Latin American thought

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Santos Herceg

2011-07-01

Full Text Available El presente texto busca, en el marco del tema de los géneros literarios en filosofía, investigar acerca de la auto-biografía como una posible escritura filosófica. Se muestra, en primer término, que considerando un modo "normal" de escritura filosófica institucionalizado e impuesto, la autobiografía no es aceptada como propiamente filosófica. En segundo lugar se intenta, a partir del rescate de un sujeto filosofante, así como de un lugar y de un modo de la enunciación filosófica (retórica, lograr una apertura que haga posible pensar en el discurso autobiográfico como propiamente filosófico.This text is intended to investigate, within the framework of literary genres in philosophy, the autobiography as a possible philosophical writing. Firstly, it appears that if it is considered an institutionalized and imposed "normal" way of philosophical writing, the autobiography is not accepted as properly philosophical. Secondly, it is attempted, from rescuing a philosophizing subject, as well as a place and a way of philosophical enunciation (rhetoric, to achieve an opening that it makes possible to think in autobiographical discourse as properly philosophical.

Using Advance Organizers in the Classroom.

Science.gov (United States)

Searls, Evelyn F.

After expanding on the definition of advance organizers as proposed by David Ausubel, this paper offers possible reasons for the lack of strong empirical support for the use of the strategy. It then cites examples of the successful use of advance organizers with learners from nursery school through college and in a variety of disciplines. The…

Encyclopedia of cosmology historical, philosophical, and scientific foundations of modern cosmology

CERN Document Server

Hetherington, Norriss S

2014-01-01

The Encyclopedia of Cosmology, first published in 1993, recounts the history, philosophical assumptions, methodological ambiguities, and human struggles that have influenced the various responses to the basic questions of cosmology through the ages, as well as referencing important scientific theories.Just as the recognition of social conventions in other cultures can lead to a more productive perspective on our own behaviour, so too a study of the cosmologies of other times and places can enable us recognise elements of our own cosmology that might otherwise pass as inevitable developments.Ap

Seeing things the philosophy of reliable observation

CERN Document Server

Hudson, Robert

2014-01-01

In Seeing Things, Robert Hudson assesses a common way of arguing about observation reports called "robustness reasoning." Robustness reasoning claims that an observation report is more likely to be true if the report is produced by multiple, independent sources. Seeing Things argues that robustness reasoning lacks the special value it is often claimed to have. Hudson exposes key flaws in various popular philosophical defenses of robustness reasoning. This philosophical critique of robustness is extended by recounting five episodes in the history of science (from experimental microbiology, atomic theory, astrophysics and astronomy) where robustness reasoning is -- or could be claimed to have been -- used. Hudson goes on to show that none of these episodes do in fact exhibit robustness reasoning. In this way, the significance of robustness reasoning is rebutted on both philosophical and historical grounds. But the book does more than critique robustness reasoning. It also develops a better defense of the infor...

The Rehearsal and Performance of Holiday Music: Philosophical Issues in "Stratechuk v. Board of Education"

Science.gov (United States)

Perrine, William M.

2016-01-01

This philosophical study addresses the implications of the legal case "Stratechuk v. Board of Education" ruling that a policy prohibiting the performance of religious-themed holiday music did not violate the United States Constitution. Two questions are investigated: the differences between the classroom study and public performance of…

What Can Be Known and How People Grow: The Philosophical Stakes of the Assessment Debate

Science.gov (United States)

Wahl, Rachel

2017-01-01

Fierce debates over standardized assessments in teacher preparation have revolved around flaws in implementation and the politics of privatization. While important, this focus obscures the philosophical divide between proponents and opponents of standardized assessments. This article examines how faculty in New York State argue for and against a…

Voting rights for older children and civic education

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Merry, Michael; Schinkel, Anders

2016-01-01

The issue of voting rights for older children has been high on the political and philosophical agenda for quite some time now, and not without reason. Aside from principled moral and philosophical reasons why it is an important matter, many economic, environmental, and political issues are currently

Philosophical Approaches towards Sciences of Life in Early Cybernetics

Science.gov (United States)

Montagnini, Leone

2008-07-01

The article focuses on the different conceptual and philosophical approaches towards the sciences of life operating in the backstage of Early Cybernetics. After a short reconstruction of the main steps characterizing the origins of Cybernetics, from 1940 until 1948, the paper examines the complementary conceptual views between Norbert Wiener and John von Neumann, as a "fuzzy thinking" versus a "logical thinking", and the marked difference between the "methodological individualism" shared by both of them versus the "methodological collectivism" of most of the numerous scientists of life and society attending the Macy Conferences on Cybernetics. The main thesis sustained here is that these different approaches, quite invisible to the participants, were different, maybe even opposite, but they could provoke clashes, as well as cooperate in a synergic way.

A Review of "The Politics of Sustainability: Philosophical Perspectives"

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Goldemberg

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Concerns about sustainable development are not a recent phenomenon. Societal problem-solving efforts within this realm have focused on concrete problems such as the preservation of fisheries, forests and national reserves. 'The Politics of Sustainability' has been discussed extensively in  literature, particularly after the publication of the Brundtland Commission's 'Our Common Future' report in 1987 [1] emphasizing inter-generational responsibilities involving economic, environmental and social aspects. Among other areas, the authors of the report highlighted the challenge of global climate change resulting from, amongst other things, unsustainable patterns of consumption. 'The Politics of Sustainability: Philosophical Perspectives', edited by Dieter Birnhacher and May Thorseth, brings  a new angle into the discussion of the politics of sustainable development: ethical considerations.

Foundations of anticipatory logic in biology and physics.

Science.gov (United States)

Bettinger, Jesse S; Eastman, Timothy E

2017-12-01

Recent advances in modern physics and biology reveal several scenarios in which top-down effects (Ellis, 2016) and anticipatory systems (Rosen, 1980) indicate processes at work enabling active modeling and inference such that anticipated effects project onto potential causes. We extrapolate a broad landscape of anticipatory systems in the natural sciences extending to computational neuroscience of perception in the capacity of Bayesian inferential models of predictive processing. This line of reasoning also comes with philosophical foundations, which we develop in terms of counterfactual reasoning and possibility space, Whitehead's process thought, and correlations with Eastern wisdom traditions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reason with me : 'Confabulation' and interpersonal moral reasoning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nyholm, S.R.

2015-01-01

According to Haidt’s ‘social intuitionist model’, empirical moral psychology supports the following conclusion: intuition comes first, strategic reasoning second. Critics have responded by arguing that intuitions can depend on non-conscious reasons, that not being able to articulate one’s reasons

Relations between inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning.

Science.gov (United States)

Heit, Evan; Rotello, Caren M

2010-05-01

One of the most important open questions in reasoning research is how inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning are related. In an effort to address this question, we applied methods and concepts from memory research. We used 2 experiments to examine the effects of logical validity and premise-conclusion similarity on evaluation of arguments. Experiment 1 showed 2 dissociations: For a common set of arguments, deduction judgments were more affected by validity, and induction judgments were more affected by similarity. Moreover, Experiment 2 showed that fast deduction judgments were like induction judgments-in terms of being more influenced by similarity and less influenced by validity, compared with slow deduction judgments. These novel results pose challenges for a 1-process account of reasoning and are interpreted in terms of a 2-process account of reasoning, which was implemented as a multidimensional signal detection model and applied to receiver operating characteristic data. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

Applied behavior analysis as intervention for autism: definition, features and philosophical concepts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Síglia Pimentel Höher Camargo

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Autism spectrum disorder (ASD is a lifelong pervasive developmental disorder with no known causes and cure. However, educational and behavioral interventions with a foundation in applied behavior analysis (ABA have been shown to improve a variety of skill areas such as communication, social, academic, and adaptive behaviors of individuals with ASD. The goal of this work is to present the definition, features and philosophical concepts that underlie ABA and make this science an effective intervention method for people with autism.

Calculating the Philosophical Significance of the Concept of Religious Freedom in Islam

OpenAIRE

Roswantoro, Alim

2014-01-01

The writing attemps to explore the philosophical meaning of the theological messages of Islam on religious freedom. The article do not study the empirical facts of religious freedom practiced by muslims today, but it scrutinizes the theological messages as written in the Qur'an and as showed by the real examples of the God's Messenger. Through understanding some Qur'anic verses, we will find that Islam strongly encourages the life of different religious people based on the value of freedom. F...

To Reason or Not to Reason: Is Autobiographical Reasoning Always Beneficial?

Science.gov (United States)

McLean, Kate C.; Mansfield, Cade D.

2011-01-01

Autobiographical reasoning has been found to be a critical process in identity development; however, the authors suggest that existing research shows that such reasoning may not always be critical to another important outcome: well-being. The authors describe characteristics of people such as personality and age, contexts such as conversations,…

The mystical Unity of Existence: A look at the philosophical interpretations of the mystics' view regarding The Unity vs. The plurality of existence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agha Husain Shiraz

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The Unity of Existence is a concept that was first proposed by mystics. However, this concept has been interpreted in different ways by different groups of scholars. This is due to the fact that these mystics did not always speak in an explicit manner. One of the groups that attempted to interpret this concept was the philosophers. An examination of the works of philosophers leads to the conclusion that there are at least 15 different philosophical interpretations of the Unity of Existence. Some of these interpret this concept epistemologically, while others interpret it metaphysically. Some of them are legitimate interpretations of the sayings of the mystics, while others contradict some of the other sayings of the mystics and, therefore, cannot serve as adequate explanations of this mystical concept. Nonetheless, they can still serve as independent interpretations of the unity vs. multiplicity of the Universe. In this article, the 15 different philosophical interpretations of the mystical unity of existence will be presented and the legitimacy of some of them will be assessed. Another discussion that is of primary importance is the truth or falsehood of these interpretations. This is something that cannot be addressed in this article and, yet, deserves to be examined independently.

The quantum universe: philosophical foundations and oriental medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Kafatos, Menas C; Yang, Keun-Hang

2016-12-01

The existence of universal principles in both science and medicine implies that one can explore their common applicability. Here we explore what we have learned from quantum mechanics, phenomena such as entanglement and nonlocality, the role of participation of the observer, and how these may apply to oriental medicine. The universal principles of integrated polarity, recursion, and creative interactivity apply to all levels of existence and all human activities, including healing and medicine. This review examines the possibility that what we have learned from quantum mechanics may provide clues to better understand the operational principles of oriental medicine in an integrated way. Common to both is the assertion that Consciousness is at the foundation of the universe and the inner core of all human beings. This view goes beyond both science and medicine and has strong philosophical foundations in Western philosophy as well as monistic systems of the East.

Sameness and the Self: Philosophical and Psychological Considerations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stan eKlein

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper I examine the concept of cross-temporal personal identity (diachronicity. This particular form of identity has vexed theorists for centuries – e.g., how can a person maintain a belief in the sameness of self over time in the face of continual psychological and physical change? I first discuss various forms of the sameness relation and the criteria that justify their application. I then examine philosophical and psychological treatments of personal diachronicity (for example, Locke’s psychological connectedness theory; the role of episodic memory and find each lacking on logical grounds, empirical grounds or both. I conclude that to achieve a successful resolution of the issue of the self as a temporal continuant we need to draw a sharp distinction between the feeling of the sameness of one’s self and the evidence marshaled in support of that feeling.

A social-philosophical perspective on Danish prisoners’ education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riis, Anita Holm

is not associated with crime. By virtue of exactly the linking together of self-perception and education, the focus of my study relates closely to the concept of “transformative learning” in which changes within the learner’s identity constitute a central focus. The empirical methods of this research project......In my ongoing research project, I am looking into whether – and if so then how – education of inmates and former inmates of Danish prisons may contribute in a positive manner to the self-perception of the persons in question. By “positive” I am alluding especially to a self-perception, which...... consists so far of ten qualitative interviews with prisoners and former prisoners who have responded to questions pertaining to the personal, rights-related and social dimensions of their respective educations. The social-philosophical perspective of Axel Honneth theoretically inspires this division...

On Harold's "Translucent Reality": A Philosophical and Religious Interpretation of "Harold and the Purple Crayon"

Science.gov (United States)

Keskin, Burhanettin

2017-01-01

In this paper, one of the most popular children's picture books, Harold and the Purple Crayon, is examined in terms of philosophical and religious viewpoints. Harold, a young inquisitive boy, seemingly travels in his world in which he finds himself dealing with various situations. Harold's adventure with his purple crayon reminds us the…

Social Justice and the Philosophical Foundations of Critical Peace Education: Exploring Nussbaum, Sen, and Freire

Science.gov (United States)

Snauwaert, Dale

2011-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to philosophically explore a "realization-focused" capabilities theory of social justice, as articulated by AmartyaSen and Martha Nussbaum, as foundational to a theory of critical peace education. Paulo Freire's philosophy of critical pedagogy has had and continues to have a profound influence on the theory and…

Transformation of philosophical and educational resources in the context of a globalized and internationalized world

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. M. Nevmerzhitska

2015-04-01

Taking into account that the Ukrainian philosophy study period is poorly understood, poring over the source of modern philosophical thought in Ukraine, the author concludes that the life of the Ukrainian people most subordinated pursuit of beauty, which covers all spheres of Ukrainian man as in material and spiritual dimensions of life.

Reasoning by analogy: rational foundation of natural analogue studies. [Application to radioactive waste disposal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Petit, J.-C. (CEA Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires de Fontenay-aux Roses, (France). DRDD/SESD)

1992-01-01

Long-term extrapolations concerning the safety of a nuclear waste repository cannot be satisfactorily made on the sole basis of short-term laboratory investigations. Most nuclear countries have hence developed an approach relying on the following research directions: 1. laboratory experiments; 2. in situ testing; 3. modeling; and 4. natural analogues, which are the only means by which very slow mechanisms can be identified and by which long-term predictions of models can be tested for pertinence (if not truly validated). Although the field of natural analogues has grown very rapidly in recent years, receiving support from varied specialists and institutions involved in radioactive waste disposal, there is not yet a full consensus on their actual usefulness. More problematic is the criticism sometimes made that analogical reasoning is not ''true science'' and that information retrieved from the study of natural analogues will always remain questionable. The present paper gives some clues about the exact status of reasoning by analogy, compared to more ''scientific'' ways of deriving information from investigated systems. It is not a thorough discussion of this very complex, and by far too philosophical issue but we hope, at least, to present to readers of papers devoted to natural analogue studies arguments showing that this approach has some sound foundation. (author).

Teachers' Pedagogical Reasoning and Reframing of Practice in Digital Contexts

Science.gov (United States)

Holmberg, Jörgen; Fransson, Göran; Fors, Uno

2018-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of teachers' reframing of practice in digital contexts by analysing teachers' pedagogical reasoning processes as they explore ways of using information and communication technologies (ICT) to create added pedagogical value. Design/methodology/approach: A design-based research (DBR)…

I. A. ILYIN ON KINDNESS: TOWARDS A STUDY OF THE MOSCOW PERIOD OF THE ACTIVITY OF THE PHILOSOPHER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vladimir Rozhnov

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This article examines the Moscow period of the activity of I.A. Il’in and especially his philosophical study entitled On Kindness. The distinguishing particularity of this study is the fact that Il’in used the methods of the descriptive psychology of Wilhelm Dilthey and of the sociology of Georg Simmel. The author investigates the type of infl uence and to what degree the works of Dilthey and Simmel influenced the method of Il’in. He concludes that Il’in, following the methods proposed by these two thinkers, was able to compose a brilliant analysis of the phenomenon of kindness. The author also examines the personal reasons why Il’in might have chosen to try this psychological-sociological experiment. He concludes that Il’in was motivated to attempt this study after refl ecting on his own personality and character. It is known that Il’in himself was known for his self-assuredness and his hot temper, both of which influenced the way he interacted with colleagues and the cultural elite of his own time. This article reconstructs the activity of Il’in in both its theoretical and personal aspects through one of the main works of his Moscow period. It also examines Il’in’s own method of scientifi c research

Eight Noble Opinions and the Economic Crisis: Four Literary-philosophical Sketches à la Eduardo Galeano

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giorgio Baruchello

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Four literary-philosophical skecthes are presented here in order to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the publication of the official English translation of one of Eduardo Galeano's most important books: Upside Down: A Primer for the Looking-glass World. Each of these four sketches deals with the current economic crisis, though from different perspectives of analysis, and attempts to make use of the vibrant and creative sylistic devices characterising Galeano's works, particularly Upside Down. In this book, Galeano explored insightfully the roots of the crisis to come. His critical conclusions were analogous to those of another eccentric observer of the most notable economic phenomena of the 1990s, John McMurtry, whose perception of the looming crisis was even more profound and technical. Therefore, also this Canadian thinker, indeed his theory of value, is evoked in the four sketches, for McMurtry's onto-axiology reveals the ongoing contradiction between the relentless search for profit of the mostly virtual global script type=text/javascript src=http://nome.st5.stefna.is/joomla/plugins/editors/jce/tiny_mce/themes/advanced/langs/en.js?version=156/scriptscript type=text/javascript src=http://nome.st5.stefna.is/joomla/plugins/editors/jce/tiny_mce/plugins/advcode/langs/en.js?version=156/scripteconomy and the requirements of natural and human life.

Intergenerational justice: how reasonable man discounts climate damage

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Davidson, M.D.

2012-01-01

Moral philosophers and economists have evaluated the intergenerational problem of climate change by applying the whole gamut of theories on distributive justice. In this article, however, it is argued that intergenerational justice cannot imply the application of moral ideal theories to future

Empirical Philosophy of Science

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mansnerus, Erika; Wagenknecht, Susann

2015-01-01

knowledge takes place through the integration of the empirical or historical research into the philosophical studies, as Chang, Nersessian, Thagard and Schickore argue in their work. Building upon their contributions we will develop a blueprint for an Empirical Philosophy of Science that draws upon...... qualitative methods from the social sciences in order to advance our philosophical understanding of science in practice. We will regard the relationship between philosophical conceptualization and empirical data as an iterative dialogue between theory and data, which is guided by a particular ‘feeling with......Empirical insights are proven fruitful for the advancement of Philosophy of Science, but the integration of philosophical concepts and empirical data poses considerable methodological challenges. Debates in Integrated History and Philosophy of Science suggest that the advancement of philosophical...

The enjoyment of philosophizing or the frustration of philosophy: A challenge in higher education.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberto Rubén Nasimbera

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Philosophy without doubt is an activity; but an intellectual activity that, although it can illuminate and even have an impact on other aspects of human life for its transformation, is only possible if there is a theory   that   boosts it and brings it to praxis. However philosophy is practical insofar as it is a make, rather than a fact, as well as pointed to the Greeks, we are not facing a knowledge effective and accomplished (sophía, but to a knowledge in permanent investigation and questioning (philo-sophía. In consequence the philosophy is not a system perfectly finished and closed on itself, but rather as a constant growing realization interrogative opening. What we propose in the Act of educating, is to promote the development of skills and qualities that are fruitful both for the educator, and the subject to whom we educate. These skills and qualities have an intrinsic value. Thus education is a process to perform in the educable subject freedom of the spirit, ability to think and love as a conscious being and master of him. From this angle, it will attempt to train professionals capable of transforming society from the role that has the authority to, i.e., trainer of thinking consciousness. This instance of thinking, his living being in the world and in their profession, has to try to generate an attitude of critical, creative and ethical. For this reason the exercise of thinking (philosophizing, will provide you tools to generate changes in the individual and collective.

Well-being, capabilities and philosophical practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bulatović Aleksandra

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The concept of well being has become the main criterion to assess quality of life in contemporary society. Individual well-being describes the individual quality of life, while social well-being refers to quality of life in a society. Given that well-being has a multitude of dimensions, a unique definition of it is elusive to scholars. In this article social well-being is conceptualised as a dynamic process within the context set by social integration as one’s relationship to society and the community. This includes the quality of interaction between the individual and society and one’s ‘social actualisation’ understood as the realisation of one’s social capacities. Social actualisation also involves one’s ability to influence social processes and to benefit from social cohesion, which consists, in any society, of the quality, organisation and functioning of the social world. Hence the ability to impact society is an integral part of individual well being. This paper suggests that philosophical practice as a new paradigm in the humanities holds out promise for the improvement of both individual and social well-being. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 47011: Crime in Serbia: Phenomenology, Risks and Possibilities for Social Intervention

Using Relational Reasoning Strategies to Help Improve Clinical Reasoning Practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Dumas, Denis; Torre, Dario M; Durning, Steven J

2018-05-01

Clinical reasoning-the steps up to and including establishing a diagnosis and/or therapy-is a fundamentally important mental process for physicians. Unfortunately, mounting evidence suggests that errors in clinical reasoning lead to substantial problems for medical professionals and patients alike, including suboptimal care, malpractice claims, and rising health care costs. For this reason, cognitive strategies by which clinical reasoning may be improved-and that many expert clinicians are already using-are highly relevant for all medical professionals, educators, and learners.In this Perspective, the authors introduce one group of cognitive strategies-termed relational reasoning strategies-that have been empirically shown, through limited educational and psychological research, to improve the accuracy of learners' reasoning both within and outside of the medical disciplines. The authors contend that relational reasoning strategies may help clinicians to be metacognitive about their own clinical reasoning; such strategies may also be particularly well suited for explicitly organizing clinical reasoning instruction for learners. Because the particular curricular efforts that may improve the relational reasoning of medical students are not known at this point, the authors describe the nature of previous research on relational reasoning strategies to encourage the future design, implementation, and evaluation of instructional interventions for relational reasoning within the medical education literature. The authors also call for continued research on using relational reasoning strategies and their role in clinical practice and medical education, with the long-term goal of improving diagnostic accuracy.

Crows spontaneously exhibit analogical reasoning.

Science.gov (United States)

Smirnova, Anna; Zorina, Zoya; Obozova, Tanya; Wasserman, Edward

2015-01-19

Analogical reasoning is vital to advanced cognition and behavioral adaptation. Many theorists deem analogical thinking to be uniquely human and to be foundational to categorization, creative problem solving, and scientific discovery. Comparative psychologists have long been interested in the species generality of analogical reasoning, but they initially found it difficult to obtain empirical support for such thinking in nonhuman animals (for pioneering efforts, see [2, 3]). Researchers have since mustered considerable evidence and argument that relational matching-to-sample (RMTS) effectively captures the essence of analogy, in which the relevant logical arguments are presented visually. In RMTS, choice of test pair BB would be correct if the sample pair were AA, whereas choice of test pair EF would be correct if the sample pair were CD. Critically, no items in the correct test pair physically match items in the sample pair, thus demanding that only relational sameness or differentness is available to support accurate choice responding. Initial evidence suggested that only humans and apes can successfully learn RMTS with pairs of sample and test items; however, monkeys have subsequently done so. Here, we report that crows too exhibit relational matching behavior. Even more importantly, crows spontaneously display relational responding without ever having been trained on RMTS; they had only been trained on identity matching-to-sample (IMTS). Such robust and uninstructed relational matching behavior represents the most convincing evidence yet of analogical reasoning in a nonprimate species, as apes alone have spontaneously exhibited RMTS behavior after only IMTS training. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Boscovich's philosophical meditations in the history of contemporary thought

Science.gov (United States)

Gori, P.

The content of Boscovich's Theoria philosophiae naturalis was well-known to his contemporaries, but both scientists and philosophers chiefly discussed it during the 19th century. The observations that Boscovich presented in this text, and that he himself defined as ``philosophicas metitationes", soon showed their being a good programme for the forthcoming atomic physics, and contributed to get rid of the mechanistic paradigm in science. In this paper I will go back to some meaningful moments of the history of Boscovich's reception in the era of contemporary philosophy, by referring to what authors such as Popper, Cassirer, Nietzsche and Fechner wrote about him. These thinkers, indeed, particularly stressed the importance of the Theoria in the history of Western thought, and showed that it can easily be evaluated beyond the plane of a pure scientific investigation.

PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS VALUE LEVEL OF PERCEPTION OF THE WORLD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. I. Nekrasov

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the philosophical understanding of the problem of perception of values and antivalues. Beliefs, recognized among the people regarding the purposes to which it is important to strive for life, named values. They are the Foundation for moral principles and provide people with their human existence despite the fact that different cultures hold different principles. In the tribe Yanomami cruelty is considered a value. The expectation that men will defend their honor in combat, is to be the norm corresponding to this value. Anyway, the principles followed by the personality, are accounted for morality. Principles justify the norms and standards that support human being in his desire to be honest and sincere for that society in which he lives, and be worthy of its representative.

Advancing Kohlberg through Codes: Using Professional Codes To Reach the Moral Reasoning Objective in Undergraduate Ethics Courses.

Science.gov (United States)

Whitehouse, Ginny; Ingram, Michael T.

The development of moral reasoning as a key course objective in undergraduate communication ethics classes can be accomplished by the critical and deliberate introduction of professional codes of ethics and the internalization of values found in those codes. Notably, "fostering moral reasoning skills" and "surveying current ethical…

The Connection between the Thought of Progress and Philosophical Thinking in the West Case Study: Descartes’ Thought System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyed Mustafa Shahraeeni

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Thought of progress has been considered as one of the presuppositions of the West modernity. Having accepted this idea, we should regard it as one of the bases and foundations of early modern philosophy, and consider Descartes, known as the father of modern philosophy, as having a major role in its formation. There is a strong relationship between the West philosophical thought and the change of the idea of progress to one of the undisputed facts of the west civilization, and this issue can be seen clearly in Descartes thought system better than anywhere else. The present paper intends to show the leading position of Descartes’ thought system in the institutionalization of the concept of progress in the West philosophical system in three main parts: 1. Authority fighting and its relation with Cartesian’s Doubt, 2. The genuineness of the worldly life in Descartes’ thought system, and 3. Establishing the foundation of modern science. This article is based on the modern forerunners’ change of opinion about the philosophy mission in the world. It  makes attempt to demonstrate in order to achieve the thought of progress, some prerequisites are necessary; and these prerequisite, though not exclusively, in their best and most complete form are generally achieved in the West philosophical thought and are particularly accomplished in Descartes’ philosophy.

The role of Philosophical Hermeneutics in contributing to an understanding of physiotherapy practice: a reflexive illustration.

Science.gov (United States)

Stenner, Rob; Mitchell, Theresa; Palmer, Shea

2017-09-01

This paper provides an overview of Philosophical Hermeneutics based on the work of German philosopher Hans Georg Gadamer. The concepts of the 'hermeneutic circle' as a vehicle for interpretation, management of the researcher's pre-understandings (prejudices), and the 'fusion of horizons' are introduced and illustrated by examples from the first author's research, before considering how rigour can be achieved in this type of research. The actual research study which aimed to explore how shared decision making and patient partnership are addressed by physiotherapists in the process of exercise prescription for patients with low back pain (LBP) is not the focus of this paper. However short descriptions of the study are used to explore issues surrounding a hermeneutic inquiry. For physiotherapists interested in research or considering undertaking an interpretive phenomenological inquiry, this theoretical discussion paper explores how Gadamer's philosophy offers a credible framework for undertaking such research. Copyright © 2016 Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Designing and Implementing a New Advanced Level Biology Course

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Angela; Reiss, Michael J.; Rowell, Cathy; Scott, Anne

2003-01-01

Salters-Nuffield Advanced Biology is a new advanced level biology course, piloted from September 2002 in England with around 1200 students. This paper discusses the reasons for developing a new advanced biology course at this time, the philosophy of the project and how the materials are being written and the specification devised. The aim of the…