WorldWideScience

Sample records for single philosophical viewpoint

  1. 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)

  2. Letters and Viewpoints Planning Education in Africa: Towards the ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Letters and Viewpoints Planning Education in Africa: Towards the 21st Century. George N. Ngugi ... The relevance of planning education is questioned from the theoretical and philosophical perspectives on one hand, the professional and practical stance on the other. Its goals are scrutinized and its structure argued about.

  3. A Viewpoint Approach to Structured Argumentation

    OpenAIRE

    Tamani, Nouredine; Croitoru, Madalina; Buche, Patrice

    2013-01-01

    We introduce in this paper a viewpoint-based argumentation approach in the context of the EcoBioCap project, which requirements are different actor arguments expressed over several criteria, describing the objects of a domain, to support/oppose contradictory goals. A viewpoint is an ASPIC+ argumentation system defined over a subset of rules corresponding to a single criterion. Concepts of conflict between viewpoints, independent viewpoints, and collection of independent viewpoints are the bas...

  4. Water surface modeling from a single viewpoint video.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Chuan; Pickup, David; Saunders, Thomas; Cosker, Darren; Marshall, David; Hall, Peter; Willis, Philip

    2013-07-01

    We introduce a video-based approach for producing water surface models. Recent advances in this field output high-quality results but require dedicated capturing devices and only work in limited conditions. In contrast, our method achieves a good tradeoff between the visual quality and the production cost: It automatically produces a visually plausible animation using a single viewpoint video as the input. Our approach is based on two discoveries: first, shape from shading (SFS) is adequate to capture the appearance and dynamic behavior of the example water; second, shallow water model can be used to estimate a velocity field that produces complex surface dynamics. We will provide qualitative evaluation of our method and demonstrate its good performance across a wide range of scenes.

  5. Viewpoint Manifolds for Action Recognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Souvenir Richard

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Action recognition from video is a problem that has many important applications to human motion analysis. In real-world settings, the viewpoint of the camera cannot always be fixed relative to the subject, so view-invariant action recognition methods are needed. Previous view-invariant methods use multiple cameras in both the training and testing phases of action recognition or require storing many examples of a single action from multiple viewpoints. In this paper, we present a framework for learning a compact representation of primitive actions (e.g., walk, punch, kick, sit that can be used for video obtained from a single camera for simultaneous action recognition and viewpoint estimation. Using our method, which models the low-dimensional structure of these actions relative to viewpoint, we show recognition rates on a publicly available dataset previously only achieved using multiple simultaneous views.

  6. 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…

  7. Perspectives and reconciliation of viewpoints on risk assessment issues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, C.F.; Cohen, J.J.

    1980-01-01

    It is important to recognize the distinction between risk assessment and its components which include risk analysis, perspectives study, and decision analysis. Divergence of opinion within the scientific community as well as the public at large is a characteristic of issues related to nuclear power. The divergent opinions can largely be characterized as either optimistic or pessimistic in nature. Reconciliation of divergent viewpoints presents some difficult challenges. It is doubtful that issues which have an emotional or philosophical basis can be resolved through technical efforts. Public education on the technical issues might prove helpful

  8. Philosophical Talent : Empirical investigations into philosophical features of adolescents' discourse

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rondhuis, N.T.W.

    2005-01-01

    This study tests the hypothesis that a philosophical talent exists in thinking patterns, uttered through oral expressions during philosophical discussions. A systematic study on the philosophical quality of thinking patterns was undertaken among youngsters of 10 - 20 years old. 'Philosophical

  9. Philosophical Prostitution

    OpenAIRE

    Amihud Gilead

    2010-01-01

    Problem statement: This research was needed because some philosophers were subject to a form of blindness concerning prostitution. This blindness was caused mainly by a lack of philosophical insights. The context of the work was that valid arguments without such insights must be blind. In the case of prostitution, I termed such blindness a philosophical prostitution: First of all, this was to indicate that such an opinion on prostitution was a philosophical artifact or fiction, entirely unawa...

  10. The Applied Behavior Analysis Research Paradigm and Single-Subject Designs in Adapted Physical Activity Research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haegele, Justin A; Hodge, Samuel Russell

    2015-10-01

    There are basic philosophical and paradigmatic assumptions that guide scholarly research endeavors, including the methods used and the types of questions asked. Through this article, kinesiology faculty and students with interests in adapted physical activity are encouraged to understand the basic assumptions of applied behavior analysis (ABA) methodology for conducting, analyzing, and presenting research of high quality in this paradigm. The purposes of this viewpoint paper are to present information fundamental to understanding the assumptions undergirding research methodology in ABA, describe key aspects of single-subject research designs, and discuss common research designs and data-analysis strategies used in single-subject studies.

  11. 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.

  12. ViewpointS: When Social Ranking Meets the Semantic Web

    OpenAIRE

    Lemoisson , Philippe; Surroca , Guillaume; Jonquet , Clement; Cerri , Stefano A.

    2017-01-01

    International audience; Reconciling the ecosystem of semantic Web data with the ecosystem of social Web participation has been a major issue for the Web Science community. To answer this need, we propose an innovative approach called ViewpointS where the knowledge is topologically, rather than logically, explored and assessed. Both social contributions and linked data are represented by triples agent-resource-resource called " viewpoints ". A " viewpoint " is the subjective declaration by an ...

  13. 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.

  14. Viewpoint A Viewpoint of Personal Aesthetic Preferences and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Viewpoint A Viewpoint of Personal Aesthetic Preferences and Aesthetic Education, Landscape Theory and Survival in the Kalahari Region of South Africa: Implications for an Authentic Contemporary Curriculum.

  15. Interracial America. Opposing Viewpoints Series.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szumski, Bonnie, Ed.

    Books in the Opposing Viewpoints Series present debates about current issues that can be used to teach critical reading and thinking skills. The varied opinions in each book examine different aspects of a single issue. The topics covered in this volume explore the racial and ethnic tensions that concern many Americans today. The racial divide…

  16. Philosophical Hermeneutic Interviewing

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    Roxanne K. Vandermause PhD, RN

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available This article describes, exemplifies and discusses the use of the philosophical hermeneutic interview and its distinguishing characteristics. Excerpts of interviews from a philosophical hermeneutic study are used to show how this particular phenomenological tradition is applied to research inquiry. The purpose of the article is to lay out the foundational background for philosophical hermeneutics in a way that clarifies its unique approach to interviewing and its usefulness for advancing health care knowledge. Implications for health care research and practice are addressed.

  17. 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…

  18. Is Proust a philosopher?

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    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.

  19. 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.

  20. Philosophical behaviorism: a review of things that happen because they should: a teleological approach to action, by Rowland Stout.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rachlin, H

    1999-09-01

    Mentalistic terms such as belief and desire have been rejected by behavior analysts because they are traditionally held to refer to unobservable events inside the organism. Behavior analysis has consequently been viewed by philosophers to be at best irrelevant to psychology, understood as a science of the mind. In this book, the philosopher Rowland Stout argues cogently that beliefs and desires (like operants such as rats' lever presses) are best understood in terms of an interaction over time between overt behavior and its overt consequences (a viewpoint called teleological behaviorism). This book is important because it identifies the science of the mind with the science of overt behavior and implies that the psychologists best equipped to study mental life are not those who purport to do so but those who focus on the experimental analysis of behavior.

  1. Multi-viewpoint Image Array Virtual Viewpoint Rapid Generation Algorithm Based on Image Layering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Lu; Piao, Yan

    2018-04-01

    The use of multi-view image array combined with virtual viewpoint generation technology to record 3D scene information in large scenes has become one of the key technologies for the development of integrated imaging. This paper presents a virtual viewpoint rendering method based on image layering algorithm. Firstly, the depth information of reference viewpoint image is quickly obtained. During this process, SAD is chosen as the similarity measure function. Then layer the reference image and calculate the parallax based on the depth information. Through the relative distance between the virtual viewpoint and the reference viewpoint, the image layers are weighted and panned. Finally the virtual viewpoint image is rendered layer by layer according to the distance between the image layers and the viewer. This method avoids the disadvantages of the algorithm DIBR, such as high-precision requirements of depth map and complex mapping operations. Experiments show that, this algorithm can achieve the synthesis of virtual viewpoints in any position within 2×2 viewpoints range, and the rendering speed is also very impressive. The average result proved that this method can get satisfactory image quality. The average SSIM value of the results relative to real viewpoint images can reaches 0.9525, the PSNR value can reaches 38.353 and the image histogram similarity can reaches 93.77%.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. Archives: Philosophical Papers

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Items 1 - 26 of 26 ... Archives: Philosophical Papers. Journal Home > Archives: Philosophical Papers. Log in or Register to get access to full text downloads. Username, Password, Remember me, or Register · Journal Home · ABOUT THIS JOURNAL · Advanced Search · Current Issue · Archives. 1 - 26 of 26 Items. 2008. Vol 37 ...

  5. 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...

  6. 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

  7. The philosopher and the phenomenologist

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    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.

  8. 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...

  9. La voix du philosophe Laruelle

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    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.

  10. A Comparative and Critical Study on the Proofs of God\\\\\\'s Existence from the Viewpoint of Mulla Sadra and Thomas Aquinas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ghasem Kakaee

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Thinking and reflecting on God is one of the most important foundations of human knowledge according to theologians and philosophers. Therefore, proofs for the God’s existence  a very important theological and philosophical issue. Each thinker, according to his/her system of thought, has tried to establish a valid proof for the God’s existence of God throughout history. Mulla Sadra, founder of Hekmat Motealiye and Thomas Aquinas, philosopher of the middle ages, are two such important contributors. Though they both consider the God’s existence as given, they still proceeded to establish a proof of the God’s existence. This article, first, explains Mulla Sadra’s and Thomas Aquinas’ viewpoints on the evidence of the existence of God, then presents a comparative analysis of some of their proofs for such existence. This article contends that Mulla Sadra enriches Thomas’ proof of possibility and necessity by adding emkan faghri to it. Further, it states that Mulla Sadar also completes Thomas’ proof of movement by incorporating essential movement in to it. Finally, this paper shows that Mulla Sadar gives reasons for the necessity of being with the proof of Seddighin

  11. “Sketches of landscapes”: On philosophical poems

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    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.

  12. Shakespeare, dramatist-philosopher

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    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.

  13. 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.

  14. 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...

  15. 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)

  16. Consistency in multi-viewpoint architectural design

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dijkman, R.M.; Dijkman, Remco Matthijs

    2006-01-01

    This thesis presents a framework that aids in preserving consistency in multi-viewpoint designs. In a multi-viewpoint design each stakeholder constructs his own design part. We call each stakeholder’s design part the view of that stakeholder. To construct his view, a stakeholder has a viewpoint.

  17. 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…

  18. 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...

  19. 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.

  20. CLASSICAL AND NON-CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

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    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

  1. 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.

  2. Reconstruction of Novel Viewpoint Image Using GRNN

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    李战委; 孙济洲; 张志强

    2003-01-01

    A neural-statistical approach to the reconstruction of novel viewpoint image using general regression neural networks(GRNN) is presented. Different color value will be obtained by watching the same surface point of an object from different viewpoints due to specular reflection, and the difference is related to the position of viewpoint. The relationship between the position of viewpoint and the color of image is non-linear, neural network is introduced to make curve fitting, where the inputs of neural network are only a few calibrated images with obvious specular reflection. By training the neural network, network model is obtained. By inputing an arbitrary virtual viewpoint to the model, the image of the virtual viewpoint can be computed. By using the method presented here, novel viewpoint image with photo-realistic property can be obtained, especially images with obvious specular reflection can accurately be generated. The method is an image-based rendering method, geometric model of the scene and position of lighting are not needed.

  3. The impact of conventional and novel metaphor in news on issue viewpoint

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boeynaems, A.; Burgers, C.; Konijn, E.A.; Steen, G.J.

    2017-01-01

    Metaphors are often used to frame news. Different types of metaphor (conventional, novel) can affect issue viewpoint via different underlying mechanisms (cognitive and affective text perception). We conducted a single-factor (type of expression: conventional metaphor, novel metaphor, nonmetaphorical

  4. The impact of conventional and novel metaphors in news on issue viewpoint

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boeynaems, A.; Burgers, C.F.; Konijn, E.A.; Steen, G.J.

    2017-01-01

    Metaphors are often used to frame news. Different types of metaphor (conventional, novel) can affect issue viewpoint via different underlying mechanisms (cognitive and affective text perception). We conducted a single-factor (type of expression: conventional metaphor, novel metaphor, nonmetaphorical

  5. '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

  6. 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 ...

  7. 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 ...

  8. Move to learn: Integrating spatial information from multiple viewpoints.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holmes, Corinne A; Newcombe, Nora S; Shipley, Thomas F

    2018-05-11

    Recalling a spatial layout from multiple orientations - spatial flexibility - is challenging, even when the global configuration can be viewed from a single vantage point, but more so when it must be viewed piecemeal. In the current study, we examined whether experiencing the transition between multiple viewpoints enhances spatial memory and flexible recall for a spatial configuration viewed simultaneously (Exp. 1) and sequentially (Exp. 2), whether the type of transition matters, and whether action provides an additional advantage over passive experience. In Experiment 1, participants viewed an array of dollhouse furniture from four viewpoints, but with all furniture simultaneously visible. In Experiment 2, participants viewed the same array piecemeal, from four partitioned viewpoints that allowed for viewing only a segment at a time. The transition between viewpoints involved rotation of the array or participant movement around it. Rotation and participant movement were passively experienced or actively generated. The control condition presented the dollhouse as a series of static views. Across both experiments, participant movement significantly enhanced spatial memory relative to array rotation or static views. However, in Exp. 2, there was a further advantage for actively walking around the array compared to being passively pushed. These findings suggest that movement around a stable environment is key to spatial memory and flexible recall, with action providing an additional boost to the integration of temporally segmented spatial events. Thus, spatial memory may be more flexible than prior data indicate, when studied under more natural acquisition conditions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Hume, Mill, Hill, and the sui generis epidemiologic approach to causal inference.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morabia, Alfredo

    2013-11-15

    The epidemiologic approach to causal inference (i.e., Hill's viewpoints) consists of evaluating potential causes from the following 2, noncumulative angles: 1) established results from comparative, observational, or experimental epidemiologic studies; and 2) reviews of nonepidemiologic evidence. It does not involve statements of statistical significance. The philosophical roots of Hill's viewpoints are unknown. Superficially, they seem to descend from the ideas of Hume and Mill. Hill's viewpoints, however, use a different kind of evidence and have different purposes than do Hume's rules or Mill's system of logic. In a nutshell, Hume ignores comparative evidence central to Hill's viewpoints. Mill's logic disqualifies as invalid nonexperimental evidence, which forms the bulk of epidemiologic findings reviewed from Hill's viewpoints. The approaches by Hume and Mill cannot corroborate successful implementations of Hill's viewpoints. Besides Hume and Mill, the epidemiologic literature is clueless about a plausible, pre-1965 philosophical origin of Hill's viewpoints. Thus, Hill's viewpoints may be philosophically novel, sui generis, still waiting to be validated and justified.

  10. 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.

  11. 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…

  12. 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.

  13. 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.

  14. [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.

  15. 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 ...

  16. 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

  17. Free viewpoint TV and its international standardization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanimoto, Masayuki

    2009-05-01

    We have developed a new type of television named FTV (Free-viewpoint TV). FTV is an innovative visual media that enables us to view a 3D scene by freely changing our viewpoints. We proposed the concept of FTV and constructed the world's first real-time system including the complete chain of operation from image capture to display. We also realized FTV on a single PC and FTV with free listening-point audio. FTV is based on the ray-space method that represents one ray in real space with one point in the ray-space. We have also developed new type of ray capture and display technologies such as a 360-degree mirror-scan ray capturing system and a 360 degree ray-reproducing display. MPEG regarded FTV as the most challenging 3D media and started the international standardization activities of FTV. The first phase of FTV is MVC (Multi-view Video Coding) and the second phase is 3DV (3D Video). MVC was completed in March 2009. 3DV is a standard that targets serving a variety of 3D displays. It will be completed within the next two years.

  18. 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

  19. 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

  20. 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

  1. Overview of FTV (free-viewpoint television)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanimoto, Masayuki

    2010-07-01

    We have developed a new type of television named FTV (Free-viewpoint TV). FTV is the ultimate 3DTV that enables us to view a 3D scene by freely changing our viewpoints. We proposed the concept of FTV and constructed the world's first real-time system including the complete chain of operation from image capture to display. FTV is based on the rayspace method that represents one ray in real space with one point in the ray-space. We have developed ray capture, processing and display technologies for FTV. FTV can be carried out today in real time on a single PC or on a mobile player. We also realized FTV with free listening-point audio. The international standardization of FTV has been conducted in MPEG. The first phase of FTV was MVC (Multi-view Video Coding) and the second phase is 3DV (3D Video). MVC was completed in May 2009. The Blu-ray 3D specification has adopted MVC for compression. 3DV is a standard that targets serving a variety of 3D displays. The view generation function of FTV is used to decouple capture and display in 3DV. FDU (FTV Data Unit) is proposed as a data format for 3DV. FTU can compensate errors of the synthesized views caused by depth error.

  2. Mario Bunge: Physicist and Philosopher

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matthews, Michael R.

    Mario Bunge was born in Argentina in the final year of the First World War.He learnt atomic physics and quantum mechanics from an Austrian refugee who had been a student of Heisenberg. Additionally he taught himself modern philosophy in an environment that was a philosophical backwater. He was the first South American 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 on Philosophy. The unifying thread of his scholarship is the constant and vigorous advancement of the Enlightenment Project, and criticism of cultural and academic movements that deny or devalue the core planks of the project: namely its naturalism, the search for truth, the universality of science, rationality, and respect for individuals. At a time when specialisation is widely decried, and its deleterious effects on science, philosophy of science, educational research and science teaching are recognised - it is salutary to see the fruits of one person's pursuit of the Big'' scientific and philosophical picture.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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

  6. Free-viewpoint depth image based rendering

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zinger, S.; Do, Q.L.; With, de P.H.N.

    2010-01-01

    In 3D TV research, one approach is to employ multiple cameras for creating a 3D multi-view signal with the aim to make interactive free-viewpoint selection possible in 3D TV media. This paper explores a new rendering algorithm that enables to compute a free-viewpoint between two reference views from

  7. 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,…

  8. 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

  9. 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…

  10. 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.

  11. [Different philosophical traditions for knowledge development in nursing sciences].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ballard, Ariane; Khadra, Christelle; Le May, Sylvie; Gendron, Sylvie

    2016-03-01

    doctoral studies in nursing engage a critical reflections about philosophical traditions inherent to knowledge development. critical realism, hermeneutics, postmodernism and poststructuralism refer to philosophical traditions that are generally less explored in nursing, although they are attracting greater attention. this paper offers an introductory presentation to these traditions as the authors also reflect upon their contribution to nursing knowledge development in. for each tradition, ontological and epistemological properties are presented to provide an overview of their main features. Contributions to nursing knowledge development are then discussed. ontology refers to stratified, fixed and changing, or multiple realities, depending on the philosophical tradition. Likewise, epistemology emphasizes the explanatory power of knowledge, intersubjectivity, or inherent power dynamics. the diversity of philosophical traditions represents an asset that can significantly contribute to the advancement of the nursing discipline. clarification of the philosophical dimensions that underlie knowledge development is essential for doctoral nursing students in the process of developing their research projects and future programmes of research.

  12. 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.

  13. 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.

  14. 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

  15. 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…

  16. 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...

  17. 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...

  18. 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.

  19. 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....

  20. Co to znaczy filozofować? (What does Philosophizing Mean?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aldona Pobojewska

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available A philosophy teacher should constantly raise the question about the form of philosophical education. Following this need I undertook the problem “what is the philosophizing” once again. The results of this reflection are the following paper presented. It has two main parts. In the first – I present the philosophizing as rational reasoning which has to do with science and with common sense thinking even. In thesecond part – I point out a set of properties specific to philosophizing.

  1. 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 ...

  2. 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.

  3. Viewpoint-independent contextual cueing effect

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    taiga etsuchiai

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available We usually perceive things in our surroundings as unchanged despite viewpoint changes caused by self-motion. The visual system therefore must have a function to process objects independently of viewpoint. In this study, we examined whether viewpoint-independent spatial layout can be obtained implicitly. For this purpose, we used a contextual cueing effect, a learning effect of spatial layout in visual search displays known to be an implicit effect. We compared the transfer of the contextual cueing effect between cases with and without self-motion by using visual search displays for 3D objects, which changed according to the participant’s assumed location for viewing the stimuli. The contextual cueing effect was obtained with self-motion but disappeared when the display changed without self-motion. This indicates that there is an implicit learning effect in spatial coordinates and suggests that the spatial representation of object layouts or scenes can be obtained and updated implicitly. We also showed that binocular disparity play an important role in the layout representations.

  4. PHILOSOPHICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF AESTETICS IN POST-CLASSICAL EPOCH

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    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.

  5. Feser on Rothbard as a Philosopher

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    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.

  6. 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"....

  7. IMPLIED AUTHOR IN PHILOSOPHICAL NOVELS

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    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.

  8. Time-aware multi-viewpoint summarization of multilingual social text streams

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ren, Zhaochun; Inel, Oana; Aroyo, Lora; De Rijke, Maarten

    2016-01-01

    A viewpoint is a triple consisting of an entity, a topic related to this entity and sentiment towards this topic. In time-aware multi-viewpoint summarization one monitors viewpoints for a running topic and selects a small set of informative documents. In this paper, we focus on time-aware

  9. Using Technology to Improve Student Learning. NCREL Viewpoints, Volume 12

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gahala, Jan, Ed.

    2004-01-01

    "Viewpoints" is a multimedia package containing two audio CDs and a short, informative booklet. This volume of "Viewpoints" focuses on how technology can help improve student learning. The audio CDs provide the voices, or viewpoints, of various leaders from the education field who work closely with technology issues. Their…

  10. Kantian Turning Point in Gadamer's Philosophical Hermeneutics

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    Kristína Bosáková

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The paper is treating the theme of a Kantian turning-point in the philosophical hermeneutics of H.- G. Gadamer based on of the harmonic relationship between metaphysics and science in Kantian philosophy from the point of view of the philosophical hermeneutics of Gadamer. The philosophical work of Kant had such an influence on Gadamer that without exaggerating we can talk about the Kantian turning-point in Gadamerian hermeneutics. Grondin, a former student of Gadamer, is talking about Kantian turning-point on the field of aesthetics, but in reality Kantian turning-point means much more than a mere change in the reception of the concept of judgement. It is a discovery of harmonical relationship between the beauty and the moral, between the reason and the sensitivity, between the modern sciences and the metaphysical tradition in the Kantian philosophy, made by Gadamer. This is what we call the Kantian turning-point in Gadamerian hermeneutics.

  11. 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.

  12. 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,…

  13. Latin American Philosophers: Some Recent Challenges to Their Intellectual Character

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    Susana Nuccetelli

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available For Latin American philosophers, the quality of their own philosophy is a recurrent issue. Why hasn’t it produced any internationally recognized figure, tradition, or movement? Why is it mostly unknown inside and outside Latin America? Although skeptical answers to these questions are not new, they have recently shifted to some critical-thinking competences and dispositions deemed necessary for successful philosophical theorizing. Latin American philosophers are said to lack, for example, originality in problem-solving, problem-making, argumentation, and to some extent, interpretation. Or does the problem arise from their vices of “arrogant reasoning?” On my view, all of these answers are incomplete, and some even self-defeating. Yet they cast some light on complex, critical-thinking virtues and vices that play a significant role in philosophical thinking.

  14. The ViewPoint radioprotection supervision workstation; Poste de supervision radioprotection viewpoint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gaultier, E. [APVL Ingenierie- 6, bd Nobel - Equatop La Rabelais - 37540 Saint Cyr sur Loire (France)

    2009-07-01

    The author briefly presents the ViewPoint supervision global solution which incorporates audio and video advanced technologies to manage radioprotection operational measurements. Data can be transmitted by-wire or wireless. It can integrate a large number of radioprotection measurement instruments, such as a belt for the monitoring of physiological parameters (body temperature, breathing rhythm, body posture)

  15. IGLANCE: interactive free viewpoint for 3D TV

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zinger, S.; Do, Q.L.; Ruijters, D.; With, de P.H.N.

    2010-01-01

    The iGLANCE project aims at making interactive free viewpoint selection possible in 3D TV broadcasted media. This means that the viewer can select and interactively change the viewpoint of a stereoscopic streamed video. The interactivity is enabled by broad-casting a number of video streams from

  16. 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…

  17. 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

  18. Should laptops be allowed in the classroom? Two viewpoints: viewpoint 1: laptops in classrooms facilitate curricular advancement and promote student learning and viewpoint 2: deconstructing and rethinking the use of laptops in the classroom.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spallek, Heiko; von Bergmann, HsingChi

    2014-12-01

    This Point/Counterpoint article discusses the pros and cons of deploying one aspect of instructional technology in dental education: the use of laptops in the classroom. Two opposing viewpoints, written by different authors, evaluate the arguments. Viewpoint 1 argues that laptops in classrooms can be a catalyst for rapid curricular advancement and prepare dental graduates for the digital age of dentistry. As dental education is not limited to textual information, but includes skill development in spatial relationships and hands-on training, technology can play a transformative role in students' learning. Carefully implemented instructional technology can enhance student motivation when it transforms students from being the objects of teaching to the subjects of learning. Ubiquitous access to educational material allows for just-in-time learning and can overcome organizational barriers when, for instance, introducing interprofessional education. Viewpoint 2 argues that, in spite of widespread agreement that instructional technology leads to curricular innovation, the notion of the use of laptops in classrooms needs to be deconstructed and rethought when effective learning outcomes are sought. Analyzing the purpose, pedagogy, and learning product while applying lessons learned from K-12 implementation leads to a more complex picture of laptop integration in dental classrooms and forms the basis for questioning the value of such usage. For laptop use to contribute to student learning, rather than simply providing opportunity for students to take notes and access the Internet during class, this viewpoint emphasizes that dental educators need to think carefully about the purpose of this technology and to develop appropriate pedagogical strategies to achieve their objectives. The two viewpoints agree that significant faculty development efforts should precede any introduction of technology into the educational process and that technology alone cannot change education

  19. 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.

  20. The Occipital Face Area Is Causally Involved in Facial Viewpoint Perception.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kietzmann, Tim C; Poltoratski, Sonia; König, Peter; Blake, Randolph; Tong, Frank; Ling, Sam

    2015-12-16

    Humans reliably recognize faces across a range of viewpoints, but the neural substrates supporting this ability remain unclear. Recent work suggests that neural selectivity to mirror-symmetric viewpoints of faces, found across a large network of visual areas, may constitute a key computational step in achieving full viewpoint invariance. In this study, we used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to test the hypothesis that the occipital face area (OFA), putatively a key node in the face network, plays a causal role in face viewpoint symmetry perception. Each participant underwent both offline rTMS to the right OFA and sham stimulation, preceding blocks of behavioral trials. After each stimulation period, the participant performed one of two behavioral tasks involving presentation of faces in the peripheral visual field: (1) judging the viewpoint symmetry; or (2) judging the angular rotation. rTMS applied to the right OFA significantly impaired performance in both tasks when stimuli were presented in the contralateral, left visual field. Interestingly, however, rTMS had a differential effect on the two tasks performed ipsilaterally. Although viewpoint symmetry judgments were significantly disrupted, we observed no effect on the angle judgment task. This interaction, caused by ipsilateral rTMS, provides support for models emphasizing the role of interhemispheric crosstalk in the formation of viewpoint-invariant face perception. Faces are among the most salient objects we encounter during our everyday activities. Moreover, we are remarkably adept at identifying people at a glance, despite the diversity of viewpoints during our social encounters. Here, we investigate the cortical mechanisms underlying this ability by focusing on effects of viewpoint symmetry, i.e., the invariance of neural responses to mirror-symmetric facial viewpoints. We did this by temporarily disrupting neural processing in the occipital face area (OFA) using transcranial magnetic

  1. INFORMATIZATION: PHILOSOPHICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROBLEMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. A. Kosolapov

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Purpose.Computerization and informatization in recent decades gave the mankind automated electronic document management systems, automated process of production, Internet and network information resources WWW, expanded the communications capabilities and led to the globalization of the information society. At the same time gives rise to a number of processes of informatization philosophical and anthropological problems, that has become an existential character. It is necessary to identify and understanding of these issues on the basis of the gnoseological model of the evolution informatization paradigms and determine their main characteristics. Methodology. The system-activity approach was used; it allowed identifying and analyzing the impact of the main components of information and communication technologies (ICT for educational activities. And further to present them as a unified system of human activity in conditions computerization/informatization. The philosophical principles: a comprehensive review of the subject, the unity of the logical and historical, ascending from the abstract to the concrete was used. The general scientific principles: unity and development of the system, the decomposition hierarchy, individualization and cooperation, diversity and taxonomy were applied. Findings.The three-stage gnoseological model of the paradigms computerization/informatization evolution was proposed by the author. It is based on three information system characteristics: speed, interface and data access. The seven-bar anthrop-centric model, which is called the architecture of information systems (AIS, which describes the changes in their types of procuring, was proposed for each paradigm. The philosophical-anthropological problems that affect negatively its progress were formulated for each stage of modern information society transformation. Originality. The gnoseological model of development processes of informatization in the form of three

  2. 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.  

  3. Gestational surrogacy: Viewpoint of Iranian infertile women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahmani, Azad; Sattarzadeh, Nilofar; Gholizadeh, Leila; Sheikhalipour, Zahra; Allahbakhshian, Atefeh; Hassankhani, Hadi

    2011-09-01

    Surrogacy is a popular form of assisted reproductive technology of which only gestational form is approved by most of the religious scholars in Iran. Little evidence exists about the Iranian infertile women's viewpoint regarding gestational surrogacy. To assess the viewpoint of Iranian infertile women toward gestational surrogacy. This descriptive study was conducted at the infertility clinic of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. The study sample consisted of 238 infertile women who were selected using the eligible sampling method. Data were collected by using a researcher developed questionnaire that included 25 items based on a five-point Likert scale. Data analysis was conducted by SPSS statistical software using descriptive statistics. Viewpoint of 214 women (89.9%) was positive. 36 (15.1%) women considered gestational surrogacy against their religious beliefs; 170 women (71.4%) did not assume the commissioning couple as owners of the baby; 160 women (67.2%) said that children who were born through surrogacy would better not know about it; and 174 women (73.1%) believed that children born through surrogacy will face mental problems. Iranian infertile women have positive viewpoint regarding the surrogacy. However, to increase the acceptability of surrogacy among infertile women, further efforts are needed.

  4. Technology, recommendation and design: on being a 'paternalistic' philosopher.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Pak-Hang

    2013-03-01

    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 various technologies are often left to technologists and gurus. Given the potential benefits of informing the public on their impacts on the good life, however, this is a curious state of affairs. In the present paper, I will examine why philosophers are seemingly reluctant to offer recommendations to the public. While there are many reasons for philosophers to refrain from offering recommendations, I shall focus on a specific normative reason. More specifically, it appears that, according to a particular definition, offering recommendations can be viewed as paternalistic, and therefore is prima facie wrong to do so. I will provide an argument to show that the worry about paternalism is unfounded, because a form of paternalism engendered by technology is inevitable. Given the inevitability of paternalism, I note that philosophers should accept the duty to offer recommendations to the public. I will then briefly turn to design ethics, which has reconceptualised the role of philosophers and, in my mind, fitted well with the inevitability of paternalism. Finally, I shall argue that design ethics has to be supplemented by the practice of recommendation if it is to sustain its objective.

  5. 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...

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. Towards a Philosophically and a Pedagogically Reasonable Nature of Science Curriculum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yacoubian, Hagop Azad

    This study, primarily theoretical in nature, explores a philosophically and pedagogically reasonable way of addressing nature of science (NOS) in school science. NOS encompasses what science is and how scientific knowledge develops. I critically evaluate consensus frameworks of NOS in school science, which converge contentious philosophical viewpoints into general NOS-related ideas. I argue that they (1) lack clarity in terms of how NOS-related ideas could be applied for various ends, (2) portray a distorted image of the substantive content of NOS and the process of its development, and (3) lack a developmental trajectory for how to address NOS at different grade levels. As a remedy to these problems, I envision a NOS curriculum that (1) explicates and targets both NOS as an educational end and NOS as a means for socioscientific decision making, (2) has critical thinking as its foundational pillar, and (3) provides a developmental pathway for NOS learning using critical thinking as a progression unit. Next, I illustrate a framework for addressing NOS in school science referred to as the critical thinking—nature of science (CT-NOS) framework. This framework brings together the first two of the three elements envisioned in the NOS curriculum. I address the third element by situating the CT-NOS framework in a developmental context, borrowing from the literature on learning progressions in science and using critical thinking as a progression unit. Finally, I present an empirical study of experienced secondary science teachers’ views of a NOS lesson prepared using the CT-NOS framework. The teachers attended a professional development workshop at which the lesson, and the characteristics of the CT-NOS framework, were presented. The analysis of the qualitative data revealed that most teachers found the lesson to be somewhat feasible for a secondary science classroom, useful or somewhat useful to their students, and interesting. The teachers focused on 14 features of

  9. 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.

  10. 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.

  11. 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.

  12. Gestational surrogacy: Viewpoint of Iranian infertile women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Azad Rahmani

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Surrogacy is a popular form of assisted reproductive technology of which only gestational form is approved by most of the religious scholars in Iran. Little evidence exists about the Iranian infertile women′s viewpoint regarding gestational surrogacy. Aim: To assess the viewpoint of Iranian infertile women toward gestational surrogacy. Setting and Design: This descriptive study was conducted at the infertility clinic of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Materials and Methods: The study sample consisted of 238 infertile women who were selected using the eligible sampling method. Data were collected by using a researcher developed questionnaire that included 25 items based on a five-point Likert scale. 0 Statistical Analysis: Data analysis was conducted by SPSS statistical software using descriptive statistics. 0 Results: Viewpoint of 214 women (89.9% was positive. 36 (15.1% women considered gestational surrogacy against their religious beliefs; 170 women (71.4% did not assume the commissioning couple as owners of the baby; 160 women (67.2% said that children who were born through surrogacy would better not know about it; and 174 women (73.1% believed that children born through surrogacy will face mental problems. Conclusion: Iranian infertile women have positive viewpoint regarding the surrogacy. However, to increase the acceptability of surrogacy among infertile women, further efforts are needed.

  13. 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.

  14. 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 ...

  15. 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.

  16. Why Philosophical Pragmatics Needs Clinical Pragmatics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ines Adornetti

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims to show how clinical pragmatics (the study of pragmatic deficits can fruitfully inform the classical theoretical models proposed by philosophical pragmatics. In the first part of the paper I argue that theories proposed in the domain of philosophical pragmatics, as those elaborated by Austin and Grice, are not plausible from a cognitive point of view and that for this reason they cannot be useful to understand pragmatic deficits. In the second part, I show that Relevance Theory overcomes this limitation (being consistent with the data about actual mind’s functioning, but I also argue that it offers a restricted view of human communication which has to be integrated with a model of language use that takes into account a central pragmatic property: coherence of discourse.

  17. 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. 

  18. 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…

  19. 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 ...

  20. 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.

  1. 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.

  2. 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

  3. 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 ...

  4. Joseph Hooker: a philosophical botanist

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    2008-04-24

    Apr 24, 2008 ... The nineteenth-century British botanist, Joseph Dalton Hooker, was one of the people whose career became a model for that of the modern, professional scientist. However, he preferred to refer to himself as a philosophical botanist, rather than a professional. This paper explores the reasons for this choice, ...

  5. A practical implementation of free viewpoint video system for soccer games

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suenaga, Ryo; Suzuki, Kazuyoshi; Tezuka, Tomoyuki; Panahpour Tehrani, Mehrdad; Takahashi, Keita; Fujii, Toshiaki

    2015-03-01

    In this paper, we present a free viewpoint video generation system with billboard representation for soccer games. Free viewpoint video generation is a technology that enables users to watch 3-D objects from their desired viewpoints. Practical implementation of free viewpoint video for sports events is highly demanded. However, a commercially acceptable system has not yet been developed. The main obstacles are insufficient user-end quality of the synthesized images and highly complex procedures that sometimes require manual operations. In this work, we aim to develop a commercially acceptable free viewpoint video system with a billboard representation. A supposed scenario is that soccer games during the day can be broadcasted in 3-D, even in the evening of the same day. Our work is still ongoing. However, we have already developed several techniques to support our goal. First, we captured an actual soccer game at an official stadium where we used 20 full-HD professional cameras. Second, we have implemented several tools for free viewpoint video generation as follow. In order to facilitate free viewpoint video generation, all cameras should be calibrated. We calibrated all cameras using checker board images and feature points on the field (cross points of the soccer field lines). We extract each player region from captured images manually. The background region is estimated by observing chrominance changes of each pixel in temporal domain (automatically). Additionally, we have developed a user interface for visualizing free viewpoint video generation using a graphic library (OpenGL), which is suitable for not only commercialized TV sets but also devices such as smartphones. However, practical system has not yet been completed and our study is still ongoing.

  6. Perspectives on High School Reform. NCREL Viewpoints, Volume 13

    Science.gov (United States)

    Learning Point Associates / North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL), 2005

    2005-01-01

    Viewpoints is a multimedia package containing two audio CDs and a brief, informative booklet. This volume of Viewpoints focuses on issues related to high school reform. This booklet offers background information explaining the issues surrounding high school reform with perspectives from research, policy, and practice. It also provides a list of…

  7. 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.

  8. The Viewpoint Paradigm: a semiotic based approach for the intelligibility of a cooperative designing process

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pierre-Jean Charrel

    2002-11-01

    Full Text Available The concept of viewpoint is studied in the field of the modelling and the knowledge management concerned in the upstream phases of a designing process. The concept is approached by semiotics, i.e. in dealing with the requirements so that an actor gives sense to an object. This gives means to transform the intuitive concepts of viewpoint and relation between viewpoints into the Viewpoint Paradigm: the sense of an object is the integration of the viewpoints which exert on it. The elements of this paradigm are integrated in a general model, which defines two concepts formally: Viewpoint and Correlation of viewpoints. The Viewpoint Paradigm is then implemented in operational concerns which are related with the intelligibility of the designing process. Two models of viewpoint and correlation are proposed. They raise of viewpoints management such as one can identify them in the written documents of a project.

  9. 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)

  10. 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.

  11. 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.

  12. 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.

  13. The Viewpoints of Sexually Active Single Women About Premarital Sexual Relationships: A Qualitative Study in the Iranian Context.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahmani, Azam; Merghati-Khoei, Effat; Moghaddam-Banaem, Lida; Hajizadeh, Ebrahim; Montazeri, Ali

    2016-03-01

    Premarital sexual relationships could harm youth's health in terms of sexually transmitted infections or increased risk of unprotected sexual behaviors. Sexual abstinence has been recommended to prevent young adolescents from adverse outcomes of premarital sexual relationships. The aim of this study was to explore the viewpoints of sexually active single women about premarital sexual relationships in the Iranian context. In this qualitative study, we recruited 41 young women aged 18 to 35 years. Data were collected using focus group discussions and individual interviews. We employed conventional content analysis to analyze the data. Multiple data collection methods, maximum variation sampling, and peer checks were applied to enhance the reliability of the findings. Eight themes emerged from the data analysis: 'acceptance of sexual contact in the context of opposite-sex relationships, 'sexual activity as a guarantee for keeping the boyfriend in the relationship', 'premarital sexual relationship as an undeniable personal right', 'having successful marriage in spite of premarital sexual relationships', 'virginity as an old fashioned phenomenon', 'love as a license for premarital sexual behaviors', 'goal-oriented relationship as a license for premarital sexual behaviors', and 'experiencing premarital sexual relationships in order to gain perfection'. Results of this study could be applied to designing interventions, such as promotion of preventive beliefs or educational programs regarding premarital sexual relationships in conservative societies. These interventions could start within families and continue at schools and universities.

  14. Radiologic viewpoint of splenic abscess

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, Jae Chun; Jung, Kyung Hwa; Byun, Woo Mok; Kim, Sun Yong; Hwang, Mi Soo; Park, Bok Hwan

    1988-01-01

    Splenic abscess is not a common disease, and has been infrequently diagnosed during life because of vague symptom and presence of underlying disease. However, advent of newer diagnostic imaging and interventional technology have augmented our ability to diagnose and treat the abscess. Authors experienced eight cases of splenic abscess, which were confirmed by operation or aspiration and, herein, we describe the radiological viewpoint and clinical course. Summary is follows: 1. Radiological finding was well defined, noncontrast enhancing wedge or lentiform lower density lesion, either single or multiple, focal or massive, parenchymal or subcapsular in location. Prognosis was favorable in focal parenchymal lesion after medical treatment. 2. Pancreatitis is the most common combined disease and this made the localization delay. 3. High incidence of sterile culture suggests possibility of anaerobic of fungal infection. 4. Hypoechoic lesion suggesting splenic abscess should be aspirated under the guidance of ultrasound and The aspirate should be cultured including anaerobic and fungus. C.T. scan should be done for better evaluation of the lesion. 5. According to pathology, organism and loculation pattern, various treatment modalities can be considered rather than routine splenectomy.

  15. Why moral philosophers are not and should not be moral experts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Archard, David

    2011-03-01

    Professional philosophers are members of bioethical committees and regulatory bodies in areas of interest to bioethicists. This suggests they possess moral expertise even if they do not exercise it directly and without constraint. Moral expertise is defined, and four arguments given in support of scepticism about their possession of such expertise are considered and rejected: the existence of extreme disagreement between moral philosophers about moral matters; the lack of a means clearly to identify moral experts; that expertise cannot be claimed in that which lacks objectivity; and that ordinary people do not follow the advice of moral experts. I offer a better reason for scepticism grounded in the relation between moral philosophy and common-sense morality: namely that modern moral philosophy views even a developed moral theory as ultimately anchored in common-sense morality, that set of basic moral precepts which ordinary individuals have command of and use to regulate their own lives. Even if moral philosophers do nevertheless have a limited moral expertise, in that they alone can fully develop a set of moral judgments, I sketch reasons - grounded in the values of autonomy and of democracy - why moral philosophers should not wish non-philosophers to defer to their putative expertise. © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  16. 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.

  17. 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...

  18. 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

  19. 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.

  20. 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…

  1. 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 ...

  2. 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.

  3. Joint Rendering and Segmentation of Free-Viewpoint Video

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ishii Masato

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract This paper presents a method that jointly performs synthesis and object segmentation of free-viewpoint video using multiview video as the input. This method is designed to achieve robust segmentation from online video input without per-frame user interaction and precomputations. This method shares a calculation process between the synthesis and segmentation steps; the matching costs calculated through the synthesis step are adaptively fused with other cues depending on the reliability in the segmentation step. Since the segmentation is performed for arbitrary viewpoints directly, the extracted object can be superimposed onto another 3D scene with geometric consistency. We can observe that the object and new background move naturally along with the viewpoint change as if they existed together in the same space. In the experiments, our method can process online video input captured by a 25-camera array and show the result image at 4.55 fps.

  4. 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...

  5. 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...

  6. Viewpoints, Formalisms, Languages, and Tools for Cyber-Physical Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-05-16

    ACM, Inc., fax +1 (212) 869-0481. Formalisms Languages and ToolsViewpoints supported by implemented by based on Figure 1: Framework for Viewpoints...Description Languages Examples: VHDL , Verilog, and AMS extensions Reactive languages Examples: SCADE/Lustre and Giotto Model Checkers Examples: Spin, NuSMV...syntax and a formal semantics. Languages are con- crete implementations of formalisms. A language has a con- crete syntax, may deviate slightly from

  7. 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

  8. 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.

  9. 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».

  10. Conservatism is not the missing viewpoint for true diversity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seibt, Beate; Waldzus, Sven; Schubert, Thomas W; Brito, Rodrigo

    2015-01-01

    The target article diagnoses a dominance of liberal viewpoints with little evidence, promotes a conservative viewpoint without defining it, and wrongly projects the U.S. liberal-conservative spectrum to the whole field of social psychology. Instead, we propose to anticipate and reduce mixing of theorizing and ideology by using definitions that acknowledge divergence in perspective, and promote representative sampling and observation of the field, as well as dialogical publication.

  11. 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.

  12. 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.

  13. 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.

  14. 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…

  15. Viewpoint adaptive display of HDR images

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Forchhammer, Søren; Mantel, Claire

    2017-01-01

    In this paper viewpoint adaptive display of HDR images incorporating the effects of ambient light is presented and evaluated. LED backlight displays may render HDR images, but while at a global scale a high dynamic range may be achieved, locally the contrast is limited by the leakage of light...... through the LC elements of the display. To render high quality images, the display with backlight dimming can compute the values of the LED backlight and LC elements based on the input image, information about the viewpoint of the observer(s) and information of the ambient light. The goal is to achieve...... the best perceptual reproduction of the specified target image derived from the HDR input image in the specific viewing situation including multiple viewers, possibly having different preferences. An optimization based approach is presented. Some tests with reproduced images are also evaluated subjectively...

  16. 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

  17. 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

  18. 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.

  19. Should Lecture Recordings Be Mandated in Dental Schools? Two Viewpoints: Viewpoint 1: Lecture Recordings Should Be Mandatory in U.S. Dental Schools and Viewpoint 2: Lecture Recordings Should Not Be Mandatory in U.S. Dental Schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zandona, Andrea Ferreira; Kinney, Janet; Seong, WookJin; Kumar, Vandana; Bendayan, Alexander; Hewlett, Edmond

    2016-12-01

    Transcription or recording of lectures has been in use for many years, and with the availability of high-fidelity recording, the practice is now ubiquitous in higher education. Since technology has permeated education and today's tech-savvy students have expectations for on-demand learning, dental schools are motivated to record lectures, albeit with positive and negative implications. This Point/Counterpoint article addresses the question of whether lecture recording should be mandatory in U.S. dental schools. Viewpoint 1 supports the statement that lecture recording should be mandatory. Proponents of this viewpoint argue that the benefits-notably, student satisfaction and potential for improvement in student performance-outweigh concerns. Viewpoint 2 takes the opposite position, arguing that lecture recording decreases students' classroom attendance and adversely affects the morale of educators. Additional arguments against mandatory lecture recordings involve the expense of incorporating technology that requires ongoing support.

  20. 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.

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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…

  4. 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.

  5. 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...

  6. Single Lens Dual-Aperture 3D Imaging System: Color Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bae, Sam Y.; Korniski, Ronald; Ream, Allen; Fritz, Eric; Shearn, Michael

    2012-01-01

    In an effort to miniaturize a 3D imaging system, we created two viewpoints in a single objective lens camera. This was accomplished by placing a pair of Complementary Multi-band Bandpass Filters (CMBFs) in the aperture area. Two key characteristics about the CMBFs are that the passbands are staggered so only one viewpoint is opened at a time when a light band matched to that passband is illuminated, and the passbands are positioned throughout the visible spectrum, so each viewpoint can render color by taking RGB spectral images. Each viewpoint takes a different spectral image from the other viewpoint hence yielding a different color image relative to the other. This color mismatch in the two viewpoints could lead to color rivalry, where the human vision system fails to resolve two different colors. The difference will be closer if the number of passbands in a CMBF increases. (However, the number of passbands is constrained by cost and fabrication technique.) In this paper, simulation predicting the color mismatch is reported.

  7. An unconventional depiction of viewpoint in rock art.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pettigrew, Jack; Scott-Virtue, Lee

    2015-01-01

    Rock art in Africa sometimes takes advantage of three-dimensional features of the rock wall, such as fissures or protuberances, that can be incorporated into the artistic composition (Lewis-Williams, 2002). More commonly, rock artists choose uniform walls on which two-dimensional depictions may represent three-dimensional figures or objects. In this report we present such a two-dimensional depiction in rock art that we think reveals an intention by the artist to represent an unusual three-dimensional viewpoint, namely, with the two human figures facing into the rock wall, instead of the accustomed Western viewpoint facing out!

  8. 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.

  9. 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 ...

  10. 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…

  11. Visuospatial viewpoint manipulation during full-body illusion modulates subjective first-person perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pfeiffer, Christian; Schmutz, Valentin; Blanke, Olaf

    2014-12-01

    Self-consciousness is based on multisensory signals from the body. In full-body illusion (FBI) experiments, multisensory conflict was used to induce changes in three key aspects of bodily self-consciousness (BSC): self-identification (which body 'I' identify with), self-location (where 'I' am located), and first-person perspective (from where 'I' experience the world; 1PP). Here, we adapted a previous FBI protocol in which visuotactile stroking was administered by a robotic device (tactile stroking) and simultaneously rendered on the back of a virtual body (visual stroking) that participants viewed on a head-mounted display as if filmed from a posterior viewpoint of a camera. We compared the effects of two different visuospatial viewpoints on the FBI and thereby on these key aspects of BSC. During control manipulations, participants saw a no-body object instead of a virtual body (first experiment) or received asynchronous versus synchronous visuotactile stroking (second experiment). Results showed that within-subjects visuospatial viewpoint manipulations affected the subjective 1PP ratings if a virtual body was seen but had no effect for viewing a non-body object. However, visuospatial viewpoint had no effect on self-identification, but depended on the viewed object and visuotactile synchrony. Self-location depended on visuospatial viewpoint (first experiment) and visuotactile synchrony (second experiment). Our results show that the visuospatial viewpoint from which the virtual body is seen during FBIs modulates the subjective 1PP and that such viewpoint manipulations contribute to spatial aspects of BSC. We compare the present data with recent data revealing vestibular contributions to the subjective 1PP and discuss the multisensory nature of BSC and the subjective 1PP.

  12. Suicide and Ethics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Battin, Margaret P., Ed.; Maris, Ronald W., Ed.

    1983-01-01

    Presents five articles by philosophers and a psychiatrist on the ethics of suicide, as well as comments and a literature review. Discusses the rationality and morality of suicide from several philosophical viewpoints including self-ownership, Kant's theories, and a libertarian perspective. (JAC)

  13. Viewpoint Reading Conference Recommendations in a Wider ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Viewpoint Reading Conference Recommendations in a Wider Context of Social Change. ... Southern African Journal of Environmental Education. Journal Home · ABOUT THIS JOURNAL ... AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL.

  14. The Viewpoints of Sexually Active Single Women About Premarital Sexual Relationships: A Qualitative Study in the Iranian Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahmani, Azam; Merghati-Khoei, Effat; Moghaddam-Banaem, Lida; Hajizadeh, Ebrahim; Montazeri, Ali

    2016-01-01

    Background: Premarital sexual relationships could harm youth’s health in terms of sexually transmitted infections or increased risk of unprotected sexual behaviors. Sexual abstinence has been recommended to prevent young adolescents from adverse outcomes of premarital sexual relationships. Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the viewpoints of sexually active single women about premarital sexual relationships in the Iranian context. Patients and Methods: In this qualitative study, we recruited 41 young women aged 18 to 35 years. Data were collected using focus group discussions and individual interviews. We employed conventional content analysis to analyze the data. Multiple data collection methods, maximum variation sampling, and peer checks were applied to enhance the reliability of the findings. Results: Eight themes emerged from the data analysis: ‘acceptance of sexual contact in the context of opposite-sex relationships, ‘sexual activity as a guarantee for keeping the boyfriend in the relationship’, ‘premarital sexual relationship as an undeniable personal right’, ‘having successful marriage in spite of premarital sexual relationships’, ‘virginity as an old fashioned phenomenon’, ‘love as a license for premarital sexual behaviors’, ‘goal-oriented relationship as a license for premarital sexual behaviors’, and ‘experiencing premarital sexual relationships in order to gain perfection’. Conclusions: Results of this study could be applied to designing interventions, such as promotion of preventive beliefs or educational programs regarding premarital sexual relationships in conservative societies. These interventions could start within families and continue at schools and universities. PMID:27162757

  15. 75 FR 27119 - ViewPoint Financial Group, Inc., Plano, Texas; Approval of Conversion Application

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-05-13

    ..., 2010, the Office of Thrift Supervision approved the application of ViewPoint MHC and ViewPoint Bank... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Office of Thrift Supervision [AC-37: OTS No. H-47111] ViewPoint... Carpenter Freeway, Suite 500, Irving, Texas 75062-2326. Dated: May 7, 2010. By the Office of Thrift...

  16. Improving Student Achievement and Teacher Effectiveness through Scientifically Based Practices. NCREL Viewpoints, Number 11

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schuch, Linda, Ed.

    2004-01-01

    "Viewpoints" is a multimedia package containing two audio CDs and a short, informative booklet. This volume of "Viewpoints" focuses on using scientifically based practices to improve student achievement and teacher effectiveness. The audio CDs provide the voices, or viewpoints, of various leaders from the education field who have worked closely…

  17. 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.

  18. 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.

  19. 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.

  20. 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

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. Chaining of the musculoskeletal disorders from various viewpoints in physiotherapy

    OpenAIRE

    Hák, Jaroslav

    2016-01-01

    Title of diploma thesis: Chaining of the musculoskeletal disorders from various viewpoints in physiotherapy Objective: The purpouse of this thesis is to research available literary sources describing the possible mechanisms of chaining of musculoskeletal disorders from various viewpoints in physiotherapy. Methods: This diploma thesis has descriptively-analytical character. It is structured in the form of literary research. Results: On the basis of the researched literary sources, the thesis s...

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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

  7. 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.

  8. 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

  9. 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.

  10. 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...

  11. Repetition blindness for natural images of objects with viewpoint changes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephane eBuffat

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available When stimuli are repeated in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP, observers sometimes fail to report the second occurrence of a target. This phenomenon is referred to as repetition blindness (RB. We report an RSVP experiment with photographs in which we manipulated object viewpoints between the first and second occurrences of a target (0-, 45-, or 90-degree changes, and spatial frequency content. Natural images were spatially filtered to produce low, medium, or high spatial-frequency stimuli. RB was observed for all filtering conditions. Surprisingly, for full-spectrum images, RB increased significantly as the viewpoint reached 90 degrees. For filtered images, a similar pattern of results was found for all conditions except for medium spatial-frequency stimuli. These findings suggest that object recognition in RSVP are subtended by viewpoint-specific representations for all spatial frequencies except medium ones.

  12. 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.

  13. 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.

  14. 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

  15. 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.

  16. 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.

  17. 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

  18. 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…

  19. Testing the reliability of hands and ears as biometrics: the importance of viewpoint.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevenage, Sarah V; Walpole, Catherine; Neil, Greg J; Black, Sue M

    2015-11-01

    Two experiments are presented to explore the limits when matching a sample to a suspect utilising the hand as a novel biometric. The results of Experiment 1 revealed that novice participants were able to match hands at above-chance levels as viewpoint changed. Notably, a moderate change in viewpoint had no notable effect, but a more substantial change in viewpoint affected performance significantly. Importantly, the impact of viewpoint when matching hands was smaller than that when matching ears in a control condition. This was consistent with the suggestion that the flexibility of the hand may have minimised the negative impact of a sub-optimal view. The results of Experiment 2 confirmed that training via a 10-min expert video was sufficient to reduce the impact of viewpoint in the most difficult case but not to remove it entirely. The implications of these results were discussed in terms of the theoretical importance of function when considering the canonical view and in terms of the applied value of the hand as a reliable biometric across viewing conditions.

  20. 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.

  1. Spirituality in the Philosophical Thought of Seyyed Hossein Nasr

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    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

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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…

  8. 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...

  9. 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.

  10. Is Odysseus a philosopher?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deretić Irina J.

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, the author attempts to demonstrate that certain philosophical questions are articulated in Homer's Odyssey, especially those that consider the relationship between truth, probability, and falsehood. First, the author discusses the following two assertions: 'Nobody is my name' and 'Nobody will I eat last among his comrades.' When asked by the one-eyed giant Polyphemus what his name really is, Odysseus replies that his name is 'Nobody'. Thereon, Polyphemus says that he will eat 'Nobody', considering 'Nobody' to be 'Somebody'. What appears to be a word-game is in fact an indicator of the necessity to determine the role of negative pronouns in a language, as well as to question their referential status. The negative pronouns like nobody or no one imply the non-existence of someone who can be described as 'nobody' or 'no one'. They can only designate, but they are non-referential. Because Polyphemus does not understand the sense of the negative pronouns, he believes that there is such a man, who is called 'Nobody', and whom he will eat. Therefore, one may claim that Homer's Odysseus discovers the meaning and role of the negative pronouns in a natural language, as well as how the misuse of these words can become a generator in lying and deceiving. Homer distinguishes two types of lies: 1 the absolute falsehoods, which are lies under all circumstances, and 2 the falsehoods which 'seem like the truth'. Most of Homer's Odysseus fantastic tales are of that kind - they are neither true nor false, but they 'seem like the truth'. The truth status of fiction as resembling the truth is one of Homer's discoveries, since he held that his main protagonist's narrations are neither true nor false, but they resemble the truth. The narrations should be as consistent and plausible as possible, in order to describe not what really happened, but 'what could have been happened', as Aristotle would claim. In the course of the paper, the author has

  11. Should Attendance Be Required in Lecture Classrooms in Dental Education? Two Viewpoints: Viewpoint 1: Attendance in the Lecture Classroom Should Be Required and Viewpoint 2: Attendance Should Not Be Required in the Lecture Classroom.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cutler, Christopher W; Parise, Mary; Seminario, Ana Lucia; Mendez, Maria Jose Cervantes; Piskorowski, Wilhelm; Silva, Renato

    2016-12-01

    This Point/Counterpoint discusses the long-argued debate over whether lecture attendance in dental school at the predoctoral level should be required. Current educational practice relies heavily on the delivery of content in a traditional lecture style. Viewpoint 1 asserts that attendance should be required for many reasons, including the positive impact that direct contact of students with faculty members and with each other has on learning outcomes. In lectures, students can more easily focus on subject matter that is often difficult to understand. A counter viewpoint argues that required attendance is not necessary and that student engagement is more important than physical classroom attendance. This viewpoint notes that recent technologies support active learning strategies that better engage student participation, fostering independent learning that is not supported in the traditional large lecture classroom and argues that dental education requires assimilation of complex concepts and applying them to patient care, which passing a test does not ensure. The two positions agree that attendance does not guarantee learning and that, with the surge of information technologies, it is more important than ever to teach students how to learn. At this time, research does not show conclusively if attendance in any type of setting equals improved learning or ability to apply knowledge.

  12. 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.

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

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    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.

  14. [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.

  15. The ViewPoint radioprotection supervision workstation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gaultier, E.

    2009-01-01

    The author briefly presents the ViewPoint supervision global solution which incorporates audio and video advanced technologies to manage radioprotection operational measurements. Data can be transmitted by-wire or wireless. It can integrate a large number of radioprotection measurement instruments, such as a belt for the monitoring of physiological parameters (body temperature, breathing rhythm, body posture)

  16. 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.

  17. 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. 

  18. Forces on Architecture Decisions – A Viewpoint

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Heesch, Uwe van; Avgeriou, Paris; Hilliard, Rich

    2012-01-01

    In this paper, the notion of forces as influences upon architecture decisions is introduced. To facilitate the documentation of forces as a part of architecture descriptions, we specify a decision forces viewpoint, which extends our existing framework for architecture decisions, following the

  19. 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...

  20. 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 ...

  1. Principle Elements of Curriculum in the Preschool Pattern of Montessori

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bahmaee, Azizollah Baboli; Saadatmand, Zohreh; Yarmohammadian, Mohammad Hossein

    2016-01-01

    Montessori the physician and educational philosopher was probably one of the most prominent and famous education theorizer in the field of preschool education. Current research attempts to extract and clarify the major elements of curriculum by reliance on Montessori viewpoints. In this paper first the philosophical basics of preschool education…

  2. Why Aren't Philosophers and Educators Speaking to Each Other? Some Reasons for Hope.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellett, Frederick S., Jr.

    2002-01-01

    Responds to Arcilla's article, "Why Aren't Philosophers and Educators Speaking to One Another?" noting complexities that complicate the answer and suggesting that they are indeed communicating if one accepts a broader definition of philosophers and educators. The essay asserts that little educational research and theory has had much…

  3. 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

  4. 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.

  5. Bayesians versus frequentists a philosophical debate on statistical reasoning

    CERN Document Server

    Vallverdú, Jordi

    2016-01-01

    This book analyzes the origins of statistical thinking as well as its related philosophical questions, such as causality, determinism or chance. Bayesian and frequentist approaches are subjected to a historical, cognitive and epistemological analysis, making it possible to not only compare the two competing theories, but to also find a potential solution. The work pursues a naturalistic approach, proceeding from the existence of numerosity in natural environments to the existence of contemporary formulas and methodologies to heuristic pragmatism, a concept introduced in the book’s final section. This monograph will be of interest to philosophers and historians of science and students in related fields. Despite the mathematical nature of the topic, no statistical background is required, making the book a valuable read for anyone interested in the history of statistics and human cognition.

  6. 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.…

  7. Viewpoint Working with Environmental Education Pedagogies in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The aim of this viewpoint paper is to generate interest in working with environmental education pedagogies in order to enhance the quality imperative of social and environmental responsibility for South African learners through the fundamental subject, Life Orientation. Drawing on our own experiences as Life Orientation ...

  8. Mathematical Processes: A Viewpoint-oriented Manipulation Perspective

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Badie, Farshad

    2008-01-01

    View-point oriented manipulation of concepts can be helpful for generating new ideas in basic sciences and in the meantime, justifying the processes that are principally meaningful to the related disciplines. Mathematics, as a major ground for basic sciences, seems to be an appropriate exemplar t...

  9. [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.

  10. Viewpoints to labour mobility development

    OpenAIRE

    Kalmár, András

    2015-01-01

    The goal of the paper is to provide viewpoints to labour mobility development in the Western Balkans and in Macedonia in particular, since it would be one of the advantages of joining the European Union. The EU integration process of the Western Balkans opens up new dimensions for labour mobility in the long run in two aspects. One is the possibility of revitalization of the earlier notion of 'intra mobility' of Yugoslavia, especially since there are small language barriers among the successo...

  11. 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.

  12. 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.

  13. 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.

  14. Philosophical Issues in Ecology: Recent Trends and Future Directions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mark Colyvan

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Philosophy of ecology has been slow to become established as an area of philosophical interest, but it is now receiving considerable attention. This area holds great promise for the advancement of both ecology and the philosophy of science. Insights from the philosophy of science can advance ecology in a number of ways. For example, philosophy can assist with the development of improved models of ecological hypothesis testing and theory choice. Philosophy can also help ecologists understand the role and limitations of mathematical models in ecology. On the other side, philosophy of science will be advanced by having ecological case studies as part of the stock of examples. Ecological case studies can shed light on old philosophical topics as well as raise novel issues for the philosophy of science. For example, understanding theoretical terms such as "biodiversity" is important for scientific reasons, but such terms also carry political importance. Formulating appropriate definitions for such terms is thus not a purely scientific matter, and this may prompt a reevaluation of philosophical accounts of defining theoretical terms. We consider some of the topics currently receiving attention in the philosophy of ecology and other topics in need of attention. Our aim is to prompt further exchange between ecology and philosophy of science and to help set the agenda for future work in the philosophy of ecology. The topics covered include: the role of mathematical models, environmental problem formulation, biodiversity, and environmental ethics.

  15. Defining Execution Viewpoints for a Large and Complex Software-Intensive System

    OpenAIRE

    Callo Arias, Trosky B.; America, Pierre; Avgeriou, Paris

    2009-01-01

    An execution view is an important asset for developing large and complex systems. An execution view helps practitioners to describe, analyze, and communicate what a software system does at runtime and how it does it. In this paper, we present an approach to define execution viewpoints for an existing large and complex software-intensive system. This definition approach enables the customization and extension of a set of predefined viewpoints to address the requirements of a specific developme...

  16. 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 ...

  17. An Efficient, Hierarchical Viewpoint Planning Strategy for Terrestrial Laser Scanner Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jia, F.; Lichti, D. D.

    2018-05-01

    Terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) techniques have been widely adopted in a variety of applications. However, unlike in geodesy or photogrammetry, insufficient attention has been paid to the optimal TLS network design. It is valuable to develop a complete design system that can automatically provide an optimal plan, especially for high-accuracy, large-volume scanning networks. To achieve this goal, one should look at the "optimality" of the solution as well as the computational complexity in reaching it. In this paper, a hierarchical TLS viewpoint planning strategy is developed to solve the optimal scanner placement problems. If one targeted object to be scanned is simplified as discretized wall segments, any possible viewpoint can be evaluated by a score table representing its visible segments under certain scanning geometry constraints. Thus, the design goal is to find a minimum number of viewpoints that achieves complete coverage of all wall segments. The efficiency is improved by densifying viewpoints hierarchically, instead of a "brute force" search within the entire workspace. The experiment environments in this paper were simulated from two buildings located on University of Calgary campus. Compared with the "brute force" strategy in terms of the quality of the solutions and the runtime, it is shown that the proposed strategy can provide a scanning network with a compatible quality but with more than a 70 % time saving.

  18. 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

  19. The Comparative Study of Morals and Democracy and Their Effect on the Behavioral Reflections of Khawaja Nasir Al-Din Tusi and John Dewey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mirzaei, Khalil; Golestani, Sayyed Hashem; Vaezi, Sayyed Hossain

    2016-01-01

    This study was aimed at comparatively analyzing morals and democracy from John Dewey and Khawaja Nasir al-Din Tusi's viewpoint. It also sought the effect of the two philosophers' viewpoint about morals and democracy and behavioral reflections. The purpose of this study was also to become familiar with the effect of morals and democracy on…

  20. 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…

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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…

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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».

  7. 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.

  8. 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…

  9. 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.

  10. 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.

  11. Viewpoints of fertile women on gestational surrogacy in East Azerbaijan Province, Iran.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahmani, Azad; Howard, Fuchsia; Sattarzadeh, Nilofar; Ferguson, Caleb; Asgari, Afsaneh; Ebrahimi, Hossein

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this descriptive, cross-sectional study was to investigate the viewpoint of fertile Iranian women on gestational surrogacy. A convenience sample of 230 fertile women was invited to participate in the study and 185 consented. Data were collected via a 22-item scale that assessed the viewpoints of the participants in five domains related to gestational surrogacy. The viewpoints reported by the women were positive. However, a significant percentage of them believed that commissioning couples are not the biological owners of the baby, religious barriers need to be overcome prior to legal barriers, children born through surrogacy may face emotional issues, and the adoption of children may be a better option than surrogacy. The negative views of the women on some key aspects make it clear that public education is needed to increase the acceptability of gestational surrogacy.

  12. Mental Health Promotion in School: Schoolchildren’s and Families’ Viewpoint

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kristiina Puolakka

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available While developing mental health work in schools, it is very important to consider the viewpoint of pupils. Parents can also give remarkable information on their children’s viewpoint. The purpose of this study was to produce a description of the concepts used by schoolchildren aged 12–16 years and their families associated with promoting mental health in schools. The research material comprised interviews with schoolchildren and mothers, and verbal answers from the school well-being profile survey (n=426. The analysis was conducted by applying the grounded theory method as introduced by Strauss. The study was conducted in a Finnish comprehensive school.

  13. Viewpoint III: The New Federalism: What Is Really Going On?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pratte, Richard

    1982-01-01

    The significance of the "New Federalism" for education is discussed in a philosophical context. The probable impact of this political trend on cultural, class, and social relationships is predicted. (PP)

  14. 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.

  15. 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.

  16. 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.

  17. 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.

  18. 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.

  19. [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.

  20. [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.

  1. 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 ...

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. An approach to relate viewpoints and modeling languages

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dijkman, R.M.; Quartel, Dick; Ferreira Pires, Luis; van Sinderen, Marten J.; Duddy, K.

    The architectural design of distributed enterprise applications from the viewpoints of different stakeholders has been proposed for some time, for example, as part of RM-ODP and IEEE 1471, and seems now-a-days to gain acceptance in practice. However, much work remains to be done on the relationships

  5. 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.

  6. The summer school students’ viewpoints about important factors in learning, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    LEILA BAZRAFCAN

    2014-04-01

    practical skills, and management were considered as the least influential factors in learning in the 21st century. Conclusion: It seems that the students philosophically tend to approve constructivism and cooperative learning which is learner-centered as compared to conventional education which is teacher-contended. According to experts, this type of viewpoint is in the same line with new approaches to teaching and education in the present era. Moreover, it impacts the reforms, complementation and expansion of methodology greatly.

  7. 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 ...

  8. 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…

  9. 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…

  10. 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…

  11. Mental rotation versus invariant features in object perception from different viewpoints: an fMRI study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanrie, Jan; Béatse, Erik; Wagemans, Johan; Sunaert, Stefan; Van Hecke, Paul

    2002-01-01

    It has been proposed that object perception can proceed through different routes, which can be situated on a continuum ranging from complete viewpoint-dependency to complete viewpoint-independency, depending on the objects and the task at hand. Although these different routes have been extensively demonstrated on the behavioral level, the corresponding distinction in the underlying neural substrate has not received the same attention. Our goal was to disentangle, on the behavioral and the neurofunctional level, a process associated with extreme viewpoint-dependency, i.e. mental rotation, and a process associated with extreme viewpoint-independency, i.e. the use of viewpoint-invariant, diagnostic features. Two sets of 3-D block figures were created that either differed in handedness (original versus mirrored) or in the angles joining the block components (orthogonal versus skewed). Behavioral measures on a same-different judgment task were predicted to be dependent on viewpoint in the rotation condition (same versus mirrored), but not in the invariance condition (same angles versus different angles). Six subjects participated in an fMRI experiment while presented with both conditions in alternating blocks. Both reaction times and accuracy confirmed the predicted dissociation between the two conditions. Neurofunctional results indicate that all cortical areas activated in the invariance condition were also activated in the rotation condition. Parietal areas were more activated than occipito-temporal areas in the rotation condition, while this pattern was reversed in the invariance condition. Furthermore, some areas were activated uniquely by the rotation condition, probably reflecting the additional processes apparent in the behavioral response patterns.

  12. Viewpoint: Transatlantic Scholarship on Victorian Literature and Culture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isobel Armstrong

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available This viewpoint offers a comparison of recent British and American criticism of Victorian literature and culture, encompassing Dickens, Tennyson, the epic and ethical criticism. Discussion centres on recent studies by Sally Ledger, Rosemarie Bodenheimer, Cornelia Pearsall, Kirstie Blair, Simon Dentith, Herbert Tucker, Andrew Miller and Mike Sanders.

  13. 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.

  14. 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...

  15. 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, ...

  16. 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.

  17. 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.

  18. 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...

  19. 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.

  20. Using Multi-Viewpoint Contracts for Negotiation of Embedded Software Updates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sönke Holthusen

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we address the issue of change after deployment in safety-critical embedded system applications. Our goal is to substitute lab-based verification with in-field formal analysis to determine whether an update may be safely applied. This is challenging because it requires an automated process able to handle multiple viewpoints such as functional correctness, timing, etc. For this purpose, we propose an original methodology for contract-based negotiation of software updates. The use of contracts allows us to cleanly split the verification effort between the lab and the field. In addition, we show how to rely on existing viewpoint-specific methods for update negotiation. We illustrate our approach on a concrete example inspired by the automotive domain.

  1. Reflections on Meaningfulness and its Social Relevance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicole Note

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Philosophers who write about the meaning of life are few nowadays. Thesubject has lost its attractiveness. Perceived from a viewpoint of logical positivism or language philosophy, the whole issue of meaningfulness seems rather pointless. It is often considered to be related to metaphysics, making it less suitable for philosophical inquiry. The topic of meaningfulness seems too intangible. Indeed, the few philosophers that have embarked on examining meaningfulness have proven to be well aware of the challenges this poses. At times they acknowledge that the more they concentrate on the subject, the more it seems to fall apart into unintelligible pieces about whichnothing of philosophical value can be said.

  2. 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.

  3. Service-oriented Design: A Multi-viewpoint Approach

    OpenAIRE

    Dijkman, R.M.; Dumas, M.

    2004-01-01

    As the technology associated to the ¿Web Services¿ trend gains significant adoption, the need for a corresponding design approach becomes increasingly important. This paper introduces a foundational model for designing (composite) services. The innovation of this model lies in the identification of four interrelated viewpoints (interface behaviour, provider behaviour, choreography, and orchestration) and their formalization from a control-flow perspective in terms of Petri nets. By formally c...

  4. How self-reliance is understood: viewpoints from one local ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    How self-reliance is understood: viewpoints from one local community in Malawi. ... model that resists dependence on external aid, empowers community development, and provides opportunities to sustain development activity through local initiative, can be employed to increase social capital leading to sustainable growth.

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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.

  8. 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

  9. Theoretical Arguments For and Against Single-Sex Schools: A Critical Analysis of the Explanations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mael, Fred; Smith, Mark; Alonso, Alex; Rogers, Kelly; Gibson, Doug

    2004-01-01

    The question of whether single-sex schooling is preferable to coeducation for some or all students continues to be hotly debated. Much of the debate is philosophical and would be waged even if single-sex schooling were shown to be highly advantageous for one or more subpopulations. However, the actual research evidence, although suggestive that…

  10. 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.

  11. Re-identification of persons in multi-camera surveillance under varying viewpoints and illumination

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bouma, Henri; Borsboom, Sander; den Hollander, Richard J. M.; Landsmeer, Sander H.; Worring, Marcel

    2012-06-01

    The capability to track individuals in CCTV cameras is important for surveillance and forensics alike. However, it is laborious to do over multiple cameras. Therefore, an automated system is desirable. In literature several methods have been proposed, but their robustness against varying viewpoints and illumination is limited. Hence performance in realistic settings is also limited. In this paper, we present a novel method for the automatic re-identification of persons in video from surveillance cameras in a realistic setting. The method is computationally efficient, robust to a wide variety of viewpoints and illumination, simple to implement and it requires no training. We compare the performance of our method to several state-of-the-art methods on a publically available dataset that contains the variety of viewpoints and illumination to allow benchmarking. The results indicate that our method shows good performance and enables a human operator to track persons five times faster.

  12. 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

  13. 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

  14. 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.

  15. 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.

  16. 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

  17. 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.

  18. The child audience from TV professionals' viewpoints

    OpenAIRE

    Pereira, Sara

    2010-01-01

    This paper aims to discuss the viewpoints of a range of television professionals regarding young audiences - how they define children, how they see this special kind of audience, including its needs and interests, and how they view the role of television in children's lives. Focusing on these ideas, our goal is to understand how they translate into decisions about the format and content of schedules, programming, production, marketing campaigns, regulation measures and also res...

  19. 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...

  20. 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.

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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…

  4. Recent developments in free-viewpoint interpolation for 3DTV

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zinger, S.; Do, Q.L.; With, de P.H.N.

    2012-01-01

    Current development of 3D technologies brings 3DTV within reach for the customers. We discuss in this article the recent advancements in free-viewpoint interpolation for 3D video. This technology is still a research topic and many efforts are dedicated to creation, evaluation and improvement of new

  5. 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

  6. 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 ...

  7. 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…

  8. 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.

  9. 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.)

  10. 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...

  11. 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 ...

  12. 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...

  13. 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.

  14. 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.

  15. 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.

  16. 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.

  17. 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.

  18. 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…

  19. 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.

  20. 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.

  1. 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

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. Family planning in Santiageo, Chile: the male viewpoint.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, M F

    1971-07-01

    To obtain the male viewpoint toward family planning in the Chilean population, 561 men (aged 18-54) in Santiago from upper, middle, and lower socioeconomic levels were interviewed on their birth control attitudes and practices and compared with a random probability sample of 240 men from a nearby rural village. Tabulation of the interviews showed that a majority of both unmarried and married men identified themselves as active participants in birth control discussions. Younger husbands tended to have had more experience with contraception than older husbands, and respondents in higher socioeconomic levels showed a greater use of contraception (75%) than men in the lower class or village sample (35%). 23% of those in the village sample who did not use contraception cited reasons such as lack of knowledge and money or fear of harmful effects, while only 2% of the upper class in the urban sample cited such reasons. Approval of abortion for their wives was expressed by around 40% of all respondents. Approval of abortion in general ranged from 81% in cases of probable fetal deformity to 31% in single girls. Questions on sexual relations revealed that the median age for the first sexual intercourse was 16 years. 91% of the unmarried men were sexually active at a median frequence of once every 2 weeks, and contraception, if used, was most frequently oral or male devices. Among married men, sexual relations occurred at a median frequency of once every 4 days, with contraception, if used, most likely being an intrauterine device. All of the respondents tended to favor dissemination of contraceptive information more readily to men than women. Approval of providing this information to single girls was directly related to economic status. The schools were readily accepted as a forum for contraceptive discussion. The father was by far the preferred principal source of information for a son (44%) rather than friends (6%), but the respondents themselves got their information from

  7. 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

  8. 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.

  9. 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.

  10. Radiation and chemotherapy from the viewpoint of radiochemist

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moebius, S.

    1989-01-01

    Fundamentals of radiation and chemotherapy in cancer treatment are presented from the viewpoint of radiochemistry. Properties and mechanism of chemotherapy, especially of platinum compounds are explained. The present state of radiation therapy is shown and possibilities for future reduction of the patients dose burden are discussed. Promising ways are the radiation sensitization of tumor cells by oxygen or the use of particle radiation instead of γ-quants. (orig.) [de

  11. 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.

  12. 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

  13. Theoretical Insight of Physical Adsorption for a Single-Component Adsorbent + Adsorbate System: I. Thermodynamic Property Surfaces

    KAUST Repository

    Chakraborty, Anutosh; Saha, Bidyut Baran; Ng, Kim Choon; Koyama, Shigeru; Srinivasan, Kandadai

    2009-01-01

    Thermodynamic property surfaces for a single-component adsorbent + adsorbate system are derived and developed from the viewpoint of classical thermodynamics, thermodynamic requirements of chemical equilibrium, Gibbs law, and Maxwell relations

  14. The evaluation of properties of coal mass from the viewpoint of environment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Foniok, R.; Lukes, M. [Research Mining Inst., Ostrava-Radvanice (Czechoslovakia)

    1995-12-01

    This paper deals with the evaluation of several various coal kinds from the Czech coalfields from the viewpoint of the development of thermal processes in coal mass due to their tendency towards self- ignition during storing. In such a case that no self-ignition during storing occurs, gaseous products are liberated into air, the quantity and composition of which depend upon fuel type and its temperature as well. From the environmental viewpoint, substances washed from stored coal are of a certain interest, too. In accordance with this fact, the importance of measures against self-heating of stored coal mass and the importance of a detailed observation of coal quality are concluded. The tables, which compare various coal kinds from the viewpoint of their behavior at self-ignition processes, are the integral part of this presented paper. Our greatest attention is paid to both the quantity and composition of gases being liberated in dependence upon the temperature of coal mass, and at its crushing with regard to selected methods and means of milling circuits before and explosion. Oxygen sorption by means of coal mass is also observed, being of a great importance for self-inertization of closed tanks. All the above-mentioned processes are demonstrated in form of graphic plots. Qualitative signs of coal mass are the basic means for its assessment from the viewpoint of emissions at burning/combustion, and the evaluation of explosive properties. A great attention is paid to explosion-proof means being produced in the Czech Republic. These means can be used for protection of milling circuits of power plants and heating plants or for safety systems of combustion chamber by means of insulation to secondary air main. Explosion-proof quci-acting valves, a special type of safety membrane and device for explosion suppression nip in the bud do represent the latest explosion-proof means.

  15. A Dialogic Vaccine to Bridge Opposing Cultural Viewpoints Based on Bakhtin's Views on Dialogue and Estrangement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tajima, Atsushi

    2017-09-01

    Today, we face global conflicts between opposing ideologies that may be described in terms of cultural viewpoints and value judgments. It is difficult for individuals to determine whether ideologies are right or wrong because each ideology has its own worldview and sense of justice. Psychologists have an urgent mission to defuse the likelihood of fatal clashes between opposing cultural perspectives (ideologies), and to propose paradigms for peaceful coexistence. This paper examines the series of papers (Oh, Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 51, 2017; Sakakibara, Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 51, 2017; Watanabe, Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science, 51, 2017) contributed to this volume that investigate the effects of high school and university educational programs promoting productive dialogue aimed at bridging, or transcending, conflicting perspectives among Japanese, Chinese, and Korean students. Here, I have evaluated the capacity of these educational programs to coordinate opposing cultural ideologies using the framework of Bakhtin's theories of dialogue and estrangement. Bakhtin viewed discourse with others who had opposing viewpoints as an opportunity to learn to overcome the one-sidedness of ideology, which ensues from automatic value judgments made by each speaker according to their culture, and he affirmed the value of flexible attitudes toward opposing viewpoints. In this paper, I review Bakhtin's theories relating to communication in a context of different cultural viewpoints, assess the general values of the educational practices mentioned above, and propose new concepts for applying these methods to other educational fields in the future using Bakhtin's theoretical viewpoints.

  16. 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.

  17. 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.

  18. 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,

  19. 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.

  20. 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.

  1. Principal viewpoint on nuclear energy development in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sadao Kijima

    1996-01-01

    A great deal of electricity demand in Japan is covered by Light Water Reactors. Besides the description of potential role of uranium as an energy resource, plutonium is regarded as an important one. Principal viewpoint for utilization of plutonium is presented taking into account non-proliferation aspects. Fast Breeder Reactors being suitable for utilization of plutonium are considered as a very important option that should not be abandoned in spite of difficulties in their development

  2. Mental rotation versus invariant features in object perception from different viewpoints: An fMRI study

    OpenAIRE

    Vanrie, Jan; Béatse, Erik; Wagemans, Johan; Sunaert, Stefan; Van Hecke, Paul

    2002-01-01

    It has been proposed that object perception can proceed through different routes, which can be situated on a continuum ranging from complete viewpoint-dependency to complete viewpoint-independency, depending on the objects and the task at hand. Although these different routes have been extensively demonstrated on the behavioral level, the corresponding distinction in the underlying neural substrate has not received the same attention. Our goal was to disentangle, on the behavioral and the neu...

  3. Should Student Evaluation of Teaching Play a Significant Role in the Formal Assessment of Dental Faculty? Two Viewpoints: Viewpoint 1: Formal Faculty Assessment Should Include Student Evaluation of Teaching and Viewpoint 2: Student Evaluation of Teaching Should Not Be Part of Formal Faculty Assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rowan, Susan; Newness, Elmer J; Tetradis, Sotirios; Prasad, Joanne L; Ko, Ching-Chang; Sanchez, Arlene

    2017-11-01

    Student evaluation of teaching (SET) is often used in the assessment of faculty members' job performance and promotion and tenure decisions, but debate over this use of student evaluations has centered on the validity, reliability, and application of the data in assessing teaching performance. Additionally, the fear of student criticism has the potential of influencing course content delivery and testing measures. This Point/Counterpoint article reviews the potential utility of and controversy surrounding the use of SETs in the formal assessment of dental school faculty. Viewpoint 1 supports the view that SETs are reliable and should be included in those formal assessments. Proponents of this opinion contend that SETs serve to measure a school's effectiveness in support of its core mission, are valid measures based on feedback from the recipients of educational delivery, and provide formative feedback to improve faculty accountability to the institution. Viewpoint 2 argues that SETs should not be used for promotion and tenure decisions, asserting that higher SET ratings do not correlate with improved student learning. The advocates of this viewpoint contend that faculty members may be influenced to focus on student satisfaction rather than pedagogy, resulting in grade inflation. They also argue that SETs are prone to gender and racial biases and that SET results are frequently misinterpreted by administrators. Low response rates and monotonic response patterns are other factors that compromise the reliability of SETs.

  4. 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.

  5. 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

  6. 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.

  7. Dualities in ABJM matrix model from closed string viewpoint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kiyoshige, Kazuki; Moriyama, Sanefumi [Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University,3-3-138 Sugimoto, Sumiyoshi, Osaka 558-8585 (Japan)

    2016-11-17

    We propose a new formalism to study the ABJM matrix model. Contrary to expressing the fractional brane background with the Wilson loops in the open string formalism, we formulate the Wilson loop expectation value from the viewpoint of the closed string background. With this new formalism, we can prove some duality relations in the matrix model. /includegraphics[scale=0.7]{abstract.eps}.

  8. 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...

  9. The Epistemic Virtues of the Virtuous Theorist: On Albert Einstein and His Autobiography

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Dongen, J.; van Dongen, J.; Paul, H.

    2017-01-01

    Albert Einstein’s practice in physics and his philosophical positions gradually reoriented themselves from more empiricist towards rationalist viewpoints. This change accompanied his turn towards unified field theory and different presentations of himself, eventually leading to his highly

  10. Self-management of chronic low back pain: Four viewpoints from patients and healthcare providers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stenner, Paul; Cross, Vinnette; McCrum, Carol; McGowan, Janet; Defever, Emmanuel; Lloyd, Phil; Poole, Robert; Moore, Ann P

    2015-07-01

    A move towards self-management is central to health strategy around chronic low back pain, but its concept and meaning for those involved are poorly understood. In the reported study, four distinct and shared viewpoints on self-management were identified among people with pain and healthcare providers using Q methodology. Each construes self-management in a distinctive manner and articulates a different vision of change. Identification of similarities and differences among the viewpoints holds potential for enhancing communication between patients and healthcare providers and for better understanding the complexities of self-management in practice.

  11. Examining the role of the temporo-parietal network in memory, imagery, and viewpoint transformations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dhindsa, Kiret; Drobinin, Vladislav; King, John; Hall, Geoffrey B; Burgess, Neil; Becker, Suzanna

    2014-01-01

    The traditional view of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) focuses on its role in episodic memory. However, some of the underlying functions of the MTL can be ascertained from its wider role in supporting spatial cognition in concert with parietal and prefrontal regions. The MTL is strongly implicated in the formation of enduring allocentric representations (e.g., O'Keefe, 1976; King et al., 2002; Ekstrom et al., 2003). According to our BBB model (Byrne et al., 2007), these representations must interact with head-centered and body-centered representations in posterior parietal cortex via a transformation circuit involving retrosplenial areas. Egocentric sensory representations in parietal areas can then cue the recall of allocentric spatial representations in long-term memory and, conversely, the products of retrieval in MTL can generate mental imagery within a parietal "window." Such imagery is necessarily egocentric and forms part of visuospatial working memory, in which it can be manipulated for the purpose of planning/imagining the future. Recent fMRI evidence (Lambrey et al., 2012; Zhang et al., 2012) supports the BBB model. To further test the model, we had participants learn the locations of objects in a virtual scene and tested their spatial memory under conditions that impose varying demands on the transformation circuit. We analyzed how brain activity correlated with accuracy in judging the direction of an object (1) from visuospatial working memory (we assume transient working memory due to the order of tasks and the absence of change in viewpoint, but long-term memory retrieval is also possible), (2) after a rotation of viewpoint, or (3) after a rotation and translation of viewpoint (judgment of relative direction). We found performance-related activity in both tasks requiring viewpoint rotation (ROT and JRD, i.e., conditions 2 and 3) in the core medial temporal to medial parietal circuit identified by the BBB model. These results are consistent with the

  12. 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…

  13. Massive Open Online Courses in Dental Education: Two Viewpoints: Viewpoint 1: Massive Open Online Courses Offer Transformative Technology for Dental Education and Viewpoint 2: Massive Open Online Courses Are Not Ready for Primetime.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kearney, Rachel C; Premaraj, Sundaralingam; Smith, Becky M; Olson, Gregory W; Williamson, Anne E; Romanos, Georgios

    2016-02-01

    This point/counterpoint article discusses the strengths and weaknesses of incorporating Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) into dental education, focusing on whether this relatively new educational modality could impact traditional dental curricula. Viewpoint 1 asserts that MOOCs can be useful in dental education because they offer an opportunity for students to learn through content and assessment that is delivered online. While specific research on MOOCs is limited, some evidence shows that online courses may produce similar learning outcomes to those in face-to-face courses. Given that MOOCs are intended to be open source, there could be opportunities for dental schools with faculty shortages and financial constraints to incorporate these courses into their curricula. In addition to saving money, dental schools could use MOOCs as revenue sources in areas such as continuing education. Viewpoint 2 argues that the hype over MOOCs is subsiding due in part to weaker than expected evidence about their value. Because direct contact between students, instructors, and patients is essential to the dental curriculum, MOOCs have yet to demonstrate their usefulness in replacing more than a subset of didactic courses. Additionally, learning professionalism, a key component of health professions education, is best supported by mentorship that provides significant interpersonal interaction. In spite of the potential of early MOOC ideology, MOOCs in their current form require either further development or altered expectations to significantly impact dental education.

  14. 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.

  15. Radiation protection: precedents, principles and practices - a regulatory viewpoint

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jennekens, J.H.

    1986-06-01

    Radiation protection in its broadest sense is a multidisciplinary human function exemplifying in all meaningful respects the innate ability of dedicated persons to apply with both general and specialized expertise knowledge derived from a great many scientific and technical fields. The aim of this address is to outline from a regulatory viewpoint the precedents, principles and practices of radiation protection, a very essential human function

  16. Humanism Factors and Islam Viewpoint from Motahri's Point of View

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yousefi, Zargham; Yousefy, Alireza; Keshtiaray, Narges

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this research is to criticize liberal humanism based on Islam viewpoint emphasizing Motahri's point of view. In this paper, the researchers tried to identify liberalism humanism factors with analytical look in order to present a new categorization called "main factor of liberal humanism". Then, each factor was studied and…

  17. Viewpoint Fieldwork in Ecology as a Form of Experiential Learning ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The small-scale research study reported on in this Viewpoint paper was conducted to determine the extent to which experiential learning in the form of fieldwork contributes to learning in Biology. The participants in the study were 36 first-year students registered for a module on Ecology. The conceptual framework that ...

  18. 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.

  19. 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.

  20. The flexible brain - On mind and brain, neural darwinism and psychiatry

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    DenBoer, JA

    A theoretical introduction is given in which several theoretical viewpoints concerning the mind-brain problem are discussed. During the last decade philosophers like Searle, Dennett and the Churchlands have taken a more or less pure materialistic position in explaining mental phenomena.

  1. 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.

  2. Communicating laboratory results through a Web site: Patients' priorities and viewpoints.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sabahi, Azam; Ahmadian, Leila; Mirzaee, Moghademeh

    2018-02-28

    Patients can access laboratory results using various technologies. The aim of this study was to integrate the laboratory results into the hospital Web site based on patients' viewpoints and priorities and to measure patients' satisfaction. This descriptive-analytical study was conducted in 2015. First, a questionnaire was distributed among 200 patients to assess patients' priorities to receive laboratory results through the Web site. Second, those who agreed (n = 95) to receive their laboratory results through the Web site were identified. Then, the required changes were made to the hospital Web site based on patients' viewpoints and priorities. Third, patients were divided into two groups. The first group received their laboratory results through the Web site on the date had been announced during their visit to the laboratory. The second group was informed by SMS once their results were shown on the Web site. After receiving laboratory results, patients' satisfaction was evaluated. More than half of the participants (n = 53, 55.8%) were highly satisfied with receiving the results electronically. The higher number of people in SMS group (n = 9, 20.9%) reported that they were satisfied with time-saving compared to other group (n = 2, 3.8%) (P = .04). Participants after receiving the results through the Web site considered the functionalities of reprinting (P Web site based on the patients' viewpoints and priorities can improve patient satisfaction and lower the patients' concern regarding confidentiality of their results. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Children's Participation in Slovene Preschools: The Teachers' Viewpoints and Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zorec, Marcela Batistic

    2015-01-01

    This article presents part of the research performed in a project from 2008 to 2013, regarding the introduction of the Reggio Emilia approach to Slovene preschool educators. The study's aim was to recognize the possible influence of the training--from 2009 to 2011--in this project on educators' viewpoints and the promotion of children's…

  4. 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.

  5. Self-management of chronic low back pain: Four viewpoints from patients and healthcare providers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul Stenner

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available A move towards self-management is central to health strategy around chronic low back pain, but its concept and meaning for those involved are poorly understood. In the reported study, four distinct and shared viewpoints on self-management were identified among people with pain and healthcare providers using Q methodology. Each construes self-management in a distinctive manner and articulates a different vision of change. Identification of similarities and differences among the viewpoints holds potential for enhancing communication between patients and healthcare providers and for better understanding the complexities of self-management in practice.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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...

  9. 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.

  10. From Kierkegaard to Langer (From Kierkegaard's paradox to Langer's psychology of possibility).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fatemi, Sayyed Mohsen

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents the connection between Kierkegaard as a philosopher and Langer as a psychologist in opening up the possibility of dialogical interactions between philosophy and psychology. The paper demonstrates how both Kierkegaard and Langer transcend the pre-established parlance of the disciplinary paradigmatic analysis and invent new and interdependent multidisciplinary perspectives. Through numerous examples of their underlying viewpoints, the paper explores how the relation between psychological ontology and philosophical ontology may facilitate the process of a leap beyond epistemological propositions.

  11. From Kierkegaard to Langer (From Kierkegaard’s paradox to Langer’s psychology of possibility)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fatemi, Sayyed Mohsen

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents the connection between Kierkegaard as a philosopher and Langer as a psychologist in opening up the possibility of dialogical interactions between philosophy and psychology. The paper demonstrates how both Kierkegaard and Langer transcend the pre-established parlance of the disciplinary paradigmatic analysis and invent new and interdependent multidisciplinary perspectives. Through numerous examples of their underlying viewpoints, the paper explores how the relation between psychological ontology and philosophical ontology may facilitate the process of a leap beyond epistemological propositions. PMID:25360127

  12. 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.

  13. 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.

  14. The Viewpoints of Physics Teacher Candidates towards the Concepts in Special Theory of Relativity and Their Evaluation Designs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turgut, Umit; Gurbuz, Fatih; Salar, Riza; Toman, Ufuk

    2013-01-01

    In this study, the viewpoints of physics teacher candidates at undergraduate level towards the concepts in special theory of relativity and the interpretations they made about these concepts were investigated. The viewpoints of the teacher candidates towards the concepts in the subject of special theory of relativity were revealed with six open…

  15. Niels Bohr and the philosophy of physics twenty-first century perspectives

    CERN Document Server

    Folse, Henry

    2017-01-01

    Niels Bohr and Philosophy of Physics: Twenty-First Century Perspectives examines the philosophical views, influences and legacy of the Nobel Prize physicist and philosophical spokesman of the quantum revolution, Niels Bohr. The sixteen contributions in this collection by some of the best contemporary philosophers and physicists writing on Bohr's philosophy today all carefully distinguish his subtle and unique interpretation of quantum mechanics from views often imputed to him under the banner of the “Copenhagen Interpretation.” With respect to philosophical influences on Bohr's outlook, the contributors analyse prominent similarities between his viewpoint and Kantian ways of thinking, the views of the Danish philosopher Harald Høffding, and themes characteristic of American pragmatism. In recognizing the importance of Bohr's epistemological naturalism they examine his defence of the indispensability of classical concepts from a variety of different perspectives. This collection shows us that Bohr's int...

  16. 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.

  17. The Absolute Immanence in Deleuze

    OpenAIRE

    Park, Daeseung

    2013-01-01

    The absolute immanence in Deleuze Daeseung Park Abstract The plane of immanence is not unique. Deleuze and Guattari suppose a multiplicity of planes. Each great philosopher draws new planes on his own way, and these planes constitute the "time of philosophy". We can, therefore, "present the entire history of philosophy from the viewpoint of the institution of a plane of immanence" or present the time of philosophy from the viewpoint of the superposition and of the coexistence of planes. Howev...

  18. 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.

  19. Dekonstruksie en Bybelse hermeneutiek | Steenekamp | HTS ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Deconstruction and biblical hermeneutics The purpose of this article is to evaluate deconstruction as a postmodern philosophical viewpoint in relation to biblical hermeneutics as a theological interpretation method. A short exposition of postmodernity is given to emphasise deconstruction's aim of deconstructing traditional ...

  20. 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. ...

  1. 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…

  2. 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

  3. 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.

  4. It is all me: the effect of viewpoint on visual-vestibular recalibration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schomaker, Judith; Tesch, Joachim; Bülthoff, Heinrich H; Bresciani, Jean-Pierre

    2011-09-01

    Participants performed a visual-vestibular motor recalibration task in virtual reality. The task consisted of keeping the extended arm and hand stable in space during a whole-body rotation induced by a robotic wheelchair. Performance was first quantified in a pre-test in which no visual feedback was available during the rotation. During the subsequent adaptation phase, optical flow resulting from body rotation was provided. This visual feedback was manipulated to create the illusion of a smaller rotational movement than actually occurred, hereby altering the visual-vestibular mapping. The effects of the adaptation phase on hand stabilization performance were measured during a post-test that was identical to the pre-test. Three different groups of subjects were exposed to different perspectives on the visual scene, i.e., first-person, top view, or mirror view. Sensorimotor adaptation occurred for all three viewpoint conditions, performance in the post-test session showing a marked under-compensation relative to the pre-test performance. In other words, all viewpoints gave rise to a remapping between vestibular input and the motor output required to stabilize the arm. Furthermore, the first-person and mirror view adaptation induced a significant decrease in variability of the stabilization performance. Such variability reduction was not observed for the top view adaptation. These results suggest that even if all three viewpoints can evoke substantial adaptation aftereffects, the more naturalistic first-person view and the richer mirror view should be preferred when reducing motor variability constitutes an important issue.

  5. The Strengths of Wisdom Provide Unique Contributions to Improved Leadership, Sustainability, Inequality, Gross National Happiness, and Civic Discourse in the Face of Contemporary World Problems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Igor Grossmann

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available We present evidence for the strengths of the intellectual virtues that philosophers and behavioral scientists characterize as key cognitive elements of wisdom. Wisdom has been of centuries-long interest for philosophical scholarship, but relative to intelligence largely neglected in public discourse on educational science, public policy, and societal well-being. Wise reasoning characteristics include intellectual humility, recognition of uncertainty, consideration of diverse viewpoints, and an attempt to integrate these viewpoints. Emerging scholarship on these features of wisdom suggest that they uniquely contribute to societal well-being, improve leadership, shed light on societal inequality, promote cooperation in Public Goods Games and reduce political polarization and intergroup-hostility. We review empirical evidence about macro-cultural, ecological, situational, and person-level processes facilitating and inhibiting wisdom in daily life. Based on this evidence, we speculate about ways to foster wisdom in education, organizations, and institutions.

  6. Defining Execution Viewpoints for a Large and Complex Software-Intensive System

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Callo Arias, Trosky B.; America, Pierre; Avgeriou, Paris

    2009-01-01

    An execution view is an important asset for developing large and complex systems. An execution view helps practitioners to describe, analyze, and communicate what a software system does at runtime and how it does it. In this paper, we present an approach to define execution viewpoints for an

  7. 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 ...

  8. 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

  9. Some viewpoints on reference biospheres in Finnish performance assessments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rasilainen, K.; Kattilakoski, E.; Suolanen, V.; Vieno, T.; Vuori, S.

    2002-01-01

    Viewpoints are presented concerning biosphere studies in performance assessments of nuclear waste disposal. The points are based on experiences from several Finnish performance assessments. The latest performance assessment for spent fuel disposal, TILA-99, was considered in the Decision in Principle process for the site selection of the repository. The points given are also based on experiences from participation in international projects dealing with biosphere modelling, for instance BIOMOVS and BIOMASS. (author)

  10. Fuzzy pictures as philosophical problem and scientific practice a study of visual vagueness

    CERN Document Server

    Cat, Jordi

    2017-01-01

    This book presents a comprehensive discussion on the characterization of vagueness in pictures. It reports on how the problem of representation of images has been approached in scientific practice, highlighting the role of mathematical methods and the philosophical background relevant for issues such as representation, categorization and reasoning. Without delving too much into the technical details, the book examines and defends different kinds of values of fuzziness based on a complex approach to categorization as a practice, adopting conceptual and empirical suggestions from different fields including the arts. It subsequently advances criticisms and provides suggestions for interpretation and application. By describing a cognitive framework based on fuzzy, rough and near sets, and discussing all of the relevant mathematical and philosophical theories for the representation and processing of vagueness in images, the book offers a practice-oriented guide to fuzzy visual reasoning, along with novel insights ...

  11. 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...

  12. 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

  13. 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.

  14. 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.

  15. [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

  16. Viewpoint: The History Manifesto and the History of Science. Editor's Introduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, H Floris

    2016-06-01

    This "Viewpoint" section takes up the question of what, if anything, historians of science can learn from The History Manifesto, initially published in the fall of 2014. One summary, two essay reviews, and nine short comments are followed by remarks by the authors of the manifesto, Jo Guldi and David Armitage.

  17. From Kierkegaard to Langer( From Kierkegaard’s paradox to Langer’s psychology of possibility

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sayyed Mohsen eFatemi

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the connection between Kierkegaard as a philosopher and Langer as a psychologist in opening up the possibility of dialogical interactions between philosophy and psychology. The paper demonstrates how both Kierkegaard and Langer transcend the pre-established parlance of the disciplinary paradigmatic analysis and invent new and interdependent multidisciplinary perspectives. Through numerous examples of their underlying viewpoints, the paper explores how the relation between psychological ontology and philosophical ontology may facilitate the process of a leap beyond epistemological propositions.

  18. 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...

  19. Viewpoints of working sandwich generation women and occupational therapists on role balance strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, Kiah L; Girdler, Sonya J; Falkmer, Torbjorn; Richmond, Janet E; Wagman, Petra; Millsteed, Jeannine; Falkmer, Marita

    2017-09-01

    Occupational therapists need to be cognizant of evidence-based role balance advice and strategies that women with multigenerational caring responsibilities can implement independently or with minimal assistance, as role balance may not be the primary goal during many encounters with this population. Hence, this study aimed to identify the viewpoints on the most helpful role balance strategies for working sandwich generation women, both from their own perspectives and from the perspective of occupational therapists. This was achieved through a Q methodology study, where 54 statements were based on findings from interviews, sandwich generation literature and occupational therapy literature. In total, 31 working sandwich generation women and 42 occupational therapists completed the Q sort through either online or paper administration. The data were analysed using factor analysis with varimax rotation and were interpreted through collaboration with experts in the field. The findings revealed similarities between working sandwich generation women and occupational therapists, particularly in terms of advocating strategies related to sleep, rest and seeking practical assistance from support networks. Differences were also present, with working sandwich generation women viewpoints tending to emphasize strategies related to coping with a busy lifestyle attending to multiple responsibilities. In contrast, occupational therapy viewpoints prioritized strategies related to the occupational therapy process, such as goal setting, activity focused interventions, monitoring progress and facilitating sustainable outcomes.

  20. Abortion - a philosophical perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MN Jali

    2001-09-01

    Full Text Available The central issue in the abortion debate is the moral status of the conceptus. There are two positions that argue this issue. At one extreme are the views of the pro-life group which argues that human life begins at the moment of conception whilst at the other are views of the pro-choice group that argues in favour of a woman’s right to self-determination. Two basic principles come into conflict in this debate, namely the Value of Life and that of Self-determination. In this paper the arguments forwarded by each group in justification of its position are presented. Also discussed is the moderate developmental viewpoint which accepts that the genetic basis of an individual is established at conception. Some development, however, has to occur before the conceptus can be called a person. The fact that an entity is a potential person is a prima facie reason for not destroying it. On the other hand, we need not conclude that a person has a right to life by virtue of that potentiality. Simultaneously we should recognise that the right a potential entity has, may be nullified by the woman’s right to self-determination.

  1. 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.

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. Examining the role of the temporo-parietal network in memory, imagery and viewpoint transformations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kiret eDhindsa

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available The traditional view of the medial temporal lobe (MTL focuses on its role in episodic memory. However, some of the underlying functions of the MTL can be ascertained from its wider role in supporting spatial cognition in concert with parietal and prefrontal regions. The MTL is strongly implicated in the formation of enduring allocentric representations (e.g. O’Keefe (1976; Ekstrom et al. (2003; King et al. (2002. According to our BBB model (Byrne et al. (2007, these representations must interact with head-centered and body-centered representations in posterior parietal cortex via a transformation circuit involving retrosplenial areas. Egocentric sensory representations in parietal areas can then cue the recall of allocentric spatial representations in long-term memory and, conversely, the products of retrieval in MTL can generate mental imagery within a parietal ’window’. Such imagery is necessarily egocentric and forms part of visuospatial working memory, where it can be manipulated for the purpose of planning/imagining the future. Recent fMRI evidence (Lambrey et al. (2012; Zhang et al. (2012 supports the BBB model. To further test the model, we had participants learn the locations of objects in a virtual scene and tested their spatial memory under conditions that impose varying demands on the transformation circuit. We analyzed how brain activity correlated with accuracy in judging the direction of an object 1 from visuospatial working memory (we assume working memory due to the order of tasks and the consistency viewpoint, but long-term memory is also possible, 2 after a rotation of viewpoint, or 3 after a rotation and translation (judgement of relative direction. We found performance-related activity in both tasks requiring viewpoint rotation in the core medial temporal to medial parietal. These results are consistent with the BBB model and shed further light on the mechanisms underlying spatial memory, mental imagery and viewpoint

  5. Two viewpoints for software failures and their relation in probabilistic safety assessment of digital instrumentation and control systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Man Cheol

    2015-01-01

    As the use of digital systems in nuclear power plants increases, the reliability of the software becomes one of the important issues in probabilistic safety assessment. In this paper, two viewpoints for a software failure during the operation of a digital system or a statistical software test are identified, and the relation between them is provided. In conventional software reliability analysis, a failure is mainly viewed with respect to the system operation. A new viewpoint with respect to the system input is suggested. The failure probability density functions for the two viewpoints are defined, and the relation between the two failure probability density functions is derived. Each failure probability density function can be derived from the other failure probability density function by applying the derived relation between the two failure probability density functions. The usefulness of the derived relation is demonstrated by applying it to the failure data obtained from the software testing of a real system. The two viewpoints and their relation, as identified in this paper, are expected to help us extend our understanding of the reliability of safety-critical software. (author)

  6. 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.

  7. 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

  8. Preface to the Viewpoint Set: Nanostructured metals - Advances in processing, characterization and application

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Huang, Xiaoxu

    2009-01-01

    with increasingly finer structures in order to improve properties and sustainability. The structural scale of interest in such materials is therefore reduced to the nanometer range, which means that characterization and modeling of nanostructured metals now address an audience including not only physicists...... and materials scientists but also technologists and engineers. The present Viewpoint Set therefore covers metallic materials with a structural scale ranging from micrometer to nanometer in dimensions and focuses on processing techniques such as plastic deformation and phase transformations. As a result......The theme of two viewpoint sets has been nanostructured metals: one in 2003 on “Mechanical properties of fully dense nanocrystalline metals” (Scripta Materialia 2003;49:625–680) and one in 2004 on “Metals and alloys with a structural scale from the micrometer to the atomic dimensions” (Scripta...

  9. 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…

  10. 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.

  11. Introduction to the viewpoint set on shear bands

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hutchinson, J.W.

    1984-01-01

    Recent work aimed at improving our understanding of shear banding and flow localization as modes of deformation and failure is summarized in the six viewpoint articles which follow. For the most part, the emphasis here is on the observation and analysis of shear banding in metals, but active efforts are also underway to understand the role of shear bands in the deformation and failure of soils and rocks. There is a tendency to regard shear bands as a failure mode, as indeed they often are. But extensive straining under highly constrained conditions such as rolling can give rise to profuse flow localization into shear bands which can be regarded as microscopic in the sense that their extent is on the scale of the grains rather than the overall dimensions of the block of material being deformed. Hatherly and Malin describe in detail the observation of such bands and emphasize that they should be considered as a mode of deformation under these circumstances. They relate the formation of the bands to microstructural aspects and discuss their role in the development of recrystallization textures. It will be clear from reading the articles in this viewpoint set that the beginnings of a quantitative theory of shear banding is in place. Continued progress will require parallel developments in constitutive theory and experimental observation. Moreover, basic questions remain to be explored related to the spatial development of the shear bands, their mutual interaction, their development into a failure mode, and how these are influenced by factors such as overall deformational constraint, rate of straining, and temperature

  12. The Representation of Object Viewpoint in Human Visual Cortex

    OpenAIRE

    Andresen, David R.; Vinberg, Joakim; Grill-Spector, Kalanit

    2008-01-01

    Understanding the nature of object representations in the human brain is critical for understanding the neural basis of invariant object recognition. However, the degree to which object representations are sensitive to object viewpoint is unknown. Using fMRI we employed a parametric approach to examine the sensitivity to object view as a function of rotation (0°–180°), category (animal/vehicle) and fMRI-adaptation paradigm (short or long-lagged). For both categories and fMRI-adaptation paradi...

  13. The Impact of Animal Rights on the Use of Animals for Biomedical Research, Product Testing and Evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baier, Stephen W.

    1993-01-01

    Clarifies the issues of animal rights as they effect animal use in research and education through an examination of the current use of animals, a historical look at animal use, and a consideration of the philosophical underpinnings of the animal rights and pro-use viewpoints. (PR)

  14. Inventory of present verification techniques. Viewpoint of EURATOM

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kloeckner, W.; Eecken, D. Van der; Gmelin, W.

    1998-01-01

    Starting from the role of Euratom as an established regional safeguards system, an overview is given of verification techniques currently practised by Euratom. In the stage-light of a rapidly changing and complex international safeguards scene, Euratom considers it has an important role to play. Having in mind the possibilities created by accelerating modern technology, recommendations are given for an enhanced use of technological means in safeguards. The viewpoint of Euratom is that the majority of methodologies and techniques in place may very well be copied to or used for a cut-off verification system currently under discussion

  15. Viewpoint on ‘Tuning shape, composition and magnetization of 3D cobalt nanowires grown by focused electron beam induced deposition (FEBID)’

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berger, A

    2017-01-01

    The ultimate dream of materials design and fabrication is the ability to build-up materials with single atom precision in terms of positioning control and element selectivity, and to do it in a way that is fast and thus potentially viable as a commercial fabrication technology. While such a 3D atomic printing technology might stay an elusive goal for decades to come, it is interesting to notice that the reverse is actually already accomplished, namely the atomic scale analysis of materials and devices by means of an atomic probe system, which allows for the simultaneous chemical element analysis and atomic position measurement, even though it is a destructive technique. (viewpoint)

  16. THE VIEWPOINT OF STAKEHOLDERS ON THE CAUSES OF FOREST AND LAND FIRES IN RIAU PROVINCE, INDONESIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Badri M.

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Riau Province is one of the prone areas of forest and land fires in Indonesia. Fires began to grow since the 1980s as deforestation and the clearing of palm oil plantations occured. The peak of a major fire was happened before the study was taken from 2014 to 2015 and caused a smoke haze for months. This study aims to determine the factors causing forest and land fires in Riau in the viewpoint of stakeholders. The research is conducted by using qualitative methods by exploring stakeholder viewpoint through semi-structured interviews on actors representing government, companies, research institutions, NGOs, mass media and community groups. The results show that all stakeholders have the same viewpoint regarding the cause of human-fire perpetrators. Burning is largely done intentionally in open access areas, disputes, concessions, corporate land, and community lands. Fires continue to occur due to lack of oversight by authorities, massive peatland clearance, deforestation, increased permission for forest or land management for political costs, land disputes, human negligence and weak law enforcement.

  17. 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.

  18. 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.

  19. 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.

  20. 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…

  1. 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…

  2. IMMUNE NUTRIENTS IN CHILDREN'S FEEDING FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF THE EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE

    OpenAIRE

    E.S. Kiseleva

    2008-01-01

    In the article, the author considers the clinical effects of preandprobiotics in formulas for the artificial feeding from the viewpoint of the evidence based medicine, their effect on the gut and immune system.Key words: immune nutrients, artificial feeding, children.

  3. Development of Allocentric Spatial Recall from New Viewpoints in Virtual Reality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Negen, James; Heywood-Everett, Edward; Roome, Hannah E.; Nardini, Marko

    2018-01-01

    Using landmarks and other scene features to recall locations from new viewpoints is a critical skill in spatial cognition. In an immersive virtual reality task, we asked children 3.5-4.5 years old to remember the location of a target using various cues. On some trials they could use information from their own self-motion. On some trials they could…

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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."

  7. Re-identification of persons in multi-camera surveillance under varying viewpoints and illumination

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bouma, H.; Borsboom, A.S.; Hollander, R.J.M. den; Landsmeer, S.H.; Worring, M.

    2012-01-01

    The capability to track individuals in CCTV cameras is important for surveillance and forensics alike. However, it is laborious to do over multiple cameras. Therefore, an automated system is desirable. In literature several methods have been proposed, but their robustness against varying viewpoints

  8. Finite stage asymmetric repeated games: Both players' viewpoints

    KAUST Repository

    Li, Lichun

    2017-01-05

    In asymmetric zero-sum games, one player has superior information about the game over the other. It is known that the informed players (maximizer) face the tradeoff of exploiting its superior information at the cost of revealing its superior information, but the basic point of the uninformed player (minimizer)\\'s decision making remains unknown. This paper studies the finite stage asymmetric repeated games from both players\\' viewpoints, and derives that not only security strategies but also the opponents\\' corresponding best responses depends only on the informed player\\'s history action sequences. Moreover, efficient LP formulations to compute both player\\'s security strategies are provided.

  9. 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...

  10. Effects produced by nuclear weapons from the medical viewpoint

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Messerschmidt, O.

    1982-01-01

    Recommendations are given for the protection commission of the Minister of the Interior on diagnostics and therapy of the acute radiation syndrome. In summary form, findings from the medical viewpoint are given on the biological effects of nuclear explosions - irrespective of their being produced in peace times by reactor accidents or by use of nuclear weapons in warfare. The statements on the therapy of radiation injuries are a practical aid to the experienced catastrophe physician and suggest to the still unexperienced physician to extend his training for mastering radiation injuries in catastrophes. (orig./HP) [de

  11. 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

  12. 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…

  13. Dense Trajectories and DHOG for Classification of Viewpoints from Echocardiogram Videos

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liqin Huang

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In echo-cardiac clinical computer-aided diagnosis, an important step is to automatically classify echocardiography videos from different angles and different regions. We propose a kind of echocardiography video classification algorithm based on the dense trajectory and difference histograms of oriented gradients (DHOG. First, we use the dense grid method to describe feature characteristics in each frame of echocardiography sequence and then track these feature points by applying the dense optical flow. In order to overcome the influence of the rapid and irregular movement of echocardiography videos and get more robust tracking results, we also design a trajectory description algorithm which uses the derivative of the optical flow to obtain the motion trajectory information and associates the different characteristics (e.g., the trajectory shape, DHOG, HOF, and MBH with embedded structural information of the spatiotemporal pyramid. To avoid “dimension disaster,” we apply Fisher’s vector to reduce the dimension of feature description followed by the SVM linear classifier to improve the final classification result. The average accuracy of echocardiography video classification is 77.12% for all eight viewpoints and 100% for three primary viewpoints.

  14. 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.

  15. 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.

  16. [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.

  17. Hierarchical 2.5D scene alignment for change detection with large viewpoint differences

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van de Wouw, D.; Dubbelman, G.; de With, P.H.N.

    2016-01-01

    Change detection from mobile platforms is a relevant topic in the field of intelligent vehicles and has many applications, such as countering improvised explosive devices (C-IED). Existing real-time C-IED systems are not robust against large viewpoint differences, which are unavoidable under

  18. Finitude, Fallibilism and Education towards Non-Dogmatism: Gadamer's Hermeneutics in Science Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leiviska, Anniina

    2013-01-01

    The philosophy of science has witnessed continuous controversy since the mid-twentieth century regarding the justification of science's privileged position, and which has also reverberated in the philosophy of science education. This contribution brings to the discussion the viewpoint of Hans-Georg Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics. I…

  19. 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 ...

  20. 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 ...

  1. 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.

  2. Understanding the Sustainability of Fuel from the Viewpoint of Exergy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yaning Zhang

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available At the same time of providing a huge amount of energy to the world population (social sustainability and global economy (economic sustainability, the fuel itself also releases a great amount of emissions to the environment the world people live in in the forms of gaseous pollutants (SOx, NOx, CO, CO2, CH4, etc. and ash compositions (Al2O3, CaO, Fe2O3, K2O, MgO, MnO, Na2O, P2O5, SO3, SiO2, TiO2, etc., seriously impacting the environment (environmental sustainability for the world population and global economy. Sustainability generally encompasses economic sustainability, environmental sustainability, and social sustainability, and all of these are significantly related to the energy/resource sustainability. This study addresses the sustainability of fuel from the viewpoint of exergy. It is demonstrated that the energy of a fuel is best evaluated by its chemical exergy, and the environmental impact of a fuel can be assessed through the chemical exergy of its emissions (the specific impacts such as toxicity or greenhouse effect are not detailed. Then, the sustainability of fuel can be understood from the viewpoint of exergy through three ways: (a high chemical exergy of the fuel, (b high exergy efficiency of the fuel conversion process, and (c low chemical exergy of the emissions.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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…

  7. 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

  8. 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.

  9. 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.

  10. Chinese Culture of Learning from Western Teachers’Viewpoint

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    邹旭

    2014-01-01

    While more and more teachers from Western culture teach in China, research on the different cultures of learning in China's teaching context and Western teachers’views on the Chinese culture of learning and teaching have been rarely conduct-ed. This essay discusses the implications of cultural differences of learning between China and the West, particularly Western teachers’viewpoint on Chinese culture of learning. The conclusion suggests that it is of great importance to be aware that culture is just one of many factors that determine individual learning, and teachers are supposed to avoid stereotyping and simplistic views with regard to culture of learning, though general trends and patterns may exist among a certain type of culture.

  11. 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.

  12. 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.

  13. 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.

  14. Stendhal’s Gaze : Towards an hermeneutic approach of the tourist

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Welten, R.B.J.M.

    2014-01-01

    Is travel inherently beneficial to human character? This is one of the principal questions to the practice of tourism from a philosophical viewpoint and posed as such by Dean MacCannell. But it is also a question with a long tradition. In this article, I aim to elaborate on MacCannell’s initial

  15. Students' Viewpoint of Computer Game for Training in Indonesian Universities and High Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wahyudin, Didin; Hasegawa, Shinobu; Kamaludin, Apep

    2017-01-01

    This paper describes the survey--conducted in Indonesian universities (UNIV) and high schools (HS)--whose concern is to examine preferences and influences of computer game for training. Comparing the students' viewpoint between both educational levels could determine which educational level would satisfy the need of MAGNITUDE--mobile serious game…

  16. 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",…

  17. 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.

  18. No childhood development of viewpoint-invariant face recognition: evidence from 8-year-olds and adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crookes, Kate; Robbins, Rachel A

    2014-10-01

    Performance on laboratory face tasks improves across childhood, not reaching adult levels until adolescence. Debate surrounds the source of this development, with recent reviews suggesting that underlying face processing mechanisms are mature early in childhood and that the improvement seen on experimental tasks instead results from general cognitive/perceptual development. One face processing mechanism that has been argued to develop slowly is the ability to encode faces in a view-invariant manner (i.e., allowing recognition across changes in viewpoint). However, many previous studies have not controlled for general cognitive factors. In the current study, 8-year-olds and adults performed a recognition memory task with two study-test viewpoint conditions: same view (study front view, test front view) and change view (study front view, test three-quarter view). To allow quantitative comparison between children and adults, performance in the same view condition was matched across the groups by increasing the learning set size for adults. Results showed poorer memory in the change view condition than in the same view condition for both adults and children. Importantly, there was no quantitative difference between children and adults in the size of decrement in memory performance resulting from a change in viewpoint. This finding adds to growing evidence that face processing mechanisms are mature early in childhood. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. 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.)

  20. Mirror representations innate versus determined by experience: a viewpoint from learning theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giese, Martin A

    2014-04-01

    From the viewpoint of pattern recognition and computational learning, mirror neurons form an interesting multimodal representation that links action perception and planning. While it seems unlikely that all details of such representations are specified by the genetic code, robust learning of such complex representations likely requires an appropriate interplay between plasticity, generalization, and anatomical constraints of the underlying neural architecture.

  1. Four-dimensional symmetry from a broad viewpoint. II Invariant distribution of quantized field oscillators and questions on infinities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, J. P.

    1983-01-01

    The foundation of the quantum field theory is changed by introducing a new universal probability principle into field operators: one single inherent and invariant probability distribution P(/k/) is postulated for boson and fermion field oscillators. This can be accomplished only when one treats the four-dimensional symmetry from a broad viewpoint. Special relativity is too restrictive to allow such a universal probability principle. A radical length, R, appears in physics through the probability distribution P(/k/). The force between two point particles vanishes when their relative distance tends to zero. This appears to be a general property for all forces and resembles the property of asymptotic freedom. The usual infinities in vacuum fluctuations and in local interactions, however complicated they may be, are all removed from quantum field theories. In appendix A a simple finite and unitary theory of unified electroweak interactions is discussed without assuming Higgs scalar bosons.

  2. 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.

  3. 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

  4. 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...

  5. 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

  6. Sound Heart: Spiritual Nursing Care Model from Religious Viewpoint.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asadzandi, Minoo

    2017-12-01

    Different methods of epistemology create different philosophical views. None of the nursing theories have employed the revelational epistemology and the philosophical views of Abrahamic religions. According to Abrahamic religions, the universe and human being have been created based on God's affection. Human being should deserve the position of God's representative on earth after achieving all ethical merits. Humans have willpower to shape their destiny by choosing manner of their relationship with God, people, themselves and the whole universe. They can adopt the right behavior by giving a divine color to their thoughts and intentions and thus attain peace and serenity in their heart. Health means having a sound heart (calm spirit with a sense of hope and love, security and happiness) that is achievable through faith and piety. Moral vices lead to diseases. Human beings are able to purge their inside (heart) through establishing a relationship with God and then take actions to reform the outside world. The worlds are run by God's will based on prudence and mercy. All events happen with God's authorization, and human beings have to respond to them. Nurses should try to recognize the patient's spiritual response to illness that can appear as symptoms of an unsound heart (fear, sadness, disappointment, anger, jealousy, cruelty, grudge, suspicion, etc.) due to the pains caused by illness and then alleviate the patient's suffering by appropriate approaches. Nurses help the patient to achieve the sound heart by hope in divine mercy and love, and they help the patient see good in any evil and relieve their fear and sadness by viewing their illness positively and then attain the status of calm, satisfaction, peace and serenity in their heart and being content with the divine fate. By invitation to religious morality, the model leads the patients to spiritual health.

  7. 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.

  8. Molecular reality a perspective on the scientific work of Jean Perrin

    CERN Document Server

    Nye, Mary Jo

    1972-01-01

    Dr Nye analyses the philosophical and scientific debate among nineteenth-century chemists and physicists over the question of the physical reality of atoms and molecules. She traces the way in which the experimental investigations, methodological viewpoint and publications of the French physical chemist Jean Perrin contributed decisively to an end of the dispute by 1913.

  9. Effectiveness of Forgiveness Therapy Based on Islamic Viewpoint on Marital Adjustment and Tendency to Forgive in the Women Afflicted by Infidelity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fariba Kiani

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Background and Objectives: Orienting its approach based on Islamic viewpoint (Quran and Hadith, this study aimed to investigate effectiveness of forgiveness therapy, inclination to forgive, and marital adjustment in affected women who referred to counseling centers in Tehran. Methods: This study was a semi-experimental research which made use of test-retest methodology and control group. Statistical population contained women who had suffered unfaithfulness by their husbands and referred to counseling centers of Tehran in the summer 2015. A number of 30 samples were selected in purposive and convenience manners and were categorized in two test and control groups. After conduction of pretest, which applied Spanier Dyadic Adjustment Scale and Amnesty Ray et al., members of the test group attended in nine 90-minute weekly sessions of forgiveness therapy based on Islamic viewpoint. Finally, posttest was conducted on both groups with the same tool. Results: Results of multivariable analysis of covariance showed that forgiveness therapy based on Islamic viewpoint has a significant effect on increased levels of willingness to forgive and marital adjustment in women. Conclusion: The results showed that forgiveness therapy based on Islamic viewpoints could be applied in designation of therapeutic interventions.

  10. 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.

  11. 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

  12. Evaluation of Non-Medical Services’ Responsiveness Using a National Model: Patients’ Viewpoint

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roohollah Askari

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Background Responsiveness is the main indicator of high performance in every health system. This study was conducted to assess non-medical services’ responsiveness from patients’ viewpoint through applying a localized responsiveness model in Iran. Methods This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study, conducted in three hospitals of Yazd province in 2015. To collect data, a standardized questionnaire was used and data were analyzed by SPSS 16 software package, through applying descriptive statistical tests, T-test, correlation and analysis of variance (ANOVA. Results The study findings revealed that a mean score for responsiveness from patients’ viewpoint was 2.48 ± 0.26 at a public hospital, 2.14 ± 0.26 at a private and 2 ± 0.27 at a charity hospital representing an average level for hospitals under study. The highest and lowest mean scores among different aspects of responsiveness belonged to dignity (2.5 ± 0.36 and informed choice (1.9 ± 0.43. Conclusions Given that responsiveness was evaluated at an average level, appropriate policy interventions and necessary reforms are proposed to increase its status in under study hospitals.

  13. 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…

  14. 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…

  15. [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.

  16. 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.

  17. 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.

  18. SOCIALISM FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF ECONOMICS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Klistorin V. I.

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the present article is to discuss the role the socialist ideas played in the development of economic thoughts. The paper considers a brief history of socialist thought, fundamental ideas of the scientists and publicists who made the greatest contribution to development of socialist concepts; common principles at a huge variety of such concepts; and criticism of socialist ideas made by representatives of alternative schools. A special focus of the paper is the discussion held in the period between the world wars on whether socialism could take place. In the critics’ opinion, socialization of the economy resulted in corrupted economic information which made economic calculations impossible in socialism and abolition of private ownership - in both eliminated freedom of choice and lower economic growth. In response, economists-socialists insisted on positive impacts through lower transactional costs and they proposed different types of market socialism. The author also makes an attempt to formulate what the socialist theories contributed to modern economics from the viewpoint of its research subject and definitions.

  19. Fragmentation of single-particle states in deformed nuclei

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Malov, L.A.; Soloviev, V.G.

    1975-01-01

    Fragmentation of single-particle states on levels of deformed nuclei is studied on the example of 239 U and 169 Er nuclei in the framework of the model taking into consideration the interaction of quasiparticles with phonons. The dependence of fragmentation on the Fermi surface is considered from the viewpoint of single-particle levels. It is shown that in the distribution of single-particle strength functions a second maximum appears together with the large asymmetry maximum at high-energy excitation, and the distribution has a long ''tail''. A semimicroscopic approach is proposed for calculating the neutron strength functions. The following values of the strength functions are obtained: for sub(239)U-Ssub(0)sup(cal)=1.2x10sup(-4), Ssub(1)sup(cal)=2.7x10sub(-4) and for sub(169)Er-Ssub(0)sup(cal)=1.10sup(-4), Ssub(1)sup(cal)=1.2x10sup(-4)

  20. Review of Public Safety in Viewpoint of Complex Networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gai Chengcheng; Weng Wenguo; Yuan Hongyong

    2010-01-01

    In this paper, a brief review of public safety in viewpoint of complex networks is presented. Public safety incidents are divided into four categories: natural disasters, industry accidents, public health and social security, in which the complex network approaches and theories are need. We review how the complex network methods was developed and used in the studies of the three kinds of public safety incidents. The typical public safety incidents studied by the complex network methods in this paper are introduced, including the natural disaster chains, blackouts on electric power grids and epidemic spreading. Finally, we look ahead to the application prospects of the complex network theory on public safety.

  1. Fundamental understanding of matter: an engineering viewpoint

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cullingford, H.S.; Cort, G.E.

    1980-01-01

    Fundamental understanding of matter is a continuous process that should produce physical data for use by engineers and scientists in their work. Lack of fundamental property data in any engineering endeavor cannot be mitigated by theoretical work that is not confirmed by physical experiments. An engineering viewpoint will be presented to justify the need for understanding of matter. Examples will be given in the energy engineering field to outline the importance of further understanding of material and fluid properties and behavior. Cases will be cited to show the effects of various data bases in energy, mass, and momentum transfer. The status of fundamental data sources will be discussed in terms of data centers, new areas of engineering, and the progress in measurement techniques. Conclusions and recommendations will be outlined to improve the current situation faced by engineers in carrying out their work. 4 figures

  2. Viewpoint - IWRM and I: A reflexive travelogue of the Flows and Practices research team

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bolding, J.A.; Alba, R.

    2016-01-01

    viewpoint article critically discusses how IWRM travelled to each of the researchers of the Flows and Practices team, through which networks they personally engaged with IWRM, what opportunities the IWRM saga offered these researchers and how they tried to translate the concept and policy idea of

  3. Single view reflectance capture using multiplexed scattering and time-of-flight imaging

    OpenAIRE

    Zhao, Shuang; Velten, Andreas; Raskar, Ramesh; Bala, Kavita; Naik, Nikhil Deepak

    2011-01-01

    This paper introduces the concept of time-of-flight reflectance estimation, and demonstrates a new technique that allows a camera to rapidly acquire reflectance properties of objects from a single view-point, over relatively long distances and without encircling equipment. We measure material properties by indirectly illuminating an object by a laser source, and observing its reflected light indirectly using a time-of-flight camera. The configuration collectively acquires dense angular, but l...

  4. 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.

  5. 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...

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

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    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.

  7. 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.

  8. Sameness and the Self: Philosophical and Psychological Considerations

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    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.

  9. 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...

  10. 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…

  11. 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.

  12. Meaningful Human Control over Autonomous Systems: A Philosophical Account

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    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

  13. The cognitive viewpoint on information science and processing information in cognitive psychology - a vision for interdisciplinary

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    Shirley Guimarães Pimenta

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available The interaction amongst the ‘user’, ‘information’, and ‘text’ is of interest to Information Science although it has deserved insufficient attention in the literature. This issue is addressed by this paper whose main purpose is to contribute to the discussion of theoretical affinity between the cognitive viewpoint in Information Science and the information processing approach in Cognitive Psychology. Firstly, the interdisciplinary nature of Information Science is discussed and justified as a means to deepen and strengthen its theoretical framework. Such interdisciplinarity helps to avoid stagnation and keep pace with other disciplines. Secondly, the discussion takes into consideration the cognitive paradigm, which originates the cognitive viewpoint approach in Information Science. It is highlighted that the cognitive paradigm represented a change in the Social Sciences due to the shift of focus from the object and the signal to the individual. Besides that, it sheds light to the notion of models of worlds, i.e., the systems of categories and concepts that guide the interaction between the individual and his/her environment. Thirdly, the theoretical assumptions of the cognitive viewpoint approach are discussed, with emphasis on the concept of ‘information’, as resulting of cognitive processes and as related to the notion of ‘text’. This approach points out the relevance of understanding the interaction amongst users, information, and text. However, it lacks further development. Using notions which are common to both approaches, some of the gaps can be fulfilled. Finally, the concept of ‘text’, its constituents and structures are presented from the perspective of text comprehension models and according to the information processing approach. As a concluding remark, it is suggested that bringing together the cognitive viewpoint and the information processing approach can be enriching and fruitful to the both Information

  14. Accreditation of qualification testing organizations: the industry viewpoint

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roby, A.

    1983-01-01

    This paper presents the industry viewpoint on the program for the Accreditation of Qualification Testing Organizations, which has been proposed for rulemaking by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The IEEE has agreed to establish the program content, and would administer its requirements in accordance with an agreement between the NRC and IEEE of September 30th, 1981. Presented in this paper is the industry perspective, developed and prepared through the AIF, identifying the serious concerns which the accreditation program has raised. Discussed are the disadvantages of the program and those present benefits which would be lost if the program was adopted. The value of greater emphasis on current regulation to improve the qualification process is presented and the paper details areas where the NRC proposals do not provide adequate justification for the accreditation program

  15. Survey of the Effective Methods of Decreasing Demands of Narcotic Substances from the Viewpoint of Hamadan People

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    A.R. Rahimi

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction & Objective: Addiction is a complex problem with different psychological, social and familial aspects, which strongly threaten the health of million people, and collapse the social and personal life. The aim of this study was to determine the effective methods of narcotic substances and decreasing demands from the viewpoint of Hamadan peopleMaterials & Methods: This research was a sectional-descriptive study. The participants consisted of 1456 individuals that were selected by stratified sampling. The data collected through a questionnaire consists of 3 parts; I. the demographic characteristics II. the questions about decreasing the demands and III. the questions related to the methods of narcotic substances campaign.Results: Outcome showed that 60.78% of the participants believe the best method to decrease demands to narcotic substances is the mass media and 51.92% believe to promote the religious believes and 44.5% to change people’s viewpoint about the narcotic substances. 78.85% agreed with using punishments on narcotics devisers and 40.1% agreed with punishment on users.Conclusion: From the viewpoint of Hamedan people mass media and religious believes effect in attitude of people about narcotic substances abuse and also they believed that punishment of users and opinion devisers were being useful.

  16. Well-being, capabilities and philosophical practice

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    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

  17. The role of enjoyment in exercise for people with arthritis: Four different viewpoints from a Q-methodology study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kibblewhite, Julia R; Hegarty, Roisin S M; Stebbings, Simon; Treharne, Gareth J

    2017-12-01

    There is limited research on the role of enjoyment of exercise among people with arthritis. The aim of the present study was to determine distinct viewpoints on exercise held by people with arthritis, and how enjoyment features in these viewpoints. A Q-methodology study was conducted, which involved two interviews with people with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis or ankylosing spondylitis (aged 20-85 years). In the first interviews, 11 participants helped to create the Q-set, a set of statements reflecting a range of existing views on exercising. In the second interviews, 12 participants (nine of the 11 from the first interviews and three others) ranked the Q-set on a forced quasi-normal distribution of agreement. A Q-method factor analysis was carried out to determine groupings of participants with similar views on exercise. Four groupings were discovered, and defined in terms of rankings of statements and illustrative quotes from the ranking procedure. The first grouping had all changed their exercise habits after diagnosis with arthritis. The second grouping had a shared enjoyment for walking to stay healthy. The third grouping's viewpoints focused on knowledge about how much exercise they should carry out. The fourth grouping shared a sense of importance of being responsible for their health by exercising. These findings provide information about the role that enjoyment plays in motivating people with arthritis to exercise, although enjoyment of exercise was not expressed by all participants. People with arthritis who share these viewpoints on exercise enjoyment may require different forms of advice regarding feasible and enjoyable exercise. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  18. 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.

  19. 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.

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

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    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.