In this paper we deal with the logic ${\cal M\kern-1pt L}_{\omega_1}$ which is the infinitary extension of propositional modal logic that has conjunctions and disjunctions only for countable sets of formulas. After introducing some basic concepts and tools from modal logic, we modify Makkai's generalization of the notion of consistency property to make it fit for modal purposes. Using this construction as a universal instrument, we prove, among other things, interpolation for ${\cal M\kern-1pt L}_{\omega_1}$ as well as preservation results for (...) universal, existential, and positive ${\cal M\kern-1pt L}_{\omega_1}$-formulas. (shrink)

In [STU 00, KUT 03] we introduced a family of ‘modal' languages intended for talking about distances. These languages are interpreted in ‘distance spaces' which satisfy some of the standard axioms of metric spaces. Among other things, we singled out decidable logics of distance spaces and proved expressive completeness results relating classical and modal languages. The aim of this paper is to axiomatize the modal fragments of the semantically defined distance logics of [KUT 03] and give a new proof of (...) their decidability. (shrink)

Standard models for model predicate logic consist of a Kripke frame whose worlds come equipped with relational structures. Both modal and two-sorted predicate logic are natural languages for speaking about such models. In this paper we compare their expressivity. We determine a fragment of the two-sorted language for which the modal language is expressively complete on S5-models. Decidable criteria for modal definability are presented.

Dealing with topics of definability, this paper provides some interesting insights into the expressive power of basic modal logic. After some preliminary work it presents an abstract algebraic characterization of the elementary classes of basic modal logic, that is, of the classes of models that are definable by means of (sets of) basic modal formulas. Taking that for a start, the paper further contains characterization results for modal universal classes and modal positive classes.

Name der Zeitschrift: Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie Jahrgang: 97 Heft: 2 Seiten: 234-260.

In this paper we deal with the logic which is the infinitary extension of propositional modal logic that has conjunctions and disjunctions only for countable sets of formulas. After introducing some basic concepts and tools from modal logic, we modify Makkai's generalization of the notion of consistency property to make it fit for modal purposes. Using this construction as a universal instrument, we prove, among other things, interpolation for as well as preservation results for universal, existential, and positive -formulas.

This paper deals with modal Horn formulas. It contains a characterization of the classes of models definable by modal universal Horn formulas as well as a preservation result for modal universal Horn formulas.

The aim of this paper is to establish a new notion of equivalencebetween temporal models, so-called S-similarity, as the appropriate notionof bisimilarity for temporal logic with Since and Until. The main technicalresults of the paper provide semantical characterizations of the first-orderformulas that are equivalent to a temporal formula: Theorem 3.7 concernsthe equivalence of temporal and first-order formulas with respect to pointedtemporal models, whereas Theorem 4.4 takes the level of temporal modelsinto account.

This collection includes twenty original philosophical essays in honour of Wolfgang Spohn. The contributions mirror the scope of Wolfgang Spohn’s work. They address topics from epistemology (e.g., the theory of ranking functions, belief revision, and the nature of knowledge and belief), philosophy of science (e.g., causation, induction, and laws of nature), the philosophy of language (e.g., the theory of meaning and the semantics of counterfactuals), and the philosophy of mind (e.g., intentionality and free will), as well as problems of ontology, (...) logic, the theory of practical rationality, and meta-philosophy. ― Contributors: Ansgar Beckermann, Wolfgang Benkewitz, Bernd Buldt, Ralf Busse, Christoph Fehige, Wolfgang Freitag, Gordian Haas, Volker Halbach, Franz Huber, Andreas Kemmerling, Manfred Kupffer, Hannes Leitgeb, Godehard Link, Arthur Merin, Thomas Müller, Julian Nida-Rümelin, Martine Nida-Rümelin, Hans Rott, Holger Sturm, Thomas Ede Zimmermann, Alexandra Zinke. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to construct a tableau decision algorithm for the modal description logic K ALC with constant domains. More precisely, we present a tableau procedure that is capable of deciding, given an ALC-formula with extra modal operators (which are applied only to concepts and TBox axioms, but not to roles), whether is satisfiable in a model with constant domains and arbitrary accessibility relations. Tableau-based algorithms have been shown to be practical even for logics of rather high (...) complexity. This gives us grounds to believe that, although the satisfiability problem for K ALC is known to be NEXPTIME-complete, by providing a tableau decision algorithm we demonstrate that highly expressive description logics with modal operators have a chance to be implementable. The paper gives a solution to an open problem of Baader and Laux [5]. (shrink)

The well-known formal semantics of conditionals due to Stalnaker Studies in logical theory, Blackwell, Oxford, 1968), Lewis, and Gärdenfors The logic and 1140 epistemology of scientific change, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1978, Knowledge in flux, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1988) all fail to distinguish between trivially and nontrivially true indicative conditionals. This problem has been addressed by Rott :345–370, 1986) in terms of a strengthened Ramsey Test. In this paper, we refine Rott’s strengthened Ramsey Test and the corresponding analysis of explanatory relations. We (...) show that our final analysis captures the presumed asymmetry between explanans and explanandum much better than Rott’s original analysis. (shrink)

In this paper, we propose a regularity theory of causation. The theory aims to be reductive and to align with our pre‐theoretic understanding of the causal relation. We show that our theory can account for a wide range of causal scenarios, including isomorphic scenarios, omissions, and scenarios which suggest that causation is not transitive.

We aim to devise a Ramsey test analysis of actual causation. Our method is to define a strengthened Ramsey test for causal models. Unlike the accounts of Halpern and Pearl ([2005]) and Halpern ([2015]), the resulting analysis deals satisfactorily with both over- determination and conjunctive scenarios.

The first academic overview of one of the most advanced and controversial approaches to sound studies, offering insight into its background, history, the present discourse surrounding it, and its likely future impact.

In this paper, we analyse actual causation in terms of production. The latter concept is made precise by a strengthened Ramsey Test semantics of conditionals: \ iff, after suspending judgement about A and C, C is believed in the course of assuming A. This test allows us to verify or falsify that an event brings about another event. Complementing the concept of production by a weak condition of difference-making gives rise to a full-fledged analysis of causation.

We put forth an analysis of causation. The analysis centers on the notion of a causal model that provides only partial information as to which events occur, but complete information about the dependences between the events. The basic idea is this: an event causes another just in case there is a causal model that is uninformative on both events and in which the first event makes a difference as to the occurrence of the other. We show that our analysis captures (...) more causal scenarios than the other counterfactual accounts to date. (shrink)

The well-known formal semantics of conditionals due to Stalnaker Studies in logical theory, Blackwell, Oxford, 1968), Lewis, and Gärdenfors The logic and 1140 epistemology of scientific change, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1978, Knowledge in flux, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1988) all fail to distinguish between trivially and nontrivially true indicative conditionals. This problem has been addressed by Rott :345–370, 1986) in terms of a strengthened Ramsey Test. In this paper, we refine Rott’s strengthened Ramsey Test and the corresponding analysis of explanatory relations. We (...) show that our final analysis captures the presumed asymmetry between explanans and explanandum much better than Rott’s original analysis. (shrink)

This essay aims to sharpen debates on the pros and cons of historical epistemology, which is now understood as a novel approach to the study of knowledge, by comparing it with the history of epistemology as traditionally pursued by philosophers. The many versions of both approaches are not always easily discernable. Yet, a reasoned comparison of certain versions can and should be made. In the first section of this article, I argue that the most interesting difference involves neither the subject (...) matter nor goal, but the methods used by the two approaches. In the second section, I ask which of the two approaches or methods is more promising given that both historical epistemologists and historians of epistemology claim to contribute to epistemology simpliciter. Using traditional problems concerning the epistemic role of perception, I argue that the historical epistemologies of Wartofsky and Daston and Galison fail to show that studying practices of perception is philosophically significant. Standard methods from the history of epistemology are more promising, as I show by means of reconstructing arguments in a debate about the relation between perception and judgment in psychological research on the famous moon illusion. (shrink)

We define a formal semantics of conditionals based on _normatively ideal worlds_. Such worlds are described informally by Armgardt (Gabbay D, Magnani L, Park W, Pietarinen A-V (eds) Natural arguments: a tribute to john woods, College Publications, London, pp 699–708, 2018) to address well-known problems of the counterfactual approach to causation. Drawing on Armgardt’s proposal, we use iterated conditionals in order to analyse causal relations in scenarios of multi-agent interaction. This results in a refined counterfactual approach to causal responsibility in (...) legal contexts, which solves overdetermination problems in an intuitively accessible manner. (shrink)

Most recent accounts of personal autonomy acknowledge that the social environment a person lives in, and the personal relationships she entertains, have some impact on her autonomy. Two kinds of conceptualizing social conditions are traditionally distinguished in this regard: Causally relational accounts hold that certain relationships and social environments play a causal role for the development and on-going exercise of autonomy. Constitutively relational accounts, by contrast, claim that autonomy is at least partly constituted by a person’s social environment or standing. (...) The central aim of this paper is to raise the question how causally and constitutively relational approaches relate to the fact that we exercise our autonomy over time. I argue that once the temporal scope of autonomy is opened up, we need not only to think differently about the social dimension of autonomy. We also need to reconsider the very distinction between causally and constitutively relational accounts, because it is itself a synchronic (and not a diachronic) distinction. (shrink)

English summary: Does pastoral care require ethical competence in order to fulfil its task properly? And, conversely, to what extent does ethical reflection require feedback from pastoral experience in order to remain true to life and of practical relevance? Wilfried Sturm examines the way hospital pastors deal with ethical challenges and conflict situations in neonatal clinics and enquires into the insights that can be gained from them for the relationship of pastoral care and ethics. German description: Braucht Seelsorge ethische (...) Kompetenz, um ihrem Auftrag gerecht zu werden? Inwiefern bedarf umgekehrt die ethische Reflexion der Ruckkopplung an seelsorgerliche Erfahrung, um lebensnah und praxisrelevant zu bleiben? Wilfried Sturm untersucht den Umgang von Klinikseelsorgerinnen und -seelsorgern mit ethischen Herausforderungen und Konfliktsituationen in der Fruh- und Neugeborenenmedizin und fragt, welche Einsichten sich daraus fur das Verhaltnis von Seelsorge und Ethik gewinnen lassen. (shrink)

Drawing on recent work in developmental and comparative psychology, this paper argues that demonstratives function to coordinate the interlocutors' joint focus of attention, which is one of the most basic functions of human communication. The communicative importance of demonstratives is reflected in a number of properties that together characterize them as a particular word class: In contrast to other closed-class expressions, demonstratives are universal, they are generally so old that their roots cannot be traced back to other linguistic items, they (...) are among the earliest words that children learn, and they are closely tied to a particular gesture. Moreover, demonstratives play an important role in the organization of discourse and the diachronic evolution of grammar, which arguably is also motivated by their communicative function to establish joint attention. (shrink)

This volume contains hitherto unknown lectures held by the Protestant philosopher and theologian Paul Tillich (1886–1965) during the first years of his exile at several universities. The lectures are on the Philosophy of Religion (1934), Introduction into Existential Philosophy (1934) and the Doctrine of Man (1934–35). They document the difficult attempt of a German scholar to explain his thought, which was rooted in the philosophy of German idealism, to an American academic audience.

English summary: In this volume, Holger Gutschmidt has gathered together several studies on the concept of the idea and its relationship to the notion of justification in selected 17th century theories. His main focus is on the philosophy of Rene Descartes, who introduced the concept of the idea into modern epistemology. He devotes further chapters to Antoine Arnauld as well as to the logic of Port Royal, Spinoza, and finally Leibniz. The study of the concept of the idea in (...) the context of its function within theories of knowledge and justification has brought about a series of new research results as well as corrections to existing research. German description: Holger Gutschmidt versammelt in diesem Band mehrere Untersuchungen zur Konzeption der Idee und ihrer Beziehung zum Begrundungsbegriff in ausgewahlten Theorien des 17. Jahrhunderts. Sein Hauptaugenmerk liegt auf der Philosophie Rene Descartes', der den Ideenbegriff in die neuzeitliche Erkenntnistheorie einfuhrt. Weitere Kapitel widmet er Antoine Arnauld sowie der Logik von Port Royal, Spinoza und schliesslich Leibniz. Die Untersuchung der Ideenkonzeption vor dem Hintergrund ihrer Funktion in den jeweiligen Theorien der Erkenntnis und der Begrundung fuhrt zu einer Reihe von neuen Forschungsresultaten und Korrekturen der bisherigen Forschungssituation. Der Autor beschaftigt sich unter anderem mit dem Thema der von Descartes eingefuhrten sogenannten objektiven Ideen, dem Verhaltnis von Idee und Begriff, der Seinsart von Ideen, der Funktion der Idee von Gott, dem direkten Realismus. (shrink)

Was ist eine "gute" Erklärung? Wann ist eine Argumentation plausibler, zuverlässiger oder "wahrer" als eine andere? Der Schluss auf die beste Erklärung (Abduktionsschluss) spielt im Alltag wie in den Wissenschaften eine entscheidende Rolle. In Indizienprozessen wie in wissenschaftlichen Erklärungen für Ereignisse oder Vorkommen geht es darum, einzelne Befunde in eine zusammenhängende Erklärung zu bringen, die als Wahrheit akzeptiert wird. Klärner diskutiert kritisch und präzise die bisherigen Erklärungskonzeptionen. Beispiele lassen die Argumentationsstruktur, die Stärken und Schwächen leicht nachvollziehen. Diese erste deutsche Publikation (...) zum Thema ist geeignet, das Referenzwerk zum Schluss auf die beste Erklärung zu werden. (shrink)