To prove the equivalence one must start with one side, and the earlier-later side seems, for starting with, logically the clearer. The equivalence is provable on reasonable definitions of ‘past’, ‘present’ and ‘future’ in terms of the earlier-later structure of time. McTaggart's attempted distinction between the past-present-future A series and the earlier-later B series, as though they were rivals for the structure of time, is based on an unexamined, and false, assumption. The equivalence shows they are not rivals; they are (...) quite consistent with each other. A very serious consequence is that all subsequent argument, from the A side or the B, however sophisticated, is flawed to the extent that it accepts McTaggart's false distinction. (shrink)

This is of course the relational, as opposed to the Newtonian absolutist, theory of space and time. The trouble is, as Clarke indicated several times during the correspondence, and as Russell pointed out in his early study of Leibniz: if continua such as space and time are relations, then it must be shown how a relation can behave as we recognize a continuum to do. How, for example, can a relation be divided or measured as we think space and time (...) can? Russell says. (shrink)

Sydney Shoemaker argues that time without change is possible, but begs the question by assuming an, in effect, Newtonian absolute time, that 'flows equably' in a region in which there is no change and in one in which there is. An equally possible, relativist, assumption, consistent, it seems, with relativity theory, is that where nothing changes there is no time flow, though there may be elsewhere, where there is change. Such an assumption would require some revision of uncritical common thought (...) about time. Aristotle argues that there is no time without change but that time is not change. His arguments for the latter can be faulted both internally and again in terms of the same relativist assumption. From the Physics we can derive, though Aristotle himself did not, an argument that time is to change as geometrical space is to body: the thing itself in abstraction. (shrink)

Following observations of Aristotle, Kant, Newton, Leibniz and Einstein (on space), we can devise a means of showing how the ontology of time supports the precedes-succeeds logic, which the temporal series shares with those of space and number, and how the past-present-future account is consistent with that. Time, by a relativist, not absolutist, account, turns out to be the existence and nonexistence of exactly the same thing in exactly the same respect. Both A and not-A can be the case, but (...) not at the same time. On the relativist view their both being the case constitutes time. This turns out to be, in the most general sense, a causal theory of time. (Published Online February 27 2006). (shrink)

The argument of J. M. E. McTaggart in ‘The Unreality of Time’ (Mind 1908) fails logically. There is no A series as such, but there is a shifting past-present-future arrangement within and consistent with the earlier-later B series, past being always earlier, future always later, present always a position earlier or later. An exactly similar logical structure is constructible within the number series, by making each number as one goes up it in turn (it does not matter what ‘it’, or (...) ‘present’, means, ontologically). The subsequent argument that past-present-future time falls into contradiction then fails also, and proves to be equivocal. (shrink)

Philosophical development of Leibniz's view that time is merely earlier–later order is necessary because neither Leibniz nor modern followers sufficiently answered the Newtonian charge that order does not give quantity. Logically, order is transitive, quantity, as in distance, is not. Quantity, as well as order, is naturally assumed in Newton's absolute time, so that to declare the mere relative order sufficient is to have to show how quantity can arise for it. The modern theory of the continuum, perfectly applicable to (...) Newton's absolute, does not show this but assumes quantity. The development given here shows how interval, instant and simultaneity can be logically developed from Leibniz's insight. (shrink)

This revised edition has been published in the light of a questionnaire answered in detail by users of the first edition. The nature of psychology; the growth and development of the human being; motivation, emotion, adjustment; learning and thinking; perception; individuality and its appraisal; psychology and social problems are considered, and in that order. The text includes a section on psychology as a profession. The end of each chapter has a summary and suggestions for further reading. A glossary of psychological (...) terms and author and subject indices complete the work. (shrink)

This is a textbook of Scholastic psychology with “a short, simple survey and critical evaluation of the most important data of contemporary experimental and dynamic psychology.” It has six sections, the first an introduction to philosophical psychology; then parts one and two deal respectively with plant and animal life. Parts three, four and five deal respectively with human sense life, human rational life and man as a person, each part having two sections, empirical and a philosophical. There are some footnotes, (...) valuable suggestions for reading, a general bibliography and an index. (shrink)

ABSTRACT:In a series of reports the United Nations Special Representative on the issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations has emphasized a tripartite framework regarding business and human rights that includes the state “duty to protect,” the TNC “responsibility to respect,” and “appropriate remedies” for human rights violations. This article examines the recent history of UN initiatives regarding business and human rights and places the tripartite framework in historical context. Three approaches to human rights are distinguished: moral, political, and legal. (...) It is argued that the tripartite framework’s grounding of the responsibility of TNCs to respect human rights is properly understood as moral and not merely as a political or legal duty. A moral account of the duty of TNCs to respect basic human rights is defended and contrasted with a merely strategic approach. The main conclusion of the article is that only a moral account of the basic human rights duties of TNCs provides a sufficiently deep justification of “the corporate responsibility to respect human rights” feature of the tripartite framework. (shrink)

This study is about Brentano’s criticism of a version of phenomenalism that he calls “mental monism” and which he attributes to positivist philosophers such as Ernst Mach and John Stuart Mill. I am interested in Brentano’s criticism of Mill’s version of mental monism based on the idea of “permanent possibilities of sensation.” Brentano claims that this form of monism is characterized by the identification of the class of physical phenomena with that of mental phenomena, and it commits itself to a (...) form of idealism. Brentano argues instead for a form of indirect or hypothetical realism based on intentional correlations. (shrink)

Cet ouvrage vise à délimiter le champ d'investigation de la philosophie de l'esprit. Il comprend huit chapitres. Le premier, le plus général, se veut une première délimitation du champ d'investigation de la philosophie de l'esprit à l'aide de ses trois concepts clés: l'intentionnalité, la rationalité et la conscience. Le chapitre suivant se veut une réflexion plus générale sur les motivations philosophiques qui commandent des jugements si opposés sur le statut ontologique et épistémologique de la psychologie du sens commun. Le chapitre (...) IV dresse un tableau de ces différents programmes et des grands courants de la philosophie de l'esprit, en commençant par le behaviorisme, le physicalisme, le fonctionnalisme et le connexionnisme. Les trois chapitres suivants porteront sur les problèmes et débats liés à la naturalisation des trois propriétés principales de l'esprit, des trois problèmes principaux de la philosophie de l'esprit, soit les concepts d'intentionnalité, de rationalité et de conscience. Le chapitre V porte, d'une part, sur la nature de l'intentionnalité et les différents concepts de directionnalité (aboutness) que l'on retrouve actuellement en philosophie de l'esprit ; d'autre part, il s'agira pour nous de décrire et de classer les différents programmes de naturalisation de l'intentionnalité. Le chapitre six est ouvre de nouvelles perpectives en ce qu'il porte sur la nature de la rationalité et sur les différentes tentatives et arguments en faveur de sa naturalisation. Le chapitre VII s'attaque au problème central de la philosophie de l'esprit, à savoir la conscience. (shrink)

Franz Brentano’s impact on the philosophy of his time and on 20th-century philosophy is considerable. The “sharp dialectician” (Freud) and “genial master” (Husserl) influenced philosophers of various allegiances, being acknowledged not only as the “grandfather of phenomenology” (Ryle) but also as an analytic philosopher “in the best sense of this term” (Chisholm). The fourteen new essays gathered together in this volume give an insight in three core issues of Brentano’s philosophy: consciousness (sect.1), intentionality (sect. 2) and ontology and metaphysics (sect. (...) 3). Two further sections of the volume deal with the posterity of his philoso¬phy: in section 4, the legacy of his account of sense perception and feeling is discussed, while the history of Brentano’s unpublished manuscripts is discussed in section 5. This section also presents an edition of a manuscript from 1899 on relations, along with the letters from Brentano to Marty which discuss this manuscript. The last part of section 5 contains the text of a public lecture given by Brentano on the laws of inference. (shrink)

This article applies the Kantian doctrine of respect for persons to the problem of sweatshops. We argue that multinational enterprises are properly regarded as responsible for the practices of their subcontractors and suppliers. We then argue that multinationalenterprises have the following duties in their off-shore manufacturing facilities: to ensure that local labor laws are followed; to refrain from coercion; to meet minimum safety standards; and to provide a living wage for employees. Finally, we consider and reply to the objection that (...) improving health and safety conditions and providing a living wage will cause greater harm than good. (shrink)

Il existe, en français, un ouvrage de référence sur la pensée anthropologique de Humboldt (Jean Quillien, 1991, réédité en 2015) mais rien de tel sur sa pensée du langage. Ce livre souhaite donc combler cette lacune tout en remettant à leur place certaines idées fausses. Il se révèle, à ce titre, triplement provocateur. D'une part, cet ouvrage rappelle que Humboldt se situe entièrement dans le prolongement de la tradition généraliste des grammaires philosophiques qu'il ne renie jamais entièrement. Il relit au (...) contraire cette tradition au moyen des conceptions de la philosophie allemande de Kant et Fichte. D'autre part, il souligne que Humboldt ne s'est pas contenté de formuler quelques idées générales sur le langage, mais a effectué un immense travail empirique sur près de 80 langues, rédigeant plus de 30 grammaires. Denis Thouard donne un aperçu de ce travail en évoquant l'édition des grammaires américaines effectuée ces dernières années à l'Académie de Berlin-Brandebourg, et développe le cas du basque, du chinois et de l'égyptien. C'est l'occasion de découvrir un linguiste véritable. Enfin, il permet de remettre en lumière le rôle essentiel et le plus souvent ignoré qu'a joué pour la pensée de Humboldt sa réflexion sur la traduction en analysant son travail de traducteur de l'Agamemnon d'Eschyle dans son contexte culturel. Une réflexion sur la question de la diversité des langues dans l'Europe actuelle, le renouveau des études sur l'origine des langues et les mésusages des idées de Humboldt accompagnent une présentation sélective et approfondie des points essentiels de sa pensée. (shrink)

This article applies the Kantian doctrine of respect for persons to the problem of sweatshops. We argue that multinational enterprises are properly regarded as responsible for the practices of their subcontractors and suppliers. We then argue that multinationalenterprises have the following duties in their off-shore manufacturing facilities: to ensure that local labor laws are followed; to refrain from coercion; to meet minimum safety standards; and to provide a living wage for employees. Finally, we consider and reply to the objection that (...) improving health and safety conditions and providing a living wage will cause greater harm than good. (shrink)

Le suicide collectif apparaît comme une aberration sociale, une extrême anomalie de la culture. Et si c'était au contraire l'aboutissement de toute collectivisation achevée? Si c'était la destinée cachée - sectaire et mystique - de toute histoire commune, de toute pensée unique? Admettons-le, ne serait-ce qu'un moment. Nous sommes alors contraints de bouleverser notre perception de la vie sociale et politique. Celle-ci ne devrait pas sa survie à la recherche d'unité bien-gérée, mais aux " trous " dans le collectif ; (...) à la résistance des corps vivants, et non à l'Esprit qui tente de les fondre en une mortelle idéalité commune. La théorie freudienne du " lien de masse " rend compte de cette dérive fatale des collectifs idéalisés. Sous- estimée par les sciences sociales, elle permet de lire ce qu'il advient aujourd'hui de nos sociétés saisies dans l'imago d'une " secte-monde ", et du péril majeur qui les y guette. Elle permet aussi, rétroactivement, d'analyser l'histoire occidentale comme une suite d'oscillations entre la capture fatale par l'Idéal et le retour à la pluralité vivante des Corps. Est-ce dans ce balancement, cette danse entre Corps et Esprit, que la culture humaine résiste au cours des temps à la fascination narcissique? (shrink)

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), le philosophe des Lumières, de la raison, de l'universel et de la liberté, le solitaire de Koenigsberg (Prusse), a révolutionné durablement la philosophie en lui donnant un tour critique. Le geste critique consiste à diriger l'attention non pas sur les objets de la connaissance mais sur les conditions de leur constitution, ce à quoi Kant s'est employé méthodiquement dans la Critique de la raison pure (1781-87), la Critique de la raison pratique (1788) et la Critique de la (...) faculté de juger (1790). Philosopher, pour lui, ce n'est pas parvenir à une nouvelle définition du savoir, du juste ou du beau, mais s'interroger sur ce qui nous permet de parler du savoir, du juste ou du beau. Comment pouvons-nous penser ce que nous pensons? Quelles sont les règles que nous suivons dans nos jugements et nos actions, et dans quelle mesure sont-elles légitimes? C'est ce mode de questionnement qui autorise Kant à se réclamer de Socrate quand il évalue les discours et pratiques de son temps. Cet ouvrage se propose d'introduire à la cohérence mais aussi à l'actualité de la pensée de Kant, en exposant la signification de l'entreprise critique : revenant sur les conditions de l'activité philosophique, Kant découvre l'importance du jugement, de la réflexion et du sentiment. Il replace l'exercice de la raison dans la perspective concrète d'un sujet de sentiment, libre et sensible à la fois. On montre comment, à partir de là, il élabore une nouvelle conception de la subjectivité - legs de la philosophie kantienne à la pensée contemporaine. (shrink)

This paper is the general introduction to a collection of essays entitled Franz Brentano and Austrian Philosophy (forthcoming). In this substantial introduction, I comment several aspects of the recent reception of Brentano’s philosophical programme in contemporary philosophy, and the actual debates on topics such as emotions, values, and intentionality, for example. It is divided in four parts corresponding to the four sections of the book. The first three sections contain 11 original contributions on Brentano’s philosophy and its place in the (...) history of philosophy in Austria, and the last section contains three unpublished manuscripts from Alfred Kastil et Moritz Schlick. I. Descriptive psychology and phenomenology: Brentano and Husserl II. Brentano and the Vienna Circle III. Brentano and the history of philosophy IV. Documentation: Alfred Kastil and the Vienna Circle . (shrink)

Les études colligées dans le présent ouvrage ont pour objet les Recherches logiques de Edmund Husserl. La plupart de ces études sont issues du colloque "Les Recherches logiques d'Edmund Husserl, origines et postérité de la phénoménologie (1900/1)" qui a eu lieu à Montréal au mois de mai 2001. Le prétexte à cet événement était de marquer le centenaire de la publication de l'ouvrage séminal de la phénoménologie par une réflexion sur sa signification actuelle, ses origines et sa postérité. L'ouvrage contient (...) douze études qui examinent divers aspects des Recherches logiques de Husserl. (shrink)

Cet article traite du problème de l'imaginaire dans les mathématiques et du débat opposant Husserl à K. Twardowski sur les représentations sans objet.

We review recent developments in ethical pluralism, ethical particularism, Kantian intuitionism, rights theory, and climate change ethics, and show the relevance of these developments in ethical theory to contemporary business ethics. This paper explains why pluralists think that ethical decisions should be guided by multiple standards and why particularists emphasize the crucial role of context in determining sound moral judgments. We explain why Kantian intuitionism emphasizes the discerning power of intuitive reason and seek to integrate that with the comprehensiveness of (...) Kant’s moral framework. And we show how human rights can be grounded in human agency, and explain the connections between human rights and climate change. (shrink)

In this dissertation I develop a general theory of coercion that allows one to distinguish cases of interpersonal coercion from cases of persuasion or manipulation, and cases of institutional coercion from cases of oppression. The general theory of coercion that I develop includes as one component a theory of second-order coercion. Second-order coercion takes place whenever one person intentionally impairs the formation of the second-order desires of another person, or constrains them after their formation, in a way that frustrates or (...) eliminates the possibility of the victim fulfilling certain of his or her first-order desires. The concept of second-order coercion is important because it suggests that a person's autonomy may be violated in ways that have not been previously recognized. In this dissertation I argue that the unique feature of all cases of coercion is that the alternatives available to the victim, with regard to the formation of his or her will, are intentionally constrained by another person in a way that violates the victim's autonomy. A general theory of coercion should be able to explain how institutions may be understood as coercive. I argue that if institutions are understood as social practices maintained for the purpose of achieving some end, then they may be properly understood as capable of coercion. ;This theory of coercion allows me to make two arguments concerning moral responsibility. First, I argue that current discussions of moral responsibility are inadequate because they fail to take seriously the claim that a person may be responsible, at least in part, for having the beliefs and desires that make a particular action a case of coercion. Second, I argue that discussions of moral responsibility are inadequate because they fail to recognize that an agent may not be responsible for the state of his or her will because he or she may have been coerced in a way that has not been previously recognized. (shrink)

In paradigm exercises of agency, individuals guide their activities toward some goal. A central challenge for action theory is to explain how individuals guide. This challenge is an instance of the more general problem of how to accommodate individuals and their actions in the natural world, as explained by natural science. Two dominant traditions–primitivism and the causal theory–fail to address the challenge in a satisfying way. Causal theorists appeal to causation by an intention, through a feedback mechanism, in explaining guidance. (...) Primitivists postulate primitive agential capacities in their explanations. The latter neglect to explain how primitive capacities integrate with findings from natural science. The former do not explain why some feedback mechanism’s activity amounts to the agent’s guidance. In this paper I argue that both traditions should acknowledge a capacity to guide, as actually constituted by the executive system. I argue that appeals to this empirically discovered psychological system explain how individuals guide in a way that integrates with explanations from cognitive science. Individuals’ capacity to guide is embedded in the natural world through the activity of its constituent (mechanistic) components. (shrink)

During the last thirty years, most linguists and philosophers have assumed that meaning can be represented symbolically and that the mental processing of language involves the manipulation of symbols. Scholars have assembled strong evidence that there must be linguistic representations at several abstract levels--phonological, syntactic, and semantic--and that those representations are related by a describable system of rules. Because meaning is so complex, linguists often posit an equally complex relationship between semantic and other levels of grammar. The Semantics of Syntax (...) is an elegant and powerful analysis of the relationship between syntax and semantics. Noting that meaning is underdetermined by form even in simple cases, Denis Bouchard argues that it is impossible to build knowledge of the world into grammar and still have a describable grammar. He thus proposes simple semantic representations and simple rules to relate linguistic levels. Focusing on a class of French verbs, Bouchard shows how multiple senses can be accounted for by the assumption of a single abstract core meaning along with background information about how objects behave in the world. He demonstrates that this move simplifies the syntax at no cost to the descriptive power of the semantics. In two important final chapters, he examines the consequences of his approach for standard syntactic theories. (shrink)

April 15, 2024: This article published in Early View in error. The article will republish shortly.

In “Sweatshops and Respect for Persons” we argued on Kantian grounds that managers of multinational enterprises (MNEs) have the following duties: to adhere to local labor laws, to refrain from coercion, to meet minimum health and safety standards, and to pay workers a living wage. In their commentary on our paper Sollars and Englander challenge some of our conclusions. We argue here that several of their criticisms are based on an inaccurate reading of our paper, and that none of the (...) remaining criticisms successfully challenge our main arguments. By highlighting the shortcomings of their arguments we hope to advance discussion of the ethical treatment of workers in global supply chains. (shrink)

Over the course of human history, the sciences, and biology in particular, have often been manipulated to cause immense human suffering. For example, biology has been used to justify eugenic programs, forced sterilization, human experimentation, and death camps—all in an attempt to support notions of racial superiority. By investigating the past, the contributors to _Biology and Ideology from Descartes to Dawkins_ hope to better prepare us to discern ideological abuse of science when it occurs in the future. Denis R. (...) Alexander and Ronald L. Numbers bring together fourteen experts to examine the varied ways science has been used and abused for nonscientific purposes from the fifteenth century to the present day. Featuring an essay on eugenics from Edward J. Larson and an examination of the progress of evolution by Michael J. Ruse, _Biology and Ideology_ examines uses both benign and sinister, ultimately reminding us that ideological extrapolation continues today. An accessible survey, this collection will enlighten historians of science, their students, practicing scientists, and anyone interested in the relationship between science and culture. (shrink)

ABSTRACT:Little theoretical attention has been paid to the question of what obligations corporations and other business enterprises have to the four billion people living at the base of the global economic pyramid. This article makes several theoretical contributions to this topic. First, it is argued that corporations are properly understood as agents of global justice. Second, the legitimacy of global governance institutions and the legitimacy of corporations and other business enterprises are distinguished. Third, it is argued that a deliberative democracy (...) model of corporate legitimacy defended by theorists of political CSR is unsatisfactory. Fourth, it is argued that a Rawlsian theoretical framework fails to provide a satisfactory account of the obligations of corporations regarding global justice. Finally, an ethical conception of CSR grounded in an appropriately modest set of duties tied to corporate relationships is then defended. This position is cosmopolitan in scope and grounded in overlapping arguments for human rights. (shrink)

Most shoppers like bargains. Do bargains come at the expense of workers in sweatshops around the world? The authors argue that many large multinational corporations are running the moral equivalents of sweatshops and are not properly respecting the rights of persons. They list a set of minimum standards of safety and decency that they claim all corporations should meet (and that many are not). Finally, they defend their call for improved working conditions by replying to objections that meeting improved conditions (...) will cause greater harm than good, even to the workers themselves. They consider many specifi c corporations and name names and point the finger at various forms of disrespect for persons, along the way. (shrink)

"The main conclusion of this essay is that it is plausible to conclude that corporations are capable of exhibiting intentionality, and as a result that they may be properly understood as moral agents" (p. 281).