Good reasoning can lead to success; bad reasoning can lead to catastrophe. Yet, it's not obvious how we reason, and why we make mistakes. This new book by one of the pioneers of the field, Philip Johnson-Laird, looks at the mental processes that underlie our reasoning. It provides the most accessible account yet of the science of reasoning.

Richard Swinburne is without doubt one of the most powerful forces to reckon with in contemporary Philosophy of Religion. Whenever his name is mentioned, what immediately comes to mind is his declared philosophical project of rigorously defending the rationality of the Christian faith. This work attempts to streamline Swinburne's thought on the reasonableness of the Christian faith and to illuminate a good understanding of his arguments in its favour. Moreover, summoning his claims to the tribunal of reason, it considers the (...) plausibility of his arguments to see whether Swinburne has really achieved for the Christian faith the type of rational demonstration he envisaged."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

Archytas of Tarentum, a contemporary and associate of Plato, was a famous Pythagorean, mathematician, and statesman of Tarentum. Although his works are lost and most of the fragments attributed to him were composed in later eras, they nevertheless contain valuable information about his thought. In particular, the fragments of On Law and Justice are likely based on a work by the early Peripatetic biographer Aristoxenus of Tarentum. The fragments touch on key themes of early Greek ethics, including: written and unwritten (...) laws; freedom and self-sufficiency; moderation of the emotions and cultivation of virtues; equality and the competence of the majority to participate in government; criticism of “rule by an individual”; a theory of the ideal “mixed constitution”; distributive and corrective justice and punishment, and of the rule of law. The fragments also contain one of the only positive accounts of democracy in ancient Greek philosophy. (shrink)

Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, EarlyView.

This paper argues that if motivation by rightness de re is praiseworthy, then so is motivation by rightness de dicto. I argue that these two types of moral motivation have been unfairly compared, in light of a widespread failure to appreciate the structural similarities between them. These structural similarities become clear when we think more carefully about the nature of motivation and about moral metaphysics. I then argue that the two types of moral motivation are on a par by discussing (...) a series of minimal pairs. I argue that in good cases, in which the agent succeeds in doing what she is motivated to do, both motivations seem praiseworthy, and that bad cases, in which the agent fails, arise for motivation by rightness de re in precisely the same way as they do for motivation by rightness de dicto. I then offer a way to evaluate the unsuccessful agents, according to which someone's motivations can still be praiseworthy even if her actions and moral beliefs are both blameworthy, and someone can have certain praiseworthy motivations while lacking others. On my view, most of us are deeply flawed agents who nonetheless have some redeeming features—including our moral motivations. (shrink)

W.M. Marston introduced the magic lasso in Wonder Woman's origin story: created under the direction of the goddesses Aphrodite and Athena, it compelled anyone bound by it to obey whatever commands they were given. Princess Diana not only had to prove herself champion of the Amazons, but also devoted to the goddesses, to love and wisdom itself, before she was granted this "power to control others". To borrow from the Greek philosopher Plato's allegory: with the lasso, a person can be (...) dragged from the shadowy cave of ignorance into the light of truth and knowledge, whether they want to or not. It's this version of the lasso that this chapter focuses on. The chapter discusses four basic approaches to ethics that make good touchstones for this conversation. Although the Amazons have refined their combat skills over centuries, it is their core ethos to seek, whenever possible, non‐violent methods of preventing harm or addressing a threat. (shrink)

The most advanced life‐forms in the Star Trek universe are portrayed as incorporeal beings: creatures who either don not have bodies or at least are not bound to any physical forms they might assume. Any dynamic network of experience is an organism. The concept of organism applies to more than just biological entities, crystals and planets are also structured societies. The broadest possible background for all activity in the universe is the extensive continuum, more expansive even than the Q Continuum. (...) Q is capable of manipulating matter and energy, and of traveling throughout time and space, without any obvious limits. The Organians bear some resemblance to the Q. One of their characteristic features is a self‐professed aversion to violence and the experience of pain. Like the Q, they structure their society to minimize interaction with, and thus contamination by, the physical and emotional influences of embodied species. (shrink)

Part biography and part constructive ethical inquiry, this book is an original interpretation of the Scottish philosopher Adam Ferguson’s ethical method and view of ethical integrity, with an emphasis on his Analysis, Institutes, and Principles.

It has been estimated that U.S. companies with global business operations can reduce their U.S. tax bill by up to 10 percentage points if they reincorporate in a zero or low tax offshore jurisdiction. But this activity, at a time of national crisis following the September 11 terrorists' attacks and recent spate of corporate scandals, has received a less than sympathetic response from the U.S. media, ordinary taxpayers, shareholders and politicians as concerns are raised about the reduction of the tax (...) base and the lack of oversight and regulation in offshore centres. Offshore reincorporation has been condemned as immoral, unconscionable, dishonest and unpatriotic, accusations that cast doubt on the legitimacy of the companies concerned. In question is their right to conduct business in the U.S. and in particular, their right to still be viewed as American. Their legitimacy once bestowed so readily by the company's shareholders is now being questioned not only by shareholders but also the media, politicians, government regulators, pension funds and labour unions. Expatriate companies have been slow to respond to questions of their legitimacy, viewing their offshore move as a financial decision needing only the consent of their shareholders. However, times have changed and corporate legitimacy is now in the hands of all the company's stakeholders. Companies will need to explicitly consider the determinants of their legitimacy and the implications of the implied social contract under which they operate, to remain relevant in the days ahead. (shrink)

Elinor Mason's Ways to be Blameworthy offers an interesting and potentially-fruitful distinction between varieties of blame and, correspondingly, between varieties of blameworthiness. The notion of "Grasping" Morality is central to her picture, distinguishing those who act subjectively wrongly and can be blamed in the ordinary way from those who only act objectively wrongly and can only be blamed in a detached way. Here I request more information about this central notion and pose a puzzle for Mason's account; I argue that (...) the various things Mason says about agents who grasp Morality appear inconsistent once we recognize that people can count as grasping Morality overall despite significant gaps in their understanding of it. (shrink)

My thesis is that moral ignorance does not imply a failure to care adequately about what is in fact morally significant. I offer three cases: one in which someone is ignorant of the precise nature of what she cares about; one in which someone does not reflect on the significance of what she cares about in a particular set of circumstances, and one in which someone cares deeply about two morally significant considerations while being mistaken about their relative significance. I (...) argue that these agents all clearly care at least “adequately” about everything morally significant, including the very considerations that in fact make their acts wrong. This creates theoretical room for a way of thinking about culpable moral ignorance that respects the key concerns of those in the voluntarist tradition who have held that moral ignorance is typically blameless, within an approach to thinking about moral responsibility according to which we are blameworthy for that which manifests poor quality of will; caring adequately does not require moral omniscience, but motivated moral ignorance and moral ignorance that reflects indifference to things that matter morally are still blameworthy. My thesis also suggests a fruitful change of direction for quality-of-will theorists: we should articulate the nature and structure of the standards for adequate caring, i.e. those that specify what it is to care “adequately”. I close by offering an initial proposal as to what these standards might look like and identifying four promising avenues for further research on this topic. (shrink)

To underscore the moral crisis that plagues liberal democracy, the author seeks answers by drawing from both Western and Asian thought in this outstanding analysis in political ethics. Starting with Gamwell's theory, which is grounded on God and offers a common goal for political community and establishes a firm ground for morality and political ethics the author advances and reformulates Gamwell's theory, using the insights and resources provided by Gandhi bringing a global dimension to this original critique.

The academic study of religion has long enjoyed a variety of philosophies and methodologies. A new entrant to this list has now arisen: metamodernism. This article examines the claims of metamodernism and makes an initial attempt to relate it to the academic study of religion, both in its guise as Religious Studies and, more tentatively, as the Theological sciences. Metamodernism, with its emphasis on oscillation and simultaneity, shows great promise as an explanatory framework to understand certain current religious developments, such (...) as the 'Spiritual but not Religious' phenomenon. It may also assist in creating a growing convergence between the various branches of the academic study of religion. (shrink)

The “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard of proof, currently used in criminal trials, is notoriously vague and undermotivated. This paper discusses two popular strategies for justifying our choice of a particular precise interpretation of the standard: the “ratio-to-standard strategy” identifies a desired ratio of trial outcomes and then argues that a certain standard is the one that we can expect to produce our desired ratio, while the “utilities-to-standard strategy” identifies utilities for trial outcomes and then argues that a certain standard (...) maximizes expected utility. I argue that both strategies fail on their own terms, by requiring us to perform calculations that we simply cannot perform. No version of either strategy can be performed by jurors or legislators in our actual epistemic position, in which, since we do not know which of the defendants in our trial system are genuinely innocent and which are genuinely guilty, we cannot determine the extent to which our trial system tends to produce evidence that misleadingly incriminates the innocent or misleadingly exonerates the guilty. But we would need to determine this in order to perform the calculations required by any possible version of the ratio-to-standard or utilities-to-standard strategies. I then suggest some empirical reasons to be pessimistic about the evidence produced by our actual trial system. The upshot is that the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard lacks a clear interpretation and rationale, nor do we have a promising way to identify an alternative. This is the trouble with standards of proof. (shrink)

As artforms, film and street art seem incompatible. Contra this incompatibility, I investigate their combination: cinematic street art. Two promising cases are the artworks MUTO and Repopulate, but I argue neither is suitable. MUTO only counts if I accept the transparency thesis, the claim that photographs allow us to literally see their depicta. Repopulate only counts if we reject Noel Carroll’s requirement that a cinematic performance token isn’t itself an artwork. However, these imperfect cases demonstrate what is required in order (...) to have cinematic street art: the artwork is a 1) aconsensual artwork that 2) does not merely use street art as imagery or 3) merely use the street as a performance space. I introduce two hypothetical artworks inspired by this approach and discuss their merits, as well as their pitfalls relevant to my own desiderata. As such, this article serves as the foment for broader discussion within the philosophy of street art. (shrink)

Some philosophers think that if someone acts wrongly while falsely believing that her act is permissible, this moral mistake cannot excuse her wrongdoing. And some think that this is because it is morally blameworthy to fail to appreciate the moral significance of non‐moral facts of which one is aware, such that mistakenly believing that one's act is permissible when it is in fact wrong is itself morally blameworthy. Here I challenge the view that it is blameworthy to fail to appreciate (...) the moral significance of non‐moral facts of which one is aware. This view seems okay if we focus on examples of people mistakenly believing that their wrongful acts are permissible. But it is not remotely plausible when we consider other varieties of moral mistake – such as believing that one's action is required when it is in fact supererogatory, believing that one's action is wrong when it is in fact permissible, and believing false things about the moral properties of others’ actions and of merely possible actions. The upshot is that those who maintain that moral mistakes cannot excuse are sent back to the drawing board; we need a new explanation of why this would be the case. (shrink)

We often describe actions as good, bad, right, wrong, fair, unkind, deserved, disrespectful, a bit much, and so on. This article asks: Do these terms describe facts about our actions? And do those facts tell us to perform certain actions and refrain from performing others? If so, what exactly does that mean? And, if not, what are we doing when we describe actions in these various ways?

El presente libro se enmarca dentro de ciertas traducciones del griego antiguo al castellano, publicadas por Ediciones Tácitas. Este libro es la segunda traducción de Tucídides que presenta la mencionada editorial. La primera fue el Discurso Fúnebre de Pericles, a cargo de Antonio Arbea (2012).

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Feminist Studies 44, no. 1. © 2018 by Feminist Studies, Inc. 125 Corey Hickner-Johnson The Color Run On the path to North Liberty, it was gray and was sallow as I pounded 400s on the hills. My body was lethargic, unwilling at first, and then, after I felt sick, I ran even harder. I was claiming some last home for my heart out there—there in those anemic, gray (...) prairie fields—some thing I did not know but could make for myself, some masterpiece no one would ever see but that I could store up in my ribs to pulse against the world. After weeks of intellectual plodding, letters saying “no,” scraps of thoughts that find me in the night while I’m dreaming about concrete, I wanted a run that would nearly break me. I wanted to feel my body—to feel my own sovereignty, if that is even a thing left in this world. With lactic acid oozing in my mouth, a wrench in my belly, I broke through on the second interval. I knew then on the path, that my viscera had colors, and if they could be seen, I would be like an oil-painted smear to the cars on the highway. I knew that if my banging heart were to explode, it would be red, and my liver kind of blue, and if my guts were to spill out my mouth to the ground, they would be green and maybe yellow. My bones would be white, forged in a melancholy I caught in the womb, my muscles purple and brown. My sweat not a color, but maybe a shimmer. My back and neck like chrome. I wanted to see myself, a tiny fire on that prairie like the Monet with the little sun on the gray, gray water. And when I knew I was enough alive, when I felt my belly start to swirl, my brain start to blink, I turned around after the little hill to make more intervals, and to feel more like a sun. When I got back home, I felt sleepy again, but not faded, because I had made something. And I wrapped it all up in my skin, feeling its warmth and sickness, color and pain, and I went back to the gray dream, knowing there are colors beneath my surface.... (shrink)

Japan is the world's second most productive economy, but its economic system is intensely controversial. It differs from both the plan-rational systems of the communist world and the market-rational systems of the capitalist world in that it combines elements of both. This configuration directly challenges orthodox capitalist theory as advanced by the United States and the United Kingdom. During the 1990s, when Japan's economy slowed greatly and some other economies of East Asia were besieged by international capital flows, Japan's economy (...) was singled out for a withering ideological critique. Nonetheless, what is wrong in Japan is not its economy but its status as a military satellite of the United States, which causes its political system to be ineffective in serving the country's economic interests. (shrink)

This book addresses several dimensions of the transformation of English Nonconformity over the course of an important century in its history. It begins with the question of education for ministry, considering the activities undertaken by four major evangelical traditions to establish theological colleges for this purpose, and then takes up the complex three-way relationship of ministry/churches/colleges that evolved from these activities. As author Dale Johnson illustrates, this evolution came to have significant implications for the Nonconformist engagement with its message (...) and with the culture at large. These implications are investigated in chapters on the changing perception or understanding of ministry itself, religious authority, theological questions, and religious identity.In Johnson's exploration of these issues, conversations about these topics are located primarily in addresses at denominational meetings, conferences that took up specific questions, and representative religious and theological publications of the day that participated in key debates or advocated contentious positions. While attending to some important denominational differences, The Changing Shape of English Nonconformity, 1825-1925 focuses on the representative discussion of these topics across the whole spectrum of evangelical Nonconformity rather than on specific denominational traditions.Johnson maintains that too many interpretations of nineteenth-century Nonconformity, especially those that deal with aspects of the theological discussion within these traditions, have tended to depict such developments as occasions of decline from earlier phases of evangelical vitality and appeal. This book instead argues that it is more appropriate to assess these Nonconformist developments as a collective, necessary, and deeply serious effort to come to terms with modernity and, further, to retain a responsible understanding of what it meant to be evangelical. It also shows these developments to be part of a larger schema through which Nonconformity assumed a more prominent place in the English culture of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Der Islam Jahrgang: 94 Heft: 1 Seiten: 158-191.

Generational identity plays a large role in how teachers view educational change and school reform. Teachers of the Boomer generation, an era characterized by optimism and innovation, tend to be more resistant to change than those of Generation X, for whom standardization represents the norm, not a shift. This volume reviews five decades of research on educational change and teachers’ varying responses to it from a generational perspective, providing school leaders with insight on how best to relate to these groups (...) to achieve a common goal. Through ongoing professional development oriented by multigenerational grouping, teachers and school leaders can define success and create a multigenerational understanding of what good teaching and leadership look like. (shrink)

In this book, Bonnie Lander Johnson explores early modern ideas of chastity, demonstrating how crucial early Stuart thinking on chastity was to political, medical, theological and moral debates, and that it was also a virtue that governed the construction of different literary genres. Drawing on a range of materials, from prose to theatre, theological controversy to legal trials, and court ceremonies - including royal birthing rituals - Lander Johnson unearths previously unrecognised opinions about chastity. She reveals that early (...) Stuart theatrical and court ceremonies were part of the same political debate as prose pamphlets and religious sermons. The volume also offers new readings of Milton's Comus, Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, Henrietta Maria's queenship and John Ford's plays. It will appeal to scholars of early modern literature, theatre, political, medical and cultural history, and gender studies. (shrink)

This is an intellectual biography of Gabriel Bonnot de Mably (1709-85), who emerges as a central figure in the history of republican thought in the era of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. Although Mably, whose career as a historian and political theorist stretched from 1740 to the eve of the French Revolution, clearly played a major role in the intellectual history of his era, there has been no study of his life and thought in English for nearly seventy years. (...) This study sets forth a different reading of Mably's thought, one that shows him to be a classical republican, in the sense this term has acquired in recent years for students of early modern political thought. Mably was the author of the most comprehensive and influential body of republican thought produced in eighteenth-century France. This is explored in a final chapter, which draws some conclusions about the character of classical republicanism in France. (shrink)

Plato's thought evolves from the epistemology of the Meno, Phaedo, and Republic to the Combined Doctrine of the Theaetetus. The Combined Doctrine maintains that both Forms and certain objects rooted in perception are objects of knowledge. Dialectic results in apprehension of the Good, and consequently of being, which brings about a permanent change in a person's state of mind enabling one to know what one previously believed. The Combined Doctrine resolves the paradoxes of the refutations of the Theaetetus. It turns (...) out that the difference between true belief and knowledge for Plato amounts to difference in states of mind. (shrink)

Este artigo apresenta um mapeamento sobre estágios e variações em formatos e conteúdos de websites jornalísticos em interfaces móveis. Examinou-se estruturas e modelos de navegação, bem como design, linguagem e relação espacial, do ponto de vista da experiência do usuário, em 10 home pages de jornais impressos brasileiros publicados em versões para smartphones, entre novembro de 2014 e março de 2015. A partir de noções de experiência, percepção e affordances em tempos de convergência midiática, combinou-se recursos metodológicos qualiquantitativos, envolvendo testes (...) humanos e de máquina. Uma das principais conclusões é que os veículos jornalísticos negligenciam, em seus formatos e conteúdos móveis, recomendações internacionais de melhores práticas para a interação de usuários. (shrink)