The much endorsed idea that reasons are facts, gives raise to several issues, not least when it is applied to the distinction between agent-neutral and agent-relative reasons. The paper distinguish in broad terms between two important views on the nature of facts. Given in particular a view that conceives of facts as abstract entities, the dichotomy is not particularly problematic. We might run into problems when it comes to identifying which facts are reasons and which are not, but the very (...) dichotomy itself seems sound. On this, the so-called thin approach, it is at least a possibility that some reasons will be (in some sense of the dichotomy) agent-neutral and some will be agent-relative. The second approach, the thick account, is, much less popular. It is argued that the thin approach trivializes an interesting issue among practical philosophers. The thin account is also in one respect less appealing than its thick cousin. The thick account is not flawless, though. At the end, a couple of objections to it will be considered. (shrink)

Stig Kanger (1924--1988) made important contributions to logic and formal philosophy. Kanger's most original achievements were in the areas of general proof theory, the semantics of modal and deontic logic, and the logical analysis of the concept of rights. But he contributed significantly to action theory, preference logic and the theory of measurement as well. The first volume is a complete collection of Kanger's philosophical papers. The second volume contains critical essays on the various aspects of Kanger's work as well (...) as some biographical sketches. (shrink)

DENOTATIONAL IDENTITY OF INADEQUATE IDEA OF GOD WITH THE IDEA OF FINITE HUMAN MIND IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF DESCARTES In the conception of Descartes, the human mind is vested with the idea of God held to be innate. This idea, being adapted to human cognitive powers, must be limited, although it applies for the infinite being. Therefore, it has to be inadequate still at the same time sufficient. The idea represents God as the omniscient being who created the human mind (...) along with the knowledge which it is able to cognize. The idea of God embodied in the mind of that kind is identical with knowledge, which the mind may get to know when realizing thoroughly its true nature. To the finite mind “God” is a collective concept for a reliable knowledge of which he is the author and which he guarantees. The innate ideas belonging to the nature of mind are the components of the idea of God, which is the source of the deductive theory of knowledge. Responding to a question of how the mind received this idea, we provide thereby an answer to the question from where the mind received itself, along with the contents adherent to it. (shrink)

From the fundamental rights proclaimed in the American and French declarations of independence to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Hannah Arendt’s furious critiques, the definition of what it means to be human has been hotly debated. But the history of human rights—and their abuses—is also a richly illustrated one. Following this picture trail, _Human Rights In Camera_ takes an innovative approach by examining the visual images that have accompanied human rights struggles and the passionate responses people have (...) had to them. Sharon Sliwinski considers a series of historical events, including the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and the Holocaust, to illustrate that universal human rights have come to be imagined through aesthetic experience. The circulation of images of distant events, she argues, forms a virtual community between spectators and generates a sense of shared humanity. Joining a growing body of scholarship about the cultural forces at work in the construction of human rights, _Human Rights In Camera_ is a novel take on this potent political ideal. (shrink)

La philosophie aussi bien que la religion sont d'accord sur la posibilité d'atteindre par l'homme la vérité en tant que domaine obscurci primitivement par la conviction familiére (et par cela meme évidente), que la vérité est simple et visible partout. Les pensées des grands de ce monde indiquent souvent la valeur illusoire que nous attribuons à cette conviction commune et irréfléchie. Que l'on soit dans l'état de rêve ou sous l'emprise d'une illusion créée celui qui tente, ils s'y opposent en (...) disant qu'il ne s'agit là que fausse foi hantée par un effort de surpasser les pensées les lus primitives et les plus simples. Tenté, l'homme engage un combat solitaire et dramatique. Il quite l'ancien univers sans atteindre le nouveau. De ce fait, il se situe dans une liberté dangereuse venant des privations – il doit tout quitter pour tout gagner. (shrink)

René Descartes comme un philosophe s'est mis en question d'instituer le système comprenant la description complèté du monde des phénomènes physiques, y compris celui des organismes vivants. Au debut de la réalisation son dessein, cette description intitulée «Le Monde» devait se composer de six parties dont deux derniéres avaient pour but de toucher le probléme qui nous interesse particuliérement. Pourtant Descartes n'a pas réussi à réaliser son dessein dans un seul ouvrage. Il a laissé deux traités rédigés indépéndamment et intitulés (...) «L'homme» et «La description du corps humain». Ses dissertations sont devenues une source inspiratice pour nos médiations. Mais ce qui nous prèoccupe particulièrement c'est la façon d'interpréter par Descartes des phénoménes de la vie, largement conçus dans la cadre de la philosophie mécanique. Cette philosophie réduit le monde des phénoménes extérieurs à une seule substance soumise aux lois du mouvement. On s'interroge egalement si l'analogie entre un mécanisme et un organisme pourtrait s'entretenir à la base de la mème pensée, réalisée par Descartes. Aussi, on réflechit à la question si l'on peut accorder au monde réduit aux lois du mouvement et à l'extension, un attribut de la vie, considéré comme le seul phénoméne de son genre. (shrink)

Louis de la Forge, né le 24 ou le 26 novembre 1632 à La Flèche. Médecin, était anatomiste et physiologiste, mais aussi philosophe cartésien. Un ami des Oratoriens et des Protestants à Samour (France). Il avait été l'auteur de deux oeuvres philosophiques parmis lesquelles nous pouvons trouver Les "Remarques" sur le "Traité de l`Homme" de René Descartes, avec des illustrations, ainsi qu'un ouvrage essentiellment philosophique et autonome Le "Traité de l'Esprit de l'Homme, De ses Facultez et Fonctions, Et de son (...) union avec le Corps, Suivant les Principes de René Descartes" (1644). La matière de Remarques a été largement presentée et utilisée dans ce "Traité de l'Esprit", qui a été son ouvrage fondamental. Dans sa conception de l'âme, en tant qu'une chose qui pense, il a prouvé que les pensées de Descartes étaient entièrement conformes à la doctrine de Saint Augustin. Le corps n'était pour lui qu`une machine, et pour expliquer tout ce qui se passait dans un animal, il avait soutenu la thèse qu'il suffisait de présenter tous les divers mouvements auxquels nous sommes naturellement incités à l'occasion de l'action des objets extérieurs sur notre corps et nos sens. En somme: le phénomène qui peut nous servir pour expliquer la machine (le fonctionnement) du corps humain et animal, ce sont les lois de la Nature. Mais ce qui touche la nature de l'Âme, qui est immatérielle, qui pense, qui connaît, qui raisonne, demande d'après lui des profondes spéculations. Dans son livre ouvrage La Forge a depassé son Maitre en expliquant en détail beaucoup de choses qui contennaient le concept de l'âme, ses fonctions, ses actions intellectuelles, ses sentimens, et son union avec le corps. Il a rendu la connaissance de notre esprit beaucoup plus sensible que Descartes, qui nous a donné la sienne qui parle de de notre corps. Comme l'avait dit Descartes, l'âme est une substance pensante, tandis que le corps est une substance étendue. Toutefois, cette distinction réelle du corps et de l'âme ne s'oppose pas à leur union. Mais il n'a pas beaucoup parlé de cette union. La Forge au contraire, a expliqué ce que c`était l'esprit et le corps et quelles étaient les choses qui nous faisaient connaître leur union. De plus, il a préparé sa théorie de la relation de l’âme et du corps comme oeuvre de la volonté divine, laquelle nous appelons l'occasionalisme. (shrink)

Le texte ci-dessus traite d'une question-clé pour le jeune philosophe Descartes. Cette dissertation aborde la problématique des fondements du savoir que le philosophe posait pour la première fois dans son traité «Le Monde» (1629-1632). C'est avec ce traite que naît, dans le système de Descartes, le besoin d'établir les bases métaphysiques des nouvelles sciences naturelles et de toute la nouvelle philosophie. En 1630, Descartez n'avait pas encore suffisamment façonné la question de dieu et de sa relation envers le monde, question (...) qui existait tout de même dans son esprit et était novatrice par rapport à ce que l'on ensejgnait à ce sujet au point de susciter la controverse voire méme la réprobation. Cette problématique touchait aux questions physicues au sens large dans le projet de travail du philosophe et établissait la possibilité d'un fonde'ent métaphysique du discours sur l'existence. Cette question, Descartes l'a résolue en embrassant la notion de vérités universalles qu'il a subordonnées au concept du dieu-créateur de l'ordre rationnel du monde. Ces vérités universalles en tant que vérités mathématiques, sont, pour le philosophe non seulement la substance (l'essence) mathétique de l'objet de la connaissance, mais aussi la condition indispensable à la connaissance. Ceci lui a permis une concordance absolue de l'ordre du savoir avec l'ordre réel, que ce savoir décrivait. Ce travail est une reconstruction basée sur la correspondance du philosophe et n'existait pas, à l'époque, comme idée indépendante dans la philosophie de Descartes. (shrink)

In this article I analyze the similarities between St. Augustine's and Descartes' philosophy. In particular I consider their spiritual conceptions of mind, God, and cognition theory. The most important similarities between both thinkers concern the dualism of substances, cogito/dubito theory, and the conception of immortal human soul, like a thinking thing (res cogitans). Other similarities concern matter conceived as a theoretical construct of extension without thinking, cognition theory and mature knowledge, problems of falsehood and truth, theory of soul and senses (...) perception, theory of mathematical eternal truths, the role of mathematics in nature description, their understanding the biological and spiritual points of view, the relation between human soul and body, limited human and unlimited intellect of God, intention and decision making, and also being and nothingness. The main feature presented in both theories is theocentrism and the role of God. Both conceptions belong to Christian Platonism, then have an anti-Aristotelian character, and can be considered as examples of the philosophy of mind. (shrink)

This study was designed to address the issue of whether there is a general processor for the perception of emotion or whether there are separate processors. We examined the relationships among three channels of emotional communication in 100 healthy right-handed adult males and females. The channels were facial, prosodic/intonational, and lexical/verbal; both identification and discrimination tasks of emotional perception were utilised. Statistical analyses controlled for nonemotional perceptual factors and subject characteristics (i.e. demographic and general cognitive). For identification, multiple significant correlations (...) were found among the channels. For discrimination, fewer correlations were significant. Overall, these results provide support for the notion of a general processor for emotional perceptual identification in normal adult subjects. (shrink)

A collection of essays in various fields of philosophy written in celebration of Paul Needham's fiftieth birthday.

This guide accompanies the following article: ‘Logic and Divine Simplicity’. Philosophy Compass 6/4 : pp. 282–294, doi: Author’s IntroductionFirst‐order formalizations of classical theistic doctrines are increasingly used in contemporary work in philosophy of religion and philosophical theology, as a means for clarifying the conceptual structure of the doctrines and their role in inferential procedures. But there are a variety of different ways in which such doctrines have been formalized, each representing the doctrines as having different conceptual structures. Moreover, the adequacy (...) of such formalizations as such has, at least with respect to some classes of doctrines, been disputed. One reason for disputing their adequacy derives from the conceptual impact of classical theism’s doctrine of divine simplicity.Author RecommendsFrege, Gottlob ‘Begriffsschrift: a formula language of pure thought,’ trans. Michael Beany, in The Frege Reader, ed. Beany. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 47–78. The preface contains interesting remarks about the purpose of formalization as understood by the chief pioneer of modern formal logic. These remarks are also connected by Frege to his views on the relation between thought and language more generally.Russell, Bertrand, and Whitehead, A.N. Principia Mathematica, Vol. I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.The preface and first section of the long introduction contain remarks on the purpose and advantages of formalization. Chapter 1 of the introduction contains what is probably one of the first formalizations ever of a theistic doctrine, and is given in terms of a definite description analysis.Suppes, Patrick ‘The Desirability of Formalization in Science,’The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 65, No. 20, pp. 651–64.Clear and concise discussion of some of the advantages of formalization in philosophical inquiry, written by a prominent contemporary American philosopher‐logician.Nieznański, Edward ‘The Beginnings of Formalization in Theology,’ in Advances in Scientific Philosophy: Essays in Honour of Paul Weingartner, eds. Gerhard Schurz and Gregory J.W. Dorn. Amsterdam and Atlanta, GA: Ropodi, pp. 551–9.A valuable paper that narrates, among other things, the programme of formalizing theistic doctrines that emerged in Poland in the 1920s under the influence of the Lvov‐Warsaw School. Various examples of formalizations are also given.Quine, W.V.O. Mathematical Logic. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.In Section 27 of this classic study, Quine offers a formalization of theistic doctrines which seeks to avoid the difficulties of earlier formalizations by means of a subtle extensional singleton set analysis. The proposal has not won many adherents, but is worthy of careful study nonetheless.Woleński, Jan ‘Theism, Fideism, Atheism, Agnosticism,’ in Logic, Ethics and All That Jazz: Essays in Honour of Jordan Howard Sobel, eds. Lars‐Göran Johansson, Jan Österberg, and Rysiek Sliwinski. Uppsala: Uppsala Philosophical Studies, pp. 387–400.A concise but lucid survey of some attempts to formalize theistic doctrines and some problems besetting these attempts. Woleński also proposes his own method of formalization, which could be described as a simplified version of Quine’s method in Mathematical Logic.Bocheński, Joseph The Logic of Religion. New York: New York University Press.The first book‐length treatment of the relation between modern logic and theism. It covers much ground, and remains very readable.Alston, William P. ‘Religious Language and Verificationism,’ in The Rationality of Theism, eds. Paul Moser and Paul Copan. London: Routledge, pp. 17–34.Identifies some problems with attempts at articulating theistic doctrines by means of subject‐predicate language. Highly relevant to formalizations of theistic doctrines, even though this topic is not dealt with explicitly.Kraal, Anders ‘Logic and Divine Simplicity,’Philosophy Compass.Offers a survey of three main methods of formalizing theistic doctrines, and of some variants of these methods. Argues that certain formalizations of theistic doctrines are bound to be rejected as conceptually inadequate by all who understand the doctrines at hand within the framework provided by the traditional doctrine of divine simplicity.Sample Syllabus Week I: The Idea of Formalization and the Project of Formalizing Theistic Doctrines Reading:Frege, Gottlob ‘Begriffsschrift: a formula language of pure thought,’ trans. Michael Beany, in The Frege Reader, ed. Beany. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 47–78. Russell, Bertrand, and Whitehead, A.N. Principia Mathematica, Vol. I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Suppes, Patrick ‘The Desirability of Formalization in Science,’The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 65, No. 20, pp. 651–64.Nieznański, Edward ‘The Beginnings of Formalization in Theology,’ in Advances in Scientific Philosophy: Essays in Honour of Paul Weingartner, eds. Gerhard Schurz and Gregory J.W. Dorn. Amsterdam and Atlanta, GA: Ropodi, pp. 551–9. Week II: Formalizing Theistic Doctrines: Three Alternative Methods Reading:Woleński, Jan ‘Theism, Fideism, Atheism, Agnosticism,’ in Logic, Ethics and All That Jazz: Essays in Honour of Jordan Howard Sobel, eds. Lars‐Göran Johansson, Jan Österberg, and Rysiek Sliwinski. Uppsala: Uppsala Philosophical Studies, pp. 387–400.Russell, Bertrand, and Whitehead, A.N. Principia Mathematica, Vol. I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Quine, W.V.O. Mathematical Logic. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Week III: Arguments for and Against Some Formalizations of Theistic Doctrines Reading:Bocheński, Joseph The Logic of Religion. New York: New York University Press. Kraal, Anders ‘Logic and Divine Simplicity,’Philosophy Compass, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 282–94.Focus Questions1 What do Frege, Russell and Whitehead, and Suppes understand the purpose or purposes of logical formalization to be, and why do they think formalization can achieve these purposes?2 Woleński sketches some simple ways of formalizing theistic doctrines such as ‘God exists’ or ‘God is almighty’ in terms of 1‐place predicates which he subsequently abandons in favour of other methods. What reasons lead him to abandon these more simple methods of formalization?3 What are the advantages of the definite description formalization of theistic doctrines offered by Russell and Whitehead?4 Quine offers a subtle formalization of the theistic doctrine ‘God exists’ in terms of singleton sets. What problems are Quine’s formalization intended to accommodate, and how does it seek to accommodate them?5 Which relative merits or demerits are there in Bocheński’s and Kraal’s respective arguments for and against the adequacy of certain formalizations of theistic doctrines? (shrink)

This is a review of the narrative medicine documentary, Our Curse. The writer and director of this Oscar-nominated Polish movie is a film student and a young father to a baby born with congenital central hypoventilation syndrome. Using simple cinematography, the film is an autobiographical exploration of the fearful, tearful, and sometimes joyful days and nights in the lives of the child and his parents.

This posthumous publication attempts to answer the question of what moral code is the most reasonable. Philosophers often turn to consequentialism or deontological ethics to address this issue. As the author points out, each has valid arguments but each is unable to get the other side to agree. To rectify this, he proposes a third way. Inside, readers will discover a theory that tries to do justice to both sides. The author first details consequentialism and deontological ethics. He also explains (...) their fundamental conflict. One holds the view that you should do what has the best consequences. The other believes that there are actions which are wrong to do even if they have the best consequences. Next, the volume considers various ways to solve this conflict. Would rejecting one theory work? Or, is it possible to somehow reconcile them. The author shows why these solutions fail. He then goes on to present his own. The resulting contractual theory brings together the two opposing ethical convictions. It proposes that what is right and wrong depends on what norms people would agree to. Throughout, coverage explores the psychological, sociological, and historical background of the moral theories discussed. The reason is that moral theories are embedded in social and psychological contexts. They are better understood when the contexts are explicit. This key feature distinguishes the volume from other works in moral philosophy. At the time of his death in July 2011, Jan Österberg was close to completing this manuscript. It was taken up and fully completed by Erik Carlson and Ryszard Sliwinski, both of Uppsala University. (shrink)