Des avancées sur le front de la théorie et des méthodes des sondages d’opinion publique permettent d’envisager des dispositifs d’enquête expérimentaux donnant une plus large place aux questions ouvertes, voire à des séquences mêlant questions fermées et ouvertes. Ils rendent ainsi possibles la constitution de véritables corpus « d’énoncés d’opinion publique ».

Le choix de l’unité statistique de segmentation du corpus, ainsi que celui de la distance entre les réponses, induit une structure sur l’ensemble des réponses. Nous proposons d’appliquer une méthodologie statistique, l’analyse factorielle multiple pour tableaux de contingence, AFMTC, pour, d’une part, comparer les structures induites sur un même corpus par différentes unités statistiques et, d’autre part, définir une distance entre textes capable de prendre en compte différentes unités et de profiter ainsi de l’information véhiculée par chacune d’elles. Pour présenter (...) cette méthodologie, généralisation de l’analyse des correspondances aux tableaux de contingence multiples, on utilise une enquête auprès de femmes divorcées qui comporte une question ouverte sur les raisons de leur divorce. Comparison between the structures that are induced by the choice of the statistical unitThe election of the statistical unit, as well as that of the distance between responses, induces a structure on the whole of the responses. We propose to apply a statistical methodology, the multiple factorial analysis for contingency table, MFACT, in order to, on the one hand, compare the structures induced on a same corpus by different statistical units and, on the other hand, define a distance between texts able to take into account different units and so take advantage of the information that they convey. To present this methodology, a generalisation of correspondence analysis to multiple contingency tables, we use a survey carried out on divorced women, that includes an open-ended question about the reasons of their divorce. (shrink)

Le choix de l’unité statistique de segmentation du corpus, ainsi que celui de la distance entre les réponses, induit une structure sur l’ensemble des réponses. Nous proposons d’appliquer une méthodologie statistique, l’analyse factorielle multiple pour tableaux de contingence, AFMTC, pour, d’une part, comparer les structures induites sur un même corpus par différentes unités statistiques et, d’autre part, définir une distance entre textes capable de prendre en compte différentes unités et de profiter ainsi de l’information véhiculée par chacune d’elles. Pour présenter (...) cette méthodologie, généralisation de l’analyse des correspondances aux tableaux de contingence multiples, on utilise une enquête auprès de femmes divorcées qui comporte une question ouverte sur les raisons de leur divorce. Comparison between the structures that are induced by the choice of the statistical unitThe election of the statistical unit, as well as that of the distance between responses, induces a structure on the whole of the responses. We propose to apply a statistical methodology, the multiple factorial analysis for contingency table, MFACT, in order to, on the one hand, compare the structures induced on a same corpus by different statistical units and, on the other hand, define a distance between texts able to take into account different units and so take advantage of the information that they convey. To present this methodology, a generalisation of correspondence analysis to multiple contingency tables, we use a survey carried out on divorced women, that includes an open-ended question about the reasons of their divorce. (shrink)

Je ne suis pas philosophe, hélas, mais anthropologue, et à ce titre je suis peu à l’aise quand je me risque à une pensée fortement spéculative, sans pouvoir enraciner ma réflexion dans une enquête de terrain comme on le fait ordinairement dans ma discipline. Si, malgré tout, j’ai accepté la proposition amicale qui m’a été faite de contribuer à ce volume, c’est parce que la question qui fonde le projet anthropologique induit inévitablement l’hypothèse barbare. Nous, êtres humains, que partageo...

A la fin du XIXe siècle, le progrès des sciences et des techniques parut ouvrir une ère de bonheur où l'homme, délivré des tâches serviles et de toutes les superstitions, serait enfin le maître de la nature et de son propre destin. Mais le XXe siècle ne tint pas ces promesses. Certes, le progrès des sciences a fait reculer la mortalité infantile et allonger l'espérance de vie. Les nouveaux moyens de communication ont permis la circulation rapide d'informations autour du globe. (...) Mais notre environnement est menacé par toutes sortes de déchets. La biologie a ouvert des voies effrayantes. l'automatisation a bouleversé le monde du travail. La nécessité de former des scientifiques pour créer et maîtriser ces nouveaux outils a fait reculer la culture classique. De tels changements ont obscurci les repères traditionnels, les esprits sont déroutés, le sens est en crise. A l'entrée du troisième millénaire, l'Académie d'Education et d'Etudes sociales ne pouvait laisser ces questions dans l'ombre : elles sont trop souvent l'objet de débats plus passionnés que fondés et raisonnés. La science menace-t-elle l'homme et son environnement? Pèse-t-elle sur la cohésion sociale et la démocratie? Quelle est sa place dans la culture, à côté de la philosophie? Comment le chrétien se situe-t-il dans ce monde scientifique et technique? Par une étude raisonnée de ces questions, l'AES souhaite délivrer un message d'espoir et de confiance, et contribuer à mettre le développement scientifique et technique au service de l'homme, suivant la parole de l'Ecclésiastique : " Le Très-Haut a donné à l'homme le savoir pour être glorifié dans ses merveilles " (17,8). (shrink)

Cet article examine les enjeux des théories de la Bildung chez Kant et Schiller, et leur confrontation mutuelle avec la philosophie de l’autre. On propose une voie interprétative médiane qui ne part pas de l’opposition trop réductrice entre la morale et l’esthétique, ni ne lit Schiller comme étant foncièrement opposé à Kant pour des raisons soit morales, soit éducatives, mais situe plutôt la principale contribution de Schiller dans la sphère de la moralisation. Cette approche éclaire plus adéquatement la manière dont (...) la théorie schillérienne de la Bildung répond aux questions fondamentales laissées ouvertes par les conceptions de Kant. (shrink)

L'importance de Duns Scot (1265?-1308) pour l'histoire de la métaphysique et de l'éthique n'est plus à démontrer. En demandant à Olivier Boulnois de recueillir ces études, Philosophie tente de se faire l'écho de la floraison récente de travaux consacrés à cet auteur, aussi bien à l'étranger qu'en France. L'article de Stephen Dumont souligne la place fondamentale de Scot dans l'histoire de la métaphysique. Mais au lieu de se centrer sur la tradition moderne de la métaphysique transcendantale (de Suarez à Kant), (...) il insiste sur le fait que Scot résout l'énigme de la Métaphysique d'Aristote en réduisant sa dimension théologique de celle-ci à sa dimension ontologique. La philosophie scotiste apparaît ainsi comme l'aboutissement d'une exploration systématique des possibilités d'interprétation ouvertes par le texte aristotélicien. L'étude d'Olivier Boulnois fait la transition entre la métaphysique et l'éthique. Elle s'interroge sur le fondement métaphysique de l'éthique scotiste et montre comment le primat d'une volonté libre, et, dans le monde fini, la contingence de la loi morale, s'accompagnent d'une objectivité du bien. La rigueur de la liberté n'est précisément pas l'arbitraire. Gérard Sondag, quant à lui, pose, à partir d'un point très précis d'exégèse aristotélicienne - pour quelle raison le citoyen courageux expose-t-il sa vie quand la Cité est en danger? - la question du fondement éthique du sacrifice de soi. En rejetant, dans sa réponse, toute éthique de l'intérêt personnel, et en posant une objectivité de la norme éthique indépendante de notre propre avantage, Scot ouvre une voie qui conduit à la morale normative de Kant. Duns Scot apparaît ainsi à la fois comme le refondateur de la métaphysique comme discipline transcendantale et comme un penseur original de l'éthique. Unissant ces deux dimensions, il est l'auteur d'une véritable métaphysique de l'éthique. (shrink)

L’une des principales questions préoccupant la philosophie de la philosophie est celle de l’explication de la persistance de désaccords théoriques malgré d’intenses échanges argumentatifs. Bas van Fraassen, Paul Teller et Anjan Chakravartty ont récemment suggéré que cette irréductibilité était causée par des « stances ». Le terme « post-vérité » quant à lui renvoie au moins en partie à des désaccords factuels persistant malgré un accès ouvert à l’information et aux échanges argumentatifs. Il y a là une analogie qui (...) suggère l’hypothèse selon laquelle le modèle méta-philosophique des stances pourrait être également employé pour expliquer les phénomènes de post-vérité. L’objet de cet article est de tester cette hypothèse. (shrink)

Inside What Would Plato Do?, you'll find the basics of philosophy, written in an easy, digestible way we can all understand, along with questions to help you apply these important theories to your own life. So, after you've learned about a philosophical concept, you'll then be challenged to test yourself and see how the results can impact your daily life. For instance, after learning about Kant's theory of morality and the importance of intention you're challenged with questions like: (...) Can good people do bad things? Was there a time when you intended to do something helpful that ended up being hurtful? Does that make you a good person (because you intended to do good) or a bad person (because the results were bad)? What Would Plato Do? will not only help you better understand some of the greatest thinkers ever but will also help you think of the world around you in a whole new way! (shrink)

A substantial guide providing an overview of both physicalism and metaphysical naturalism, reviewing both questions of formulation and justification for both doctrines. Includes a diagnostic strategy for understanding talk of naturalism as a metaphysical thesis.

Father Williams explains how the conscience is formed through our training and experiences and informed by the Holy Spirit, making it an essential tool for daily living. He uses familiar and surprising characters to illustrate the positive choices conscience can direct--and the disaster that results when a conscience is undeveloped or ignored. Questions he tackles include "Is it more important to be smart or good?""Is there a morally right thing to do in every situation?" and "Is the Christian moral (...) life an exciting adventure, or a necessary burden?" Rich, provocative, and practical for everyday decision making, KNOWING RIGHT FROM WRONG is a must-read for all who hunger for personal holiness. (shrink)

Des avancées sur le front de la théorie et des méthodes des sondages d’opinion publique permettent d’envisager des dispositifs d’enquête expérimentaux donnant une plus large place aux questions ouvertes, voire à des séquences mêlant questions fermées et ouvertes. Ils rendent ainsi possibles la constitution de véritables corpus « d’énoncés d’opinion publique ».

The claim that Spinoza has a conception of animal mentality and consciousness that is superior to Descartes's is criticized. It is also argued that Spinoza fails to provide a coherent way of establishing what he considers to be our morally unconstrained “rights” with regard to brutes. Despite Spinoza's claim that brutes “feel,” i.e., are capable of sentience, his view that we are nonetheless entitled to treat animals in any way convenient to us is criticized. Questions are also raised as (...) to whether Spinoza is entitled to distinguish human from bestial nature on the basis of the possession of reason. (shrink)

In Plato’s Symposium, the mysterious Apollodorus recounts to an unnamed comrade, and to us, Aristodemus’ story of just what happened at Agathon’s drinking party. Since Apollodorus did not attend the party, however, it is unclear what relevance he could have to our understanding of Socrates’ speech, or to the Alcibiadean “satyr and silenic drama” (222d) that follows. The strangeness of Apollodorus is accentuated by his recession into the background after only two Stephanus pages. What difference—if any—does Apollodorus make to the (...) Symposium? Does his inclusion call the dramatic and philosophical unity of the work into question? I argue that despite initial appearances, Plato has important philosophical reasons for including Apollodorus as a character. Far from being an odd appendage to an otherwise complete narrative, the figure of Apollodorus is useful for our understanding of Socrates’s conception of eros later in the work. (shrink)

Les concepts de thème et de thématisation sont généralement considérés comme centraux dans l’analyse sémantique et pragmatique des textes et des énoncés ; toutefois ils ne figurent guère dans les études sur les questions. L’article défend l’idée qu’ils sont essentiels pour comprendre les interrogatives ; il utilise ces concepts dans le cadre d’une analyse génétique des structures interrogatives.

When surveying recent philosophical work on the nature and status of collective intentionality and we-intentions, it is striking how much effort is spent on analysing the structure of joint action and on establishing whether or not the intention to, say, go for a walk or paint a house together is reducible to some form of I-intentionality. Much less work has been devoted to an analysis of shared affects and emotions. This is regrettable, not only because emotional sharing in all likelihood (...) is developmentally prior to and logically more basic than joint action, but also because it might constitute a way of being together with others, which we need to study if we wish to better understand the nature of the we. In the present contribution, my primary aim will be to offer an answer to the following question: does the we-experience, the experience of being part of a we, presuppose, precede, preserve, or abolish the difference between self- and other-experience? In pursuing this task, I will take a closer look at emotional sharing and draw on resources that are too frequently ignored in current social ontology, namely insights found in classical phenomenology and in contemporary research on social cognition. (shrink)

La thématique des questions d’un point de vue diachronique est l’objet de cet article. Dans un premier temps, est proposé un tour d’horizon des questions ouvertes et fermées depuis le vieil anglais avant de nous intéresser à l’apparition et à l’évolution des pronoms relatifs en wh-. L’auxiliaire do est brièvement discuté. Sont ensuite analysés les syntagmes nominaux thématisés et les prédications existentielles, puis les questions tags ainsi que la grammaticalisation des questions fermées.

In The Quantum Self, Danah Zohar argues that the insights of modem physics can illuminate our understanding of everyday life -- our relationships to ourselves, to others, and to the world at large. Guiding us through the strange and fascinating workings of the subatomic realm to create a new model of human consciousness, the author addresses enduring philosophical questions. Does the new physics provide a basis by which our consciousness might continue beyond death? How does the material world (for (...) instance, ugly inner cities) impinge upon our sense of self? Is there a subatomic wellspring from which our creativity, our empathy with others, and our feelings of unity with the inanimate world originate?Most important, Zohar shows how the vitality of the new physics combats the alienation and fragmentation of twentieth-century life, and replaces it with a model of reality in which the universe itself may possess a type of consciousness, of which human consciousness is one expression. (shrink)

A wide-ranging study of the central concepts in epistemology - belief, truth and knowledge. Professor Armstrong offers a dispositional account of general beliefs and of knowledge of general propositions. Belief about particular matters of fact are described as structures in the mind of the believer which represent or 'map' reality, while general beliefs are dispositions to extend the 'map' or introduce casual relations between portions of the map according to general rules. 'Knowledge' denotes the reliability of such beliefs as representations (...) of reality. Within this framework Professor Armstrong offers a distinctive account of many of the main questions in general epistemology - the relations between beliefs and language, the notions of proposition, concept and idea, the analysis of truth, the varieties of knowledge, and the way in which beleifs and knowledge are supported by reasons. The book as a whole if offered as a contribution to a naturalistic account of man. (shrink)

This chapter offers a complete account of Aristotle’s underexplored treatment of the virtue of wittiness (eutrapelia) in Nicomachean Ethics IV.8. It addresses the following questions: (1) What, according to Aristotle, is this virtue and what is its structure? (2) How do Aristotle’s moral psychological views inform Aristotle’s account, and how might Aristotle’s discussions of other, more familiar virtues, enable us to understand wittiness better? In particular, what passions does the virtue of wittiness concern, and how might the virtue (and (...) its attendant vices) be related to the virtue of temperance (and its attendant vices)? (3) How does wittiness, as an ethical virtue, benefit its possessor? (4) How can Aristotle resolve some key tensions that his introducing a virtue of wittiness apparently generates for his ethics? In addition to exploring these questions, this chapter challenges some commonly accepted accounts of Aristotle’s views on the nature of the laughable. (shrink)

By questioning the validity of some of our basic concepts, such as space, object, and causality, quantum physics contributes quite decisively to the dramatic changes now taking place in our world picture. Veiled Reality provides a detailed view of the reasons why such a questioning arises, a survey of the corresponding conceptual and theoretical problems, and a comprehensive, up-to-date account, useful to scientists and epistemologists alike, of the various ways present-day physicists tackle these problems.The book deals with the E.P.R. reality (...) criterion, local causality, and quantum measurement including relativistic quantum collapse, decoherence theories, consistent histories approaches, and ontologically interpretable theories. Questions bearing on the connection between counterfactuality and realism, intersubjective agreement, and limits of the bearing of the verbs “to have” and “to be,” follow naturally from the analysis and are thoroughly examined. Finally, distinguishing between empirical reality and a veiled independent reality whose only knowable features are structural yields a clue to a plausible interpretation of current physics.Accessible to readers with only very elementary background in modern physics, Veiled Reality offers nonspecialists, including students in physics and philosophy, easy access to basic problems in the foundation of physics. (shrink)

This is a study of the nature of time. In it, redeploying an argument first presented by McTaggart, the author argues that although time itself is real, tense is not. He accounts for the appearance of the reality of tense - our sense of the passage of time, and the fact that our experience occurs in the present - by showing how time is indispensable as a condition of action. Time itself is further analysed, and Dr Mellor gives answers to (...) most of the metaphysical questions it provokes, concerning the relation of time to space, the dissection of time, and its relation to change and causation. (shrink)

_Real Time II_ extends and evolves DH Mellor's classic exploration of the philosophy of time,_Real Time._ This new book answers such basic metaphysical questions about time as: how do past, present and future differ, how are time and space related, what is change, is time travel possible? His _Real Time_ dominated the philosophy of time for fifteen years. _Real TIme II_ will do the same for the next twenty. GET /english/edu/Studying_at_SU/History_of_Literature.html HTTP/1.0.

The Facts of Causation grapples with one of philosophy's most enduring issues. Causation is central to all of our lives. What we see and hear causes us to believe certain facts about the world. We need that information to know how to act and how to cause the effects we desire. D. H. Mellor, a leading scholar in the philosophy of science and metaphysics, offers a comprehensive theory of causation. Many questions about causation remain unsettled. In science, the indeterminism (...) of modern physics and genetics have made such questions considerably harder for philosophers to answer. While progress has been made, a complete account of the nature and cosequences of causation is long overdue. This major study provides that account. (shrink)

This article examines the meaning and role of conscience in the political theology of John Calvin. It argues that the focus in Calvin scholarship on whether conscience makes political order possible without the aid of scripture is misplaced. Although Calvin views conscience as a providential gift that restrains evil to some degree, he puts forth this claim only as part of his defence of God's right to punish all humans eternally. Conscience, that is, renders humans 'inexcusable' before God. Thus, to (...) ask whether conscience makes political order possible in and of itself is to ask a question with which Calvin does not concern himself. Doing so obscures the real significance of conscience for Calvin's political theory: conscience as the starting point for the construction of a Christian polity. The torments of conscience prompt individuals to seek relief, driving them to Christ for salvation and forgiveness of their sins. This, in turn, leads them to submit willingly to the 'external aids' or 'outward helps' of the church and civil government in order to live just and virtuous lives. (shrink)

THE FIRST EXHAUSTIVELY SCIENTIFIC, speculative inquiry into the notion and nature of essence in the Western philosophical tradition is found in Aristotle's Metaphysics. In contrast to the earlier Greek philosophers and Plato, after considering the problem of being and change Aristotle reached the conclusion that the essential identity of material phenomena, or ousia, is an immanent and inseparable quality that forms the identity of each particular phenomenon. In Aristotle's concept, however, which constitutes the original form of phenomenal realism, ousia is (...) not "it"-self some-thing or some it. For though its presence may certainly be speculatively implied, "it" is not. Following Aristotle, though, and for reasons extraneous to the theme of this present article, the speculative inquiry into the nature of essence and phenomenality deviated from the orientation that Aristotle initially imputed to that study, evolving in a philosophical milieu whose theoretical propensity was predominantly transcendental. This article, then, focuses on the problematic of essential identity in the Western transcendental tradition, and, more particularly, seeks to contrast and compare the essence of the transcendental philosophers against the ousia of Aristotle's metaphysic. (shrink)

RésuméL’«Épître sur le savoir divin» d'Averroès présente quatre dialogues differents sur deux niveaux textuels. Ces dialogues, leur structure syllogistique ainsi que l'emploi des contradictions indiquent que l’«Épître» est structurée presque entièrement en accord avec les descriptions de la dialectique se trouvant dans les commentaires d'Averroès aux Topiques d'Aristote. Ainsi, la solution d'Averroès à la question de savoir comment Dieu peut avoir une connaissance universelle des particuliers passe par un compte rendu dialectique de la distinction entre le savoir divin et celui (...) des humains. De surcroît, à un point crucial de l’«Épître» Averroès se réfère à Métaphysique Β d'Aristote, qu'il considère être une exposition dialectique des questions sur la métaphysique. Cette référence suggère que l’«Épître sur le savoir divin» est, selon Averroès, une sorte d'enquête dialectique visant à répondre aux questions qui se présentent dès qu'on aborde l’étude de la métaphysique. Il en ressort que si on peut voir en l’«Épître» une interprétation dialectique de Coran LXVII, 14, son but primaire est d'introduire ses lecteurs a la spéculation métaphysique. Ainsi, il n'y a pas d'infraction de la prohibition légale d'Averroès, dans le Discours décisif, sur l'usage des interprétations dialectiques dans les oeuvres ouvertes au public général. (shrink)

Motivated by the question of responsible AI and value alignment, I seek to offer a uniquely Foucauldian reconstruction of the problem as the emergence of an ethical subject in a disciplinary setting. This reconstruction contrasts with the strictly human-oriented programme typical to current scholarship that often views technology in instrumental terms. With this in mind, I problematise the concept of a technological subjectivity through an exploration of various aspects of ChatGPT in light of Foucault’s work, arguing that current systems lack (...) the reflexivity and self-formative characteristics inherent in the notion of the subject. By drawing upon a recent dialogue between Foucault and phenomenology, I suggest four techno-philosophical desiderata that would address the gaps in this search for a technological subjectivity: embodied self-care, embodied intentionality, imagination and reflexivity. Thus I propose that advanced AI be reconceptualised as a subject capable of “technical” self-crafting and reflexive self-conduct, opening new pathways to grasp the intertwinement of the human and the artificial. This reconceptualization holds the potential to render future AI technology more transparent and responsible in the circulation of knowledge, care and power. (shrink)

Revisiting African philosophy’s classic questions, D. A. Masolo advances understandings of what it means to be human—whether of African or other origin. Masolo reframes indigenous knowledge as diversity: How are we to understand the place and structure of consciousness? How does the everyday color the world we know? Where are the boundaries between self and other, universal and particular, and individual and community? From here, he takes a dramatic turn toward Africa’s current political situation and considers why individual rights (...) and freedoms have not been recognized, respected, demanded, or enforced. Masolo offers solutions for containing socially destructive conduct and antisocial tendencies by engaging community. His unique thinking about community and the role of the individual extends African philosophy in new, global directions. (shrink)

Le terme de République est un mot dont l’évidence et la présence dans notre culture politique contemporaine n’ont d’égales que ses indéterminations de longue durée. La première de ces indéterminations tient d’ailleurs à l’origine de « république » dans le syntagme latin res publica avec le sens immédiatement complexe et polysémique d’une notion que l’on retrouve abondamment utilisée sous la République romaine proprement dite mais aussi sous l’Empire. Questionner la res publica, c’est donc évidemment questionner un pan crucial de l’histoire (...) politique romaine mais c’est aussi intervenir dans l’histoire politique tout court et dans la réflexion méthodologique sur la langue de cette politique. Pas de modélisation stabilisée donc et pas plus de recherche de « l’essence de la chose », pas non plus de prétention à une définition de l’objet d’étude puisqu’une suite d’effacements et de réapparitions des noyaux de sens est le propre de la res publica. L’enquête dynamique porte sur une question qui devient, selon un syntagme présent, de façon significative, dans la dernière page de l’ouvrage de Claudia Moatti, « référence mobilisatrice », politique donc. En effet, dans ce parcours, l’acceptation de l’incertitude et de l’indétermination devient en quelque sorte le prix à payer pour retrouver la vie des mots et leur charge historique, en tant qu’ils se lient à l’action des hommes, à leur engagement dans le monde, sans s’appuyer sur les certitudes sémantiques ni sur un programme à mettre en œuvre mais en partant de questions ouvertes justement parce qu’aucune des réponses proposées ne s’est avérée satisfaisante. La comparaison avec un autre moment de crise politique et sémantique, le moment machiavélien, permettra en conclusion d’illustrer la fécondité de la perspective adoptée. (shrink)

... Geoffrey Underwood (University of Nottingham) Francisco Varela (CREA, Ecole Polytechnique. Paris) Volume 2 Ralph D. Ellis Questioning Consciousness ...

Nous nous intéressons dans cet article à la façon dont Ernst Cassirer renforce et réinvestit la méthode critique de Kant en replaçant l’imagination productrice non seulement au cœur de la théorie de la connaissance – désormais étendue au cosmos de la culture –, mais aussi au cœur d’une métaphysique renouvelée. La valorisation de la spontanéité – inséparable de ses objectivations, les formes symboliques –, traduit et sert les enjeux corrélatifs de l’idéalisme critique de Cassirer : d’une part, son combat mené (...) à travers les déductions transcendantales contre les métaphysiques dogmatiques marchandes d’illusions dualistes au sein du savoir, d’autre part, la recherche d’un sens d’ordre métaphysique-anthropologique inspirant l’alliance de la forme et de la liberté pour la totalité systématique de la culture.In the present article, we contemplated the way Ernst Cassirer reinforces and rethinks the Kant’s critical method by replacing the productive imagination not only in the heart of the epistemology – henceforth extended to culture’s cosmos – but also in the heart of a renewed metaphysics. The highlighting of the spontaneity – inseparable of the symbolic form – rejoins the interrelated issues of the critical idealism of Ernst Cassirer: on the one hand, his opposition against dogmatic metaphysics generating dualism in knowledge, and on the other hand, the study of an anthropological-metaphysical sense inspiring the connection between form and freedom for the culture’s systematic totality. (shrink)

Vendler’s :161–173, 1979) puzzle about imagination is that the sentences ‘Imagine swimming in that water’ and ‘Imagine yourself swimming in that water’ seem at once semantically different and semantically the same. They seem semantically different, since the first requires you to imagine ’from the inside’, while the second allows you to imagine ’from the outside.’ They seem semantically the same, since despite superficial dissimilarity, there is good reason to think that they are syntactically and lexically identical. This paper sets out (...) the puzzle and offers a novel solution. Our proposal is that, just as there is knowledge-wh, there is also imagining-wh and that the inside/outside distinction Vendler points to is properly understood as a distinction within imagining-wh. In particular, to imagine swimming from the inside is to imagine what it feels like to swim, while to imagine swimming from the outside is to imagine what it looks like to swim. We show that this proposal is well grounded in both the semantics and syntax of ‘imagine.’ We also argue it makes better sense than its rivals of the data Vendler found so puzzling. (shrink)

Susan Schneider (2019) has proposed two new tests for consciousness in AI (artificial intelligence) systems, the AI Consciousness Test and the Chip Test. On their face, the two tests seem to have the virtue of proving satisfactory to a wide range of consciousness theorists holding divergent theoretical positions, rather than narrowly relying on the truth of any particular theory of consciousness. Unfortunately, both tests are undermined in having an ‘audience problem’: Those theorists with the kind of architectural worries that motivate (...) the need for such tests should, on similar grounds, doubt that the tests establish the existence of genuine consciousness in the AI in question. Nonetheless, the proposed tests constitute progress, as they could find use by some theorists holding fitting views about consciousness and perhaps in conjunction with other tests for AI consciousness. (shrink)

A robust, if not absolute, prohibition on treating people simply as a means sits at the core of common sense deontological morality. But the principle prohibiting such treatment, the "means principle" (MP), has been notoriously hard to defend. This paper has two parts. In Part I, I survey why the interpretation of the MP in terms of intentions does not work, and why the interpretation in terms of causes, as defended up to now, is so mysterious as to be question (...) begging. I also explore Judith Jarvis Thomson's early and admittedly failed attempt to explain the MP in terms of rights. In Part II, I articulate and defend a new account of a causal interpretation of the MP. The principle I defend there, the Restricting Claims Principle, registers the moral significance of the fact that certain claims have a kind of moral externality: if they had to be respected as rights that would restrict what agents could do on behalf of other patients. Claims that impose that sort of externality, restricting claims, register as less weighty than claims that do not. The claims of those who would be used simply as a means (a causal notion) are not restricting, and that explains why they are stronger than competing restricting claims. (shrink)

How should the “physical” in “physicalism” be understood? I here set out systematic criteria of adequacy, propose an account, and show how the account meets those criteria. The criteria of adequacy focus on the idea of rational management: to vindicate philosophical practice, the account must make it plausible that we can assess various questions about physicalism. The account on offer is dubbed the “Ideal Naturalist Physics” account, according to which the physical is that which appears in an ideal theory (...) that both meets the explanatory goals of physics and is naturalist in a sense to be explained. The combination of these two provides a satisfying account of the physical that meets the criteria of adequacy and can be used to predict puzzle cases as well. (shrink)

Although episodic memory is a widely studied form of memory both in philosophy and psychology, it still raises many burning questions regarding its definition and even its acceptance. Over the last two decades, cross-disciplinary discussions between these two fields have increased as they tackle shared concerns, such as the phenomenology of recollection, and therefore allow for fruitful interaction. This editorial introduction aims to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date presentation of the main existing conceptions and issues on the topic. After (...) delineating Tulving’s chief theoretical import and multifaceted legacy, it goes on to chart the different attempts to capture the episodicity feature of memory according to three categories: a first approach aims to show the cognitive abilities required for a subject to episodically remember; the second defines episodicity as a stage-specific feature; the last explains episodicity in terms of the epistemological properties of episodic memory. This state of the art thereby sets the stage for the contributions of the present volume, which will be introduced in conclusion. (shrink)

Why focus on the work of William Blake in a journal dedicated to religious ethics? The question is neither trivial nor rhetorical. Blake's work is certainly not in anyone's canon of significant texts for the study of Christian or, more broadly, religious ethics. Yet Blake, however subversive his views, sought to lay out a Christian vision of the good, alternated between prophetic denunciations of the world's folly and harrowing laments over the wreck of the world's promise, and wrote poetry as (...) if poetry might mend the world. Setting imagination against the calculations of reason and the comfort of custom, Blake's poems inspire questions about the relationship of ethics to prophecy, and open the possibility that ethics itself would be markedly enriched could it find a place for what Thomas J. J. Altizer has called Christian epic poetry. (shrink)

How should one respond to scepticism? Should one seek to refute it? Or should scepticism be ignored? This paper argues that descriptive metaphysics occupies an intermediate logical space between truth-directed transcendental arguments aimed at refuting the sceptic and the quietist stance of the Humean naturalist who declines to take up the sceptical challenge. Descriptive metaphysics is neither quietist nor confrontational. It seeks to show, rather, that the sceptic is not a genuine partner in conversation.

Most of the surveys that were undertaken in the 19th century, particularly in France, among workers, were conducted essentially from viewpoints of social legislation, philanthropy, or were even animated by a bias against the labor movement. Marx, however, in the survey that he initiated in 1880, not only wanted to deliver information on working and living conditions of the workers to the public, but tried to clarify by the questionnaires the thoughts of the workers themselves on their own situation and (...) its social causes. The questionnaire containing about one hundred different questions utilizes, therefore, in adapting itself to the labor movement of the time and the character of the workers' education, the relevant categories of the Marxian theory of society.As an appendix, the essay contains a german translation of the questionnaire itself.Les enquêtes sur la situation sociale des ouvriers organisées dans le cours du xixe siècle en Angleterre et surtout en France, étaient entreprises avec des intentions de politique sociale ou de philanthropie ou même d’hostilité contre le mouvement ouvrier. Elles n’avaient souvent qu’un intérêt déterminé, limité à la mise au jour de l’état des choses réeL Au contraire, lorsque Marx organise en 1880 une enquête par questionnaires,, il ne veut pas seulement donner à l’opinion publique des informations précises sur les conditions de travail et de vie des ouvriers français ; le questionnaire qui, pour la première fois, s’adresse exclusivement aux ouvriers, eux-mêmes doit aussi servir à éclairer la classe ouvrière elle-même sur sa situation réelle et les causes sociales de sa misère. Aussi le questionnaire détaillé, qui comprend 100 questions, utilise-t-il les catégories essentielles de la théorie marxiste de la société de manière adaptée à l’état du mouvement ouvrier et à l’éducation de la classe ouvrière à cette époque.On a reproduit, en appendice de l’article, une traduction allemande du questionnaire. (shrink)

This paper is a response to the opening of new lines of research on CSR and SMEs (Thompson & Smith, 1991; Spence, 1999; Moore & Smith, 2006; Spence, 2007). It seeks to explore the business case for CSR in this corporate segment. The paper, which is based on four case studies of medium-sized firms in the automotive sector, took the distinctive approach of trying to understand the nature of CSR-like activities developed not by best-in-class CSR-driven companies but by purely competitiveness-driven (...) firms. The case studies provide explicit evidence that the CSR activities of SMEs and the notion of social capital are interrelated, turning social capital into a powerful instrument to better explain what academic literature has called silent CSR practices . The analysis that follows questions some of the basic tenets that underpin the branch of business ethics that deals with the nature of SMEs' approach to CSR. Four basic concerns, which take the form of propositions for further research, serve as the basis for this analysis: a) A definition of CSR that includes most of the actions taken by all companies in the territory contributes no academic value to the discipline b) Any study of the motivation behind these CSR actions must reflect their essentially pragmatic nature. Actions are linked to social values but also, more importantly, to the nature of the competitive environment c) Business ethics must seek common ground with other more sociological disciplines if it is to explain the reasons behind this type of action d) Any study of this kind of practice requires a dual approach: a) normative when using tools developed by CSR; and b) descriptive and instrumental using the notion of social capital. (shrink)

Following neo-Aristotelians Alasdair MacIntyre and Martha Nussbaum, we claim that humans are story-telling animals who learn from the stories of diverse others. Moral agents use rational emotions, such as compassion which is our focus here, to imaginatively reconstruct others’ thoughts, feelings and goals. In turn, this imaginative reconstruction plays a crucial role in deliberating and discerning how to act. A body of literature has developed in support of the role narrative artworks (i.e. novels and films) can play in allowing us (...) the opportunity to engage imaginatively and sympathetically with diverse characters and scenarios in a safe protected space that is created by the fictional world. By practising what Nussbaum calls a ‘loving attitude’, her version of ethical attention, we can form virtuous habits that lead to phronesis (practical wisdom). In this paper, and taking compassion as an illustrative focus, we examine the ways that students’ moral education might usefully develop from engaging with narrative artworks through Philosophy for Children (P4C), where philosophy is a praxis, conducted in a classroom setting using a Community of Inquiry (CoI). We argue that narrative artworks provide useful stimulus material to engage students, generate student questions, and motivate philosophical dialogue and the formation of good habits which, in turn, supports the argument for philosophy to be taught in schools. (shrink)

Introduction What is the point of studying Aristotle's theory of moral virtue? In the first place, many interesting questions are raised, in metaphysics, ...

: American society traditionally has assumed a univocal notion of "death," largely because we have only one word for it and, until recently, have not needed a more nuanced notion. The reality of death-processes does not preclude the reality of death events. Linguistically, "death" can be understood only as an event; there are other words for the process. Our death vocabulary should expand to reflect multiple events along the process from sickness to decomposition. Depending on context, some death-related events may (...) constitute a more obvious discontinuity than others and more justifiably may be considered "death" within that context. There is no reason to assume a priori that there must be an overarching, unitary concept of death from which all diagnostic criteria must derive. Regarding organ transplantation, the relevant question is not "Is the patient dead?" but rather "Can organs X, Y, Z . . . be removed without causing or hastening death or harming the patient?". (shrink)

This book brings together ten previously published essays on the philosophy of economics and economic methodology. The general theme is the application of Karl Popper's philosophy of science to economics -- not only by Popper himself but also by other members of the "Popperian school." There are three major issues that surface repeatedly: the applicability of Popper's falsificationist philosophy of science; the applicability of I. Lakatos's "methodology of scientific research programs" to economics; and the question of Popper's "situational analysis" approach (...) to social science. (shrink)