"First published by Oxford University Press, 1916."--Title page verso.

Simple heuristics exploit basic human abilities, such as recognition memory, to make decisions based on sparse information. Based on the relative speed of recognizing two objects, the fluency heuristic infers that the one recognized more quickly has the higher value with respect to the criterion of interest. Behavioral data show that reliance on retrieval fluency enables quick inferences. Our goal with the present functional magnetic resonance imaging study was to isolate fluency-heuristic-based judgments to map the use of fluency onto specific (...) brain areas that might give a better understanding of the heuristic’s underlying processes. Activation within the claustrum for fluency heuristic decisions was found. Given that claustrum activation is thought to reflect the integration of perceptual and memory elements into a conscious gestalt, we suggest this activation correlates with the experience of fluency. (shrink)

An English language translation accompanies the original Greek text of Aristotle's book about the nature of the state, constitutions, revolutions, democracy, and oligarchy.

"Using hundreds of examples from newsrooms large and small, author Ron F. Smith challenges readers to determine how they would face moral dilemmas on the job. Chapters evaluate the search for principles, accountability, truth and objectivity, errors and corrections, diversity, "faking" the news, reporters and their sources, privacy, the government watch, deception, compassion, the business of news, journalists and their communities, and financial concerns. New to this edition: a chapter on improving coverage of minorities, expanded discussion of broadcast journalism and (...) reporting on the Internet, and stories from recent front pages and TV news programs."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved. (shrink)

This article aims to read feminist new materialisms (Barad), together with ‘postulated’ linguistic or cultural primacy of Queer Theory (Butler), to show how both are engaged in similar critical-ethical endeavours. The central argument is that the criticism of Barad and new materialisms misses Butler’s materialistic insights due to a narrow interpretation of Butler's alleged social-constructivist position. There is, therefore, a specific focus on where they both make similar ethical appeals. Moreover, the article relies on Adorno's negative dialectic to highlight an (...) interpretation of Barad and Butler as being part of the same dialectical movement, in which materialism and idealism fluctuate in their mutual criticisms, thus continuing the procession towards 'new knowledge' and emancipation, or freedom, through their motions back and forth. (shrink)

In international literature of the last decade, few genres have been as widely read or as intensely discussed as autofiction. Writers of autofiction use a variety of literary means to do what the novel has always done: to illuminate the private sphere. Yet, as this article argues, the idea of the private sphere underlying autofiction structurally differs from that of the fictional novel. Starting from a reading of Sheila Heti’s 2018 novel Motherhood and an analysis of its reception in various (...) YouTube formats, this article shows that the private sphere to which autofiction grants access is no longer framed as a refuge for the individual from the public. Instead, autofiction stages and reflects a model of privacy in which intense self-observation directly serves the creation of new social ties. Autofiction aesthetically reflects on interpersonal networking. Moreover, in dramatizing the crossing of boundaries between the fictional and non-fictional, and in breaking »the fourth wall,« it aesthetically recreates the forging of new network connections. The continued success of contemporary autofiction therefore needs to be understood against the backdrop of the structural transformation of the private sphere within the network society. (shrink)

The book challenges the values of much of contemporary bioethics and health care policy by confronting their failure to secure the moral norms they seek to apply.

O objetivo deste artigo é relacionar o ready-made de Duchamp – uma obra de arte que é idêntica a um objeto comum – com a história da arte que o precedeu e entender de que modo sua ruptura radical já estava dentro dessa história. Inicio com uma introdução ao e interpretação do ready-made. Em seguida, me respaldando em Gombrich, Greenberg e outros, examino os três tipos de arte na história propostos por Peter Bürger, focando na questão da realidade/irrealidade da obra, (...) aos poucos me aproximando da relação da obra com seu caráter de objeto. Meu ponto principal é que a bidimensionalidade do quadro reforça a existência da tela e assim também a relação de sua experiência com o mundo concreto em que o quadro se encontra, em contraposição a ilusão dramática do quadro tridimensional. A seguir, examino os impressionistas, onde se inicia um movimento de encontro à realidade da tela, que se radicaliza depois em variadas vertentes do modernismo, onde se encontra Duchamp. Tendo feito este percurso, examino o conceito de vanguarda de Bürger e sua relação com o que ele chama de práxis vital, o mundo fora do quadro ilusionista, que explico através da ideia de distração de Walter Benjamin. Aqui, sugiro pensar o ready-made como uma proposta de transposição da arte e sua teoria ao mundo "não-artístico" das coisas comuns. (shrink)

Em Sobre o conceito de história, Walter Benjamin procura entender como foi possível a ascensão do fascismo durante toda a década de 1930 na Europa. Disputando com a socialdemocracia e o stalinismo o uso do “método” marxista de conhecimento do presente, o materialismo histórico, Benjamin procura uma filosofia da história que seja capaz de entendê-la para além da ideia burguesa de progresso, que teria sido responsável pela incompreensão sobre o fascismo. Nosso artigo procura esclarecer essa concepção estabelecendo uma relação entre (...) ela e as ideias de narração, experiência, memória e modernidade, presentes no ensaio O Narrador, de 1936, além de alguns pontos da teoria do conhecimento de Benjamin. O objetivo é compreender o fascismo não como mero oposto do progresso, mas fruto dele mesmo, parte da época denominada modernidade, em que o individualismo impossibilita experiências em comum e uma memória partilhada. (shrink)

Provability, Computability and Reflection.

Este artigo apresenta um panorama científico da pandemia da COVID-19 no Brasil e discute questões bioéticas e avalia as possíveis soluções dos problemas morais no contexto atual. Primeiramente, apresentamos a literatura da comunidade médico-farmacológica sobre tratamentos eficientes contra a doença, levantando também dados do governo brasileiro sobre saúde pública. Então, investigamos as questões éticas sobre os fatos apresentados. Uma breve discussão dessas questões sob a perspectiva do enfoque dos quatro princípios foi realizada. Concluiu-se que as medidas de isolamento social tomadas (...) pelo governo brasileiro são moralmente justificadas. Considera-se também moralmente permissível o uso de seres humanos nos testes clínicos desses medicamentos, desde que a autonomia deles seja resguardada e a análise de riscos e benefícios mostrar-se positiva. Por fim, evidencia-se a relação entre ciência e filosofia no âmbito ético, político e biomédico. (shrink)

This paper argues that proper functions are proximal functions. In other words, it rejects the notion that there are distal biological functions – strictly speaking, distal functions are not functions at all, but simply beneficial effects normally associated with a trait performing its function. Once we rule out distal functions, two further positions become available: dysfunctions are simply failures of proper function, and pathological conditions are dysfunctions. Although elegant and seemingly intuitive, this simple view has had surprisingly little uptake in (...) the literature. Indeed, our position departs from that of almost every theorist who has engaged with the issue at any depth. We start by presenting three arguments for the position that proper functions are proximal: one from the specificity of functions, one from their relation to intervention, and one from their relation to pathology. We then consider two case studies evidencing the trouble that accepting distal functions causes for philosophical reflection on the nature of pathological conditions. Finally, we anticipate and respond to three objections: that there can be failure of function without dysfunction; that our account is unacceptably revisionary in respect of normal function-talk; and that our thesis over-generalises from a narrow set of cases. (shrink)

This is the first complete, one-volume English translation of the ancient Chinese text Xunzi, one of the most extensive, sophisticated, and elegant works in the tradition of Confucian thought. Through essays, poetry, dialogues, and anecdotes, the Xunzi articulates a Confucian perspective on ethics, politics, warfare, language, psychology, human nature, ritual, and music, among other topics. Aimed at general readers and students of Chinese thought, Eric Hutton’s translation makes the full text of this important work more accessible in English than ever (...) before. Named for its purported author, the Xunzi has long been neglected compared to works such as the Analects of Confucius and the Mencius. Yet interest in the Xunzi has grown in recent decades, and the text presents a much more systematic vision of the Confucian ideal than the fragmented sayings of Confucius and Mencius. In one famous, explicit contrast to them, the Xunzi argues that human nature is bad. However, it also allows that people can become good through rituals and institutions established by earlier sages. Indeed, the main purpose of the Xunzi is to urge people to become as good as possible, both for their own sakes and for the sake of peace and order in the world. In this edition, key terms are consistently translated to aid understanding and line numbers are provided for easy reference. Other features include a concise introduction, a timeline of early Chinese history, a list of important names and terms, cross-references, brief explanatory notes, a bibliography, and an index. (shrink)

The development of transplantation technology increasingly places before society a multitude of diverse, complex ethical and legal problems. The subject is the more complex because of the various divergent interests involved. There are the interests of the donor of organs, who has a right to protection of his legal position, and those of the patient in need of an often lifesaving organ. There are also the interests of the donor’s relatives, after his death, and those of the transplantation surgeons. The (...) international dimension of transplantation technology makes the picture even more complicated. Though this article is devoted to the European situation, the problems are similar all over the world. (shrink)

The development of transplantation technology increasingly places before society a multitude of diverse, complex ethical and legal problems. The subject is the more complex because of the various divergent interests involved. There are the interests of the donor of organs, who has a right to protection of his legal position, and those of the patient in need of an often lifesaving organ. There are also the interests of the donor’s relatives, after his death, and those of the transplantation surgeons. The (...) international dimension of transplantation technology makes the picture even more complicated. Though this article is devoted to the European situation, the problems are similar all over the world. (shrink)

Catastrophic risk raises questions that are not only of practical importance, but also of great philosophical interest, such as how to define catastrophe and what distinguishes catastrophic outcomes from non-catastrophic ones. Catastrophic risk also raises questions about how to rationally respond to such risks. How to rationally respond arguably partly depends on the severity of the uncertainty, for instance, whether quantitative probabilistic information is available, or whether only comparative likelihood information is available, or neither type of information. Finally, catastrophic risk (...) raises important ethical questions about what to do when catastrophe avoidance conflicts with equity promotion. (shrink)

First published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

First Published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

A promise to do some action seems to create a binding obligation to do that action. And yet, paradoxically, an obligation seems not to be a fact that we can create or bring into existence; we can create an obligation only by creating or bringing into existence something else. The only way to avoid the paradox is to show that the act of promising creates something other than an obligation, which nonetheless binds us to perform the action in question. After (...) considering and rejecting various options such as the promisee's expectation and the promisor's resolve, Prichard locates the bindingness of a promise in a prior general promise, which allows the noises we make when promising to generate an obligation to perform the promised action. (shrink)

This new edition of Introduction to Lattices and Order presents a radical reorganization and updating, though its primary aim is unchanged. The explosive development of theoretical computer science in recent years has, in particular, influenced the book's evolution: a fresh treatment of fixpoints testifies to this and Galois connections now feature prominently. An early presentation of concept analysis gives both a concrete foundation for the subsequent theory of complete lattices and a glimpse of a methodology for data analysis that is (...) of commercial value in social science. Classroom experience has led to numerous pedagogical improvements and many new exercises have been added. As before, exposure to elementary abstract algebra and the notation of set theory are the only prerequisites, making the book suitable for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students. It will also be a valuable resource for anyone who meets ordered structures. (shrink)