This collection was inspired by the observation that film remakes offer us the opportunity to revisit important issues, stories, themes, and topics in a manner that is especially relevant and meaningful to contemporary audiences. Like mythic stories that are told again and again in differing ways, film remakes present us with updated perspectives on timeless ideas. While some remakes succeed and others fail aesthetically, they always say something about the culture in which_and for which_they are produced. Contributors explore the ways (...) in which the fears of death, loss of self, and bodily violence have been expressed and then reinterpreted in such films and remakes as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Night of the Living Dead, and Dawn of the Dead. Films such as Rollerball, The Ring, The Grudge, The Great Yokai Wars, and Insomnia are discussed as well because of their ability to give voice to collective anxieties concerning cultural change, nihilism, and globalization. While opening on a note that emphasizes the compulsion of filmmakers to revisit issues concerning fear and anxiety, this collection ends by using films like Solaris, King Kong, Star Trek, Doom, and Van Helsing to suggest that repeated confrontation with these issues allows the opportunity for creative and positive transformation. (shrink)
Is it fair to leave the next generation a public debt? Is it defensible to impose legal rules on them through constitutional constraints? From combating climate change to ensuring proper funding for future pensions, concerns about ethics between generations are everywhere. In this volume sixteen philosophers explore intergenerational justice. Part One examines the ways in which various theories of justice look at the matter. These include libertarian, Rawlsian, sufficientarian, contractarian, communitarian, Marxian and reciprocity-based approaches. In Part Two, the authors look (...) more specifically at issues relevant to each of these theories, such as motivation to act fairly towards future generations, the population dimension, the formation of preferences through education and how they impact on our intergenerational obligations, and whether it is fair to rely on constitutional devices. (shrink)
Is it fair to leave the next generation a public debt? Is it defensible to impose legal rules on them through constitutional constraints? From combating climate change to ensuring proper funding for future pensions, concerns about ethics between generations are everywhere. In this volume sixteen philosophers explore intergenerational justice. Part One examines the ways in which various theories of justice look at the matter. These include libertarian, Rawlsian, sufficientarian, contractarian, communitarian, Marxian and reciprocity-based approaches. In Part Two, the authors look (...) more specifically at issues relevant to each of these theories, such as motivation to act fairly towards future generations, the population dimension, the formation of preferences through education and how they impact on our intergenerational obligations, and whether it is fair to rely on constitutional devices. (shrink)
Psychiatry is a discipline on the border between the biomedical sciences on the one hand and the humanities and social sciences (most notably psychology and anthropology) on the other. This unique position undoubtedly contributes to the attractiveness of psychiatry as a medical specialism for many young doctors, but it also causes significant problems. Unlike other medical disciplines, in which the definitions of diseases are based on objective, measurable pathophysiological underpinnings, psychiatric diagnosis and classification has been based on descriptions of inherently (...) subjective mental and behavioral symptoms that are supposed to be deviant from "normal" psychology or behavior, as reflected in the current .. (shrink)
The intensified nurse migration leads to severe problems for the health care systems in many developing countries. Using the Philippines as an example, this paper will address the question of global nurse migration from a philosophical perspective. John Rawls' liberal and Michael Walzer's communitarian theory of justice will be examined in view of the ethical problem of nurse migration. In line with Rawls' A Theory of Justice, nurse migration undermines the ability of the people in developing countries to make use (...) of their basic rights and liberties. Walzer's communitarian assessment of nurse migration, on the other hand, will stress the shared ‘thin’ morality, as well as the shared history between the ‘donating’ and receiving countries. This paper argues that the commonality of a shared history and common values implies the moral obligation to ensure a fairer distribution of nurses. (shrink)
The volume brings together a collection of original papers on some of the main tenets of Joseph Raz's legal and political philosophy: Legal positivism and the nature of law, practical reason, authority, the value of equality, incommensurability, harm, group rights, and multiculturalism.
Suarezii de formis, universalibus, notitia intellectiva sententiaSententia Suarezii circa quaestionem famosam de statu universalium variissimis modis ab diversis interpretibus exponi solet. In disertatio quidem proposita res paulo aliter pertractatur, a Suarezii metaphysica doctrina de formis substantialibus et de cognitione intellectiva ac sctientia exeundo. Quae Suarezii doctrinae diligenti analysi subiciuntur earumque conexio consideratur. Respectu quaestione supradicta, scil. quaenam fuit vera Suarezii de statu universalium sententia, arguitur, Suarezium nominalismum moderatum professum esse, quae conclusio suadetur ex doctrinis suis de formis substantialibus et de (...) cognitione intellectiva. Translatio: Lukáš NovákSuárez on Forms, Universals and UnderstandingThe interpretations in the secondary literature of Suárez’ position in the “classical” debate on the status of universals vary considerably. In this article, the problem is looked at from a slightly different angle: that of Suárez’ basic metaphysics of substantial forms and his views concerning understanding and knowledge. These areas of Suárez’ thought are thoroughly analysed and related to each other. Regarding the question of the status of universals it is argued that Suárez’ thought in the areas of substantial forms and of understanding generally supports the reading of Suarez as a “moderate nominalist”. (shrink)
The evolutionary circuit design is an approach allowing engineers to realize computational devices. The evolved computational devices represent a distinctive class of devices that exhibits a specific combination of properties, not visible and studied in the scope of all computational devices up till now. Devices that belong to this class show the required behavior; however, in general, we do not understand how and why they perform the required computation. The reason is that the evolution can utilize, in addition to the (...) “understandable composition of elementary components”, material-dependent constructions and properties of environment (such as temperature, electromagnetic field etc.) and, furthermore, unknown physical behaviors to establish the required functionality. Therefore, nothing is known about the mapping between an abstract computational model and its physical implementation. The standard notion of computation and implementation developed in computer science as well as in cognitive science has become very problematic with the existence of evolved computational devices. According to the common understanding, the evolved devices cannot be classified as computing mechanisms. (shrink)
Thomas Aquinas de contingentia in rebusTractatio haec explicat, quomodo Thomas Aquinas argumentum Aristotelis contra determinismum et pro contingentia in rebus interpretatur. Radix huius sententiae determinismum respuentis in assertione, quae dicit dari aliquid in rebus per se incausatum (scil. effectus per accidens), consistit. Unde sequitur quod dato aliquo eventu per accidens, sit e, non datur continuus nexus causalis, qua e cum aliquo eventu praesenti vel praeteriti coniungeretur. Thomae autem, qui est Aristotelicus Christianus, alteram difficultatem oportet solvere – eam nempe, quae ex (...) doctrina de divina providentia et praedeterminatione huiusmodi eventuum provenit. Solutio s. Thomae in hoc consistit, quod dicti actus divini transcendunt omnem determinationem modalem, i.e. sunt praeter necessitatem et contingentiam. Translatio: Lukáš NovákThomas Aquinas on Contingency in NatureThe paper deals with Aristotle’s argument against determinism and in favor of contingency in nature as interpreted by Thomas Aquinas. The case against determinism is based on the idea that there are properly uncaused accidental events in reality. This means that in case there is some coincidental future event e, one cannot trace an unbroken causal chain leading to e back to the present or the past. For a Christian Aristotelian, such as Aquinas, there arises a difficulty concerning divine foreknowledge and volitional determination of events of this sort. Thomas’s solution is based on the claim that the latter divine acts are not within the scope of modal determination (necessity/contingency). (shrink)
Teaching and research are organised differently between subject domains: attempts to construct typologies of higher education institutions, however, often do not include quantitative indicators concerning subject mix which would allow systematic comparisons of large numbers of higher education institutions among different countries, as the availability of data for such indicators is limited. In this paper, we present an exploratory approach for the construction of such indicators. The database constructed in the AQUAMETH project, which includes also data disaggregated at the disciplinary (...) level, is explored with the aim of understanding patterns of subject mix. For six European countries, an exploratory and descriptive analysis of staff composition divided in four large domains (medical sciences, engineering and technology, natural sciences and social sciences and humanities) is performed, which leads to a classification distinguishing between specialist and generalist institutions. Among the latter, a further distinction is made based on the presence or absence of a medical department. Preliminary exploration of this classification and its comparison with other indicators show the influence of long term dynamics on the subject mix of individual higher education institutions, but also underline disciplinary differences, for example regarding student to staff ratios, as well as national patterns, for example regarding the number of PhD degrees per 100 undergraduate students. Despite its many limitations, this exploratory approach allows defining a classification of higher education institutions that accounts for a large share of differences between the analysed higher education institutions. (shrink)
(1) Intentional system: a system whose behaviour we may reliably predict via the intentional strategy, i.e., by interpreting its behaviour as a (more or less) rational consequence of its beliefs and desires. (2) Reflexive intentional system: a system that is able to interpret itself via the intentional strategy, and whose behaviour is, thus, influenced by an understanding of itself. All intentional systems behave in a meaningful way, but only reflexive intentional systems are aware of the meaning, Hence, only the latter (...) are conscious of what they are doing. (shrink)
The paper attempts to philosophically assess the recent U.S. presidential race and to look at some aspects of the underlying beliefs of Barack Obama that aided him in his campaign. The philosophical framework used in order to interpret the political events are mainly from the Critical Theory of Theodor W. Adorno and the neo-Marxist approach of Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. Further observations will concentrate on the logic and attraction of the electoral process and the dialectical logic of Sarah Palin’s (...) statements. The first part will discuss the form of U.S. electoral politics, especially the perpetual campaign, whereas the second part will put the policies of the next U.S. president into a philosophical context. (shrink)
“Animal magis politicum quam apis” Civitas ut status medius, aut status supremus, aut factor stabiliens descriptaExemplum apium, quo primo Plato in Phaedone, dein Aristoteles in Politica, denique Hobbes in censura sua Aristotelis utuntur, possibilitatem indicat “phaenomenologici” modi interpretandi exempla, ut methodi, cuius ope fundamentum determinans indolem philosophandi intelligi possit. Signum et communicatio sunt propria gregalis ac politico modi vivendi animalium. Studentes Aristotelis conceptum toà lÒgou, ut cohabitationis et interactionis fundamentum, in contextum vivae societatis referre, cavere debemus, ne nostra interpretatione reduceretur (...) haec operatio in illam quam Aristoteles animalem vocat. Haec Platonica series: “asinus, lupus, apis, deus” vitae civili inter vitam in iniustitia et vitam in sapientia locum assignat. Variatio Aristotelica huius doctrinae naturam toà lÒgou determinat examinando, quid iustum, quid minus; et eam in naturali luciditatis incremento, non mera sociabilitate et propensitate ad congregandum consistere dicit. Hobbes denique exemplum Aristotelis retorquendo quaerit, quid sit in homine, quod statum naturalem impossibilem reddit; et per consequens concludit civitatem non esse quid naturae, sed artis – sola ars enim humanam civitatem perviam facere possit. In unoquoque casu idem exemplum eandem rem diversimode reflectit. Translatio: Lukáš Novák“A more political animal than bees” Polity as an intermediate state, as the highest state, or as an agent of stabilityThe example of the bees, as they appear in Plato’s Phaedo, taken up again in Aristotle’s Politics and in Hobbes’ commentary contained in Leviathan, shows the potential of the phenomenological reading of examples as a method of understanding the basis on which philosophical thought is determined. Sign and communication are peculiar to gregarious and political animal life. In seeking to embody the Aristotelian concept of lógos in the context of a living community, as the basis for interaction and co-existence, we must be sure that our interpretation does not reduce it to what, according to Aristotle, is simply animal behaviour. The Platonic sequence “ass, wolf, bee, god” situates the model of political life between a life in injustice and a life in wisdom. The Aristotelian variationdetermines the lógos on what is just and what is unjust as a natural increment in lucidity, compared with the mere exercising of gregariousness and sociability. Hobbes’ inversion of the Aristotelian example considers a natural reality in the light of the distortions that complicate and make it impossible. Hobbes thus shifts human politics towards artificiality that renders it viable. In each case, the example holds up a different mirror to the same reality. (shrink)
De univocatione doctrina ScotisticaIn hac dissertatione scotistica de univocatione doctrina explicatur. Huic doctrinae innixi hi auctores analogiam illam, quae medium quoddam inter univocationem et puram aequivocationem esse putabatur, reiciebant. Quia conceptuum univocatio in eorum perfecta unitate consistit, unitas vero perfectam abstractionem consequitur, notio abstractionis perfectae (quam „per praecisionem“ vocare veteres solebant) in dissertatione daclaratur eiusque ab abstractione imperfecta („per confusionem“ ), qua secundum Thomistas conceptus analogi oriuntur, differentia illustratur.The Scotist Theory of UnivocityThe article explains the notion of univocity in line (...) with the mature Scotistic doctrine, which plays so crucial a role in the Scotistic rejection of analogy as a middle ground between univocity and pure equivocity. Since univocity of a concept is found to consist in its perfect unity, and the perfect unity of a concept is achieved by means of perfect abstraction, the notion of this so-called abstraction by precision is made clear and contrasted with the so-called abstraction by confusion, by means of which analogical concepts are supposed to be formed by the Thomists. (shrink)
Joannis Buridani de semantice propositionum doctrinaDissertatio proposita Joannis Buridani de semantice propositionum sententiam, quae in suis operibus logicis continetur, pertractat. Quaestio de semantice propositionali duplici modo sumi potest: scil. vel pure semantice (quarendo definitionem veritatis) vel ontologice (inquirendo de statu ontologico “complexesignificabilium”). In utraque quaestione solvenda Buridanus doctrinam semanticam quae “terminismus” dicitur assumit. Notionem veritatis Buridanus non ex significatione sed ex suppositione explicat, quo pacto possibile redditur, veritatem inductive per valorem semanticum propositionis partium definiri. Quaestionem alteram circa semanticen complexionis “accusativi (...) cum infinitivo” seu “dicti” propositionis Buridanus ad semanticen terminorum reducit, propositionis structuram logicam explicando. Buridani principalis modus procedendi ergo in hoc consistit, quod ipse “obligationibus ontologicis” alicuius discursus evadere studet, abnegando “denotativam” doctrinam semanticam. Translatio: Lukáš NovákJohn Buridan’s Propositional SemanticsThe paper deals with Buridan’s approach to the problems of propositional semantics, contained in his logical works. This question can be conceived both as semantic (definition of truth) and ontological (ontological status of states of affairs). Buridan’s solution of both of these questions is based upon a terminist theory of meaning. Theory of truth is constructed as suppositional, not as significational, which enables the definition of truth in terms of the semantic values of components of a particular kind of proposition. The other important problem, the semantic analysis of accusative and infinitive constructions (i.e. of sentential nominalizations), is solved within the semantics of terms by exhibiting the logical structure of a proposition. Buridan’s crucial strategy is therefore the elimination of the apparent ontological commitments of a particular discourse in terms of dismissing the denotative theory of meaning. (shrink)
De indole Suarezii doctrinae metaphysicaeTractatio proposita septem principales proprietates Francisci Suarezii doctrinae metaphysicae describit: scil. “univocalisationem” conceptus entis eiusque passionum; “reificationem” actu et potentiae, “ontologisationem” individualitatis, “conceptualisationem” Scotisticae doctriane, “existentialem” naturamconceptus entis, “epistemologisationem” et “methodologisationem” metaphysicae. Quarum cum quinque priores bene intra scholasticam traditionem maneant, relictae duae iam methodologicam prioritatem subiectivitatis, qua philosophia modernorum insignitur, praesignant. Translatio: Lukáš NovákThe nature of Suárez’s metaphysicsThe paper presents seven basic features of Francisco Suárez’s metaphysics. They are as follows: “Univocalization” of the concept of (...) being and transcendental properties, “reification” of the act-potency doctrine, “ontologization” of individuality, “conceptualization” of the Scotist perspective, “existential” character of the concept of being, “epistemologization” and “methodologization” of metaphysics. Whereas the first five are indicated as remaining in the preserve of the traditional scholastic philosophy, the last two are taken as portending the methodological priority of the subjective states of affairs of early modern “main-stream” philosophy. (shrink)
In the current paper we present an instrumental approach to deception. This approach incorporates the notion that bargainers (a) will use deception as a means to reach their goals in bargaining but (b) will refrain from using deception when they have alternative means to reach their goals. We demonstrate that different goals can lead to differences in the use of deception (Experiment 1). Furthermore, we demonstrate that reactions to deceit can also be understood from an instrumental perspective (Experiment 2).
Lex naturalis, autonomia et moralitas Quomodo Thomas Aquinas nos in fundamentis doctrinae ethicae ad hoc tempus aptae inveniendis iuvare possitDissertatio haec, doctrina Thomae Aquinatis de lege naturali innitendo, quaestionem movet, quomodo conceptus autonomiae personali pro fundamento doctrinae ethicae sumi possit. Hoc ideo possibile esse videtur, quia lex naturalis, ut dictamen rationis, fines determinat, ad quos unusquisque homo in sua vita seipsum rationabiliter ordinare potest. Ex quo etiam ratio patet, cur in vita humana moralitati obsequendae opera danda est. Est enim homo (...) “animal sociale”, cuius igitur finis naturalis est (praeter alia) in societate humana vivere. Ex hoc duo principia possunt inferri: 1) nulli est nocendum; 2) ius suum cuique est distribuendum. Modus tamen applicandi harum praeceptorum, sicut et ceterorum praeceptorum legis naturalis, a persona agentis eiusque historica et sociali situatione dependet. Translatio: Lukáš NovákNatural Law, Self-Determination and Morality Thomas Aquinas and the Quest for the Foundations for an Up-To-Date EthicsStarting from Aquinas’s natural law theory, the article discusses in which way one can ground an ethical theory relying on the concept of personal autonomy. This is possible because natural law, as a law of reason, determines the ends for which every individual human being reasonably may strive. In this context, it is also possible to justify the role of morality in human life. This is due to the nature of man as a social animal whose natural ends include a life in a human community. From this one can infer the two principles, not to harm others and to attribute his right to everybody. The application of those rules, as of any other rule of natural law, depends upon the person of the agent and his historical and social situation. (shrink)
De proiectione et individuis abstractis atque concretisIn hac tractatione distinctio individuorum abstractorum a concretis exponitur. Individua abstracta ad ordinem conceptualem spectant, cum ex concretis mundus materialis constituatur. Quisquis empiricae investigationi rerum extra operam dat, individua abstracta in partes molis proicit. Qua doctrina nonnulae aporiae circa individua tam in ontologia quam in epistemologia solvuntur, v. g. problema “navis Thesei”, problema “logici Polonici”, quaestiones circa reidentificationem, circa nomina propria, etc. Translatio: Lukáš NovákProjection and Abstract vs. Concrete IndividualsTwo kinds of individuals are distinguished: (...) abstract and concrete. Whereas abstract individuals belong to our conceptual sphere, concrete individuals (i.e. particulars) individuate the world of matter. A subject inquiring the external world projects abstract individuals onto the concrete ones (i.e. pieces of matter). Our theory offers a solution to various ontological and epistemological puzzles concerned with individuals, e.g., the Ship of Theseus, Polish Logician, problems with reidentification, or proper names. (shrink)
De Plantingae circa “principium decrescentis probabilitatis” doctrinaAlvin Plantinga criticam rationum historicarum pro fidei Christianae medullam proposuit, quae calculo probabilitatis innititur. Principium, super quod critica eius fundatur, est, probabilitatem argumenti vel conciunctionis propositionum in proportione ad eius complexitatem decrescere: quo quidem magis complexum sit argumentum, eo improbabilior. Dissertatio nostra elementa epistomologicae doctrinae Plantingae atque “calculi probabilitatis” exponit, indicando quoque partem eius in epistemologia hodierna. Deinde notio “boni argumenti” introducitur et explicatur, quomodo et cur secundum Plantingam nullum datur argumentum bonum pro fide (...) Christiana. Deinde responsiones variae ad Plantingam perscrutantur. Ex quo potest concludi primo, probabilitatem inefficaciae omnium argumentorum pro fide Christiana posse esse parvam. Secundo, licet universa fides Christiana sit minus probabilis quam eius partes, probabilissima tamen potest esse, sive augeatur summa rationum quibus innititur, sive minus. Postremo, dantur subtilia argumenta ex probabilitate pro Christianam fidem,quarum efficacia tamen satis differt ab illa, quam Plantinga cursim aestimavit. Translatio: Lukáš NovákPlantinga and the Principle of Dwindling ProbabilitiesAlvin Plantinga wrote a probabilistic critique of historical arguments for the kernel of Christianity. It is based on the fact that, generally, the more complex a conjunction, the lower its probability. The paper provides elementary insights into the epistemology of Plantinga, probability calculus, and the role of this calculus in contemporary epistemology. It introduces a concept of a good argument, explains in which sense and why, according to Plantinga, no good arguments for Christianity exist, and discusses the following replies. The probability that every argument for Christianity fails can be low. Even if Christianity is less probable than its proper propositional parts, it can be still be probable, whether on the same or on some enhanced body of evidence. Finally, there have been detailed probabilistic arguments for Christianity yielding results significantly different from Plantinga’s cursory estimates. (shrink)
Linguae orandi analysis philosophica ac theologicaIn hac tractatione analysis philosophica ac theologica linguae orationis Christianae proponitur. Pro inquisitione accuratiore in orationiem Christianam consideratio theologica philosophiae certe multum prodesse videtur. Si enim praecise sunt determinanda extrema inter quos relatio orandi intercedit, necessitas apparet fontium theologicarum adhibendarum, quae de ss. Trinitatis, necnon b. Mariae virginis ceterorumque sanctorum et angelorum parte in oratione loquuntur. Per analysin philosophicam orationis ad definitionem eius pervenitur, quae orationem ut relationem dialogicam determinat, in qua orans homo, tres divinae (...) personae, virgo Maria, ceteri sancti, angeli, et collectio assertionum significativarum, quae continentiam orationis constituunt, participant. Praeterea de fide accipimus, Deum omnem orationem praecedere appropinquando hominem; cuius appropinquationis descriptionem a Bocheńskii recepimus. Translatio: Lukáš NovákPhilosophical and Theological Analysis of the Language of PrayerIn this paper, we examine the issue of the language of the Christian prayer from philosophical and theological point of view. We come to the conclusion that for the closer enquiry of the Christian prayer philosophy can be inspired by theology. For if we want to determine exactly between whom the relation of prayer lies, we might need to draw on the inspiration from the theological sources concerning the Holy Trinity as well as the involvement of all the saints, especially of Virgin Mary, and angels in the prayers. Within the framework of the philosophical analysis of the prayer we determine it as a participatory dialogical relation between the praying human being, the three divine persons, Virgin Mary, other saints, the angels, and the group of meaningful assertions that form the content of a prayer. Beside this on the basis of our faith we accept that every prayer is preceded by God, and the structure of this approaching of man by God we adopted from Bocheński. (shrink)
Doctrinae Cassantium analysis historica et systematicaDissertatio haec circa modum quendam solvendi paradoxorum semanticorum seu “insolubilium”, ut scholastici aiunt, versatur, quem doctores mediaevales, qui “Cassantes” dici solebant, proposuerunt. Secundum Cassantium sententiam, in cuius analysi perficienda huius tractationis scopus principaliter consistit, propositiones insolubiles “nihil dicunt”; sunt enim incongruae seu male formatae, et consequenter nec veritatis nec falsitatis capabiles. Cassantes igitur solvunt insolubilia abnegando iis capacitatem veritatis ac falsitatis, quam mere apparentem esse existimant. Praesuppositum fundamentale huiusmodi doctrinae est distinctio inter logicam et grammaticam (...) structuram propositionis, seu inter meram prolationem sententiae et actualem assertionem. Similitudo quoque notabilis apparet inter distinctionem praedictam et distinctionem inter duas conceptiones “congruentiae”, quae apud grammaticos 12. saeculi inveniuntur. Praesenti tempore sententia Cassantium ut solutio paradoxorum semanticorum in “logica illocutionum” proponi solet. Translatio: Lukáš NovákHistorical and systematical reflexion of cassantesThe article deals with the analysis of one medieval solution of semantic paradoxes, namely with the position of the so-called “cassantes” (i.e. “those who nullify”). The solution is based upon designating problematical sentences to be agrammatical and thus “saying nothing”: paradoxes are solved by means of deyning apparent truth-apts. Theoretically fundamental supposition of this step is drawing the distinction between grammatical and logical structure of a sentence, or (from a speech-act theoretical point of view) the distinction between a sentence and a statement. Remarkable analogies can also be shown between this distinction and the distinction between two conceptions of congruence in the twelfth-century grammar. Nowadays the cassationist approach is the solution of paradoxes proposed in the theoretical framework of the illocutionary logic. (shrink)
De modo, quo Leibniz et Aristotelici aporiam generis solvere possunt, doctrina de conceptibus simpliciter simplicibus non respuendaDoctrina de conceptibus simpliciter simplicibus, in quos omnes notiones ultimatim possunt resolvi, (a recentioribus “atomismus conceptualis” vocata) firmiter irradicata est in occidentali philosophica traditione. Originem suam quidem ab Aristotele trahens semper apud peripateticos adfuit, purissime tamen expressa in operibus Leibnitii invenitur. Nihilominus, ab initio haec doctrina etiam difficultate quadam patiebatur, quae “aporia generis” vulgo dicitur. Difficillime est enim explicatu, quomodo simplicitas absoluta conceptuum primitivorum (seu (...) differentiarum ultimarum) stet cum conceptuum transcendentium existentia, qui necessario in unoquoque conceptu comprehenduntur. Tractatione nostra haec difficultas examinatur et solutio praebetur. Fundamentum cuius est: datur duplex continentia unius conceptus in altero, scilicet formalis et virtualis. Conceptus transcendentales a conceptibus primitivis seu simpliciter simplicibus non formaliter, id est ut pars ipsorum definitionis, sed virtualiter tantum continentur – quod nihil aliud dicit quam illos ex his necessario sequi. Notabile est, huiusmodi sulutionis originem apud Aristotelem quoque inveniri posse.Conceptual Atomism, “Aporia Generis” and the Way Out for Leibniz and the AristoteliansConceptual atomism is a doctrine deeply rooted in the tradition of western thought. It originated with Aristotle, was present in the entire Aristotelian tradition and came to its most pure expression in the work of Leibniz. However, ab initio this doctrine suffered from certain difficulty labelled traditionally “aporia generis”, namely the problem of how it is possible to reconcile the absolute simplicity of the primitive concepts (or ultimate differentiae) with the existence of transcendental concepts, that is, concepts necessarily included in every concept. In this paper the entire problem is subject to an analysis and a solution is suggested, based on a distinction between two different kinds of conceptual containment: the primitive concepts do not contain the transcendentals formally, that is, as constituents thatcan be revealed by means of definitional analysis, but they nevertheless do contain them virtually, that is, they strictly imply them. It is noted that the germ of this solution is already present in Aristotle. (shrink)
The Semantics of Proper Names and Identity Theory of Predication Saul Kripke denies that the reference of a proper name is mediated through a sense (an intension, a concept), and claims that it has to be immediate for „rigidity“ of a proper name to be saved. On the other hand, the version of the Identity Theory of predication according to which predication is characterised as intentional identification of the conceptual content of the predicate with the object represented by the subject-concept (...) requires that there be a concept (sense of the term) at the places both of the subject and of the predicate. This paper is an attempt to propose a conception that purports to maintain the Identity Theory of predication with its demand for proper names to have senses and respond to Kripkean arguments while retaining the rigidity of proper names. Two main theses are defended: 1) Whether a term refers rigidly or non-rigidly does not depend on the nature of the term (i. e. whether it is a name or a description), but on the intention of the speaker/writer. Consequently, both names and descriptions can be used both rigidly and non-rigidly. 2) There is a „minimal sense“ to any proper name which can generaly be described as follows: „the person who has been given the name so-and-so“. The expression „has been given the name“ describes a „relation of reason“, which must be strictly distinguished from the relation of reference of the name, in order to avoid a vicious circle in reference determination, something against which Kripke warned. (shrink)
This paper explores one of the main sources of Nietzsche’s knowledge of physiology and considers its relevance for the philosophical study of history. Beginning in 1881, Nietzsche read Der Kampf der Theile im Organismus by Wilhelm Roux, which exposed him to a dysteleological account of organic development emphasising the excitative, assimilative and auto-regulative processes of the body. These processes mediate the effects of natural selection. His reading contributed to a physiological understanding of history that borrowed Roux’s description of physiological processes. (...) This physiological description of history proceeded from the similarity between the body’s mediation of its milieu and history’s mediation of the past. (shrink)
Aristotelis de substantia doctrinaNotio substantiae apud Aristotelem multas difficultates interpretibus praebet. Nonnuli praesertim notionem substantiae primae examinare solent, quam enim Aristoteles alio et alio modo in VII. libro Metaphysicorum et in Categoriis definivit. Dissertationis propositae scopus est, amborum textuum cohaerentiam confirmare; praeter quod etiam quaestio cognoscibilitatis substantiae primae pertractatur. Translatio: Lukáš NovákAristotle’s theory of substanceAristotle’s notion of substance presents various problems of interpretation. Many interpreters focus mainly at the notion of primary substance, especially with regard to the difference between how (...) Aristotle defines it in Metaphysics VII and in the Categories. The present study aims at confirming mutual compatibility of these texts and touches also the problem of knowability of the primary substance. Translation: Lukáš Novák. (shrink)
[Supposition of Mental Term according to William of Ockham:] This paper investigates Ockham’s claim that there is a diversity of suppositions of a mental term. First, it summarizes the hitherto research in Ockham’s theory of concepts (understood as natural signs) and the theory of mental language ascribed to him (Part 1–2). Secondly, it describes his theory of supposition, focusing on the interpretation of this theory which describes it as a device for interpretation of propositions (Part 3). Thirdly, the paper examines (...) the problems which arise from combining Ockham’s theory concepts and his theory of supposition (Part 4–7) – namely, the problems concerning the nature of mental proposition, the question of mental syncategoremata, and of equivocation in mental language. Part 8 then reveals the absurdity of understanding the supposition of a mental term as an instrument for interpretation of mental propositions. Finally, I propose a new interpretation of the whole issue, based on Ockham’s early commentary on the Sentences (Part 9). According to this interpretation, the diversity of supposition of a mental term is not triggered by the need of distinguishing various meanings of a mental propositions, but by Ockham’s nominalistic theory of science. (shrink)
The purpose of this review article is to offer a criticism of the interpretation of Duns Scotus’s conception of intelligible being that has been proposed by Michael Renemann in his book Gedanken als Wirkursachen. In the first place, the author shows that according to Scotus, for God “to produce a thing in intelligible being” and “to conceive a thing” amounts to altogether one and the same act. Esse intelligibile therefore does not have “priority of nature” with respect to “esse intellectum” (...) or “esse repraesentatum”, contrary to Renemann’s interpretation. The distinction between Scotus’s second and third “instants of nature” consists in something else, then: the relation of reason, of which Scotus says that it is produced in the third instant, is not the relation of being actually conceived (first, because actual intellection comes already in the second instant, and second, because divine intellection, being the measure of the conceived objects, is not relative bud absolute) but it is a relation of comparison, viz. of an image to its exemplar. Next, the author shows how a misreading of two passages of Scotus’s Ordinatio misled both the Vatican editors and Renemann to create the chimaera of “verum esse secundum quid”. By way of a conclusion the author argues that Scotus’s doctrine of “esse intelligibile” does not make him any less a direct realist than Suárez, his position being quite plausible even from the point of view of common sense. (shrink)
Transcendentalia et praedicamenta secundum Thomam AquinatemDissertatio haec doctrinam Thomae Aquinatis de transcendentalibus et praedicamentis pertractat. Initium expositionis suae auctor a discussione huius materiae, quae in s. Thomae De veritate q. 1, a. 1. invenitur, capit. Hoc loco Thomas determinat, doctrinis Aristotelis Avicennaeque innitens, quae sint primae conceptiones intellectus. Conceptio simpliciter prima, in qua resolutio omnium conceptuum terminatur, est notio entis; omnes aliae conceptiones, et transcendentes et praedicamentales, accipiuntur ex additione quadam conceptuali ad ens. Auctor s. Thomae doctrinam de additione conceptuali (...) ad ens diligenter explanat et consequenter ex ea illustrat, quomodo Thomas singula transcendentalia et praedicamenta explicat. Ultimo denique auctor ostendit, quomodo Thomas conceptus transcendentales et praedicamentales deducit tamquam generales et speciales modos essendi entis ut sic. Translatio: Lukáš NovákTranscendentals and Categories in AquinasThe paper deals with the conception of transcendental and categorial concepts in the work of Thomas Aquinas. As a starting point of the exposition the discussion of this matter in De veritate 1, 1 has been chosen, where Aquinas, drawing on Aristotle and Avicenna, determines which are the first concepts of intellect. The absolutly first concept, the terminus of conceptual analysis, is the concept of being (ens). All other concepts, both categorial and transcendental, result from conceptual addition to being. Aquinas’s conception of conceptual addition is explained in detail and used to illustrate Aquinas’s explication of individual transcendentals and categories. Finally it is shown, how Aquinas derives transcendental and categorial concepts as general and special modes of being (modi essendi) of being as such. Translation: Lukáš Novák. (shrink)
The paper first outlines the thesis on (the means of) execution as a kind of legal sanction (esp. in the case of causing damage). It then sets out the basic theoretical arguments for rejecting the viewpoint according to which the duty of repair represents a sanction in the case of causing damage. The paper goes on to present the viewpoints of several legal philosophers (Bucher, MacCormick, Padjen, Pokrovac) who raised objections to the thesis on (the means of) execution. Finally, it (...) critically analyses these objections and sets out six additional arguments with a view to strenghtening the said thesis. (shrink)
