While ancient civilizations worshipped strong, active emotions, modern societies have favored more peaceful attitudes, especially within the democratic process. We have largely forgotten the struggle to make use of _thymos_, the part of the soul that, following Plato, contains spirit, pride, and indignation. Rather, Christianity and psychoanalysis have promoted mutual understanding to overcome conflict. Through unique examples, Peter Sloterdijk, the preeminent posthumanist, argues exactly the opposite, showing how the history of Western civilization can be read as a suppression and return (...) of rage. By way of reinterpreting the _Iliad_, Alexandre Dumas's _Count of Monte Cristo_, and recent Islamic political riots in Paris, Sloterdijk proves the fallacy that rage is an emotion capable of control. Global terrorism and economic frustrations have rendered strong emotions visibly resurgent, and the consequences of violent outbursts will determine international relations for decades to come. To better respond to rage and its complexity, Sloterdijk daringly breaks with entrenched dogma and contructs a new theory for confronting conflict. His approach acknowledges and respects the proper place of rage and channels it into productive political struggle. (shrink)

pt. I. Matter: 1. Philosophy as worldview ; 2. Classical matter: bodies and fields ; 3. Quantum matter: weird but real ; 4. General concept of matter: to be is to become ; 5. Emergence and levels ; 6. Naturalism ; 7. Materialism -- pt. II. Mind: 8. The mind-body problem ; 9. Minding matter: the plastic brain ; 10. Mind and society ; 11. Cognition, consciousness, and free will ; 12. Brain and computer: the hardware/software dualism ; 13. Knowledge: (...) genuine and bogus -- pt. III. Appendices: 14. Appendix A: Objects ; 15. Appendix B. Truths. (shrink)

It is generally argued that if the wave-function in the de Broglie–Bohm theory is a physical field, it must be a field in configuration space. Nevertheless, it is possible to interpret the wave-function as a multi-field in three-dimensional space. This approach hasn’t received the attention yet it really deserves. The aim of this paper is threefold: first, we show that the wave-function is naturally and straightforwardly construed as a multi-field; second, we show why this interpretation is superior to other interpretations (...) discussed in the literature; third, we clarify common misconceptions. (shrink)

Classical philosophical Daoism as it is expressed in the Dao-De-Jing and the Zhuang-Zi is often interpreted as lacking a capacity for critique and resistance. Since these capacities are taken to be central components of Enlightenment reason and action, it would follow that Daoism is incompatible with Enlightenment. This interpretation is being refuted by way of developing a constructive dialogue between the enlightenment traditions of critical theory and recent philosophy of action from a Daoist perspective. Daoism's normative naturalism does neither rest (...) on a primitivist call for a return to the past, nor does it suggest future-directed activism. By way of reconstructing its descriptive, explanatory and emancipatory dimensions, it is shown that Daoism constitutes an alternative form of critical theory. In contrast to future-directed purposive action or blind rule-following, Daoism's key normative concept of "wu-wei" emphasizes effortless non-calculative responsiveness in the present. Drawing on recent insights in the philosophy of action, a reconstruction of wu-wei allows to conceive of a promising form of emancipatory agency. (shrink)

Let R be an o-minimal expansion of an ordered group R has no poles, R cannot define a real closed field with domain R and order R is eventually linear and every R -definable set is a finite union of cones. As a corollary we get that Th has quantifier elimination and universal axiomatization in the language with symbols for the ordered group operations, bounded R -definable sets and a symbol for each definable endomorphism of the group.

I want to combine two hitherto largely independent research projects, scientific understanding and mechanistic explanations. Understanding is not only achieved by answering why-questions, that is, by providing scientific explanations, but also by answering what-questions, that is, by providing what I call scientific descriptions. Based on this distinction, I develop three forms of understanding: understanding-what, understanding-why, and understanding-how. I argue that understanding-how is a particularly deep form of understanding, because it is based on mechanistic explanations, which answer why something happens in (...) virtue of what it is made of. I apply the three forms of understanding to two case studies: first, to the historical development of thermodynamics and, second, to the differences between the Clausius and the Boltzmann entropy in explaining thermodynamic processes. (shrink)

The ontological models framework distinguishes ψ-ontic from ψ-epistemic wave- functions. It is, in general, quite straightforward to categorize the wave-function of a certain quantum theory. Nevertheless, there has been a debate about the ontological status of the wave-function in the statistical interpretation of quantum mechanics: is it ψ-epistemic and incomplete or ψ-ontic and complete? I will argue that the wave- function in this interpretation is best regarded as ψ-ontic and incomplete.

Philosophers now seem to agree that frequentism is an untenable strategy to explain the meaning of probabilities. Nevertheless, I want to revive frequentism, and I will do so by grounding probabilities on typicality in the same way as the thermodynamic arrow of time can be grounded on typicality within statistical mechanics. This account, which I will call typicality frequentism, will evade the major criticisms raised against previous forms of frequentism. In this theory, probabilities arise within a physical theory from statistical (...) behavior of almost all initial conditions. The main advantage of typicality frequentism is that it shows which kinds of probabilities (that also have empirical relevance) can be derived from physics. Although one cannot recover all probability talk in this account, this is rather a virtue than a vice, because it shows which types of probabilities can in fact arise from physics and which types need to be explained in different ways, thereby opening the path for a pluralistic account of probabilities. (shrink)

What does it take to understand a phenomenon ideally, or to the highest conceivable extent? In this paper, we answer this question by arguing for five necessary conditions for ideal understanding: (i) representational accuracy, (ii) intelligibility, (iii) truth, (iv) reasonable endorsement, and (v) fitting. Even if one disagrees that there is some form of ideal understanding, these five conditions can be regarded as sufficient conditions for a particularly deep level of understanding. We then argue that grasping, novel predictions, and transparency (...) are not reasonable conditions for ideal understanding. (shrink)

RESUMENLejos de romper con el idealismo absoluto de Hegel, la filosofía francesa contemporánea parece asegurar su continuación. En efecto, el nuevo concepto de identidad mediante el cual la especulación hegeliana superó la rigidez inmóvil de la sustancia y la lógica bipolar del pensamiento representativo, ha sentado las bases especulativas de lo que el pensamiento francés reinscribe hoy bajo las categorías de diferencia, repetición, diseminación, imposibilidad, exceso, paradoja, instante, etc. El eterno retorno de lo mismo, el acontecimiento que sobreviene a la (...) finitud y la aporía de una contradicción realizada son otros tantos nombres con los cuales la «escuela de la diferencia» reclama la racionalidad de una Aufhebung, que desborda y contiene toda discriminación abstracta.PALABRAS CLAVESIDENTIDAD, DIFERENCIA, OPOSICIÓN, MEDIACIÓNABSTRACT Far from breaking with Hegel’s Absolute Idealism, French Contemporary Philosophy seems to ensure its continuity. In fact, the new concept of identity through which the Hegelian speculation overcame the immovable rigidity of substance and the bipolar logic of representative thought, has settled the speculative base of what nowadays French Philosophy includes again under the categories of difference, repetition, dissemination, impossibility, excess, paradox, instant, etc. The eternal return of the same, the event that happens to finite and the aporia of an actual contradiction are different names through which the «school of difference» claims the rationality of Aufhebung, which overflows and contains all abstract discrimination.KEY WORDSIDENTITY, DIFFERENCE, OPPOSITION, MEDIATION. (shrink)

Suppose G is a definably connected, definable group in an o-minimal expansion of an ordered group. We show that the o-minimal universal covering homomorphism equation image: equation image→ G is a locally definable covering homomorphism and π1 is isomorphic to the o-minimal fundamental group π of G defined using locally definable covering homomorphisms.

Building on an illustrative case of a systemic environmental threat and its multi‐stakeholder response, this paper draws attention to the changing political impacts of corporations in the digital age. Political Corporate Social Responsibility (PCSR) theory suggests an expanded sense of politics and corporations, including impacts that may range from voluntary initiatives to overcome governance gaps, to avoiding state regulation via corporate political activity. Considering digitalization as a stimulus, we explore potential responsibilities of corporations toward public goods in contexts with functioning (...) governments. We show that digitalization—in the form of transparency, surveillance, and data‐sharing—offers corporations’ scope for deliberative public participation. The starry sky beetle infestation endangering public and private goods is thereby used to illustrate the possibility of expanding the political role of corporations in the digital sphere. We offer a contribution by conceptualizing data‐deliberation as a Habermasian variation of PCSR, defined as the (a) voluntary disclosure of corporate data and its transparent, open sharing with the public sector (b) along with the cooperation with governmental institutions on data analytics methods for examining large‐scale datasets (c) thereby complying with existing national and international regulations on data protection, in particular with respect to privacy and personal data. (shrink)

We argue that the asymmetry between diverging and converging electromagnetic waves is just one of many asymmetries in observed phenomena that can be explained by a past hypothesis and statistical postulate (together assigning probabilities to different states of matter and field in the early universe). The arrow of electromagnetic radiation is thus absorbed into a broader account of temporal asymmetries in nature. We give an accessible introduction to the problem of explaining the arrow of radiation and compare our preferred strategy (...) for explaining the arrow to three alternatives: (i) modifying the laws of electromagnetism by adding a radiation condition requiring that electromagnetic fields always be attributable to past sources, (ii) removing electromagnetic fields and having particles interact directly with one another through retarded action-at-a-distance, (iii) adopting the Wheeler-Feynman approach and having particles interact directly through half-retarded half-advanced action-at-a-distance. In addition to the asymmetry between diverging and converging waves, we also consider the related asymmetry of radiation reaction. (shrink)

Philosophy is sometimes perceived as an abstract and nerdy discipline dealing with problems of its own creation in an isolated chamber of the Ivory Tower. And there is some truth to this view. But philosophy can help us deal with common problems, such as the disagreements we have in our everyday lives.

Tanto la ontología de la diferencia sexual, tal como la elabora el feminismo de la diferencia, como la des-ontologización de la diferencia sexual, tal como la deconstruye el transfeminismo queer, coinciden en apelar al concepto de diferencia en sí, no dualista, jerárquica ni excluyente, como núcleo de su argumentación teóricopolítica. Sin embargo, ambas teorías resultan en su desarrollo inconciliables y conducen a proyectos políticos opuestos. El presente artículo se propone elaborar las razones de tal divergencia en el marco de una (...) ontología realista y material. (shrink)

Así como hay una lectura de la subjetividad posmoderna entendida en los términos de un nihilismo relativista y ateo, hay también otra lectura de la misma en los términos de una determinación absoluta y divina, inconmensurable e infnita, cuyo exceso de realidad supera los límites de la intelectualidad abstracta. Respecto de esta última interpretación, Kierkegaard constituye el pensador fundamental en el cual se inspiran varios autores posmodernos tales como J. Derrida, G. Deleuze, J. Caputo o M. Taylor. El recurso contemporáneo (...) a las categorías kierkegaardianas de repetición, singularidad, diferencia absoluta, posibilidad, paradoja, instante, religiosidad, fe o ser-en-el-medio-de prueba sobradamente la importancia y actualidad del flósofo danés. (shrink)

Durante más de 3000 años, las religiones patriarcales han simbolizado un sistema socio-político e ideológico, que dominó hasta hoy la historia universal. Sin embargo, desde hace por lo menos dos siglos, el pensamiento y la cultura vienen anunciando la muerte del Dios Padre e indagando el destino de la humanidad futura. El presente trabajo intentará mostrar por qué la Gran Diosa Madre simboliza el Otro Nombre, en el cual la subjetividad y la cultura han comenzado a pronunciarse.

The present paper intends to describe the key ideas and concepts in which the Kierkegaardian concept of freedom is summarized.

Nacimiento, concepción y gestación, huevo cósmico, rueda eterna, noche, caos y oscuridad abisal son algunas de las imágenes que Friedrich Schelling asume a los efectos de reconceptualizar la especulación y, en concreto, de desfundar y superar el paradigma falogocéntrico del Acto trascendente, perfecto y pura luz. La propuesta schellingiana de un fundamento inmanente y material, pura potencia indeterminada e infinita, supone una re-sexualización del discurso filosófico que intentaremos mostrar en estas líneas.

El concepto ontológico de «deseo» ha sido elaborado por el dualismo falogocéntrico a partir de las ideas de falta, privación, materia, caída, prohibición o culpa, con la intención de erradicar del cuerpo viviente la energía activa y creadora de lo real, y remitirla a la trascendencia inaccesible del espíritu puro. Habida cuenta del modo en que la diferencia sexual femenina ha sido inscripta por el falogocentrismo hegemónico del lado de la falta, la pasividad, la materia y el mal, el vaciamiento (...) del deseo coincide estrictamente con la eliminación del cuerpo materno y la dominación patriarcal. En tal contexto, el presente artículo se propone restituir el deseo a su potencia de creación en mediación materno-material. (shrink)

En la sección 10 de _Mil mesetas_, Deleuze y Guattari precisan su monismo dinámico con la afirmación del devenir-mujer en el comienzo, medio y llave de todo devenir. La cuestión de la diferencia sexual es de este modo introducida y restituida al lugar de la diferencia ontológica radical, a partir de la cual se deviene y existe. Las siguientes páginas se proponen leer la inmanencia _materialista _del devenir a la luz de ese primer movimiento conceptivo y medial, con una interpretación (...) que intercepta el vitalismo deleuzeano-guattariano y el feminismo de la diferencia. (shrink)

RESUMENDesde el trasfondo de la cultura, emerge cierto imaginario social que, asentado en la periodicidad biológica de la fecundidad femenina, proyecta a la mujer como un ser cíclico y mudable, por oposición a la linealidad e inmutabilidad masculinas. Este imaginario se remonta a la conciencia humana originaria y prehistórica, para la cual la madre constituía y simbolizaba una realidad cíclica, continuamente renacida de su seno. En el contexto del feminismo de la diferencia, el presente artículo se propone releer en términos (...) metafísicos la simbólica circular y cíclica de la madre, concebida en el origen de la conciencia primitiva, recuperada por la filosofía feminista, y repetida por gran parte del pensamiento moderno y contemporáneo.PALABRAS CLAVEDIFERENCIA SEXUAL–ARQUETIPO–REPETICIÓN–INMANENCIA–DEVENIR. ABSTRACTFrom the background of culture, it emerges a social imaginary that, settled on the biological basis of female fertility, projects woman as a cyclical and changeable being, as opposed to male linearity and immutability. This imaginary dates back to the original and prehistoric human consciousness, to which the mother constituted and symbolized a cyclical actually, continually reborn from her womb. In the context of Feminism of Difference, this article aims at rereading in metaphysical terms the circular and cyclic symbolic of the mother, conceived at the origin of the primitive consciousness, recovered by Feminist Philosophy, and repeated by a large branch of Modern and Contemporary Thought.KEYWORDSSEXUAL DIFFERENCE–ARCHETYPE–REPETITION–IMMANENCE–BECOMING. (shrink)

Resumen: Søren Kierkegaard se ha instalado en la historia de la filosofía como el pensador de una libertad puramente posible, capaz de crear su propio sentido y realidad. Lo posible, lo virtual, la potencia, constituyen para Kierkegaard el sustrato de la existencia, elemento, medio y fin de su acción libre y creadora. La determinación de la posibilidad infinita como origen y fundamento del ser supone la resignificación ontológica de lo real en su totalidad, en claro contraste con la vieja metafísica (...) del acto perfecto y acabado. Las siguientes líneas intentarán leer a Kierkegaard en el horizonte post-fundacional de la ontología contemporánea como pensador de la inmanencia y contingencia radicales, cuya pura posibilidad de poder anticipa en muchos sentidos el nuevo giro especulativo del siglo XXI.: Søren Kierkegaard is laid in the History of Philosophy as the thinker of a purely possible freedom, capable of creating its own meaning and actuality. The possible, the virtual, the potency constitute for Kierkegaard the substratum of existence, element, middle and end of its free and creative action. The determination of the infinite possibility as origin and foundation of being supposes the ontological resignification of actuality, in clear contrast with the old metaphysics of the perfect and complete act. The following lines will attempt to read Kierkegaard on the post-foundational horizon of contemporary ontology as a thinker of radical immanence and contingency, whose infinite possibility of power anticipates in many ways the new speculative turn of XXI Century. (shrink)

Este artículo se propone mostrar, al interior del concepto kierkegaardiano de libertad, la presencia de una alteridad activa, concebida como la diferencia, el no-ser, la nada, capaz de impulsar la existencia a la constitución de su identidad, por la fuerza de la contradicción. Esta alteridad radical es para Kierkegaard el pecado, cuya conciencia revela al hombre, además de su dualidad esencial, la distancia que lo separa del ser absoluto.

El artículo se propone mostrar la originalidad de la libertad kierkegaardiana, concentrada en una decisión absoluta que determina por entero la realidad del sujeto singular existente. La decisión produce la síntesis de la existencia personal, unificando todos los elementos y dimensiones que configuran la vida humana, y armonizando las fuerzas del yo hacia la confluencia en un mismo fin, a saber, en el Ser absoluto. La unidad interior producida por la decisión es posible gracias al “salto” trascendente de la libertad, (...) por el cual la existencia humana se afirma en el fundamento uno y simple del cual ella procede.---This paper attempts to show the originality of Kierkegaard’s notion of freedom, that brings into focus an absolute decision that wholly determines the reality of the singular existing subject. Such decision brings forth the synthesis of personal existence, unifying all the elements and dimensions that constitute human life, and harmonizing the strengths of the self toward their confluence in one final end, which is absolute Being. Immanent unity brought about by the decision is possible due to a transcendental “leap” of freedom, whereby human existence affirms itself on the One and Simple Foundation out of which it proceeds. (shrink)

Bajo el supuesto de que la ontología es un mero metarrelato totalitario, colonialista y normativo, la postmodernidad interpretó ‒por defecto‒ que la producción de puras ficciones discursivas e identificaciones sociales sin compromisos ontológicos representaría de suyo una performance liberadora. En el caso concreto de la diferencia sexual, la postmodernidad queer o trans-feminista instaló que la producción socio-imaginaria de múltiples géneros auto-definidos liberaría a las mujeres de ser tales. Las siguientes páginas intentarán explicar por qué la des-ontologización de la diferencia sexual (...) y su sustitución por incontables identificaciones socio-imaginarias es de suyo violencia conceptual, epistémica y simbólica, base de cualquier otra violencia. Palabras clave: Teorías queer, post/trans-feminismo, diferencia sexual, géneros, interseccionalidad. (shrink)

This new reading of Thomas More’s Utopia focuses on the dialogue as literary genre disclosing several aspects that illustrate the close relation between the original design of the utopian political system and the contemporary English political arrangement. The author also examines the reasons for the lasting interest of this work in the centuries. Still today political utopia results useful and even necessary to good politicians who in their practice never forget their ideal goals.

This volume has 41 chapters written to honor the 100th birthday of Mario Bunge. It celebrates the work of this influential Argentine/Canadian physicist and philosopher. Contributions show the value of Bunge’s science-informed philosophy and his systematic approach to philosophical problems. The chapters explore the exceptionally wide spectrum of Bunge’s contributions to: metaphysics, methodology and philosophy of science, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of physics, philosophy of psychology, philosophy of social science, philosophy of biology, philosophy of technology, moral philosophy, social and (...) political philosophy, medical philosophy, and education. The contributors include scholars from 16 countries. Bunge combines ontological realism with epistemological fallibilism. He believes that science provides the best and most warranted knowledge of the natural and social world, and that such knowledge is the only sound basis for moral decision making and social and political reform. Bunge argues for the unity of knowledge. In his eyes, science and philosophy constitute a fruitful and necessary partnership. Readers will discover the wisdom of this approach and will gain insight into the utility of cross-disciplinary scholarship. This anthology will appeal to researchers, students, and teachers in philosophy of science, social science, and liberal education programmes. 1. Introduction Section I. An Academic Vocation Section II. Philosophy Section III. Physics and Philosophy of Physics Section IV. Cognitive Science and Philosophy of Mind Section V. Sociology and Social Theory Section VI. Ethics and Political Philosophy Section VII. Biology and Philosophy of Biology Section VIII. Mathematics Section IX. Education Section X. Varia Section XI. Bibliography. (shrink)

When modeling informal proofs like that of Euclid’s Elements using a sound logical system, we go from proofs seen as somewhat unrigorous – even having gaps to be filled – to rigorous proofs. However, metalogic grounds the soundness of our logical system, and proofs in metalogic are not like formal proofs and look suspiciously like the informal proofs. This brings about what I am calling here the groundedness problem: how can we decide with certainty that our metalogical proofs are rigorous (...) and sustain our logical system? In this paper, I will expose this problem. I will not try to solve it here. (shrink)

Deployment Realism resists Laudan’s and Lyons’ objections to the “No Miracle Argument” by arguing that a hypothesis is most probably true when it is deployed essentially in a novel prediction. However, Lyons criticized Psillos’ criterion of essentiality, maintaining that Deployment Realism should be committed to all the actually deployed assumptions. But since many actually deployed assumptions proved false, he concludes that the No Miracle Argument and Deployment Realism fail. I reply that the essentiality condition is required by Occam’s razor. In (...) fact, there is a simpler formulation of essentiality which escapes Lyons’ criticisms and rescues the No Miracle Argument and Deployment Realism from their purported historical counterexamples: a hypothesis is essential when it has no proper parts (in Yablo’s sense) sufficient to derive the same prediction. Although essentiality so conceived cannot be detected prospectively, this is just natural, and it is not a problem but an advantage for Deployment Realism. (shrink)

This paper examines the view of ethical language that Wittgenstein took in later years. It argues that according to this view, ethics falls into place as a part of our natural history, while every sense of the mystical or supernatural that once surrounded it is irrevocably lost. Moreover, Wittgenstein argues that ethical language does not correspond to reality “in the way” in which a physical theory does. I propose an interpretation of this claim that shows how it sets his view (...) apart from a “realist” theory of ethics. The reality of which he speaks is the reality of human life. (shrink)