In the ordinary way of representing relations, the order of the relata plays a structural role, but in the states themselves such an order often does not seem to be intrinsically present. An alternative way to represent relations makes use of positions for the arguments. This is no problem for the love relation, but for relations like the adjacency relation and cyclic relations, different assignments of objects to the positions can give exactly the same states. This is a puzzling situation. (...) The question is what is the internal structure of relations? Is the use of positions still justified, and if so, what is their ontological status? In this paper mathematical models for relations are developed that provide more insight into the structure of relations “out there” in the real world. (shrink)

We study the logical structure of relations, and in particular the notion of occurrences of objects in a state. We start with formulating a number of principles for occurrences and defining corresponding mathematical models. These models are analyzed to get more insight in the formal properties of occurrences. In particular, we prove uniqueness results that tell us more about the possible logical structures relations might have.

Argument-places play an important role in our dealing with relations. However, that does not mean that argument-places should be taken as primitive entities. It is possible to give an account of relations in which argument-places play no role. But if argument-places are not basic, then what can we say about their identity? Can they, for example, be reconstructed in set theory with appropriate urelements? In this article, we show that for some relations, argument-places cannot be modeled in a neutral way (...) in V[A], the cumulative hierarchy with basic ingredients of the relation as urelements. We argue that a natural way to conceive of argument-places is to identify them with abstract, structureless points of a derivative structure exemplified by positional frames. In case the relation has symmetry, these points may be indiscernible. (shrink)

In this paper we study the termination behavior of Russell’s description elimination rewrite system. We discuss certain claims made by Kripke (2005) in his paper concerning the possible nontermination of elimination of descriptions.

How we talk about relations has a great influence on how we think about relations. By saying that Spain defeated the Netherlands we obviously say something entirely different from saying that the Netherlands defeated Spain. This makes many of us think that in the underlying relation itself one of the relata comes first and the other comes second. However, there are good reasons to view the order as a representational artifact. In this paper I present a new logic that allows (...) us to think and talk about relations in a coordinate-free manner. The logic is minimalistic in the sense that it has no predicates except equality, but its expressive power is the same as that of first-order predicate logic. (shrink)

A theory of relations is presented that provides a detailed account of the logical structure of relational complexes. The theory draws a sharp distinction between relational complexes and relational states. A salient difference is that relational complexes belong to exactly one relation, whereas relational states may be shared by different relations. Relational complexes are conceived as structured perspectives on states ‘out there’ in reality. It is argued that only relational complexes have occurrences of objects, and that different complexes of the (...) same relation may correspond to the same state. (shrink)

A new logic is presented without predicates—except equality. Yet its expressive power is the same as that of predicate logic, and relations can faithfully be represented in it. In this logic we also develop an alternative for set theory. There is a need for such a new approach, since we do not live in a world of sets and predicates, but rather in a world of things with relations between them.

Philosophers often claim that forgiveness is a paradoxical phenomenon. I here examine two of the most widespread ways of dealing with the paradoxical nature of forgiveness. One of these ways, emblematized by Aurel Kolnai, seeks to resolve the paradox by appealing to the idea of repentance. Somehow, if a wrongdoer repents, then forgiving her is no longer paradoxical. I argue that this influential position faces more problems than it solves. The other way to approach the paradox, exemplified here by the (...) work of Jacques Derrida, is just too obscure to be by itself helpful. Yet, I argue that what I take to be its spirit is on the right track. I recommend distinguishing between the definition and the justification of forgiveness, and also between forgiveness understood as a mental phenomenon and an overt, communicative act. These distinctions are not given their due in the specialized literature, and I expose the nefarious consequences of this neglect. By focusing on forgiveness as a mental phenomenon I seek to analyze the root of the talk of paradoxes which surrounds the discussion of forgiveness. Finally, I present an analysis of forgiveness as a pure mental phenomenon, and argue that this analysis is the most important step in understanding forgiveness in any other sense. While my analysis reveals interesting aspects of forgiveness, it reveals, too, that forgiveness is not quite as paradoxical after all. (shrink)

The present volume contains articles of well-known representatives of the Meaning-Text Theory (MTT) and other related linguistic theories. Founded by I. Mel'cuk and A. Zholkovsky in the sixties in Moscow, MTT soon became known in the West as a “prominent outsider” theory. The picture changed since then, though. MTT gained importance in several areas of linguistics and computational linguistics. It influenced the design of new grammar formalisms such as Dependency Tree Grammars. Also, specific parts of MTT have been directly overtaken (...) into other theories; consider, for example, the work on integrating Lexical Functions into Pustejovsky's Generative Lexicon. The present volume is a further convincing demonstration of MTT's liveliness and relevance to the field's “burning” issues. The focus of the volume is on semantics, semantic representation and relation of semantics to surface in MTT. Six out of eight articles (Polguère; Escalier & Fournier; Paducheva; St.-Germain; Beck; Bogulavsky) deal with problems related to these topics, while the last two articles of the volume (Sgall and Rambow; Joshi) throw a bridge between MTT, or, more precisely, between dependency-based theories of which MTT is one instantiation, and other linguistic theories. (shrink)

Brouwer's papers after 1945 are characterized by a technique known as the method of the creating subject. It has been supposed that the method was radically new in his work, since Brouwer seems to introduce an idealized mathematician into his mathematical practice. A newly opened source, the unpublished text of a lecture of Brouwer from 1934, fully supports the conclusions of our analysis that: - There is no idealized mathematician involved in the method;- The method was not new at all;- (...) Brouwer uses an incomplete sequence, also known as choice sequence, in this method, which is special. The method does not take its place in the standard works on choice sequences. (shrink)

Argument-places play an important role in our dealing with relations. However, that does not mean that argument-places should be taken as primitive entities. It is possible to give an account of ‘real’ relations in which argument-places play no role. But if argument-places are not basic, then what can we say about their identity? Can they, for example, be reconstructed in set theory with appropriate urelements? In this article, we show that for some relations, argument-places cannot be modeled in aneutralway in (...) V[A], the cumulative hierarchy with basic ingredients of the relation as urelements. We argue that a natural way to conceive of argument-places is to identify them with abstract, structureless points of a derivative structure exemplified by positional frames. In case the relation has symmetry, these points may be indiscernible. (shrink)

"-- M. J. Silverthorne,The Humanities Association Review Leo Strauss (1899-1973) was the Robert Maynard Hutchins Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of ...

Par des suites de choix, nous comprenons des suites qui ne sont pas déterminées complètement par une loi arithmétique. Elles sont des objets caractéristiques de l’intuitionnisme de Brouwer. Nous prétendons qu’à partir de 1927, l’utilisation par Brouwer de suites de choix particulières n’est pas reconnu comme tel. Nous prétendons que l’utilisation de ces suites dans la méthode du sujet créatif, après la seconde guerre mondiale, n’a pas à être mis en relation avec l’utilisation de celles-ci dans les années vingt et (...) qu’elles sont mal interprétées. Nous montrons où se trouvent ces suites de choix dans l’œuvre de Brouwer et comment elles doivent être traitées. (shrink)

Par des suites de choix, nous comprenons des suites qui ne sont pas déterminées complètement par une loi arithmétique. Elles sont des objets caractéristiques de l’intuitionnisme de Brouwer. Nous prétendons qu’à partir de 1927, l’utilisation par Brouwer de suites de choix particulières n’est pas reconnu comme tel. Nous prétendons que l’utilisation de ces suites dans la méthode du sujet créatif, après la seconde guerre mondiale, n’a pas à être mis en relation avec l’utilisation de celles-ci dans les années vingt et (...) qu’elles sont mal interprétées. Nous montrons où se trouvent ces suites de choix dans l’œuvre de Brouwer et comment elles doivent être traitées. (shrink)

De Nederlandse filosoof Cornelis Verhoeven hield zich intensief bezig met de klassieke filosofie. Hij was ook jarenlang leraar op een school voor voortgezet onderwijs en hoogleraar aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam. Bovendien was hij een begenadigd schrijver van prikkelende essays. Daaronder zijn er vele die gaan over het onderwijs. De waardigheid van het vak van leraar ging hem zeer ter harte. De centrale thema’s in zijn werk zijn verwondering en dankbaarheid, ontvankelijkheid en geduld, rust en stilte. Deze bieden een tegenwicht (...) tegen oprukkende verschijnselen als het activisme, de rusteloosheid en de nadruk op snelle resultaten in het onderwijs. Cornelis Verhoeven neemt afstand van de maakbaarheidsideologie en pleit voor het niet-planbare en niet-berekenbare dat de kern van onderwijs uitmaakt: een leraar en leerlingen die zich samen buigen over de zaken uit de wereld. Joop Berding presenteert in dit boek de onderwijsfilosofie van Cornelis Verhoeven. Bovendien gaat hij in gesprekken met onderwijsmensen na wat deze visie voor het onderwijs en de leraren van vandaag te betekenen heeft. Een verrassend actuele en stimulerende bijdrage aan het doorgaande gesprek over wat onderwijs is en kan zijn. (shrink)

Amsterdam University Press is a leading publisher of academic books, journals and textbooks in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Our aim is to make current research available to scholars, students, innovators, and the general public. AUP stands for scholarly excellence, global presence, and engagement with the international academic community.

Begriffsanalyse und empirische Forschung auf dem Gebiet der künstlichen Intelligenz zeigen, daß momentan derart kontroverse Ansätze entwickelt werden, daß gemeinschaftliche Momente in Perspektiven und angewandten Methodologien nur schwer auszumachen sind.

Recent challenges of the mechanistic world picture seem only to have strengthened the position of mathematics. So it continues to guarantee perfect predictability, the dream of physicalism. During recent decades, however, computer simulations have shown mathematicians that even simple sets of equations may have, not an exact, but a whole range of solutions. With some of their examples we demonstrate the unpredictable behavior of simple systems. As a result, the dream is over. On the other hand, mathematicians also discovered that (...) previously 'chaotic' phenomena could be represented by relatively simple formules. This leads to a dramatic increase in the explanatory power of mathematics. This change of the scientific scenery will have a profound methodological impact on the relationship between the natural and the other sciences. (shrink)

Negative gegenseitige Befruchtung mag als seltsamer Titel erscheinen. Gegenseitige Befruchtung scheint per definitionem etwas Positives zu sein. Aber diese Untersuchung will die Aufmerksamkeit auf die Tatsache richten, daß in einer großen Anzahl von Fällen die gegenseitige Befruchtung einige negative Effekte auslöst; einige von ihnen mögen sogar katastrophal sein. Dieser Artikel kann die Aufmerksamkeit nur auf die negativen Auswirkungen und die Notwendigkeit lenken, die Bedingungen, welche den positiven oder negativen Ausgang oder die Unwirksamkeit einer bestimmten gegenseitigen Befruchtung determinieren, ausführlicher zu untersuchen; (...) um die Randbedingungen auf beiden Seiten zu formulieren: Das Befruchtende und das Befruchtete. (shrink)

In recent years, animal welfare has become an important element of sustainable production that has evolved along with the transformation of animal production systems. Consumer attitudes towards farm animal welfare are changing around the world, especially at emerging markets of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Survey-based research on consumer attitudes towards farm animal welfare has increased. However, the geographical coverage of studies on consumer attitudes and perceptions about farm animal welfare has mostly been limited to Europe, and North America. Until (...) now, Latin American consumers’ attitudes towards animal welfare have not been well studied. Despite the fact that Mexico, Chile and Brazil belong to the same region, there are marked differences between these countries in terms of their economical and geographical characteristics among other factors. Those differences potentially have an impact on consumer attitudes towards animal welfare and livestock production systems in general. Given the evidence from the literature review, it seems advisable that Latin American producers and food industry who engage in animal welfare-enhancing practices should clearly label their products with information on the type of husbandry system to reach those consumers who want to make an informed choice. Therefore, there are some aspects that need to be studied and cannot be worked separately in order to promote and understand consumer attitudes towards dairy and beef systems, such as geography, economic development, and politics. (shrink)

Summary A pattern can be found in the history of semiconductor electronics, which largely appears to coincide with that of scientific revolutions as described by Thomas Kuhn1. However, the history of semiconductor electronics has some characteristics which suggest that Kuhn's model requires correction in important respects.

Anhand von zwei Unterbereichen der künstlichen Intelligenz - den Expertensystemen und der wissenschaftlichen Entdeckung - wird aufzuzeigen versucht, daß die Beziehung zwischen der "formalen" und der "intuitiven" Kultur aus dem Gleichgewicht geraten ist. Dem Bereich der Intuition sollte größere Aufmerksamkeit gewidmet werden.

Offering an innovative approach to critical thinking, Good Reasoning Matters! identifies the essential structure of good arguments in a variety of contexts and also provides guidelines to help students construct their own effective arguments. In addition to examining the most common features of faulty reasoning--slanting, bias, propaganda, vagueness, ambiguity, and a common failure to consider opposing points of view--the book introduces a variety of argument schemes and rhetorical techniques. This edition adds material on visual arguments and more exercises.

The essays are based on a long and intimate familiarity with the works, but the essay on Aristotle is especially important as one of Strauss's few writings on ...

' Here is Tolstoy's religion; and non-violence is at its heart. Simon Parke, author of The Beautiful Life.

Philosophers have in the past had difficulty in determining how to define ethical terms. here they are defined as open-context terms with a loosely limited range of substitution instances, in conformity with actual language usage. ethical terms are in themselves meaningless. it is a misuse to say, "x is wrong in itself." ethical terms then reduce to empirical terms concerning wants, likes, knowledge of cause and effect and consequences, knowledge of how ethical terms themselves work. ethical commands reduce to if-then (...) statements. blame may possibly never make sense. (shrink)

This collection of Leo Abse's last essays are writings that he was working on from 2006 up to and during his final illness.