Autor u ovom tekstu pokusava da odgovori na pitanje o broju religioznih ljudi danas u dvema postkomunistickim i pravoslavnim zemljama, a potom i o broju pravoslavnih vernika u njima. U tom smislu se analiziraju brojni podaci iz empirijske evidencije uz upotrebu velikog broja indikatora o kojima se raspravlja u tekstu. Autor ih analizira prvo kao indikatore predstavne dimenzije religioznosti, zatim kao indikatore verovanja u dogmatsko jezgro hriscanstva, indikatore aktuelne crkveno-obredne prakse i kao indikatore tradicionalnog odnosa prema religiji i crkvi. Ovim (...) analizama autor nastoji da pronadje onoj kriterijum ili skup kriterijuma koji ce najbolje da izrazi religioznost stanovnistva na nekom prostoru. U toj analizi se identifikuju tri pristupa u ruskoj sociolosko-religioloskoj literaturi. Prvi je imenovan kao klasicni, pozitivisticki pristup, drugi kao postklasicni ili fenomenoloski a treci kao sinteticki. Zatim autor raspravlja o pojmu vezanosti ljudi za religiju i crkvu i indikatorima te vezanosti kao i o indeksima koji su socioloski pogodniji za ispitivanje religijsko-crkvenog kompleksa. Na kraju autor daje nekoliko metodoloskih uputstava za sociolosko iskustveno istrazivanje religioznosti. (shrink)

Considering this issue to be particularly significant as a research challenge for the sociologies of religion in the so-called post-socialist countries, the subject of this research has been to determine the character, status and direction of religious changes in predominantly orthodox territories of Yugoslavia and Russia that became evident in the last decade of the twentieth century marked by turbulent socio-political changes in those countries. With the subject of the research being defined in that way, the main goal of the (...) research has been to identify and examine basic tendencies in religious changes. Relying on the huge empirical material on the changes in question, an attempt has been made to precisely detect the scope of these changes in the various areas of religious, spiritual and social lives of people in the period of the so-called post-socialist transformation. Therefore, the goal of the research has not been just to determine the scope and direction of changes of religiousness with people, but also to try to set the above mentioned religious changes into the proper social context, which is the starting point in their theoretical explanation. Smatrajuci da je predlozena tema posebno znacajana kao istrazivacki izazov za sociologije religije u zemljama tzv. postsocijalizma, predmet ovog istrazivanja je odredjen kao utvrdjivanje karaktera, stanja i smera religijskih promena na pravoslavno dominantnim prostorima Jugoslavije i Rusije aktuelnim u poslednjem desetlecu burnih socijalno-politickih previranja u njima. U ovako odredjenom predmetu istrazivanja glavni zadatak istrazivanja sastoji se u identifikovanju i preispitivanju osnovnih tendencija u religijskim promenama. Oslanjajuci se na obiman empirijski materijal o pomenutim promenama, u radu treba uciniti pokusaj preciznog detektovanja obima tih promena u razlicitim sferama religijskog, duhovnog i drustvenog zivota mnostva ljudi u tzv. postsocijalistickoj transformaciji drustva. Stoga cilj istrazivanja nije samo utvrdjivanje obima i smera promena religioznosti gradjana, nego je jedan od glavnih ciljeva istrazivanja pokusaj smestanja navedenih religijskih promena u odgovarajuci drustveni kontekst od koga se polazi u njihovoj teorijskoj eksplikaciji. (shrink)

The author presents and analyses, in regard with the subject, the data from a systematic sociological research study of religiosity of the citizens of Serbia which is relevant for the Republic of Serbia without Kosovo and Metohija. The study named?Religiosity in Serbia and the EU integration process? was conducted twice, in 2010 and 2011, by the Christian Cultural Centre from Belgrade with the financial assistance of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Center for European Studies from Brussels. Before analysing the (...) data, the author briefly discusses the various dimensions of religiosity. (shrink)

Autor je zamislio da objavi tri teksta u tri sveske "Filozofije i drustva" u kojima ce, oslanjajuci se na stvorenu iskustvenu naucnu evidenciju, pokazati obim i stepen religioznosti nekih evropskih drustava, potom u posebnom tekstu ruski slucaj i na kraju religioznost i vezanost ljudi za religiju i crkvu u Srbiji. Ovakav sled objavljivanja ima svoju logiku: ocekujuci sprovodjenje empirijskog ispitivanja pod nazivom "Evropsko istrazivanje vrednosti" u gotovo svim evropskim zemljama, i po prvi put u Srbiji sredinom 2008. godine, autor zeli (...) da najpre prezentuje rezultate prethodnih socioloskih istrazivanja, reprezentativne za evropski prostor, a potom i za pravoslavni prostor u zemlji sa najvecim brojem pravoslavaca u svetu. Tako ce u poslednjem prilogu autor moci da komparira religijsku situaciju u Srbiji ne samo sa religioznom Evropom nego i sa religioznom pravoslavnom Rusijom. (shrink)

In this article I have dealt with empirical proofs for the Russian religious renaissance which came after the fall of the Soviet socialistic empire and carried on all through the nineties as a pro-religious consensus and a religious belief. Likewise, I have dealt with proofs suggesting certain limitations of the renaissance in question which manifested mainly in irregular fulfillment of religious duties. U ovom clanku autor se bavi empirijskim dokazima za rusku religioznu renesansu koja je nastupila nakon urusavanja sovjetske socijalisticke (...) imperije i kao proreligiozni konsenzus i religijsko verovanje odrzala se tokom 90-ih godina proslog veka. Takodje, autor se bavi i dokazima koji upucuju na izvesna ogranicenja pomenute renesanse, ponajvise izrazena kroz problematicnu redovnost ispunjavanja verskih duznosti. (shrink)

In the last decade and a half the process of desecularization has been undoubtedly verified in Serbia. Not only that the changes have been verified in the religious complex in general, but in traditional religious groups in particular as well. The revival of religiousness and people?s attachment to religion and church have been clearly proved in all aspects of religious life: in the areas of religious identification, doctrinaire religious beliefs and ritual religious practices. It should also be noted that in (...) times of extremely turbulent political and social changes in the Balkans, all traditional religious complexes, orthodox, catholic and Muslim, began forming close ties with political and state, public and binding domains, which was absolutely unthinkable of a decade and a half ago. Which leads us to the crucial question: can religion make a contribution to the process of integration coming form the surrounding countries as the imperative of foreign powers on one hand, and as the striving of the majority of population in all the post socialist countries in the Balkans on the other hand, or will it only cause damage and interfere with the process of integration of those societies into the European commonwealth of nations? This article discusses different opinions that view the traditional complexes of religion, language and nation as disruptive factors of modernization of the Balkan countries, as well as completely opposite opinions based on the experiences of traditional Islamic societies in which religion is not a factor that hinders their rapid modernization. U poslednjih petnaestak godina proces desekularizacije je u Srbiji nedvosmisleno empirijski verifikovan. Verifikovane su promene u religijskom kompleksu uopste, a posebno kod tradicionalnih religijskih zajednica. Revitalizacija religioznosti i vezanosti ljudi za religiju i crkvu jasno je dokazana u svim podrucjima religijskog zivota: u podrucju konfesionalnog religijskog identifikovanja, zatim doktrinarnih religijskih verovanja i u podrucju obredne religijske prakse. Takodje, u vremenu izuzetno burnih politickih i socijalnih promena na Balkanu, tradicionalni religijski kompleks, bilo pravoslavni, katolicki ili islamski, poceo je da stupa u tesnu vezu sa politickim i drzavnim, javnim i obavezujucim, sto je pre jedne i po decenije bilo potpuno nezamislivo. Odatle, presudno pitanje: moze li religija u tom vidu da doprinese integrativnim procesima koji dolaze iz okruzenja, sa jedne strane kao strani imperativi, sa druge strane kao teznja preteznog dela stanovnistva ovih balkanskih post socijalistickih drzava, ili ce samo da steti i presudno da ometa proces ulaska ovih drustava u evropsku porodicu naroda? Ovaj projekat treba da odgovori na pitanje: da li tradicionalni kompleks religije, jezika i nacije u balkanskim uslovima predstavlja otezavajucu okolnost za integraciju balkanskih drustava u Evropu ili ovaj tradicionalni kompleks nece biti tome smetnja, kao sto pokazuju neka iskustva tradicionalnih islamskih drustava u kojima religija nije faktor koji ometa njihovu ubrzanu modernizaciju. (shrink)

For the contemporary Serbian sociology of religion it is evident that the process of desecularization has been present on the social scene of Serbia in the last fifteen years. Sociologists have provided arguments for this claim based on data gathered in Serbia during this period. The religious changes in question have been empirically recorded in all aspects of attachment to religion and the church, that is, in aspects of religious identification, doctrinal beliefs and religious behavior. Certain political subjects and social (...) scientists feel that social life in Serbia is getting increasingly, and that religion and church are exerting influence within social fields they are not supposed to, if Serbia is to become a secular, democratic state. The paper analyzes some major conditions of the clericalization of the Serbian society. U savremenoj srpskoj sociologiji religije nije sporno da je u poslednjih petnaestak godina na drustvenoj sceni proces desekularizacije. Sociolozi su taj proces argumentovali pozivajuci se na iskustvenu evidenciju koja je za to vreme stvorena u Srbiji. Navedene religijske promene empirijski su evidentirane u svim segmentima vezanosti za religiju i crkvu, dakle: u segmentu religijskog identifikovanja, doktrinarnog verovanja i religijsko-obrednog ponasanja. Postoji misljenje nekih politickih subjekata i drustvenih naucnika da se drustveni zivot u Srbiji sve vise klerikalizuje i da religija i crkva ispoljavaju svoj uticaj tamo gde ne bi smelo da ga bude ukoliko Srbija treba da bude laicka, demokratksa drzava. U tekstu se analiziraju neki od vaznih uslova klerikalizacije drustva. (shrink)

The author presents and analyses, in regard with the subject, the data from a systematic sociological research study of religiosity of the citizens of Serbia which is relevant for the Republic of Serbia without Kosovo and Metohija. The study named?Religiosity in Serbia and the EU integration process? was conducted twice, in 2010 and 2011, by the Christian Cultural Centre from Belgrade with the financial assistance of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Center for European Studies from Brussels. Before analysing the (...) data, the author briefly discusses the various dimensions of religiosity. (shrink)

Ovaj prilog je nastavak autorovog teksta iz proslog broja casopisa 'Filozofija i drustvo'. U prilogu autor razmatra evoluciju religijske svesti ruskog stanovnistva i medjusobni odnos drustva, religije i crkve predstavljajuci je u vidu svojevrsnog religijskog klatna. Ispitujuci kretanje pomenutog klatna autor analizira religijsku situaciju i vernicku strukturu carske, sovjetske i savremene Rusije. U tom dugom vremenskom periodu mogu se postulirati tri tipa vernicke strukture: stabilna vernicku strukturu dorevolucionarne Rusije, destabilizovana vernicka strukture u sovjetsko vreme, restabilizovana struktura tokom 90-ih godina proslog (...) veka i nova stabilizovana vernicka struktura poslednjih godina. (shrink)

Ovaj tekst je poslednji prilog teme iz naslova i nastavak dva prethodna autorova teksta objavljena u ovom casopisu. U prilogu se razmatra evolucija religijske situacije, pre svega vezana za pravoslavlje, u Srbiji tokom proslog veka i u prvoj deceniji ovog veka. Religijska situacija u tako dugom vremenskom periodu uvek se razmatra u kontekstu globalnog srpskog drustva a poslednjih godina i u komparaciji sa religioznom Evropom i Rusijom.

Ovaj prilog ima tri celine. U prvoj celini autor razmatra dva teorijska okvira tumacenja povratka i revitalizacije religije u Srbiji. Prvi okvir tice se religije kao javne ustanove i podrazumeva logiku medjusobnog podupiranja religijskih i nereligijskih faktora a drugi okvir podrazumeva logiku samostalne, unutrasnje religijske obnove koja izvire iz same srzi religije i crkve kao bozje ustanove i individualne duhovne potrebe vernika za poboznoscu. U drugoj celini autor iznosi dva razlicita tumacenja podataka iz empirijske evidencije koja je poslednjih trideset godina (...) stvorena o vezanosti ljudi za religiju i crkvu u Srbiji. U trecoj celini se uporedjuju socio-demografske karakteristike religioznih ljudi od pre dvadeset i pet godina sa karakteristikama savremenih vernika. (shrink)

In this article the author has presented several important issues regarding the sociology of religion, but primarily the issue of the sociologically acceptable definition of religion both in theoretical and empirical research. Bearing in mind the sociology of religion in former Yugoslavia the author has first discussed the possibility of a general definition of the sociology of religion, but has stated the opposite view as well. Then he has dealt with the two basic approaches towards religion and two general definitions (...) of sociology, namely substantial and functional ones. Finally the author has tried to define the religiousness in terms of sociological empirical research of human attachment to religion and church in post-socialism. U ovom clanku autor izlaze nekoliko osnovnih problema u sociologiji religije a prvenstveno problem oko socioloski prihvatljive definicije religije, i to ne samo za teorijska nego iza iskustvena istrazivanja. Imajuci na umu sociologiju religije bivse SFRJ, na prvom mestu se razmatra mogucnost opste definicije religije, ali se iznosi i suprotno stanoviste. Potom se diskutuje o dva temeljna pristupa religiji i o dve opste definicije religije supstantivnoj i funkcionalistickoj. Na kraju se definise religioznost u kontekstu socioloskog iskustvenog istrazivanja vezanosti ljudi za religiju i crkvu u post socijalizmu.. (shrink)

The quarantine model, recently proposed by Pereboom and Caruso, is one of the most influential models developed to date in the context of criminal justice. The quarantine model challenges the very idea of criminal punishment and asserts that nobody deserves punishment on a fundamental level. Instead, in order to deal with offenders, it proposes a series of incapacitation measures based on public safety concerns. In this article, we examine several objections to the quarantine model that demonstrate how, in our view, (...) it can be improved. These mainly pertain to (2.1) the difficulty of reliably identifying dangerous individuals and consequently the need to base confinement decisions on probability, and (2.2) the potential for the quarantine model not to properly deter certain crimes. Three additional objections are raised with respect to (3.1) the rights that are potentially suppressed in the quarantine model; (3.2) the role of “genetic justice”; and (3.3) the difficulty it faces accommodating reasons-responsiveness. Whereas these objections do not constitute knock-down arguments against the quarantine model, they highlight issues that invite closer scrutiny, at least if it is to be considered as a credible framework for the development of viable policies in criminal justice. (shrink)

Argues that there are moral grounds to use torture where the lives of the innocent are at stake.

The discourse on the fundamental issues raised by synthetic biology, such as biosafety and biosecurity, intellectual property, environmental consequences and ethical and societal implications, is still open and controversial. This, coupled with the potential and risks the field holds, makes it one of the hottest topics in technology assessment today. How a new technology is perceived by the public influences the manner in which its products and applications will be received. Therefore, it is important to learn how people perceive synthetic (...) biology. This work gathers, integrates and discusses the results of three studies of public perceptions of synthetic biology: an analysis of existing research on how media portray synthetic biology across 13 European countries and in the USA, the Meeting of Young Minds, a public debate between prospective politicians and synthetic biologists in the Netherlands and the experiences of citizen panels and focus groups in Austria, the UK and the USA. The results show that the media are generally positive in their reports on synthetic biology, rather unbalanced in their view of potential benefits and risks, and also heavily influenced by the sources of the stories, namely scientists and stakeholders. Among the prospective Dutch politicians, there were positive expectations as well as very negative ones. Some of these positions are also shared by participants in public dialogue experiments, such as not only the demand for information, transparency and regulation but also a sense of resignation and ineluctability of scientific and technological progress. (shrink)

Summary This short article goes back to the problem of the authenticity of the document found at Dem. 24.20–23, with wide implications for the reconstruction of Athenian nomothesia. Without providing a comprehensive response to M. H. Hansen’s recent KLIO article on the topic (M. H. Hansen, The Inserted Document at Dem. 24.20–23. Response to Mirko Canevaro, KLIO 101, 2019, 452–472; itself a response to a previous KLIO article by M. Canevaro), it clarifies some key issues and clears up some (...) important misunderstandings, also providing new evidence against the authenticity of the document. (shrink)

This paper offers a novel interpretation of Hans Jonas’ analysis of metabolism, the centrepiece of Jonas’ philosophy of organism, in relation to recent controversies regarding the phenomenological dimension of life-mind continuity as understood within ‘autopoietic’ enactivism (AE). Jonas’ philosophy of organism chiefly inspired AE’s development of what we might call ‘the phenomenological life-mind continuity thesis’ (PLMCT), the claim that certain phenomenological features of human experience are central to a proper scientific understanding of both life and mind, and as such central (...) features of all living organisms. After discussing the understanding of PLMCT within AE, and recent criticisms thereof, I develop a reading of Jonas’ analysis of metabolism, in light of previous commentators, which emphasizes its systematicity and transcendental flavour. The central thought is that, for Jonas, the attribution of certain phenomenological features is a necessary precondition for our understanding of the possibility of metabolism, rather than being derivable from metabolism itself. I argue that my interpretation strengthens Jonas’ contribution to AE’s justification for ascribing certain phenomenological features to life across the board. However, it also emphasises the need to complement Jonas’ analysis with an explanatory account of organic identity in order to vindicate these phenomenological ascriptions in a scientific context. (shrink)

In this volume Canevaro studies the 'state' documents preserved in the public speeches of the Demosthenic corpus. Offering a comprehensive account of the documents in the corpora of the orators and in the manuscript tradition, Canevaro summarizes previous scholarship and delineates a new methodology for analyzing the documents.

Antibiotic resistance (AR) is a major threat to public health and healthcare worldwide. In this article, we analyse and discuss the claim that taking actions to minimize AR is everyone's responsibility, focusing on individual moral responsibility. This should not be merely interpreted as a function of knowledge of AR and the proper use of antibiotics. Instead, we suggest a circumstantial account of individual responsibility for AR, where individuals do or do not engage in judicious antibiotic behaviour with different degrees of (...) voluntariness. Furthermore, we suggest a notion of responsibility as a virtue, in which individuals have the opportunity to develop a sensitivity towards the AR theme and, consequently, are capable of engaging, actively and voluntarily, in judicious antibiotic behaviour. The development of such sensitivity depends on the creation of adequate circumstances, that is individual capacities and availability of resources. (shrink)

In Arendt the domestic sphere is the other of the political sphere. In this contribution, however, the house will be described directly. Firstly, by reconstructing some of the different dichotomies included in the macro-differentiation between house and square; secondly by probing the connections and ties that bind house and square. Thirdly, by trying to read the modern emergence of the two poles «society» and «interiority» as a double process of simultaneous expansion and concentration of domestic semantics and domestic performances.

Accused persons who are subjected to a saturation level of negative media coverage may be denied an impartial hearing, which is perhaps the most important aspect of the right to a fair hearing. Despite this, the courts have generally held that the social imperative of prosecuting accused trumps the interests of the accused. The justification for an impartial hearing stems from the repugnance of convicting the innocent. Viewed dispassionately, this imperative is not absolute, given that every legal system condones procedures (...) which result in the conviction of some innocent people. While the importance of guarding against wrongful convictions has been overstated, the imperative to bring to trial all accused has been even more exaggerated. The legal system has displayed a capacity to deal with cases where the guilty walk free. The institutional integrity of the criminal justice system would be significantly compromised by convictions that are tarnished by pre-judgment. Confidence in the criminal justice system is more important than individual criminal accountability. The inability to receive an impartial hearing should result in a permanent stay. The only exception is where the alleged crime has the capacity to cause widespread fear or social unrest. This only applies in relation to serious acts of terrorism. This article focuses on recent legal fair trial developments in Australia, however, the analysis, reasoning and conclusion applies in relation to all jurisdictions where juries determine guilt and innocence. (shrink)

This is a collective study of philosophical questions to do with experts and expertise, such as: What is an expert? Who decides who the experts are? Should we always defer to experts? How should expertise inform public policy? What happens when the experts disagree? Must experts be unbiased? Does it matter what the source of the expertise is?

In many ways, questionable epidemiological measures by which the authorities restricted civic and private life during the COVID-19 pandemic have challenged many implied notions of the inviolability of citizens’ rights and freedoms, as well as obedience to state authority. It is a problem of the incommensurability between freedom and law seen through the conflict between personal rights and the demands of the common good. This article examines how a state of emergency, such as a pandemic, affects the perception of the (...) legitimacy of the State. In this, it relies on some key concepts from Carl Schmitt’s political theology, such as the “exception”, “the sociology of legal concepts”, the “nature of sovereignty”, the formal criterion of the political as a specific way of thinking, and acting and “stasiological” nature of the political. (shrink)

We begin by introducing our readers to the Extended Mind Thesis and briefly discuss a series of arguments in its favour. We continue by showing of such a theory can be resisted and go on to demonstrate that a more conservative account of cognition can be developed. We acknowledge a stalemate between these two different accounts of cognition and notice a couple of issues that we argue have prevented further progress in the field. To overcome the stalemate, we propose to (...) focus on the ethical implications of these theories. We link work conducted on the Extended Mind Thesis with contemporary transhumanist research and claim that extended may be ethically preferred over embedded because it is a more progressive and inclusive theory. (shrink)

This paper proposes substitutional definitions of logical truth and consequence in terms of relative interpretations that are extensionally equivalent to the model-theoretic definitions for any relational first-order language. Our philosophical motivation to consider substitutional definitions is based on the hope to simplify the meta-theory of logical consequence. We discuss to what extent our definitions can contribute to that.

I saggi di questo testo gravitano attorno a due fuochi: una diagnosi della soggettività contemporanea e il tentativo di sviluppare una critica all'altezza della sua vocazione emancipativa. Ciò che viene descritto è un processo di tendenziale emersione in superficie della relazione tra soggettività e politica; nessuna utopia col torcicollo, nessun nostalgismo, nessuna lamentela sulla superficialità della politica o paternale sulla superficialità dei soggetti. La scommessa, piuttosto, è quella di prendere le apparenze sul serio e quindi rinunciare a ogni forma di (...) ventriloquismo teorico, restituendo ai soggetti la parola senza per questo rinunciare alle ambizioni emancipative di una teoria sociale capace di fotografare, tracciare, scandagliare le trasformazioni della soggettività contemporanea e contemporaneamente le sue potenzialità e le sue contraddizioni. (shrink)

Due to the alarming rise of antibiotic resistance, medically unwarranted use of antibiotics has assumed new moral significance. In this paper, a thematic content analysis of focus group discussions was conducted to explore lay people’s views on the moral challenges posed by antibiotic resistance. The most important finding is that lay people are morally sensitive to the problems entailed by antibiotic resistance. Participants saw the decreasing availability of effective antibiotics as a problem of justice. This involves individual as well as (...) collective moral responsibility. Yet, holding agents responsible for their use of antibiotics involves varying degrees of demandingness. In our discussion, these findings are related to the contemporary ethical debate on antibiotic resistance and two proposals for the preservation of antibiotic effectiveness are compared to and evaluated against participants’ views. (shrink)

This volume provides a rigorous philosophical investigation of the rationales, challenges, and promises of the coming Space Age. Over the past decade, space exploration has made significant and accelerating progress, and its potential has attracted growing attention from science, states, businesses, innovators, as well as the media and society more generally. However, philosophical theorizing concerning the premises, values, meanings, and impacts of space exploration is still in its infancy, and this potentially immense field of study is far from mainstream yet. (...) This book advances outer space philosophy by integrating key scientific and societal debates sparked by recent developments in space research and activities with conceptual, existential, ethical, aesthetic, and political themes and concerns. It maps various regions of philosophical exploration, reflection, and speculation regarding humanity's present and future irradiation into outer space, to promote a broad, rich, and nuanced societal debate regarding this transformative enterprise, which is as stimulating as it can be disorienting. This book will be a fascinating philosophical and ethical exploration for academics, researchers and students interested in philosophy, space studies, science and technology studies, future studies, and sustainability. (shrink)

Demokratische Institutionen und rechtliche Regulierungsmechanismen wandeln sich grundlegend. Dieser Wandel ist Tendenzen der Metamorphose von Recht und Politik ausgesetzt: Tendenzen, von denen vorerst nur klar ist, dass sie erfolgen, nicht, in welchem Umfang und in welchen Formen. Um Klarheit uber diese Tendenzen gewinnen zu konnen, ist es erforderlich, erneut daruber nachzudenken, wie Politik, Verantwortung, Freiheit und Recht ins Verhaltnis zu setzen sind. Auf die dem Band vorangestellte Frage, ob es eine Freiheit ohne Recht gibt, finden sich in den Beitragen der (...) Autoren unterschiedliche Antworten.". (shrink)

Several language experiments have been carried out on apes and other animals aiming to narrow down the presumed qualitative gap that separates humans from other animals. These experiments, however, have been driven by the understanding of language as a purely symbolic sign system, often connected to a profound disinterest for language use in real situations and a propensity to perceive grammatical and syntactic information as the only fundamental aspects of human language. For these reasons, the language taught to apes tends (...) to discard iconic and indexical elements in favour of symbolic signs. This paper sheds light on the iconic components of human language, with close attention to the iconic properties of language as present in the ape language experiments. We emphasise the role of the body in the interpretation and production of iconic signs, while demonstrating the need to take into account the Umwelt theory in the research paradigm of the experiments. Uexküll’s Umwelt theory is used to exemplify the methodological problems connected to the teaching of human language to other animal species; furthermore, we discuss how the modelling capacities of language affect the biological layer that constitutes the animal Umwelt. Language is analysed as a particular case of Umwelt transition, and as such its implications are further discussed in the article. With this paper, we enrich the discussion surrounding the human-ape pidgin language by advocating for the need to include iconic components as vital parts of this research area. With this inclusion, we uncover the inter-dependency of iconic, indexical and symbolic signs in human language, aiming to further develop the research paradigm of the ape language experiments. (shrink)

ExcerptIn a letter to his friend and intellectual collaborator Theodor W. Adorno, on December 25, 1935, Walter Benjamin describes music as a field of inquiry “fairly remote” from his own.1 Several years later, in another letter to Max Horkheimer, he writes that the “state of musical affairs … could not be any more remote” for him.2 Yet despite these claims of unfamiliarity with aurality, there are numerous observations on acoustic phenomena throughout Benjamin's oeuvre. From his early essays on language to (...) his autobiographical studies and late works on critical historiography, Benjamin displays a keen sensitivity to sound that ranges from…. (shrink)

Advances in artificial intelligence and robotics stand to change many aspects of our lives, including our values. If trends continue as expected, many industries will undergo automation in the near future, calling into question whether we can still value the sense of identity and security our occupations once provided us with. Likewise, the advent of social robots driven by AI, appears to be shifting the meaning of numerous, long-standing values associated with interpersonal relationships, like friendship. Furthermore, powerful actors’ and institutions’ (...) increasing reliance on AI to make decisions that may affect how people live their lives may have a significant impact on privacy while also raising issues about algorithmic transparency and human control. In this paper, building and expanding on previous works, we will look at how the deployment of Artificial Intelligence technology may lead to changes in identity, security, and other crucial values. We will discuss what challenges we may face in the process, while critically reflecting on whether such changes may be desirable. Finally, drawing on a series of considerations underlying virtue ethics, we will formulate a set of preliminary suggestions, which—we hope—can be used to more carefully guide the future roll out of AI technologies for human flourishing; that is, for social and moral good. (shrink)